Archon Owners, chime in!

[mikef09]

Oh Yes I agree it is fantastic sounding amp. For me, the Hiss level in my effects loop is no a different with one Pedal or 6 Pedals or any combination of pedals. So there is no way to reduce the Hiss unless you shut off the Effects loop. Any pedal, inline with the effects cause the amp to Hiss. I believe that mine was especially noisy. I had to send my first one back because the Lead channel started to develop static pops. But that 1st one also had a noisy Effects loop, But this second one definitely has a pronounced Hiss. I may have mentioned this already but I also have various High gain amps, including Marshal, Bogner, Egnater, Blackstar and EVH and none of them have an effects loop that produce that much Hiss.

I am sad to see this one go.

It's not my intent to bad mouth PRS, or the Archon amp, but I guess I was just unlucky to have a defective one followed by second one that just does not fit my preference for quiet operation.

Mine was extra noisy with anything TC Electronic....took it out and it was gone, mind you it still had the background hum. Best of luck to you on your new amp search!

 

[Guitar_Brat]

Mine was extra noisy with anything TC Electronic....took it out and it was gone, mind you it still had the background hum. Best of luck to you on your new amp search!

I also had the Hum but I was able to minimize the Hum to almost nothing. For me it was the send cable coming from the amp. The Send cable was like an Antenna. If you waved it around any random device that generated a interference it would come up with a low frequency hum. For me personally my Mod Tone Power station was mounted under my Pedal board right near where I had the Send Cable plug into my effect pedal. After repositioning the Power Plant to away from that connection all hum was lost. Not sure you have already tired this but give it a shot to if you can reduce the hum.

One other thing is that if you run the Send cable above the the amp, the Power tubes or Transformer also make that hum.

Thanks, I'm always searching for amps, I hoping that PRS has more High gain amps to choose from in the coming years.

 

[mikef09]

Well I just came back from getting it re-tubed with Tung Sol 6L6 STR's and what a world of difference! The amp sounds better if that's possible, I'm pretty pleased with the power amp swap. PRS should think about using better stock power amp tubes in the Archon! The noise floor definitely diminished as well.

 

[iR4lf]

Well I just came back from getting it re-tubed with Tung Sol 6L6 STR's and what a world of difference! The amp sounds better if that's possible, I'm pretty pleased with the power amp swap. PRS should think about using better stock power amp tubes in the Archon! The noise floor definitely diminished as well.

Tell us more? Did you only change the power tubes? Any changes concerning the hum of the effects loop or the general hum of the amp? Did you rebias the amp? As you might have read, I am struggling with a background hum on both channels and according to PRS this is normal! Any help?

 

[mikef09]

Tell us more? Did you only change the power tubes? Any changes concerning the hum of the effects loop or the general hum of the amp? Did you rebias the amp? As you might have read, I am struggling with a background hum on both channels and according to PRS this is normal! Any help?

I only changed the power tubes, I left the stock JJ's in the preamp as all of them were still good. The hum overall diminished in the effects loop and the amp in general, I honestly think it's in part to the stock cheap chinese Ruby tubes. I didn't personally rebias it as I don't know how, I took it to my local amp tech and he did it in 10 minutes thanks to the test points and adjustment on the back of the amp! Like I stated before my friend has a 6505+ and the effects loop acts the same, it may just be inherit with high gain amps with a series loop. To me it really isn't noticeable at all when you play only when you aren't playing. With the retube it's definitely a keeper for me!

 

[iR4lf]

I only changed the power tubes, I left the stock JJ's in the preamp as all of them were still good. The hum overall diminished in the effects loop and the amp in general, I honestly think it's in part to the stock cheap chinese Ruby tubes. I didn't personally rebias it as I don't know how, I took it to my local amp tech and he did it in 10 minutes thanks to the test points and adjustment on the back of the amp! Like I stated before my friend has a 6505+ and the effects loop acts the same, it may just be inherit with high gain amps with a series loop. To me it really isn't noticeable at all when you play only when you aren't playing. With the retube it's definitely a keeper for me!

Glad to hear that you were able to tame the hum. I am thinking about putting some Mesa 6L6 tubes in it, they did a good job for me over the years. They did never fail! Any other changes you are experiencing regarding sound? So glad to hear of your success. I have no tech here, so I think I have to rebias the amp myself.

 

[mikef09]

Glad to hear that you were able to tame the hum. I am thinking about putting some Mesa 6L6 tubes in it, they did a good job for me over the years. They did never fail! Any other changes you are experiencing regarding sound? So glad to hear of your success. I have no tech here, so I think I have to rebias the amp myself.

Clearer note separation, bass mid and treble are improved as well. Pretty sure the gain structure is a little smoother IIRC.