Archon Question?

Zephyr

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Sep 9, 2012
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So I just received my Archon and I was reading the manual like a good guy lol, and came across in the 100 watt mode with a 8 ohm cab to select 8 ohms. (Yeah duh, haha!) but in 50 watt mode to use the 4 ohms with the 8 ohms cab? Am I understanding that correctly??? I am using a recto 2x12 at 8 ohms and will use the amp a ton at 50 watts, and I just don't want to have any issues caused by my newbie-ness.
 
Manual? You read the manual? :confused:

I'm using mine in 50w mode, and I'm running 8-ohm to 8-ohm. But the reason I think it sounds less than optimal is because it's me playing through it.
 
So at 50 watts with the impedance selector at 4 ohms, Is it actually producing 8 ohms?
 
Actually, no...but the amp doesn't really "produce" ohms. Removing two tubes doubles the impedance seen by the primary input to the output transformer (the tubes that are isolated from the circuit are in parallel with the two that are left in.) It turns out that the way to make things work out to compensate for this is to come off of the 4 ohm tap on the transformer assuming that you have an 8 ohm speaker load). I "think" that Mesa has a patent on doing this automatically when you throw the switch, but generally amps that are designed with a half-power option are designed to be robust enough to handle a mismatch. I'm sure that this is the case with the Archon also, but it's best to provide the correct load for the circumstances.
 
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Thank you a ton! I'm a little paranoid about having issues that I could have prevented. Secondly I would like to use it with a rivera rockcrusher and I know that all the impedances must match. Living in a apartment can be a real pain when it comes to noise.
 
For what it's worth....and opinions on this vary.... I find that the Archon (and many other amps with a half-power setting) actually sound better at 100W with the master turned back than they do at 50W with the master turned up to provide the same output volume. You might try experimenting to see which you like best.

Also....and again opinions vary.... I find that high gain amps like the Archon get more of their character from the preamp, and the tradeoff between a lower master volume and no attenuator versus a higher master volume with an attenuator favors the "no-attenuator" case when comparing at the same overall speaker output level. This isn't true for some other amps of course. But the Archon, set at 100W, is one of the best "bedroom" level amps I have, with no attenuator and through a 2x12.

You might have different preferences though, so by all means, experiment with it. The rockcrusher is a fine attenuator.
 
I would follow the manual....pretty sure Doug knows his stuff :)

Not disputing that at all - merely pointing out that I didn't read the manual and just plugged into the 8 ohm output.

Only played with it in 100W mode briefly - I need to experiment with that.
 
So I was able to put a solid 2 hours plus with the amp tonight and I agree I like the headroom and attack in 100 watts. I do think I could benefit from a attenuator but that's just me. Though I keep hunting for a 5153 tone out of it. Though in wonderful contrast the woody midrange when slightly scooped is amazing. It reminds me of a dual recto/uberschall bottom end balls, modded marshall woody mid and hint of attack of a 5153. Maybe the attack is closer in comparison to a original 5150. To be honest I don't know if anything will do the 5153 kind of thing except one, but I like the Archon a lot too. If you turn the depth to around 3 o'clock you gain some of that attack but the low end becomes even tighter and sort of fades away to much for my taste. (I'm a low end hound though lol.) As well as the depth reacts different then a resonance control. All in all it's awesome, but honestly I still really torn. If I could get the strident attack like Trivium's "Strife" and the woodyness of Bleeding Through's "On Wings Of Lead" I could die happy..........For today at least lol.
 
For those that have both, does he Archon step squarely into the Boogie world? Specifically, the Mark series?
 
For those that have both, does he Archon step squarely into the Boogie world? Specifically, the Mark series?

I own a Mark IV, and an Archon. IMHO, the Archon does not step squarely into the Boogie world. There is some overlap, and I can get a lot of Mark IV tones on the Archon.(Clean and Crunch) But to me, the Archon doesn't pass for a Boogie clone. The Archon has it's own flavor going on. In the Lead channel is where I can hear the biggest differences in tone. The Archon has more natural bottom end, but it's still tight, like the Mark.
 
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