Do You Believe In Magic?

[László]

Maybe someone came into my studio and sprinkled some PRS fairy dust on my HXDA30 and 1x12 cab last night. Maybe it's this weird weather we're having for June. Maybe it's because the last time I played it, I had the volume up pretty high, and something broke in. Because I have no "aha!" explanation for this.

I've been working with my DG30 on a project, and haven't had play time with the HXDA in the last week, so I figured I'd give it a little workout. I switched it on, plugged in The Hammer Of The Gods, and what bloomed forth was the open, gorgeous, buttery tone of my former 50 Watt HXDA and 2x12 cab. I double-checked my settings, and all were as I'd left them.

The amp simply sounds as creamy on the low end now as the 50. The cab doesn't have the room-filling bigness of the 2x12, but it sounds like it has the same basic frequency balance.

Maybe playing everything loud a week ago helped to break in the speaker, or something in the amp, or both. In any case, it sounds wonderful. I formerly stated that I had a slight preference for the HXDA50 over the HXDA30. Now it's a real tossup. How cool is that? :top:

Just goes to show the importance of living with an amp for a while before shooting my mouth of about tone differences....:flute:

 

[Pinch]

No logical explanation from my side but happy for you it sounds so great. It takes me about three months to really get used to a new amp's sound to the point that I know what it can give me in different situations and how to get it out of the amp.

 

[László]

No logical explanation from my side but happy for you it sounds so great. It takes me about three months to really get used to a new amp's sound to the point that I know what it can give me in different situations and how to get it out of the amp.

It usually takes me a few months, too.

In this case, though, I didn't change anything, the amp just had a great day all by itself! It must be the speaker cab breaking in. I didn't have the presence of mind to check it with my DG 2x12 to see if it also sounded better with that cab, that is already broken in.

 

[Boogie]

I was always convinced that it was my ears...maybe practicing too loud, too soon after a loud gig...something physiological. That's proven true sometimes. But then here were other times - especially with the MkIII - when it proved to be power related. Using a UPS at gigs made the difference between practice tone and gig tone closer. Then, I remember finding out how long it took to break in the EV12L in my Boogie combo. *sheesh* Seemed like years, and I gigged a lot back then! Honestly, I'm not sure what really changes/ed with some gear, but I strive to get it stable. Stable and good, that is. I remember too many times when it was stable and CRAP, years ago.

Glad you're coming back around to the 50w. Even though the 30w is fantastic, it's down to a difference in character, not volume, for me. It would be a tough decision between the two but I'd lean toward the 50w.

 

[László]

Glad you're coming back around to the 50w. Even though the 30w is fantastic, it's down to a difference in character, not volume, for me. It would be a tough decision between the two but I'd lean toward the 50w.

Actually, what I'm saying in this thread is that the 30 is sounding much more like the 50 in character now. It should, really, because PRS told me that the difference between the 30 and 50 comes down to the plate voltage on the output tubes.

Granted, it's not exactly the same, but gosh it's closer than ever!

Limiting the discussion to what I do (recording as opposed to playing out) the 30 is probably a wiser choice for me. However, as you know, the 50 has more grunt. Fortunately I don't have to decide because I already did that.