Some rack rig questions for all you gurus

[Hellbat]

Good to know. I don't much about them other than Friedman pushing them for their sound quality. Since he's well regarded in the Marshal modding field I figured they would be solid.

[javert]

I use Engl's E830 50/50 power amp with my E530. They aren't that expensive. I paid a little more used for my power amp than I did for the preamp, but not much.

[AdRock]

The velocity 300 is a good amp. I have one of the older 2 space units and that hitch is heavy. The new 1 space units sound the same to me and are a help of a lot lighter. The strategy tone knob on them beers up the tone and the lows depending on how much you add in. I suggest picking one up and using for a while. Once you find the sweet spot for your taste I'm sure you'd like it. If not, they're great amps and should sell pretty easily.

[xenophobe]

I did consider the DCM200L but i'm worried it might not have enough headroom. Plus Carvin dealers in Europe are hard to come by. I've also considered the Matrix GT800FX, which is an 800W SS stereo power amp, they also have a 1000W version (!): http://matrixguitaramplification.com/products/

What the hell do you need that kind of power for? 1000w will power a whole backline. Are you running more than 4 cabs?

[Devotee]

Matrix power amps are shit. I sent a load of them back to their distributor a few years ago - their pre-prod demo model was blinding, absolutely monster, but the production models were...just shit.

I agree with the idea of getting a used Marshall power amp...or buy a Powersoft.

Interesting... What was so shit about them?

xenophobe: Of course you don't need that much power, but it's nice to know it's available. The Velocity 300 can power 4 cabs quite easily as well but i'm running just the one. Thanks for the advice guys.

[Rsmacker]

Hmm, I may possibly be out of order, sorry! I was thinking about it and it was when I was in my previous premises, and I know I've been where I am now for 12 years...! I think that they may have ironed out any hiccups with their products by now. A lot has changed in the amp industry over that time...

I recall they weren't specialising in guitar amps, nor making switch-mode stuff back then, I can't even recall the model of the amps we had. I just remember being impressed by a blue LED - that shows how long ago it was! In fact that was the best thing on the amps we got, after being seriously impressed by the demo unit we had, the stock amps we got had... no balls, they just sounded brittle. Luckily the C-Audio guy walked in the day we took delivery of the Matrix stuff, and he had a load of amps in the back of his motor, so we tested them back to back. No contest. (And I still have some of those C-Audio beauties in my hire stock, they've never missed a beat).

Anyway, in the interests of fairness, I might get hold of some of their stuff and give them a whirl. It does just go to show, however, when you have a bad experience, it stays with you. It's very difficult to erase a bad first impression - manufacturers take note!

[xenophobe]

xenophobe: Of course you don't need that much power, but it's nice to know it's available. The Velocity 300 can power 4 cabs quite easily as well but i'm running just the one. Thanks for the advice guys.

And I thought seeing a VHT 2150 at a small club was overkill.