Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

[IommiChild]

I think I'm gonna sell my 5150 combo. I'm not in a band, and probably won't be anytime soon, so its way more amp than I need. I never get to crank it to where it sounds good. Can anybody suggest a tube amp that sounds good without being too loud? I just need something that doesnt need to be cranked to sound good. Or should I go with some Line6 thingee?

[AlexL]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

Crate Stealth GT50. The 1x12 combo version. I sold mine a little while ago. You can get them on evilbay for about 200.00. Good cleans, and tons of gain, even at low volumes.


- E.

[Shawn]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

Tommi, I swore off playing at home tube amps, until, I sent my Mesa to Voodoo for modding, and have since picked up a Bogner 101b. I can play either through my 4x12 at decent levels. Not like high school bedroom levels mind you, but definitely within reason. With tube amps, it seems to be all about amps not maiking that jump from silent to screaming all of a sudden. I imagine that with quality, comes a lack of just that problem.


Shawn

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

I'm a tube guy, and get an awesome sound out of my VHT2150 at talk over-able volume levels. But, I have a ton of money in it.

I'd say look into the Line 6 stuff, like the Spyder, that I hate for my needs. But for yours, it may likely be the winning ticket.

[~K~]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

[ QUOTE ]

I'd say look into the Line 6 stuff, like the Spyder, that I hate for my needs. But for yours, it may likely be the winning ticket.

[/ QUOTE ]


Hell hath frozen over...

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

I've said that quite a few times actually.

[thetroy]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

Find something that only has 1 power tube.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

mesa studio 22

[Twisteramps]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

[ QUOTE ]
Find something that only has 1 power tube.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really - even a Fender Champ (3 watt amp) is Loud as HELL in a bedroom.

Pete

[thetroy]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

True, but more than 1 will most certainly be too loud. At least with only 1 there's a chance it will be ok!

[jazzman]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

Soldano Atomic 16. It's pricey, but killer. There's one on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Everyone probably thinks I'm nuts or rich! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] It's a sweet amp. Really!

[IommiChild]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

The local used music place has a used vht pitbull (i think it was a 1x12), but i didnt see how much it was, nor did i play thru it. I basically limited on how much i can spend by how much i can get for my 5150...on a sort of related note, a friend of mine just plopped down 2200 bucks for a mesa Stiletto head and cab today.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

[ QUOTE ]
True, but more than 1 will most certainly be too loud. At least with only 1 there's a chance it will be ok!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm guessing you've never owned a single ended tube amp before? I could make the walls shake in my house with a 1/4 watt amp I built... my wife heard it out in our driveway before she got out of the car. Literally. I was playing through a 4x12, but little open back combos suck for anything other than jazz or country.

You're going to be about as well off with a 100 watt tube amp as you are with a 1 watt amp in a bedroom situation. Here's the thing: Depending on musical styles, you may want the headroom/low end chunk of an uncranked 100 watt 1/2 stack over a cranked small low wattage amp. It depends on the style of music played, what cabinet you're going through, and what volumes you're willing to play at.

For MOST bedroom players, a Line6 or Vox Valvetronix makes a lot of sense, since they sound great at low volumes. I think my Vetta sounds great at high (stage/gig) volumes too, but some modelling amps sound bad as you turn em up. Plus many of them have headphone jacks for quiet playing at all hours of the night, and you can also use them to record ideas quickly and quietly.

Or, the other option is to get a hot plate, but if you attenuate too much on those the modelling amp option would sound better.

Just my opinion.

Pete

[Chuckracer]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

My ten watt Peters head.
It has the smoothest taper on the master I've ever heard, it's ten watts that sounds great at whisper volumes and can get rather loud as well.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Whats a good TUBE bedroom amp

Since Line 6 doesn't have tubes, and Iommichild asked for a tube amp so I'd say you have a lot of choices.

Mesa/Boogie .22, DC-2, DC-3 and DC-5.
THD Univalve
Soldano Atomic 16

The Bogner 101B at half power and set for old sounds great to me at low to moderate levels. So does my VHT 50CL.

Lower watt amps can be pretty damn loud as Pete said.

Just because you aren't in a band doesn't mean you cant play through stage rigs [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] at home, I do it all the time. You just need to try different things to tame them. Sure a tube amp most of the thme sounds better the louder you go but there are amps that sound good at different levels. Also you can hotplate/attenuate them.