Madison Divinity - funny stuff!

[yabba]

Do you remember what page the sound clip was on?

page 22, 2nd post:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...&pagenumber=22

as other people pointed out, here's just tuned too low to really tell anything about the tone of the amp at all.

[lerxstcat]

My Peavey Ultra is built rock solid, so I imagine the 5150 is built very well also. I have questioned Madison a number of times about the Divinity and where it was built and such, they waffle alot and try to spin their answers. That head should be $500 tops, not $799 or abouts. Jack.

Oh no, they're $999 now! I guess they were about $650 when they came out, which is what the B-52 AT-1 costs. JerryP said he'd bet money that both amps are made in the same factory. People say the Divinity sounds very different from the B-52, but the Divinity head JerryP was looking at was biased at 93 and 69 respectively for the 2 sets of tubes. He said that was about TWICE as high as he'd recommend setting it. So maybe Madison just biases theirs way hotter to get theirs to sound different.

JerryP also said the drive channels are almost an exact ripoff of the TSL100, though the clean is different. He also said they copied it wrong, causing the hum and the pop when switching from clean to drive.

Pricewise someone posted a pic of the Valve King 100-watt head which goes for $499 and said that was what the Madison should go for. It does have 3 channels while the VK100 has 2, but then at least with Peavey you know they'll be around if you have problems down the line. Madison, I dunno if they'll be around this time next year, unless they step up and start answering questions. I think they'll make it if they do, because they do have some loyalty from the amp owners.

Oh yeah, re: build quality: I have a Peavey Triumph and a Triumph P.A.G., the predecessors to the Ultra. Both amps are still kicking, I guess they're 15-16 years old, and still kick ass.
I guess the Peavey name hadn't yet overcome the stigma of their 70s SS amps when these amps were out, because they go DIRT cheap on the Bay! And they kick mucho ass!

[slayer]

Ya man, I love the Peaveys for so many reasons, the quality-tone-variable resonance switch(tight-medium-loose) and the value. I would definately get a 5150 over the Divinity for these reasons alone and the are USA made. I would buy a Divinity in a heartbeat for about $499, I think they would sell alot of them. They just lost their biggest dealer down in Florida, that isn`t good. Jack.

[slayer]

page 22, 2nd post:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...&pagenumber=22

as other people pointed out, here's just tuned too low to really tell anything about the tone of the amp at all.

Yep, tuned to low. I know it is a rough cut, but that really sounds like Ass!! Let`s hear some 440 tuning and straight speed metal to get an idea and something like old Metallica or something.He uses a 7 string, we nead to hear a 6 string tuned at 440 to a real idea of this amp. Jack.

[lerxstcat]

The Triumphs don't have a resonance switch, but they still sound damn good! I'm sure I'd love that feature if I had it but I don't miss it since I don't. The earlier Triumph even has shared EQ of all 3 channels. I would really prefer separate EQs but it's not that bad. I set the EQ for the drive channels and live with it on the clean. Little chorus and it's fine. The Triumph P.A.G. at least has a separate EQ for the clean and shared EQ for the 2 drive channels. For a $200 amp though, nothing to ccomplain about - 3 levels of gain are available, 5 with the Ultra switches on each drive channel, and an outboard EQ will deal with additional tonal control. I never heard of them when they were current, but they are a bargain for anyone on a budget looking for a flexible 3-channel amp!

[zeegler]

Yeah, the clip sounds horrible, and the playing sounds sloppy. At least give us a clip tuned to E flat. That sounds like MUD.

I've never heard of Peavey amps being of questionable quality. I've had several, and apart from my old Peavey Bandit blowing a speaker when it was 3 months old (that's the only part not covered under warranty apparently), I never had a single problem.

The Divinity does look suspiciously like the same chassis as the B-52. In fact, the rear cover looks identical to the one on the B-52.

Maybe the amp does sound good, but considering the fact they falsely claim USA made, and have problems with humming and popping sounds, I can't believe people would spend their hard earned money on them. Yeah, I bought a B-52 AT100, but they do not hide the fact that tha amps are made in China. They don't have problems with excessive noise, and they are a lot cheaper. You will find just as many people claiming their B-52s are the next best thing to sliced bread. I can't agree, because mine sounds like shit, and that's why I took it to an amp tech to get "looked at". I'll say this though, the clean channel was one of the best I've ever heard. As for the gain channels, we will have to see when I get it back.

Here's a couple more clips of the Madison that are posted on the Aghora website:

http://www.aghora.org/uploads/madison2.wmv
http://www.aghora.org/uploads/madisonadsum.wmv
http://www.aghora.org/uploads/madison5.wmv
http://www.aghora.org/uploads/madison3.wmv
http://www.aghora.org/uploads/madison7.wmv

Nothing particularly impressive.

[Wizard of Ozz]

I'm curious as to why everytime I see a post from you it has an Engl slam in it...here or HCAF.

Not slamming, I'm just stating the facts. Engls are built like crap as compared to their selling price. This is a fact. I didn't say anything about their tone, but as far as build quality goes, they leave a lot to be desired.

The PCBs are mounted upside down (if a cap/resistor goes you need to pull the whole board), all pots are directly mounted to numerous small/thin PCBs (if you hit a pot against something you'll probably crack the PCB), silicone epoxy used to hold leads & caps in place all over (instead of zip ties), plasitc posts are used to secure the main PCB to the chasis (instead of metal posts), many leads use spade end connectors (instead of being soldered), the PCBs are not even assembled in Germany (this is outsourced), they don't even use the regular cannister preamp tube shields most companys do (they use some cheap bent pieces of sheet metal which don't even completely cover the preamp tubes, so RF waves can still cause noise), the back of the amps are completely sealed so air can't flow properly to cool the power tubes, they use plasitc covers over the transformers to prevent hum, even the low quality red colored lightbulbs they use to illuminate the chasis loose their red color quickly, and you can't even see the bias pot when you bias your amp (you have to stick a small screwdriver thru a hole to do it). This is what I call crappy build quality.

I won't even get into how they sound.

[Wizard of Ozz]

Here's a Powerball...



Here's a Savage...

[Fragle]

"I won't even get into how they sound."
"that being said, I think ENGL's tone stink"

+1
i think a lot of the engl hype comes from the clips you can find online. most of them sound decent to awesome. funny, today i just downloaded another blackmore clip, and just like all the others it sounds NOTHING like the real deal. seems like engl's record very well, but sound like crap in the room

[vander]

Here's a Savage...

Thanks for the pics....Now I understand why I'm having so much trouble changing the screensaver.

[Twisteramps]

"I won't even get into how they sound."
"that being said, I think ENGL's tone stink"

+1
i think a lot of the engl hype comes from the clips you can find online. most of them sound decent to awesome. funny, today i just downloaded another blackmore clip, and just like all the others it sounds NOTHING like the real deal. seems like engl's record very well, but sound like crap in the room

Friend of mine on HC had a Powerball, I checked it out... I wasn't impressed. Powerballs were 'the flavor of the week' on HC for quite a while. From how everyone talked it up at one time, I was looking forward to playing it. But hey, different strokes for different folks!

Pete

[yabba]

I heard a madison live for the first time last night (and ran into our very own RacerX at the show as well!); and wasn't too impressed. granted, the band (watch them die, I think was the name) was horrible, I thought, so I wasn't paying super close attention, but the other guitarist, who was playing a vertical input jcm800 of some sort sounded much better, and was much easier to hear. the guy playing the madison just kind of got lost in the mix. (that said, the mix was pretty sucky for all the bands in general the whole night)

[sworn_enemy]

the Divinity head JerryP was looking at was biased at 93 and 69 respectively for the 2 sets of tubes. He said that was about TWICE as high as he'd recommend setting it. So maybe Madison just biases theirs way hotter to get theirs to sound different.

Madison actually blamed Fedex for that problem. They tried saying that because they got banged around in shipping that the bias was out of wack. Can you believe that??

[zeegler]

Madison actually blamed Fedex for that problem. They tried saying that because they got banged around in shipping that the bias was out of wack. Can you believe that??

So basically, if you ever move the amp, like to take it to rehearsal, or to a gig, the bias will go out of whack? Fantastic!!!

[cloudnine]

HC is pretty much flavour of the week-based - I've seen it go from the Mesa Mark III to the Splawn Quickrod to ENGLs and Marshalls and back again.

Me, I'll stick with my amp. *shrug*