Tube Amps and the dbs

Updated
xZYRYABx
I want a tube amp soooo bad but im worried about sound levels.....the only ones I have my eye on r the Engl Fireball 100 or the 60....one big plus about those two is that I dont have to blast them to get the saturated tube tone....or I can get a 5150II w/ a Hot Plate....but I live in Boston and will be stuck in apartment buildings for the next couple of yrs.....as it is now I cant put my flextone up to even a quarter of its volume and I dont really have a band or gig out......is it even worth it for me to get the Engl?!!! where do most of u guys with tubes live? houses or apts?
SpicyPickles

attenuator. Best bet if you want tubes in an apartment or live really close to neighbors.

sirsloop

HT-5 in a tiny apartment... two weeks until it gets its own room in my house! WOO HOO!

Harvesterofsorrow1199

yeah if you want a nice tube tone in a little apartment and dont need it for gigging a blackstar ht-5 is a great amp

Deadpulse

i used to practice in my apartment with my Powerball and 2 2x12's. I can't speak for the Fireball since I've never played one but the PBall sounded great at low volumes

ZULND3R

i play the 6505 i have at high volumes and tell my housemates to suck it up. They wake me up every weekend drinking, so I wake them up every morning w/ my guitar. We have a good relationship :)

LordCliffton

bam margera death metal alarm clock FTW!!!!!

why not just get a pod & some nice headphones? but seriously,, most amps sound fine at lower volumes, even the 5150III-a hotplate isn't needed unless you plan on blasting it and cooking the power tubes to get overdrive from them instead of only the preamp tubes... that said, at low volumes almost all amps gain & tone comes from the preamp & eq settings.. you can still get thump but it won't slam you in your chest like it will at higher volumes. There is an absolutely HUGE difference between both volume levels... dig? You seem to need the former atm moreso than the latter. Just keep it low & get a 2x12 and you'll be fine-also, put some nice thick FOAM underneath the speaker cab to reduce the amount of sound transfer to your neighbors ceiling... LOL

Velt017

The 5150 is not a good choice if you can't play loud. I've heard ENGLs sound good at lower levels, but of course you aren't getting everything out of them at those levels.

The blackstar is a good suggestion as is the Rev. Jr. Pro. Avoid the regular Rev. Jr. Though as the gain knob of the Krank channel is the volume knob of the clean channel... which is kind of retarded.

I vote for the Rev. Jr. Pro.

Mike E Majik

I have one the loudest tube amps of anyone in this forum right now. 320 watts. I live in an apartment.... Even when I cut it down to 60 watts... It's much too loud for an apartment. It still sounds good at low volumes, but you don't get the same characteristics as what you get in high volumes.. Hotplates work, however, a good one isn't very cheap. I would rather spend the money I would spend on a good hotplate on a little 3-15 watt tube amp instead. Mini-amps are super popular right now, and most major amp makers make them anymore, from marshall to egnater to crate to fender to blackstar and so on. So, like suggested previously in this thread, I would also suggest just getting a little amp... the lower the watts the better, even a 1 watt tube amp is plenty loud enough for an apartment. Hell, those little $150 valve juniors are excellent if you use lots of pedals... plus they are easy to mod. Try one!

xZYRYABx

so what is a good low-watt high-gain amp?
As I said, the ideal amp for me would be a Savage/powerball/fireball, so whats the closest mini I should look for?

Mike E Majik

If you don't want to mess with pedals, try a blackstar.

sirsloop

or run a solid state with a overdrive pedal...not quite the same tho :p

seefingersrun

Dude you HAVE to check out the Randall RM 20 range!!!

I've tried every low wattage amp around including the krank rev jr. I A/B them all and believe me nothing comes close to the Randall.

Its an ALL TUBE AMP that has removable preamps so you can exchange preamps to suite your needs (from marshall plexi's to rectifiers), very versatile. They are available in heads and combos. Just search for the Randall mts series, you wont be disappointed.

seefingersrun

Dude you HAVE to check out the Randall RM 20 range!!!

I've tried every low wattage amp around including the krank rev jr. I A/B them all and believe me nothing comes close to the Randall.

Its an ALL TUBE AMP that has removable preamps so you can exchange preamps to suite your needs (from marshall plexi's to rectifiers), very versatile. They are available in heads and combos. Just search for the Randall mts series, you wont be disappointed.

+ they gave density and presence controlls so they sound great at lower volumes!!!

seefingersrun

And theres a ENGL preamp coming soon to the Randall RM range. Problem solved!

ShadowDonut

The edit post button is there for a reason. :rolleyes:

load more replies (1 of 1)
BroKV

I had a Powerball and it sounded great at low volume.

BroKV

How's the Mark IV at low volume?

It's pretty good at 1/2 power, but way better cranked. :evil

Mike E Majik

I almost forgot, the vox nightrain... badass.

Post to Thread