Power amp suggestions for Axe FX, Kemper, etc.

[Inflames626]

Just a paltry 4 cents here….

- a powered cab would be simplest, like a FRFR/PA kinda thing. They’re inexpensive too. Can get super loud when needed, and you can use it with Bluetooth for playing music from your phone. A win-win.
- or, if you have a tube amp with an effects loop use that for power
- for home use I find 2 x12s too big. A nice 1 x 12 v30 goes a long way
- for home use and solid state power you could literally use almost anything - small DIY power amps, those little pedal power amps, cheap SS rack power, etc. I have a small parts express amp that works fine for powering a cab at bedroom volumes.

I've thought about an upper end Katana as a non-computer room practice rig (playing from a music stand with metronome), but it seems like a duplicate effort when I can just build something around an Axe, use that in the other practice room, and use that practice rig to double as my touring rig.

I use my PC, DAW, and plugins for most day to day sounds.

 

[Inflames626]

Ola posted this as well about the Positive Grid powered speakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wxuqRXHP7U

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Ola posted this as well about the Positive Grid powered speakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wxuqRXHP7U

He comes to the conclusion he doesn't quite like them in the end, no? That they're boomy.

 

[Inflames626]

He comes to the conclusion he doesn't quite like them in the end, no? That they're boomy.

I think he said they're fine to listen to stuff through, but not suited to guitar.

Like playing guitar through stereo speakers.

Again, this leads me to the crossroads of investing in a high end toy that's kind of a dead end, or spending a little more for a bona fide portable rig.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I think you've got plenty of choices for what you want, TBH. The Axe FX is tweakable that you can make whatever you get for it work well as long as it's got the headroom.

If you can spend the money on a good tube poweramp, I'd go for that, personally.

If you want transparent, the Duncan stuff is solid.

If you want colored (in a good way) but still powerful and budget-friendly, go for the Orange.

The Rocktron stuff is also well-regarded.

I'd go modular, personally. Poweramp and cab separately. That way, if you outgrow one, you can upgrade one part instead of having to replace everything.

Plus if you decide, you can plug into your 4x12 at some point too.​

 

[Inflames626]

My Carvin MTS3200 4x12 cab should handle 400 watts at 4, 8, or 16 ohms. And I have my Randall 2x15 which I think also does 400 watts.

I'm looking at some Crown and QSC stuff as well and honestly it's hard to find anything solid state with low enough wattage for a single 2 x 12 cab in mono. I'd be fine if I were using my 4x12s. The bright side is the low wattage power amps are pretty cheap--a few hundred.

I may have to get them out of storage but they would use up a lot of space in the other practice room.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I only use my modelers for recording & use the onboard power amp sims for that. But I have occasionally plugged it into my CRown XLS 2002 PA amp using the XLR outputs from the modelers (L-R) into the corresponding XLR inputs on the amp. I can then run it in stereo either with IR's or two 4x12's. Overkill for a "practice rig" maybe (though it's sounds incredible at low volumes with all that wattage behind it)....but still a whole lot of fun.

The Crown sounds phenomenal and is very reasonably priced. And is totallly suitedto guitar apllications (it's a power amp and amplifies a signal...all that's required) When it's not hooked up to my my modelers I use it in my hi-fi/music stereo rack :bigthumb:

 

[Inflames626]

A quick perusal of Reverb shows Axe FX II units and earlier going for about $600-800. My ART SGX 2000 Express rack unit cost that much back in '96. It's not a bad market for them considering what the Axe units can do.

Throw in maybe $300 for a used power amp and it's really hard to justify a brand new high end Katana, IMO.

I'm leaning away from tubes because I don't want a colored power amp to fight against the Axe's settings.

Plus I don't want the heat and maintenance issues with tubes.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The one that I would suggest staying away from is the EHX Magnum 44. It's got many good reviews, but I personally don't hear it. I use to have one. It overdrives pretty easily at full-band volumes, and when it does, it sounds super harsh.

 

[Inflames626]

The one that I would suggest staying away from is the EHX Magnum 44. It's got many good reviews, but I personally don't hear it. I use to have one. It overdrives pretty easily at full-band volumes, and when it does, it sounds super harsh.

Thanks Rex_Rocker. As much as high school aged me would love buying a used Mesa 90:90 or Marshall 9200 those things could be decades old and need a retube after years of heavy use.

Like with used cars, if you know what you're doing I'm sure they're a steal but I'm not an electrician and prefer a less involved approach.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

As much as high school aged me would love buying a used Mesa 90:90 or Marshall 9200 those things could be decades old and need a retube after years of heavy use.

Like with used cars, if you know what you're doing I'm sure they're a steal but I'm not an electrician and prefer a less involved approach.

You're right.

When I first came here, I intended to rebuild my rig around my HX Stomp.

I was originally looking for a Duncan Power Stage. They were out of stock everywhere. Then the Orange Pedal Baby. Same thing. I started looking into the cheaper alternatives like the Harley Benton, the little Carvin which is a rebranded Harley Benton, or the ISP Stealth. All of them had mixed reviews.

So I ended up getting a Mooer Tube Engine that I've honestly fired up like 4 or 5 times at most. Second or third time, one of the tubes started loudly cracking. So I went back to Mexico, got some of my tubes from my tube stash, and replaced the EL84's with NOS 6P14P-EV's which are bullet-proof and sound the least like EL84's out of any EL84-type I've tried (that's a great thing, honestly). I've turned it on like twice after that, and it's worked well. But like you said, certainly not maintenance free even for how little it's been used.

I wish I would've waited for the Orange or the Duncan.

 

[Inflames626]

You're right.

When I first came here, I intended to rebuild my rig around my HX Stomp.

I was originally looking for a Duncan Power Stage. They were out of stock everywhere. Then the Orange Pedal Baby. Same thing. I started looking into the cheaper alternatives like the Harley Benton, the little Carvin which is a rebranded Harley Benton, or the ISP Stealth. All of them had mixed reviews.

So I ended up getting a Mooer Tube Engine that I've honestly fired up like 4 or 5 times at most. Second or third time, one of the tubes started loudly cracking. So I went back to Mexico, got some of my tubes from my tube stash, and replaced the EL84's with NOS 6P14P-EV's which are bullet-proof and sound the least like EL84's out of any EL84-type I've tried (that's a great thing, honestly). I've turned it on like twice after that, and it's worked well. But like you said, certainly not maintenance free even for how little it's been used.

I wish I would've waited for the Orange or the Duncan.

I'll try to see if I can find a 90s or 00s Carvin power amp--if they even made a solid state one.

I have one of their old single rack space units--the FX2--which was a reasonable cost for what it did--flange, chorus, phase, all with rotary knobs.

Meanwhile I need to read up more on what amps I can match to what cabs without blowing a speaker or crossover. It's hard finding a low enough wattage for a 2x12" at 4 or 8 ohms mono.

Plus I need to figure out if the cab in question is series, parallel, or both in the case of a 4x12".

At the end of the day I may move one of my 4x12"s in there and call it a day. I don't feel like paying shipping for even a 2x12" anyway.

 

[misterwhizzy]

The one that I would suggest staying away from is the EHX Magnum 44. It's got many good reviews, but I personally don't hear it. I use to have one. It overdrives pretty easily at full-band volumes, and when it does, it sounds super harsh.

Agreed. I was trying to do a pedalboard-only setup, and I bought one of these only to return it.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'll try to see if I can find a 90s or 00s Carvin power amp--if they even made a solid state one.

I have one of their old single rack space units--the FX2--which was a reasonable cost for what it did--flange, chorus, phase, all with rotary knobs.

Meanwhile I need to read up more on what amps I can match to what cabs without blowing a speaker or crossover. It's hard finding a low enough wattage for a 2x12" at 4 or 8 ohms mono.

Plus I need to figure out if the cab in question is series, parallel, or both in the case of a 4x12".

At the end of the day I may move one of my 4x12"s in there and call it a day. I don't feel like paying shipping for even a 2x12" anyway.

Carvin stuff is pretty solid for the most part, but the current little SS poweramp they offer right now is outsourced. It's just a cheapie generic Chinese poweramp that many sellers rebrand. And I think it's cheaper just buying the Harley Benton branded version.

 

[maug2122]

Looks like the PS700 is the only SD rackmount style power amp. I prefer everything in a rack to pedal format cause I'm old and it's 1991 to me. They're out of stock on it.

Everything else is pedal form factor. Not sure I'd need 700 watts.

Why is the wattage that high? Makes sense for a bass rig but not guitar.

I got a rack system with two 12ax7 tubes with balanced outputs going into two VHT Valvulator 1's = three 12ax7 tubes going into two Crate Power Blocks that are Class D amps. Those tubes give me all the classic tube dynamics and tube crunch.

If you're in need of tube dynamics and you have Modeler that doesn't have tubes, a Quiter with tubes will help you get some tube crunch and dynamics .
As the guy in the video said and demonstrated, the solid state wasn't too dynamic and kind of enimic in the lower frequencies, tubes will definitely add girth in the lower register .

 

[Inflames626]

I got a rack system with two 12ax7 tubes with balanced outputs going into two VHT Valvulator 1's = three 12ax7 tubes going into two Crate Power Blocks that are Class D amps. Those tubes give me all the classic tube dynamics and tube crunch.

If you're in need of tube dynamics and you have Modeler that doesn't have tubes, a Quiter with tubes will help you get some tube crunch and dynamics .
As the guy in the video said and demonstrated, the solid state wasn't too dynamic and kind of enimic in the lower frequencies, tubes will definitely add girth in the lower register .

The PS700 comes with rack ears I've found out. Those little Crate power amps seem surprisingly popular.

 

[El Dunco]

Does Quilter even have a model with tubes?

 

[DankStar]

I got a rack system with two 12ax7 tubes with balanced outputs.

what piece of gear is that?

 

[El Dunco]

what piece of gear is that?

The Digitech 2112. He runs from them into his valvulators then into the FRONT (the flexwave 5 preamp) of his Powerblocks which is also a facsimile of a tube preamp. I have no idea how he does it because running my modelling into anything but the power section of my PB doesn’t work for me at all so I’m dying to hear a sound sample.

 

[ErikH]

Does Quilter even have a model with tubes?

I don't think they do.

For any modeling unit like the AxeFX, Kemper, HX Stomp, etc., just get a powered FRFR and be done with it. Can even run 2 of them and have your own little array of sound right there. Then feed the FOH from one of the FRFR's output. With the speaker cab sims in modelers now (meaning they are so much better), why use anything else with them?