Both EL84 and 6V6 eh? Wonder where I heard that before? :?

I'm curious how the balance between the set of tubes would work?


Gearhead do you recon there's a volume balance or something and both sets run all the time? The output impedance is also strange unless they run that way. Not to mention biasing issues

But the issue with that is @ 50:50 there'd be less drive. So confused now ???

TIME TO RESEARCH!!!

MikeM wrote: Gearhead do you recon there's a volume balance or something and both sets run all the time?

I reckon they use a stereo pot with the one side having reverse taper, but there might be a cheaper way of doing the split. In any case I am willing to put serious dough on them using both tubes all the time, if only to avoid the Mesa switching patent.

You make a good point on the drive: if you put the mix in the middle, you are not driving either tube nearly enough. Unless they don't really care about volume (there is some power-eater thing as well, right?) and have both tubes fully open at 50:50.

Personally I don't think 'somewhere in the middle' will sound better than either end, unless you crank lightning out of both pairs. In heavy overdrive conditions, the brash of the EL84 should cancel out the flabbyness of the 6V6. But then, why not just crank either one a bit less and retain sonic character? I like milk in the morning and beer in the evening, but I don't drink them mixed down in the afternoon...

Then there is the issue of changing settings between songs. Even if you find the perfect setting, will you find it back and better yet, find all other pedal settings that go with it for that one song?

Agreed ? Still an interesting typology. I'll never do it because I know I just need 2 amps, but knowledge isn't often bad.

Haven't found much but there's lots of speculation about it being mostfet based ?

Gearhead wrote: I like milk in the morning and beer in the evening, but I don't drink them mixed down in the afternoon...

Great quote! ?

man... Now i have serious gas

UK Guitarist magazine also raved about it. Made In China but they said the build quality was very good as I recall.

There were soundclips on the magazine CD comparing the two tube types. Tbh I had to concentrate really hard and throw in a pinch of imagination to hear the difference, it's subtle.

BMU wrote: There were soundclips on the magazine CD comparing the two tube types. Tbh I had to concentrate really hard and throw in a pinch of imagination to hear the difference, it's subtle.

Were they pushing them hard enough? Imho the real and recognizable difference only comes out at rather extreme gain. Mind you it may also have to do with the coupling caps if they are a little tight on the bass, does not allow the 6V6 flab to come out.

I don't think there is any one amp you can call "the one" - Closest would probably be the Cornford Carrera - but even that is not everything all at once. The Mesa Boogie Transatlantic has a few good sounds too ? (two I liked), but doesn't do absolutely everything equally well.

Gearhead wrote: Were they pushing them hard enough? Imho the real and recognizable difference only comes out at rather extreme gain.

+1. That was my first thought too.

The hows and whys are certainly worth going into. But the upshot seems to be - according to every review I've looked at - that it works. And works well. I think this was the best video demo on their site. The Guitar World review:



This review takes you through a bunch of the settings with various extremes and various blends. Sounds pretty spanky to my ears at all settings, with a definite difference between the two extreme tube blend positions and the in-betweens.

Did I mention it's really cheap? This is not a competitor for snazzy boutique-y amps, but for the Orange Tiny Terror and the Vox Night-train and the like. This would seem to beat them hands down for versatility - by which I mean not just the variety of sounds, but also the variety of situations in which you can use those sounds - maintaining the desired amount of head-room from living-room to reasonable club gig.

Unless I find a catch, I would seriously consider this thing as my "practise" amp - or for any situation in which the sound tech's going to give me grief for turning up my Bassman above 3 ?

Oh. Thinking of the "how easy will it be to find your settings on the stage?" issue. For some people, that might be a real issue if they want to swap sounds regularly. But this is a cheap amp. The versatility is there, but I almost feel like it's looking a gift-horse in the mouth a little to wonder why it doesn't have a bunch of convenience stuff included - like presets. To put it another way, I'm thinking it sounds unfair to say, "they've given us so much versatility in a cheap package, but they made it inconvenient to use!" It's certainly no less convenient that carrying a couple of amplifiers and changing between them.

But for me, it's more that I'd use one sound for one kind of music - say blues - and another for another - say rockabilly or surf. So that versatility would pay off big-time, but I wouldn't need to be fiddling with changing settings throughout a given set most likely.

So where do we now have to run to go get?

Gearhead wrote: So where do we now have to run to go get?

i'd also like to know

Hence my original post. If you guys don't know, does that mean that no one distributes Egnaters in SA?

I suppose that the $600 price wouldn't look quite as attractive in a South African store of course :?

I couldn't afford one of them right now, but if these unanimous rapturous reviews are anything to go by, I'm shelving any of my thoughts about other "practise" amps. It also sounds like a helluva first tube amp for someone.

There's import duty on amps right? (Or not..?)

Does $600 translate to R8,000 - 10,000 then? Hardly viable for a "practice" amp.

BMU wrote: There's import duty on amps right? (Or not..?)

Does $600 translate to R8,000 - 10,000 then? Hardly viable for a "practice" amp.

Except that it isn't a practise amp - but also make a practise amp unnecessary. 'Swhat I'm sayin'.

singemonkey wrote:

BMU wrote: There's import duty on amps right? (Or not..?)

Does $600 translate to R8,000 - 10,000 then? Hardly viable for a "practice" amp.

Except that it isn't a practise amp - but also make a practise amp unnecessary. 'Swhat I'm sayin'.

'k, gotcha

Regarding price ... as a comparison my orange is 859 dollahs and i paid 7k for it here so that equates to about 8 ront in the dollah ...using the same formula which may not be applicable at 600 dollah u looking at 5000 ront which is a great price.

20W valve is much more than a practive amp ,its a small venue amp as well ....

Iv briefly heard the 30watt head in person...
Was nice,but not amazing,thou I think one needs
A lot of time to get to understand one of those...

Vick wrote: Iv briefly heard the 30watt head in person...
Was nice,but not amazing,thou I think one needs
A lot of time to get to understand one of those...

Who had one?

R8 to the $ would be great.