Pondering a new amp with power scaling - any thoughts on these?

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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4159
    Ahhh, reading up, my Badcat turns off one EL34, still prefer the full fat version ;)
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  • RandallFlaggRandallFlagg Frets: 13929
    edited May 2018
    ICBM said:
    sweepy said:
    they have Triode Pentode switching I thought ?
    Not as far as I know.

    They have several different systems - turning off two valves in a 4-valve amp, running a single valve, cutting the mains supply voltage (but like a Variac - the primary voltage to the amp is effectively reduced), and using two separate push-pull valve sets (one of which is triode, in some amps), or sometimes more than one of these in the same amp. None of these are the same as either power scaling or pentode/triode switching though.
    However they do it, they reduce power and sound good at the lower power and volume settings


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    RandallFlagg said:

    However they do it, they reduce power and sound good at the lower power and volume settings
    Yes, but they work entirely differently from power scaling.

    Which may be why they sound good ;).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • rlwrlw Frets: 4671
    What master volume amps might be worth looking at?  I'm never going to be gigging so I don't need masses of power, but I can play at above bedroom level when I have the house to myself.


    Save a cow.  Eat a vegetarian.
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  • peteripeteri Frets: 1283

    I've had a Carr Skylark which had a built in attenuator - that worked superbly, really impressed.

    Also the Swart attenuator (forget the name) with a AST Tweed thingy, in Coda - really good.

    Most others, not so much

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  • CHRISB50CHRISB50 Frets: 4290

    I had a TK Imperial Mk2 with the inbuilt Ironman. Once you get down to bedroom volume levels the amp sounds totally different. I wasn't really a fan.

    I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin

    But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to

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  • @rlw if it helps I might be able to make a short sample recording via a Suhr reactive loadbox and speaker IR of the Morgan with power scaling switched off and on. It will be the bank holiday before I can get it done though...

    @icbm do you think this would tell us anything useful to compare the effect of the power scaling on that amp?
    Link to my trading feedback: http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58787/
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  • rlwrlw Frets: 4671
    @rlw if it helps I might be able to make a short sample recording via a Suhr reactive loadbox and speaker IR of the Morgan with power scaling switched off and on. It will be the bank holiday before I can get it done though...

    @icbm do you think this would tell us anything useful to compare the effect of the power scaling on that amp?
    Thanks for the offer but, to be honest, pretty much everything I hear on the internet sounds the same.  I think that you really need to be in a room with real things to get the best idea of what is going on.
    Save a cow.  Eat a vegetarian.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11414
    In my experience, power scaling by dropping the voltage on the power valves sounds better than attenuators.  Having said that, I agree with everyone who has said that neither of them will sound good when dropping a cranked valve amp down to "bedroom" levels.

    At genuinely low levels you will need a pedal, or use a modeller.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    I may be in a minority but I've usually found it possible to get a good very low volume sound with an attenuator, in combination with a master volume. (With the right attenuator for the amp, which does matter.) I never have with power scaling, even combined with a MV.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • grungebobgrungebob Frets: 3300
    The Orange Dual Dark 50 I have has an in built attenuator.  It seems to work very well, it also has channel volume and a half power switch. If I could get a presence switch added it’d be perfect. 
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