those Hiwatt Custom amps

Stuckfast

I see a few of these second-hand for what looks like very good prices -- as in less than a third of the new cost. Not that I need an amp capable of reducing my neighbourhood to rubble, but I do like the sound of a Hiwatt. Are these ones not well thought-of, or something?

Gassage

Be more specific. Which ones?

ICBM

The association with the brand being owned by certain convicted criminals taints them.

They also suffer from being perceived as too loud and heavy for most people nowadays.

Modulus_Amps

The DR103 and 504 are huge and not very versatile (in terms of effects/ channel switching etc) but they sound great with the right cabs... I like loud amps

ICBM

I'll always admire the DR405 as well. Not because I really have any practical use for it, even for bass, but just as an example of how far it's possible to sensibly go with a valve audio amp - around 450W continuous clean and over 750W distorted, on the two I've worked on . They are quite heavy though

But if anything I thought the DR201 200W sounded better - not sure why.

pintspiller

There's been several owners over the lifetime. There are probably preferred years, etc

Modulus_Amps

ICBM said:

I'll always admire the DR405 as well. Not because I really have any practical use for it, even for bass, but just as an example of how far it's possible to sensibly go with a valve audio amp - around 450W continuous clean and over 750W distorted, on the two I've worked on . They are quite heavy though

Sounds like a good winter workshop heater..

ICBM

Modulus_Amps said:

Sounds like a good winter workshop heater..

I had to make dummy loads out of an old heater and a kettle to test them fully .

Stuckfast

So there are no quality concerns about these compared to the original Hiwatts, it's just the Musicground connection that puts people off? hmmmm...

prlgmnr

I would consider the Musicground connection to be a quality concern.

meltedbuzzbox

prlgmnr said:

I would consider the Musicground connection to be a quality concern.

In terms of the quality of the amps it isn't.
They're all hand wired and very well done.