Huh...NAD, soon.

digitalscream

OK, so I was intending to get the Mooer Tube Engine when it comes out, as a lightweight/small power amp for my Helix. Then I saw a H&K Tubemeister 18 on Reverb for £250 (about £50 less than the Tube Engine's expected price).

Stuck a speculative offer of £235 in, given that I won a significant wad of cash last night, and...the buggers accepted it!

Guess I'll be finding out how much headroom these little critters have...

digitalscream

Argh.

darthed1981

Only 46 stops!

What they didn't tell you is that stop one is in Aberdeen

digitalscream

Mmmmm....pretty blue lights. Which, really, is what it's all about.

digitalscream

Well, just had a go...I've always been curious about these amps, and I'm certainly glad I never bought one when I was going pedals -> amp. There's not even enough gain in the lead channel (un-boosted) for my rhythm tone, much less solos, and it's a pretty "meh" gain (for me). The clean channel is...well, clean.

Still, the power valves seem to be in decent nick, so all in all...it should do the job I bought it for admirably

Alnico

I can't help seeing the potential for a replacement perspex front screen with all the control labels in exactly the right place (but please ask for them to read 0 - 11?) and the top section that bears the name and has so much blank space having something Custom done with it, to the owners taste?

Keep the original screen/cover back safely wrapped up and put away, it's totally reversible but there's a lot of potential to a light-up amp like that without ever changing the amp itself.

Artwork with selective parts cut out to let the light through? in different opacities to give the impression of light and shade? Pieces literally cut right out of the perspex?

There's loads you could do with it but as it stands, yeah it looks cool.
Reminds me of the R34 Nissan Skyline for some reason.

It's interesting to hear they're low gain.
Does it have a reasonable amount of clarity and what speakers are you running it through?

digitalscream

Alnico said:

It's interesting to hear they're low gain.
Does it have a reasonable amount of clarity and what speakers are you running it through?

Rugby's on, so excuse the brevity...

I suppose it's kinda-sorta clear, but surprisingly compressed-sounding, and the clarity isn't a patch on my JCA50H. I'm running it through my Matrix cab, which sounds excellent with everything else. I guess the clean channel might make a good pedal platform; I might get another Bogner Red to stick in front of that as my backup rig in case the Helix dies.

As an all-in-one amp, though, this is playing several leagues below any Jet City amp I've used. 

digitalscream

It's not all bad, though. It's insanely small (smaller in every direction than the Kraken), very light (5kg) and works great as a power amp. Therefore it satisfies all the criteria I had for it - now I just need to try it at a rehearsal to make sure it's got the headroom.

Alnico

Do you reckon you'll keep it or was it so cheap as to be worth keeping as a 'Thing' on it's own to switch over to.
Wet / Dry set up maybe?
Double tracker pedal in between in stereo?

I've never been able to have two amps in the same room without trying to connect them in stereo.

Wet/Dry/Wet is just sonic nirvana for me.
The problem is speakers but still....

Uuuugghhhhhh

darcym

what a sad review of the amp, I always liked the idea and value for money of these but never got the chance to try one.

digitalscream

Alnico said:

Do you reckon you'll keep it or was it so cheap as to be worth keeping as a 'Thing' on it's own to switch over to.
Wet / Dry set up maybe?
Double tracker pedal in between in stereo?

I've never been able to have two amps in the same room without trying to connect them in stereo.

Wet/Dry/Wet is just sonic nirvana for me.
The problem is speakers but still....

Uuuugghhhhhh

Mate, I'm all about the Helix now. It does exactly what I want, exactly when I want it; including stereo-ness, should I feel the need.

All I needed/wanted was a cheap, lightweight power amp. I was going to get the Mooer Tube Engine (20w power amp), but then this popped up at £65 less than the expected price of the Mooer.

darcym said:

what a sad review of the amp, I always liked the idea and value for money of these but never got the chance to try one.

Yeah, I think the best one-word description of this one is "uninspiring". If I was allowed three words, they'd be "dull and lifeless".

darcym

love an honest review, just disappointed with the outcome. 

digitalscream

If I'm honest...even if the power amp does a similar thing to the Helix sound, I'll probably still keep it for the practicality and just run a DI output from the Helix to the PA; as long as it's clear enough on stage, it'll do the job.

Hell, even replacing the valves is easy done without biasing thanks to the TSC.

DrJazzTap

I saw this on your Facebook I wondered why you went for this. I thought that if it was just a poweramp scenario you would have gone down the jca22 route. 

digitalscream

DrJazzTap said:

I saw this on your Facebook I wondered why you went for this. I thought that if it was just a poweramp scenario you would have gone down the jca22 route. 

I was honestly going to, but I figured I ought to broaden my horizons a bit. Also, the TM18 is half the size and weight, and comes with a soft case - those are big pluses.

If it doesn't work out, then you've hit on my backup plan - I know that a JCA22H works perfectly for this, so I'll probably go back down that road.