Compact hiss-free valve combo - recommendations?

What's Hot
BeexterBeexter Frets: 597
I've managed to accumulate some cash in my gear fund and fancy a small, good quality noise-free valve combo. 
I'm not wedded to any particular tone family but want rich cleans up to classic rock levels of gain.
Something in the 15 -30w range ideally as I'd like to gig it when that is feasible again and do need cleans at gig volume.
One channel is fine, reverb would be nice but compact and hiss-free are important. I'd like to keep the budget under £1,000.
I'd love to get some recommendations that the good folk here have experienced .
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
«1

Comments

  • ecc83ecc83 Frets: 1591
    If you want clean gig volumes 30 watts from valves is about the minimum power rating (50W+ for transistors) but of course, speaker sensitivity makes a huge difference.
    For the lowest noise amplifiers I will have to spam and say "Blackstar HT-40" or one of their bigger models. The HT60 for instance would cope with anything up to Wembley and even give that a bloody good go!
    Some here might know of Cliff Brown? Well, he did the bulk of the design work on the HT range except the HT-5 (and if you wanted a REALLY quiet 5W+ amp, nothing quieter on the planet)

    Dave.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    ecc83 said:
    Respectfully- this is completely against my experience- Blackstar are generally buzzy and horrible things with no decent clean tone at all.

    The Soldano in the classifieds is the steal of the year for what you want.

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BeexterBeexter Frets: 597
    edited March 2021
    I wonder if a level of hiss at idle is inherent to valve amps. Most of the solid state amps I have owned have had a noticeably lower noise floor. 
    All the valve amps I've owned have been  heads so am curious if anyone has come across small valve combos with low noise.
    I've got two Mesa heads which can select 5, 15 or 25 watt settings and are capable of cleans at gig volume, hence thinking of the 15-30w range. 
    @Gassage, did you mean the Lucky 13? If so, it looks to be quite substantial given it's on castors, so probably physically too big in terms of what I'm after.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    Beexter said:
    I wonder if a level of hiss at idle is inherent to valve amps. Most of the solid state amps I have owned have had a noticeably lower noise floor. 
    All the valve amps I've owned have been  heads so am curious if anyone has come across small valve combos with low noise.
    I've got two Mesa heads which can select 5, 15 or 25 watt settings and are capable of cleans at gig volume. 
    @Gassage, did you mean the Lucky 13? If so, it looks to be quite substantial given it's on castors, so probably physically too big in terms of what I'm after.

    Yep- I am gassing hugely for it

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    Beexter said:
    I wonder if a level of hiss at idle is inherent to valve amps. Most of the solid state amps I have owned have had a noticeably lower noise floor. 
    All the valve amps I've owned have been  heads so am curious if anyone has come across small valve combos with low noise.
    I've got two Mesa heads which can select 5, 15 or 25 watt settings and are capable of cleans at gig volume, hence thinking of the 15-30w range. 
    @Gassage, did you mean the Lucky 13? If so, it looks to be quite substantial given it's on castors, so probably physically too big in terms of what I'm after.
    Valves are inherently more noisy devices than solid state devices (transistors); that's simply a function of their mode of operation.

    Obviously the more gain there is in an amp the worse the noise issues.

    When designing an amp there are ways to minimize noise, although many amps I see don't seem to pay much attention to this.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ecc83ecc83 Frets: 1591
    Most of the noise in a valve pre amp stage comes from the anode load resistors, almost always 100k and they will always generate 3 times, 10dB the noise of a10k collector load and op amps can be even quieter than discrete transistor circuitry (at guitar levels)
    Furthermore some amp designs still cling to noisy, unreliable carbon comp' resistors whereas most of us have moved on to Metal Film.

    AND! If anyone has a "buzzy" Blackstar amp tell them! They go to great lengths to make them as quiet as possible. No one can prevent the odd cathode/heater leak.

    Dave.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    There is a simple solution to this if the problem is hiss at home volumes when the amp is turned down - get an attenuator. By running the amp louder and then turning down the whole signal after the amp, you also turn down the noise.

    The THD Hotplate is an especially good choice for Mesa amps in my experience, and actually has an extra dedicated noise reduction feature.

    "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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    ecc83 said:
    Most of the noise in a valve pre amp stage comes from the anode load resistors, almost always 100k and they will always generate 3 times, 10dB the noise of a10k collector load and op amps can be even quieter than discrete transistor circuitry (at guitar levels)
    Furthermore some amp designs still cling to noisy, unreliable carbon comp' resistors whereas most of us have moved on to Metal Film.

    AND! If anyone has a "buzzy" Blackstar amp tell them! They go to great lengths to make them as quiet as possible. No one can prevent the odd cathode/heater leak.

    Dave.
    Actually most of the noise comes from the valve itself; they are simply higher noise devices than transistors.

    The Johnson noise from the load resistor is insignificant in the noise calculations for either BJTs or valves.

    Discrete transistors circuits can also be made quieter than op-amps by the way, although whether there is much practical difference in a guitar amp is a moot point.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    There's an old quote from Hartley Peavey which I've always remembered - this was from the days when they only made amps with valve power sections, the preamps were all solid-state - he was criticising amps like Mesa/Boogies exactly for this issue, and he said something like "the problem with using tubes for distortion is that a mouse fart at the input jack becomes a hurricane at the speaker".

    Of course they later went on to make the 5150, which is one of the highest-gain valve amps ever made...

    "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

    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BeexterBeexter Frets: 597
    edited March 2021
    ICBM said:
    There's an old quote from Hartley Peavey which I've always remembered - this was from the days when they only made amps with valve power sections, the preamps were all solid-state - he was criticising amps like Mesa/Boogies exactly for this issue, and he said something like "the problem with using tubes for distortion is that a mouse fart at the input jack becomes a hurricane at the speaker".

    Of course they later went on to make the 5150, which is one of the highest-gain valve amps ever made...
    Don't get me wrong, I do like the Mesa's but both are heads. I've also got a Quilter mini head but no combo at the moment so fancy a small, simple, quality valve combo without cascading gain stages and the associated noise..
    Due to restrictions at the moment,  it'll be home use mainly but would like something giggable for when normality returns.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ArchtopDaveArchtopDave Frets: 1367
    edited March 2021
    ICBM said:
    There's an old quote from Hartley Peavey which I've always remembered - this was from the days when they only made amps with valve power sections, the preamps were all solid-state - he was criticising amps like Mesa/Boogies exactly for this issue, and he said something like "the problem with using tubes for distortion is that a mouse fart at the input jack becomes a hurricane at the speaker".

    Of course they later went on to make the 5150, which is one of the highest-gain valve amps ever made...
    How come some eminent Pedal Maker hasn't so far made a Mouse Fart Distortion Pedal???
    I'm sure the Joe Bonamassa Signature MFD would be a big seller.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    ICBM said:



    Of course they later went on to make the 5150, which is one of the highest-gain valve amps ever made...
    And one of noisiest......
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    jpfamps said:

    And one of noisiest......
    Exactly proving his point :).

    "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

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited March 2021
    Gassage said:
    ecc83 said:
    Respectfully- this is completely against my experience- Blackstar are generally buzzy and horrible things with no decent clean tone at all.

    The Soldano in the classifieds is the steal of the year for what you want.
    I agree 're Blackstars. Every one I've played ( about 5 or 6 over the years) has just been horrible. Not just bad cleans but meh gain tones and they all just seem so dull and lifeless. My solidstate Marshall Valvestate MkI sounds and feels way better, both cleans and gain channels. I simply dont get the love for these amps. 
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Modulus_AmpsModulus_Amps Frets: 2569
    tFB Trader
    If a valve amp is properly grounded it should be really low noise at home volume levels when playing clean with good valves fitted, unfortunatly most amps are not. If it has a master volume it should be really very quite when playing clean.

    IME In high gain cascaded amps the input grid stopper is often a big noise culpret, thats why some builders use a smaller grid stopper like 10k.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9448
    Rich cleans hiss free ?

    Carr Rambler. Totally silent, loves any peDal.... gain from your pedals.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ecc83ecc83 Frets: 1591
    Maybe modern Triodes are noisier but I built a 4.1 mono microphone mixer many decades ago with ECC83s and that was amplifying ribbon mics, piano and choir, NOT rock! The noise performance was good enough for 15ips 1/4" tape.

    The ECC83 is not THE best valve for the purpose but becuase it is so common it is used in some mid priced capacitor "toob" microphones.

    Dave.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • dazzajldazzajl Frets: 5654
    The very best Jack of all amp that I’ve played is the TM Deluxe Reverb. If this valve snob had to pick one amp to cover every need and situation, it would be the TM in a heartbeat 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ChuffolaChuffola Frets: 2014
    Also think about the Blues Cubes series from Roland - no valves but I just picked up a Blues Cube Hot and it's very quiet in terms of low level hiss. It also sounds fantastic and has an step-down "attenuator" which can drop output down to 0.5w - which is still very loud if the master and gain are full up. 

    Has a superb valve "response" and feels right when playing it. With the boost engaged turning the gain up beyond half way just seems to provide more saturation and sag, much like many real valve amps. 

    The TM DR would be even nicer, of course - but the Blues Cube Hot has a small footprint, 12 inch speak and sounds superb - might be what you're after?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BeexterBeexter Frets: 597
    Chuffola said:
    Also think about the Blues Cubes series from Roland - no valves but I just picked up a Blues Cube Hot and it's very quiet in terms of low level hiss. It also sounds fantastic and has an step-down "attenuator" which can drop output down to 0.5w - which is still very loud if the master and gain are full up. 

    Has a superb valve "response" and feels right when playing it. With the boost engaged turning the gain up beyond half way just seems to provide more saturation and sag, much like many real valve amps. 

    The TM DR would be even nicer, of course - but the Blues Cube Hot has a small footprint, 12 inch speak and sounds superb - might be what you're after?
    Good shout- although I fancied a small valve combo, the Blues Cube Hot or Nextone Stage could well be worth a look.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.