My favourite new power amp! Seymour Duncan Power Stage 170

Ant Music

Fractal Fanatic
For a couple of years I have been powering a live cab using the EHX 44 magnum power amp whilst going direct with the stock IRs to FOH. After getting fed up with the lack of head room for my cab feed I finally bought the new Seymour Duncan Power Stage 170 power amp.

HOLY FU CK this thing sounds amazing!! So much better it's hard to describe. So much more power than before (duh, it's 170W) and the clean headroom is to die for. No trouble competing with the other guitarist and his Mesa for a change. Yay!

I definitely recommend you try it out if you are looking for an external poweramp. I have avoided the Matrix rack mounted style because I wanted to keep my rack 2U (rack bag). This thing kicks absolute arse! I'm so glad I got it and it still fits in my guitar case. Winning!
 
I went from an EHX Magnum 44 to a Power Stage 170 too and I love it. It's loud, clean and seems to be relatively flat. Not that the Magnum was bad, but it definitely has limited headroom.
 
I got sick of my cleans breaking up when I didn't want them to. No matter what I did I couldn't compete with the other guitarist. Now it is amazing and my tone is sooooo much better. Helps the Axe Fx to shine going through a good power amp.

If anyone is thinking of pulling the trigger on tis then seriously go for it. You won't be disappointed.
 
Yes, looking into this at the moment.

I want to remove the GT1000FX from my rack. And while the Power Station is the best amp I've used, it requires some adjustments which do not play along nicely with my direct (FOH) tone.

Still looking for a thorough comparison of the PS 170 with the GT1000FX.
 
(IGNORANT QUESTION ALERT...)

So.. how are you guys running it exactly?? Running your respective Axe FX --> power stage --> cab? I don't quite get it.. nor do I get how it competes with other guitarists setups?
 
(IGNORANT QUESTION ALERT...)

So.. how are you guys running it exactly?? Running your respective Axe FX --> power stage --> cab? I don't quite get it.. nor do I get how it competes with other guitarists setups?

Ok basically I run the left channel XLR of output 1 to FOH with a cab sim. I also send the non cab signal out through the right 1/4" into the power amp and the an amp cable from that into the cab.

So the end of my signal chain looks like this

----------- CAB BLOCK (panned L)--------------| Output
*******\VOL BLOCK (panned right)--------|


This only will work for a mono set up but it also allows you to make full use of the FX LOOP for running signal to external devices.

In all I am running

Cab Sim to FOH
Non Cab sim to Power Amp and real Cab
Send and return signal to external devices via FX LOOP.
 
Yes, looking into this at the moment.

I want to remove the GT1000FX from my rack. And while the Power Station is the best amp I've used, it requires some adjustments which do not play along nicely with my direct (FOH) tone.

Still looking for a thorough comparison of the PS 170 with the GT1000FX.

A comparison between the Seymour Duncan and Matrix would indeed be valuable!
 
It’s up against stiff competition. Because I brought the Power Station to rehearsal today, and that is THE best-sounding power amp solution, IMO. Addictive. You haven’t felt the power of the Axe-Fx until you play it with the Power Station and a Cab.
But the resonance adjustments it requires in the Amp block limit its use, sadly.
 
It’s up against stiff competition. Because I brought the Power Station to rehearsal today, and that is THE best-sounding power amp solution, IMO. Addictive. You haven’t felt the power of the Axe-Fx until you play it with the Power Station and a Cab.
But the resonance adjustments it requires in the Amp block limit its use, sadly.

Don't need a power station. I have 2 different Engl tube power amps from the 90's that are unbelievable :) Both are mono or stereo, and cost less than 400.00 each used. 1 is El84's and 1 is El34's. Love them as soundwise they're perfect for me and reliabilitywise , so far so good. Still have many other power amps too but those are great for my ax8 setup. Eric
 
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I’m not a fan of running FAS’ power amp modeling into a traditional guitar power amp. I can hear it in the sound. The Power Station doesn’t have that.
 
I’m not a fan of running FAS’ power amp modeling into a traditional guitar power amp. I can hear it in the sound. The Power Station doesn’t have that.

Fully understand that! With my most recent upgrade to 9.02 (didn't do 9.03) I've disabled power amp modeling on all my gigging programs and I'm happy as can be. Scared to upgrade more though. Prior to this I had run power amp modeling on a lot of my patches even going into the tube amps, Whatever works for people but to say 1 was is THE BEST solution with the Fractals isn't correct. I assume you meant 'for you' and then of course it'd be correct :) Enjoy , and good luck with the potential new solution!!

Eric
 
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With my most recent upgrade to 9.02 (didn't do 9.03) I've disabled power amp modeling on all my gigging programs and I'm happy as can be.

Yes, that works. But then the direct signal is handicapped and you have to mike the cab. I would not want to go back to that, direct-to-FOH is such a convenience.
 
Yes, that works. But then the direct signal is handicapped and you have to mike the cab. I would not want to go back to that, direct-to-FOH is such a convenience.

That makes sense but I'm good either way. I found the cab modeling with the direct signal still works totally fine thru our pa's , or via mic'ing, My power amps were ones I had kicking around and didn't need to buy a new mono power amp for 700.00, and it's nice being happy as can be with something we already own! haha. I also didn't have to buy new headphones, reference monitors, stage monitors,etc. All of my old gear works great with the AX8, and maybe it's just having worked with different types of gear for so many years. For others it's much easier just getting the 'new stuff' that's all designed to be easier to use "in conjuction with each other". I still have well over 20 tube amps, so take that with a grain of salt, but I love gear and can make anything work for me. Maybe I do it the harder way, but I still enjoy it and get rehired at gigs and that's what really counts. Rock on and Happy New Year!

Eric
 
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