smilefan
Experienced
On this past Saturday Claxor and I met up to do an equipment
shootout I thought might be of interest to this board, so here is
the report.
The mighty VHT 2/90/2 vs. the upstart Matrix GT800FX. Claxor’s
Matrix, and my VHT (loaded with NOS tubes for max performance).
I have read a lot about the Matrix and thought this matchup would
constitute the ultimate amp showdown for Axe players using rack amps
thru guitar cabs.
Hardly a fair matchup really. The VHT has ample tone shaping options for
a power amp. Depth/Presence/voicing options/Full-Half power option.
The Matrix is basically a slave amp with a couple volume pots.
The two sets of ears present were: Claxor, a metal player with a taste
for scooped, tight, precise gain and richly effected cleans and me, Smilefan.
I’m more like the old blues guy on the downtown corner tugging your
pants leg for a quarter. Old school, earthy type player.
We A/B’ed them thru 2 nearly identical open back pine 2x12 cabs
loaded with EVM 12L Classics, wired at 4 ohms each, and panned
back and forth for quick comparison.
We first noticed that each has its own sonic signature regardless of EQ.
Predictably, the Matrix was tighter and had a slight “square wave-y” character
to its attack/decay. The VHT was rounder, warmer but less precise,
and surprisingly, slightly louder (’12 O clock’ on the VHT equaled ‘2 O clock’
on the GT). Matrix seemed better for high gain and highly effected patches,
the VHT excelled at traditional Jazz, Pop, Blues, Classic Rock sounds.
Tweaking brought out the real surprises. With Claxor playing and me programming
we got the Matrix closer and closer to the VHT. To my great surprise I was able
to tweak the Matrix to within 90-95% of the VHT’s sonic package. In fact, at
the end of the session we tried playing both amps at once (each on a stereo side) at
small club volume and could only discern a very slight difference due to the fundamental
characters of the amps. The EQ’s sounded essentially identical. We both agreed that, in a live
band setting, neither of us would have been able to tell which was which.
Quite a shocker for me. I never dreamed the Matrix would fare so well. Our final full stereo test at club volume with a well-tweaked Metal patch into both amps at once produced stunning results.
A sonic mountain of fat, dense, squealy, sticky, skull-cracking ‘chunk’. Staggeringly good tone/feel. I was enraptured. The Matrix stood full shoulder to shoulder with the big bad VHT
(after some determined tweaking).
I am highly impressed. In summation, I say that for those using Gen. 1 Axes I can see why some
may still want a VHT for its instant tweakability. But for those making the jump to Axe II,
with its assignable face knobs, and unprecedented processing power, I see no reason to tolerate
the VHT’s weight, size, and expense (that includes re-tubing, the ‘gift that keeps on taking’).
Since I am moving on to Axe II, I put my money where my mouth is. The VHT is now sold,
and I have ordered one of the second round of Matrix GT production. Hopefully, Claxor
will chime in with his views. He was thinking of moving over to FRFR, but after our
full stereo test thru dual EVM cabs, he may be scarred for life.
shootout I thought might be of interest to this board, so here is
the report.
The mighty VHT 2/90/2 vs. the upstart Matrix GT800FX. Claxor’s
Matrix, and my VHT (loaded with NOS tubes for max performance).
I have read a lot about the Matrix and thought this matchup would
constitute the ultimate amp showdown for Axe players using rack amps
thru guitar cabs.
Hardly a fair matchup really. The VHT has ample tone shaping options for
a power amp. Depth/Presence/voicing options/Full-Half power option.
The Matrix is basically a slave amp with a couple volume pots.
The two sets of ears present were: Claxor, a metal player with a taste
for scooped, tight, precise gain and richly effected cleans and me, Smilefan.
I’m more like the old blues guy on the downtown corner tugging your
pants leg for a quarter. Old school, earthy type player.
We A/B’ed them thru 2 nearly identical open back pine 2x12 cabs
loaded with EVM 12L Classics, wired at 4 ohms each, and panned
back and forth for quick comparison.
We first noticed that each has its own sonic signature regardless of EQ.
Predictably, the Matrix was tighter and had a slight “square wave-y” character
to its attack/decay. The VHT was rounder, warmer but less precise,
and surprisingly, slightly louder (’12 O clock’ on the VHT equaled ‘2 O clock’
on the GT). Matrix seemed better for high gain and highly effected patches,
the VHT excelled at traditional Jazz, Pop, Blues, Classic Rock sounds.
Tweaking brought out the real surprises. With Claxor playing and me programming
we got the Matrix closer and closer to the VHT. To my great surprise I was able
to tweak the Matrix to within 90-95% of the VHT’s sonic package. In fact, at
the end of the session we tried playing both amps at once (each on a stereo side) at
small club volume and could only discern a very slight difference due to the fundamental
characters of the amps. The EQ’s sounded essentially identical. We both agreed that, in a live
band setting, neither of us would have been able to tell which was which.
Quite a shocker for me. I never dreamed the Matrix would fare so well. Our final full stereo test at club volume with a well-tweaked Metal patch into both amps at once produced stunning results.
A sonic mountain of fat, dense, squealy, sticky, skull-cracking ‘chunk’. Staggeringly good tone/feel. I was enraptured. The Matrix stood full shoulder to shoulder with the big bad VHT
(after some determined tweaking).
I am highly impressed. In summation, I say that for those using Gen. 1 Axes I can see why some
may still want a VHT for its instant tweakability. But for those making the jump to Axe II,
with its assignable face knobs, and unprecedented processing power, I see no reason to tolerate
the VHT’s weight, size, and expense (that includes re-tubing, the ‘gift that keeps on taking’).
Since I am moving on to Axe II, I put my money where my mouth is. The VHT is now sold,
and I have ordered one of the second round of Matrix GT production. Hopefully, Claxor
will chime in with his views. He was thinking of moving over to FRFR, but after our
full stereo test thru dual EVM cabs, he may be scarred for life.
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