Best portable power amp in 2017

boogieman75 said:
The Quilter MicroBlock 45 arrived yesterday and it sounds great! I am planning on using the ax8 live this weekend and the quilter to power my sourmash 1x12 vox ext cab replica with a celestion gold. It gets loud!

I briefly compared it to my matrix gt1000fx. The quilter can definitely hold it's own against the matrix in a mono/non-bridged setup. I will do more testing and report my findings after this weekend.
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Have you tried EHX Magnum before? It would be great if you did and compare it with it! Since they are in the same price range and size!
 
Sixstring said:
I'm suprised that Matrix has not jumped on the pedal board amp band wagon. Their designs are really nice and compact it would be interesting to see what they could do in this market.
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Coming soon! It's an old design from when we first started but have revived it given the availability of floor mounted stuff now. Just deciding whether to give it a more "tube like" feel (like we've done by softening the bottom end on our VB800) or keep it fairly flat. 140w at 8 ohms, I've been using it at rehearsals for the last couple of weeks with a passive FR12 and it's great. Getting some new boards built for it as we speak so hopefully we'll get it up and running sometime soon.

Amplipod AX8.jpg
 
And there you go! Can out toss out some specs and pricing yet? it looks pretty big but I'll bet it's worth the real estate.
 
Cem said:
Have you tried EHX Magnum before? It would be great if you did and compare it with it! Since they are in the same price range and size!
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No I haven't. But the Quilter micro sounded great! It was LOUD. In fact the sound man wanted me to shield it lol!

My drummer even commented how much it sounded like a real cranked tube amp. And I concur... Side by side with the actual ac15c1 minus the blue in the vox and gold in the ext cab...I bet I could hardly tell the difference. Good stuff!
 
Lightningboy said:
Coming soon! It's an old design from when we first started but have revived it given the availability of floor mounted stuff now. Just deciding whether to give it a more "tube like" feel (like we've done by softening the bottom end on our VB800) or keep it fairly flat. 140w at 8 ohms, I've been using it at rehearsals for the last couple of weeks with a passive FR12 and it's great. Getting some new boards built for it as we speak so hopefully we'll get it up and running sometime soon.

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Looks big but sounds promising.
 
Lightningboy said:
Coming soon! It's an old design from when we first started but have revived it given the availability of floor mounted stuff now. Just deciding whether to give it a more "tube like" feel (like we've done by softening the bottom end on our VB800) or keep it fairly flat. 140w at 8 ohms, I've been using it at rehearsals for the last couple of weeks with a passive FR12 and it's great. Getting some new boards built for it as we speak so hopefully we'll get it up and running sometime soon.

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Can we get some more info on this? :)
 
Yes unfortunately the size is a drawback of using a Class AB system in that the heat generated needs a heatsink and fan. We looked at doing a smaller Class D thing but for us Class AB is a lot more "musical" sounding, especially for guitar stuff. We're looking at redesigning that case anyway so it may well be a little less long. It's around the length of the AX8 already. Weight will come down with an aluminium casing. At the moment it fits nicely in the top pocket of my Ritter case or in the front of my cheapo Thomann FX bag which carries the AX8 so it's not too huge.
140 watts RMS at 8 ohms which does mean that the 16 ohm power is only 60-70w. Increasing that power would mean adding a couple more Mosfets which would of increase the cost and heat etc. No final decision on price but certainly not expensive.

I've been testing the old prototype in a really difficult room (concrete walls, drums frighteningly loud) and it's had no problem running into a passive FR12 at 8 ohms. Tons of headroom left. Once we get the boards in, it should be fairly quick getting it sorted, just the casing and final sound to tweak (whether a soft bottom end or "flat").
 
Lightningboy said:
Yes unfortunately the size is a drawback of using a Class AB system in that the heat generated needs a heatsink and fan. We looked at doing a smaller Class D thing but for us Class AB is a lot more "musical" sounding, especially for guitar stuff.
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TANSTAAFL. Anyone who has done any design gets it. Every design is a set of trade offs... So for these tiny power amps even if they are from a great brand, one of those key trade offs in the design is going to be size (and another is price) and it is going to come at the expense of quality. A power amp in that minuscule stomp box form factor can only perform so well, I do not care what name is stamped on the box.

I expect Matrix stuff to be quality, so am not be shocked if their unit is a little bigger or more expensive because it is probably the smallest design that still meets their higher standard for best performance. Would make me hopeful if I were shopping for such a thing... in fact it looks tempting. ;)
 
Lightningboy said:
Just deciding whether to give it a more "tube like" feel (like we've done by softening the bottom end on our VB800) or keep it fairly flat.
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Is it practical to make this a switchable option? My thought is that using this with a guitar cab we may prefer the "softer" bottom end, but using this amp with a passive FRFR cab we may opt for the flat setting.
 
Lightningboy said:
Yes unfortunately the size is a drawback of using a Class AB system in that the heat generated needs a heatsink and fan. We looked at doing a smaller Class D thing but for us Class AB is a lot more "musical" sounding, especially for guitar stuff. We're looking at redesigning that case anyway so it may well be a little less long. It's around the length of the AX8 already. Weight will come down with an aluminium casing. At the moment it fits nicely in the top pocket of my Ritter case or in the front of my cheapo Thomann FX bag which carries the AX8 so it's not too huge.
140 watts RMS at 8 ohms which does mean that the 16 ohm power is only 60-70w. Increasing that power would mean adding a couple more Mosfets which would of increase the cost and heat etc. No final decision on price but certainly not expensive.

I've been testing the old prototype in a really difficult room (concrete walls, drums frighteningly loud) and it's had no problem running into a passive FR12 at 8 ohms. Tons of headroom left. Once we get the boards in, it should be fairly quick getting it sorted, just the casing and final sound to tweak (whether a soft bottom end or "flat").
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Sounds Greaat! Any possible ETA about the unit? Mid 2017? Early 2018?
 
R I Blues said:
Is it practical to make this a switchable option? My thought is that using this with a guitar cab we may prefer the "softer" bottom end, but using this amp with a passive FRFR cab we may opt for the flat setting.
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I don't think he woulda mentioned it all out in the open unless they were planning on making it switchable "based on user feedback" ;)
 
The switchable thing will come down to cost. We're actually looking at implementing this on another unit, more VB800 sized and stereo.

In non technical terms, the more MosFets there are the beefier the bass will be. I believe it's to do with the impedance curve when it meets a reactive load (which SS amps still have although not as great as tube/transformer devices). The little box we have does feel a bit light on the bass side when compared to a GT1000 say but it is easily compensated by addind some 65 and 125hz in the global EQ on the Axe. Around 1db beefed it up nicely. It's whether the "trend" is now moving towards a more "plug and play" style where some of the sound is provided by the amp (like a tube section would) to negate the tweaking that not everyone is as skilled at (and other market users where their control over parameters isn't as great). When I was using the VB800 as a portable power amp I simply dropped some of the low end to compensate for it's sound so with the Fractals there is that control there to neutralize it if needs be.

I'd certainly not hope 2018. This year unless there's a major setback like California falling into the sea. Hopefully there's nothing too technical to do with it as it's a design we already have.
 
Okay, till we get the pricing of the new beautiful matrix design; I need to get something going on. So I narrowed it down to two contestants.

ISP Stealth Ultra Lite vs Quilter 101 Mini Head.

What would you go for?
 
Lightningboy said:
Coming soon! It's an old design from when we first started but have revived it given the availability of floor mounted stuff now. Just deciding whether to give it a more "tube like" feel (like we've done by softening the bottom end on our VB800) or keep it fairly flat. 140w at 8 ohms, I've been using it at rehearsals for the last couple of weeks with a passive FR12 and it's great. Getting some new boards built for it as we speak so hopefully we'll get it up and running sometime soon.

amplipod-ax8-jpg.38073
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Wow, :)
So, when will this be ready?
Can you give more details like size and weight?
Is it mono or stereo?
 
Hi,

I just got Guitar Sound Systems Baby Sumo. It's not the smallest on the market, but it's quite light, very robust and sounds good to me. Does require a speacon cable, though.

I also have the ISP Stealth, which is very small and good sounding, but I have few minor issues with it. 1. The edges of the heat sinks are very sharp (not an issue if used in a rack), 2. I dislike the external power supply, and 3. I am a little worried about the "analog like distortion" idea with Axe-FX. In truth I have not experienced it, as I have not used it live or very load volumes yet, but the idea of it being completely neutral isn't pleasing me.

PS. The GSS Baby Sumo got me interested, because I wanted something to use with my AX8 and 1x12" real cab that was not a rack mounted.
 
Would like to have a second stage monitor or small venue solution with a small power amp driving an orange 112 cab with a simple G12H30 speaker.
This EHX magnum 44 thing would it be sufficient to drive that speaker ?
Thanks for your help
 
lauke-lux said:
Would like to have a second stage monitor or small venue solution with a small power amp driving an orange 112 cab with a simple G12H30 speaker.
This EHX magnum 44 thing would it be sufficient to drive that speaker ?
Thanks for your help
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Definitely. The Quilter Micro Block might be even better or similar too.
 
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