Hi all, as I mentioned before I am running a Bryston power amp for my AXE ii, it is however, quite old, maybe 10 years old? I was thinking about replacing it with the ART SLA 1 because it has slightly higher output on mono and stereo setups. I am currently running a 2x12 with v30's with the Bryston, sounds very good but I feel I need a bit more....
Any help with this is appreciated..
FWIW
I've owned and/or used all the power amps mentioned in this thread so far, except for Crown, and here are my subjective experiences.
The SLA1 and SLA2 are OK but don't sound nearly as musical as either the Bryston 2B LP or the Matrix GT1000.
There's an overemphasized top end and unnatural sounding (to me) bottom end with the ART amps.
Of the 3, the Bryston sounds the most neutral and the illusion that with your Axe presets you are playing a real tube amp is strongest with this power amp.
I used my 2B LPs in bridged mono mode for 200 watts into an 8ohm open back cab with an EMV-12L in it.
In stereo mode, at 60 watts a side, the 2B is OK for small rehearsals, but that's about it.
So for stereo I have a 2nd 2B LP.
The only real downside of these amps is the weight and the price.
They're quite heavy, especially watt per pound.
But they can be found used at more reasonable prices.
They last forever.
So I usually use a Matrix GT1000.
It doesn't sound quite as good to me as the Brystons do, but only when I really nit pik.
It has a certain quality to it that is very guitar music friendly though, and I'm quite comfortable with it now.
The Matrix amps are the simplest solution.
PS
I did not like the sound of the GT800 I owned briefly at all.