Cathode Follower Amps

When playing through power amp and cab (SD Powerstage 170 and Marshall 2x12 with V30s) I have noticed that when playing amps with a cathode follower, there is some strangeness going on in the lower mids which gives the sound a somewhat muffled/covered with blanket character. I have noticed it especially when comparing to my JVM head side-by-side. When playing through studio monitors, this is less pronounced. Also, I don't seem to be getting this sort of sound quality with amps without a cathode follower (they tend to sound much clearer). Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I'm missing?
 
I guess it would be good to assess what you're hearing through your monitors - what's different/less aggravating/EQ change/etc. ?Also, what are you using for monitors?

Also, since you are using a real power amp and cabinet, have you defeated power amp emulation and the speaker IR's?
 
I'm not sure about a "muffled character" except that it does seem to add a kind of complex compression which can be good for accentuating thump/chug/"squanch". It also depends on the other CF settings like harmonics, hardness, and clipping.

The best way I suggest learning about the CF is to take an amp with none (compression=0%) and turn it up or take an amp with high CF and turn it down/off. Do this with your different monitoring scenarios.
 
I'm not sure about a "muffled character" except that it does seem to add a kind of complex compression which can be good for accentuating thump/chug/"squanch". It also depends on the other CF settings like harmonics, hardness, and clipping.

The best way I suggest learning about the CF is to take an amp with none (compression=0%) and turn it up or take an amp with high CF and turn it down/off. Do this with your different monitoring scenarios.

Yes perhaps a complex compression is a more fitting term. In my perception it makes the sound overly compressed though - overshadowing the highs and making the lows less transparent. When playing through the PA+Cab it feels like the note response is slower than when playing through my JVM head.

I'm using a pair of JBL LSR305 as my FRFR monitors. I will try to investigate the effect of CF on amps w/o it as suggested.
 
"squanch"

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When playing through power amp and cab (SD Powerstage 170 and Marshall 2x12 with V30s) I have noticed that when playing amps with a cathode follower, there is some strangeness going on in the lower mids which gives the sound a somewhat muffled/covered with blanket character. I have noticed it especially when comparing to my JVM head side-by-side. When playing through studio monitors, this is less pronounced. Also, I don't seem to be getting this sort of sound quality with amps without a cathode follower (they tend to sound much clearer). Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I'm missing?

It might just be the Master Volume. The Master control in the model does not have the same taper as the original amp. Turn it up too high in the model and the power amp starts compressing and lows become congested. Won’t happen with the original amp because you probably won’t turn up its Master that high.
 
I have the master set to 1 though with the purpose of eliminating this compression. It's true that it's less compressed set so low but there seems to be another type of compression there. I could try going lower I suppose..
 
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