cranking the matrix GT power amps

M

Mr.Krinkle

Member
hey guys i'm intrested in the matrix gt1000fx and i was wondering if yall know how it sounds when you crank it to live band volume on a guitar cab.
 
awesome thanks dudes!! yeah i have tube snobs in my ear all the time so i was just being making sure cause i was wondering.
 
I would watch Steven Fryette's demos on TGP though. It seems he's throwing a few punches at the Matrix family of amps?

OTOH, the Matrix has the price and weight going for it. But "best amp for a modeler", I'm already beginning to doubt.
I would wait for more reviews too, like the RetroChannel from Scott maybe.
 
Agree with Vamp.

There is more than one amp rivaling the Matrix at rpesent (the Retro and the Fryette 1U - though its not out yet). However, defining "best amp for modellers" isnt easy. Sound/tone is one obviously, however size (the Retro is 2U) weight (the Matrix being feather light) and cost are others. Matrix is certainly hard to beat, and neither the Fryette or Retro can compete on ALL grounds. Which is "best" for any individual though will depend how each amp sounds/feels to each user, and how important everything else in the various packages are to you.
 
I've used it a GT800FX with a Digitech GSP1101 and I use it with the AF2. I have never had any reason to doubt it, and have I never received any negative comments about my tone.
 
I received mine last monday. At low volumes I've got some nice results.

Yesterday took it to my band's rehearsal and tried to dial in a decent sound. I had ½h before the rehearsal to dial things up and couldn't get a single usable sound in high volumes. When we started to play and I really cranked the volume up it didn't seem to give that much of power. I even started to think if there was something wrong with my unit. The setup was Axe Ultra (output level at one o' clock) and Matriw Gt1000FX as mono(not bridged, volume @ 12' 0 clock) plugged to my Hughes and Kettner 4x12" V30 cab. At this point the "signal" light started to blink. Is this normal? And yes, I put on some mids as I love punchy gains.
 
When the signal light starts to blink - your at 1/8th power (-9db). If your cab is 16 Ohm (which Im presuming) and your using a mono channel - that means you were pushing around 30 Watts or so at that point. There was LOTS of power left.

Remember you need some headroom - but your cab can handle 240w. You would be safe to crank the Matrix up full as your getting 250w in mono into the cab (again presuming a 16 Ohm not 4 Ohm load). Personally Id be tempted to run in bridged mode - giving a max of around 500w into your cab. That means you can drive your speaker to their limit and still have plenty of headroom - but thats personal.

As for the sound - as with anything, your ears hear differently at different volumes. You need to dial your sounds at playing levels WHATEVER amplification your using (SS amp/Valve amp/FRFR etc). If it sounds good at low volumes - it can sound good at high volumes.

Have you read the tip about the speaker page in the amp block? Try lowering the Resonance (not the frequency) of the high and low point by 3. (most are 5.0 or 5.83 - though there are some other values - but in the normal case lower them to 2 or 2.83). That tames flubby lows, takes somet op end cut out and as a byproduct appears to fill the mids out.
 
paulmapp8306 said:
When the signal light starts to blink - your at 1/8th power (-9db). If your cab is 16 Ohm (which Im presuming) and your using a mono channel - that means you were pushing around 30 Watts or so at that point. There was LOTS of power left.

Remember you need some headroom - but your cab can handle 240w. You would be safe to crank the Matrix up full as your getting 250w in mono into the cab (again presuming a 16 Ohm not 4 Ohm load). Personally Id be tempted to run in bridged mode - giving a max of around 500w into your cab. That means you can drive your speaker to their limit and still have plenty of headroom - but thats personal.

As for the sound - as with anything, your ears hear differently at different volumes. You need to dial your sounds at playing levels WHATEVER amplification your using (SS amp/Valve amp/FRFR etc). If it sounds good at low volumes - it can sound good at high volumes.

Have you read the tip about the speaker page in the amp block? Try lowering the Resonance (not the frequency) of the high and low point by 3. (most are 5.0 or 5.83 - though there are some other values - but in the normal case lower them to 2 or 2.83). That tames flubby lows, takes somet op end cut out and as a byproduct appears to fill the mids out.
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Ok, so I got scared by the blinking signal light. That's nice. :D I tried the Resonance tip and it didn't seem to have such an impact. The cab was set to 16ohms mono, but it can be set at 4ohms mono or 2x8ohms stereo as well. I'm thinking of trying it out as stereo as soon I get the proper extra cables. I've reserved some time for this night so I can mess with the settings. Also I'm so used to using Axe-edit I feel like my hands are cut off when trying to dial sounds without it.

By the way, is there a way to load the default amp block settings without using the Axe-edit?
 
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JoeHans said:
By the way, is there a way to load the default amp block settings without using the Axe-edit?
Click to expand...

If you reselect an Amp Type (switch to another type and back again), all "advanced" parameters (including resonance, depth, dynamics) are reset to default.

To reset an Amp block entirely (all params): doubleclick (or hold) Eff.Bypass when editing the Amp block.
 
Hi there,
If you plug into your cab at 4ohms and come from a single channel on the GT800 you will have 400 watts on tap, rather than 120 watts into the 16ohm input.

The 120 watt 16ohm with the lights starting to blink would be -9dB = 1/8th = 15 watts
The lights starting to stay on = -6db = 30 watts
As Paul says, you still have plenty of headroom,

however, if you use the 4 ohm input on your cab the -9dB point = 50 watts, with the lights starting to stay on at 100 watts, you still have plenty of headroom left.

Try the 4ohm tonight and feel free to explore the fun with the gain pot. Please let us know how you get on.

If you would rather I give you a call to go through the stuff above just pop me an email.

My best regards
Matt
 
Thanks Matt! I think I can get along with these advices. :) I've surely learned Axe isn't always plug n' play so I'll have some faith on doing some proper tweaking. I'll let you know how it went.
 
I don't have a AXE FXII yet but considering one or a Kemper Profiler. Anyhow I do use a Tube Pre-Amp (Egnater) and a Palmer DIDG-ST power amp simulator (needed with SS amps with the Egnater) and a ART SLA-1 and it sounds excellent. I just compared it to a Carvin TS100 50W 6L6 tube power amp with my Egnater and no Palmer and the tone is spot on and IMHO I like the Palmer > ART SLA-1 even better! Cost for this Amp is around $250.00 it is very clean has plenty of power and I run it full power all the time and it can be very loud! In addtion it is very light and 1U as well. I would be curious if the Matrix really sounds that much better than this amp for all that extra money.
 
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Ahhh.. faith rewarded! Just came back from our rehearsal facilities after three hours of LOUD playing. I don't really know what broke the ice but I got some very pleasant sounds. The amp was actually very loud. Now I can't wait to test it with the whole band. :) Thanks for the support!
 
MatrixAmp said:
Hi there,
If you plug into your cab at 4ohms and come from a single channel on the GT800 you will have 400 watts on tap, rather than 120 watts into the 16ohm input.

The 120 watt 16ohm with the lights starting to blink would be -9dB = 1/8th = 15 watts
The lights starting to stay on = -6db = 30 watts
As Paul says, you still have plenty of headroom,

however, if you use the 4 ohm input on your cab the -9dB point = 50 watts, with the lights starting to stay on at 100 watts, you still have plenty of headroom left.

Try the 4ohm tonight and feel free to explore the fun with the gain pot. Please let us know how you get on.

If you would rather I give you a call to go through the stuff above just pop me an email.

My best regards
Matt
Click to expand...

Hey Matt! I know we discussed this before but is it always best to choose 4ohms when that is available? I am running each channel into a Marshall 4x12. I'm not planning on cranking the amp but if I did, any chance I'd blow my speakers? Each Marshall cab should handle 300 watts if I remember right.
 
I found getting volume out of the matrix was not a problem i tried a 10000fx into my 2 x V30 mesa cabs (8ohms) there was plenty of volume.

I returned the matrix after 5 days or so of trying it out because it didn't react like my mesa valve amp at volume (band level) the same and i couldn't get myself 100% happy with it.

Cheers Dan
 
JoeHans said:
Ahhh.. faith rewarded! Just came back from our rehearsal facilities after three hours of LOUD playing. I don't really know what broke the ice but I got some very pleasant sounds. The amp was actually very loud. Now I can't wait to test it with the whole band. :) Thanks for the support!
Click to expand...

Your welcome :)
 
romanianreaper said:
Hey Matt! I know we discussed this before but is it always best to choose 4ohms when that is available? I am running each channel into a Marshall 4x12. I'm not planning on cranking the amp but if I did, any chance I'd blow my speakers? Each Marshall cab should handle 300 watts if I remember right.
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Hi there,
It purely depends on the power rating of the cab you are playing into. If your cabs handle 300 watts, and are rated at 4 or 16 ohm, and you want to play them in stereo then the maximum output you will get into a 16 ohm load per channel from the gt1000 is 150 watts, which with a pair of cabs playing would probably be plenty loud enough,
however,
if you would like to use the headroom that the amp has on offer, and you want to put more than 150 watts into each of your cabs then switch to 4 ohm and you benefit from up to 500 watts per channel. That kind of power, coupled with the huge reserves offered by the oversized power supply we build and install into each of our amps, should be more than enough for any sane ( or not ) guitarist.

If you are playing with a mono cab then you use the bridged output instead, at which point you need to stay at 8ohms or above. If you plug a 16ohm cab into this output you get to play with up to 700 watts, an 8ohm cab would get up to 1000 watts. You dont have to use all of this power, it sits there as headroom.

Hope this helps.

My best regards.
Matt
 
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I love my Matrix GT1000FX power amp ! I still own my VHT 2502,Splawn Nitro head, and the other day I tried to compare them to Matrix, but they returned to it's boxes..Matrix has more punchy low end and huge headroom..Yes ..I had to boost some hi frequences on my Axe FX II to get similar to VHT,Splawn top/low end response..But low end is ubelivable clear and punchy with my Matrix..You have to be carefull with you speakers ! This small babe has a strong kick indeed. I had to replace lately two of my V30 speakers in my Splawn 4x12..But the sound of this thing is sweet, takes only 1 U in my rack and weights nothig :). I love this thing..
 
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