I accidentally got the best sound I've ever gotten out of an old Axe Fx

atyourlasthourrr

Experienced
This wasn’t planned, and it’s definitely not practical — it just sort of happened.

I cobbled together a Frankenstein living-room setup: a pair of Kali studio monitors, a KRK sub, a decent DAC, and a phono stage. Nothing exotic. It started as a simple vinyl rig, but once I added an Audio Research tube preamp, it turned into a full-on hi-fi setup for movies and music.

Then I remembered my old Axe-Fx II sitting in the spare room collecting dust. I figured, why not? Hooked it into one of the preamp’s aux inputs so I could jam without firing up the studio. Two 1/4”-to-RCA cables later, I powered it up, plugged in, and… the sound that came out of those monitors floored me.

It’s totally overkill and borderline ridiculous for what it is — but the tone was massive, three-dimensional, and just alive.

Not sure if it’s the tubes, the gain structure, or just dumb luck — but it feels like the Axe-Fx and that ARC preamp were made for each other.
 
This wasn’t planned, and it’s definitely not practical — it just sort of happened.

I cobbled together a Frankenstein living-room setup: a pair of Kali studio monitors, a KRK sub, a decent DAC, and a phono stage. Nothing exotic. It started as a simple vinyl rig, but once I added an Audio Research tube preamp, it turned into a full-on hi-fi setup for movies and music.

Then I remembered my old Axe-Fx II sitting in the spare room collecting dust. I figured, why not? Hooked it into one of the preamp’s aux inputs so I could jam without firing up the studio. Two 1/4”-to-RCA cables later, I powered it up, plugged in, and… the sound that came out of those monitors floored me.

It’s totally overkill and borderline ridiculous for what it is — but the tone was massive, three-dimensional, and just alive.

Not sure if it’s the tubes, the gain structure, or just dumb luck — but it feels like the Axe-Fx and that ARC preamp were made for each other.
Find yourself an Audio Research power amp to go with, see what you think then. Good stuff, says my distant memory.
 
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