Wish Mesa Boogie Studio preamp + a neutral poweramp

unix-guy said:
Maybe it's a misunderstanding on my part, but my assumption is that turning off the power amp eliminates the color and "interaction" that a tube power amp has.

However, it doesn't reduce the actual amplification (level increase).

I think that would produce an extremely neutral power amp, no?
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Coloring, interaction etc. is what the virtual power amp provides. It doesn't make the signal louder in a neutral way, because there's no need for that. We have the digital levels for that taks. It's not the same as a physical power amp which must drive speakers.
 
yek said:
Coloring, interaction etc. is what the virtual power amp provides. It doesn't make the signal louder in a neutral way, because there's no need for that. We have the digital levels for that taks. It's not the same as a physical power amp which must drive speakers.
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I guess what I'm asking in the context of this request is what does a neutral power amp provide that is different than disabling the power amp modeling?

Are you saying that you would still have color and interaction with a neutral power amp?
 
A preamp on its own sounds terrible. So you need a power amp, physical or virtual, for the interaction with the speaker, among other things. Within that category there are guitar-specific power amps and neutral power amps.

I fail to see how disabling the power amp modeling is related to creating a neutral power amp ...
 
yek said:
A preamp on its own sounds terrible. So you need a power amp, physical or virtual, for the interaction with the speaker, among other things. Within that category there are guitar-specific power amps and neutral power amps.

I fail to see how disabling the power amp modeling is related to creating a neutral power amp ...
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Some of the best tones ever have been made without a colouring power amp. Either by a flat tube power amp (Extremes Pornograffiti), flat solid state (too many to mention, but Lukather and Landau comes to mind), or just by going direct for that spanking clean tone.

So I would argue that a preamp without power amp colouring doesn't always sound terrible.
 
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guitarnerdswe said:
Some of the best tones ever have been made without a colouring power amp. Either by a flat tube power amp (Extremes Pornograffiti), flat solid state (too many to mention, but Lukather and Landau comes to mind), or just by going direct for that spanking clean tone.

So I would argue that a preamp without power amp colouring doesn't always sound terrible.
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Sure, there are always exceptions. But that's not the point here. Anyways, I have the feeling we're now all talking about different things here. Doesn't matter.
 
I'm really not trying to be obtuse. I'm trying to understand what a neutral power amp contributes aside from pure amplification.

@yek - it sounds like you're saying there is still interaction but not color? If that's the case then I agree that my proposed solution isn't valid.
 
My name is mud said:
hi
All nirvana fans will love to have this ! Use in the late of the nevermind tour and in utero tour
I found a schematic

+ can we have a neutral poweramp option in the amp block? i know there is the "tube pre" but thats not a poweramp so ?
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looking for studio pre sound with the IIC+ models i've found this gets in the ballpark:
1. turn off bright cap/switch
2. sag to P.A. off
3. change tonestack to USA normal, USA fat, USA rhy, USA IIC++, Jazz 120 (???????)
you can soften it up even more with variac and preamp bias
 
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