Power Amp and Guitar Cab Or Powered FRFR PA Speaker?

reilly

reilly

Member
Ok so i have been lurking for a long time reading all of the posts regarding the AXE-FX, I am not new to the AXE I tweak my friends settings all the time for their band but I don't own one yet (but I will very shortly).

Quick background on me, I currently use a Mesa Boogie Mark IV rack mounted with a TC G-Major 2 and 2 EVM12L loaded Mesa Thiele cabs. I have been using tube amps for years religiously, but I am not new to Modeling or rack gear and I am very tech savvy. I play in an all original hard rock band. I am looking for lightweight, portable, great sounding gear. I Do play LIVE, small to med size clubs, I also do recording and am looking to start recording other bands in the future.

I will be getting an AXE-FX Ultra from a friend at a great price (im sure ill move to the AX II but im starting with the Ultra for now).

So Here Is My REAL Questions
A) should I just get a tube power amp? (maybe the new VHT that is coming out) Mesa Fifty Fifty (not really light weight) and use my EVM loaded cabs?
B) Get the Matrix Solid state power amp (seems very appealing small size and great reviews) and use my EVM loaded cabs?
C) Get a Powered PA Speaker monitor like a QSC K12 and ditch my guitar cabs?

All opinions welcome! Thanks
 
I use a mesa 50/50 and it sounds great but it does add the Mesa flavor to my patches.
My Mark and recto patches sound terrific, I matched my Studio pre by ear and it's really dead on thru the 50/50.
However, my Marshall type patches sound like they are coming thru a mesa power amp, it's not a terrible thing but it collides with the power amps in the sims.
I have been on the fence about going FRFR or staying with a real cab and for now I am staying with a real cab. When the new Fryette power amp comes out
I will most likely be moving to that and away from the Mesa.
I had an Art SLA2 and it was much more neutral than the Mesa but I felt that it lacked the "tube" feel I get with the 50/50 unless I opened it up all the way and I cannot do that on a regular basis.
A friend of mine let me borrow one of his mackie Hd's (12) and it sounded very good but it's loud as hell and volume is an issue in my house
so I would try one of those if you can get access to one and volume is not an issue.
I came from a Mark IV (a) before I went Axe and the Axe nails the mark tone(s) so you're covered there.
The Fryette with your cabs should get you a dead on mark IV sound.
 
SS + cab! Tubes might work wonderful, but you'll get that one power stage color, and you're forced to play at whatever volume the amp dictates to get more or less power stage breakup/compression...not so if using the power amp sims in the Axe.

Cabs sound better to me, and you can chose whether to go direct or by mic to desk. Can't mic those FRFRFRFRFR thingys!
 
I will say Im leaning towards the Matrix because of all the positive reviews or waiting for the new Fryette power amp , I'm not sure if i can get use to playing without a guitar speaker cab if i went with a powered PA speaker.
 
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Another vote for the the Matrix. An added plus is that you can use the Matrix with real cabs OR passive FRFR speakers if you decide to give 'em a try in the future.
 
Hear Hear... Matrix and exciting cabs I would suggest. (Damn, is this sentence structure by Yoda or what? ;) )

I used my ULTRA with SS and cabs. Now with the AXE II I´ve also gone FRFR and very happy about it. With all the AMPS re-built in the latest firmware, I find it hard to beat and tone tweaking options are just endless.
 
Thomas-Hawk said:
Another vote for the the Matrix. An added plus is that you can use the Matrix with real cabs OR passive FRFR speakers if you decide to give 'em a try in the future.
Click to expand...

This^^^^^^ Best of both worlds and you can use that gear on the II when you step that direction.
 
Well here is my update. I got An Ultra a week ago and dialed in some sounds I'm happy with (went Direct for a practice and sounded rather good), I ordered a Rocktron Velocity 300 power amp and received it yesterday, plugged it in sounded good with my Mesa cabs (one is loaded with an EVM the other a C90, thought it would be good to compare the 2 side by side) but Channel A on the Power amp has got issues (very disappointing), It sounded like my speaker was blown but after multiple tests of cables, cabs switching etc I ruled everything out it was the amp for sure. Tonally the amp sounds good but I didn't like how the amp made a very loud POP through my cabs when I turned it on (all levels set to 0).

So now I'm not sure what I want to do, I have some gigs at the end of the month and I need to make sure my rig is ready to use live. Not sure if I want to replace the Velocity 300 (maybe i just got a lemon). Im not ready to do A Matrix yet and i kinda want to wait and see how the new 1 space Fryette amp turns out.

I Do only play places that have there own Sound system so i could go direct but I'm paranoid about having a bad sound if the sound guy or House system is not to my liking.
 
Hi Reilly,

I can speak from experience of having been down the "Power Amp / Real Guitar cab" route and totally agree with Thomas Hawk,

Thomas-Hawk said:
Another vote for the the Matrix. An added plus is that you can use the Matrix with real cabs OR passive FRFR speakers if you decide to give 'em a try in the future.
Click to expand...

My cabs listed below, all have EVM's or C90's in and sound absolutely great powered by my Matrix GT800FX, especially for Mesa Sounds as commented above, but the caveat is just that, Mesa cabs sound like Mesa cabs.
With the variety of music I play and the different amp / cab models I use the EVM just don't cut it and I am constantly tweaking because of this.

That is why I am embarking on the FRFR route, but I suppose it boils down to what you expect to do with your axe.
 
I bounce back and forth. Currently mid-bounce back to matrix 1K and Small cab. The FRFR with the RCF sounds great alone, but sitting next to a bass 4x10, it's getting lost in the mix. At times, all I hear is the high end stuff I dont like. Didnt have that problem with the cab setup. I was doing both for a while, but I am tired of carrying dual setups around. I have a couple 2x12 and a couple 1x12 cabs-so a lot of options there.
 
So I ended up playing 2 shows going direct and had great results as well as multiple compliments on my tone at both venues from people I don't even know, The rocktron became back ordered after i returned the lemon i got. So i had not other option on such short notice but to go direct, the sound guys at both places loved the axe direct and said it made there job easy.

For the second show I bought an Alto TS112 powered monitor so i could at least have a decent stage tone (the first gig the monitors were no so hot and most were not working from all the stupid kid metal bands that dont know how to treat gear). My other guitarist said my tone was great through the Alto.

Quick review of the alto: It was actually a pretty decent buy and by it self it seems like it would have a good cut in a band setting (which it did for the show i used it for) but after spending more time with it I thought it was a little harsh in comparison the the QSC K12 which sounded much smoother (not really a fair comparison at all, two different price ranges). Overall the alto is great for the money, plenty loud and did great in a band setting, I would recommend them if you are under a budget and don't have a lot of cash to spend.

However I since demo'ed a lot of speakers a couple of times to see what i liked and didn't like and have pretty much made up my mind as to what i am going to get. I have narrowed it down to the QSC k10 or k12 (leaning towards the 10 for space/weight). Since the results went great going direct live I ended up selling my Boogie cabs so I have a decent budget to work with and will be going with a powered monitor in the end.
 
Thomas-Hawk said:
Another vote for the the Matrix. An added plus is that you can use the Matrix with real cabs OR passive FRFR speakers if you decide to give 'em a try in the future.
Click to expand...
nOOb question here, I thought FRFR speakers were active speakers. I was under the assumption that active speakers were the FRFR Cabs and passive speakers were the traditional Cabs used in the standard power amp head/cab set up. Is this not correct?
 
Billbill said:
nOOb question here, I thought FRFR speakers were active speakers. I was under the assumption that active speakers were the FRFR Cabs and passive speakers were the traditional Cabs used in the standard power amp head/cab set up. Is this not correct?
Click to expand...

He is referring to the Matrix amp, you can power either type of cab with it, FRFR or guitar cab.

An FRFR cab does not have to be powered it simply needs to have a good design whether it's passive or powered.
 
Full Range Flat Response, refers to the output of the speakers. How you get there is by using FRFR components. These can be a powered PA speaker or Studio Monitor designed for FRFR. Or a stand alone power amp and FRFR speaker cabinet.

Oh, and Holy Thread Necro Batman!!
 
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