Power Amps for AX8 Live

E

Eric Williams

Member
Morning gents.

I've had my ax8 for a little over a month and I'm freakin' loving it. What a great product. I've used it at home through studio monitors and I've ran it direct at a church, but now I'm thinking I want to use it live in place of my Shiva.

Power amp suggestions? Anyone used any of the Quilter stuff? Thanks in advance for your input!
 
I use Quilter and I love it. 101 (that I am selling) and 201 (that is why I am selling my 101 :D).

Matrix is very famous. Never tried though :(
 
IMHO... Quilter. Have an old Tone Block 200 and a new Mini 101. Pat Quilter says the bandwidth is about 10 kHz for both, so it's not exactly a FRFR amp. But they both sound great with my AX8 through an old Lopoline 1x12 cab with an Eminence Beta 12LTA speaker.
 
The Quilter 101/201 are analog designs intended to sound like a tube amp. They have eq and gain controls. The Matrix is intended for FRFR (I think it adds a little color) and has no tone or gain controls.

Personally, I want the power amp that I use with my Axe FX to sound the same ever time, all the time. With the Axe FX, I control tone, gain, etc., in the box. Another set of controls isn't necessary and is highly likely to add to the complexity and possible frustrations with the rig.

Unlike the Matrix, the Quilter is made to be used as a replacement for a traditional guitar amp. If you think you'll use it like that, the Quilter may be the better choice.
 
I have a Fryette Power Station. I use it with a traditional guitar cab, power amp modelling on, cab modelling off. For me this couples the versatility of the AX8 with the in the room valve amp sound. The phrase having your cake and eating it comes to mind.
 
Found a quilter to try, we'll see. The matrix looks awesome, may try to find one and side by side them. Going to use with either an avatar 2x12 w vintage 30 and g12h or a Mesa 412.

Thanks for all the input!
 
+ 1 on the Fryette Power Station. I run it the same way as blackmoreguitar with the AX8.

It's got a GREAT (mono) 50 watt tube power amp in it, that to my ears sounds better than the Matrix, plus it acts as a load box for use with real amps. A win win for those of us that live in both worlds.
 
Eric Williams said:
Found a quilter to try, we'll see. The matrix looks awesome, may try to find one and side by side them. Going to use with either an avatar 2x12 w vintage 30 and g12h or a Mesa 412.

Thanks for all the input!
Click to expand...

Eric, how does it sound with the vintage 30 and the g12h. I have a cab with a Wgs vet 30 and was thinking of getting the wgs reaper hp to mix with it. I have a retro 30 and their hm75 and et65 but I like the v30 and g12h mix in my friends Avatar cab...

That mesa 4x12 rules with a 2:90 and the Fractal....omg !

Mike
 
Mourguitars said:
Eric, how does it sound with the vintage 30 and the g12h. I have a cab with a Wgs vet 30 and was thinking of getting the wgs reaper hp to mix with it. I have a retro 30 and their hm75 and et65 but I like the v30 and g12h mix in my friends Avatar cab...

That mesa 4x12 rules with a 2:90 and the Fractal....omg !

Mike
Click to expand...

my 2x12 is in the band trailer and haven't had a chance to get it yet. The Quilter is very cool for the money. I've ran it through my Mesa 412 and a generic 1x12 and it's legit. I haven't found a Matrix yet to try, my initial impression is that the Matrix will be more accurate just by design. There's some intrinsic coloration from the Quilter and I'm totally ok with it, it's not a bad sound by any stretch and a little tweaking of eq and preset sounds on the Quilter goes a long way..

One thing that blew me away.....DAMN that's a loud solid state amp! Seems like they've made some substantial jumps in technology in solid state amps. Back in the day if you told me a 50\100 watt solid state was loud enough to gig with I would have laughed. I had one of the first gen Line 6 combos that was like 60 watts and it was a joke compared to this. EASILY can use this for live unmic'd events and not have any issues with volume (other than probably being told to turn it down).
 
Fryette power station user here. Would love to check them all out with Q7 though. Quilters seem to be that hot talk lately. All mentioned options will get you a good sound.
 
Eric Williams said:
my 2x12 is in the band trailer and haven't had a chance to get it yet. The Quilter is very cool for the money. I've ran it through my Mesa 412 and a generic 1x12 and it's legit. I haven't found a Matrix yet to try, my initial impression is that the Matrix will be more accurate just by design. There's some intrinsic coloration from the Quilter and I'm totally ok with it, it's not a bad sound by any stretch and a little tweaking of eq and preset sounds on the Quilter goes a long way..

One thing that blew me away.....DAMN that's a loud solid state amp! Seems like they've made some substantial jumps in technology in solid state amps. Back in the day if you told me a 50\100 watt solid state was loud enough to gig with I would have laughed. I had one of the first gen Line 6 combos that was like 60 watts and it was a joke compared to this. EASILY can use this for live unmic'd events and not have any issues with volume (other than probably being told to turn it down).
Click to expand...


The Quilter is being talked about quite a bit on all the forums, I haven't heard one or do I think anyone in my area has one but they are a hot topic!..enjoy and keep rocking..Mike
 
I started with the Matrix. Works amazingly well into cabs.
Then, more recently I picked up a Quilter Pro Block 200. Original reason was for travel and fly in shows. I find it easy to get a Marshall 4X12 as a back line cab, yet less easy to get a consistent head or power amp. So, if I bring my own, I have "my amp" and with the AX8, it's AMAZING!!!! 4lbs and HUGE clean headroom as a platform.

In my experience, both the Matrix and the Quilter are great options. With the Axe FX II XL and the Matrix in a rack, PERFECT. For travel and quick setup, AX8 and Quilter, also PERFECT.
I suppose it depends on your needs. I get great results into cabs with BOTH.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom