Those with Engl or VHT Power Amps.....

zaphoid

zaphoid

Inspired
Are these amps clean enough that you run power amp sims "on"? I have a Mesa Boogie 50/50 that really colored the tone, and everything sounded like a mesa. Not necessarily a bad thing mind you. Im about to throw some money down on either a VHT or ENGL. Also curious as to the tonal difference between a VHT( fryette ) 2/50/2 and 2/90/2. I know they use different tubes, curious how this effects the Axe. The ENGL 850/100 is on my radar as well, that just looks like a total beast of an amp. Wondering how clean it is. Any responses are appreciated!
Thanks!
 
I have had all 3 of these brands. My experience with the Mesa was the same as yours. Went to the Fryette 2/50/2 and got 2 bad ones in a row and had to return them. I now have the Engl 850/100 and I am going to stay with that.
IMHO the Engl is cleaner/more head room than the Mesa or Fryette 2/50/2. The Engl is still very warm and has a nice fat tone with some very pleasing mild compression to it. I haven't played with the power amp sims enough to answer that for you BUT, with one 12" speaker per side running in stereo and the Engl being 100 watts per side, I had to change from Eminence Wizards (75 watts) to EV classics "EVM 12L" (200 watts) to handle the extra power and the EV's are less colored and don't break up as much. I have to let them break in some more before I decide to go back and tweak the AXE. The Engl 850/100 is really well built and hasn't given me any trouble. It also has the great feature of having 2 different foot switchable volume AND depth/presence settings. That is great for punching it for solos.
 
I have a VHT 2:50:2 and a vertical 2x12 with a Celestion Alnico Gold and a UK made G12-75.
I get the best tones with the amp sims on and the cab sims off.
YMMV of course.
 
I also had a Mesa 50/50 and I changed to the VHT 2/50/2. Really pleased with my descision, I am more of an EL34 guy at heart, so that might go some way to explaining the improvement. I think its a perfect match for the Axe, (Amp sims ON, Cab sims OFF). It is incredibly well built and worth every penny. For the record, I read that Cliff swore by his VHT prior to going FRFR, and thats a good enough endorsement for me.
 
I know Cliff used a VHT, but is he now not using an old Crown Mosfet Class A/B SS Power Amp? im sure I read that somewhere.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Ive been going through a bunch of scenarios lately and I am hoping the VHT 2/50/2 will get me where I want to go. I started using the Axe-Fx with a mesa boogie 50/50. As I stated before it colored the sound quite a bit, but was still pretty good. I tried an Art SLA-2 and that was a no-go for me. Just had a harsh high end at loud volumes. I then tried a Atomic MB-50 and this was it for me for a while. I could use the amp sims and it sounded good. Pretty loud but somehow lacks headroom for me. The form factor is not something I really like, though its been quite reliable, I hate not having some sort of case to protect a piece of gear. I then really wanted to get in the FRFR realm, and tried an Atomic FR wedge. It sounded super at lower volumes, but my band plays quite loud and it could not keep up at all. I briefly flirted with a Mesa Boogie Mark V, but channel 3 really had some high gain noise that I did not like. I then just purchased a Rocktron 300. This amp sounds great, but runs very hot and it concerns me. It lacks really punchy bass but has some good mids, can notice a little bit of a harsh high end at loud volumes. I will keep the rocktron, because of its form factor and use it as a backup. So I just ordered a VHT 2/50/2 and I really hope ( and my wallet hopes ) that this is the end of the journey for a while.....Its been a fun road though .. :)
 
zaphoid said:
Thanks for the replies so far. Ive been going through a bunch of scenarios lately and I am hoping the VHT 2/50/2 will get me where I want to go. I started using the Axe-Fx with a mesa boogie 50/50. As I stated before it colored the sound quite a bit, but was still pretty good. I tried an Art SLA-2 and that was a no-go for me. Just had a harsh high end at loud volumes. I then tried a Atomic MB-50 and this was it for me for a while. I could use the amp sims and it sounded good. Pretty loud but somehow lacks headroom for me. The form factor is not something I really like, though its been quite reliable, I hate not having some sort of case to protect a piece of gear. I then really wanted to get in the FRFR realm, and tried an Atomic FR wedge. It sounded super at lower volumes, but my band plays quite loud and it could not keep up at all. I briefly flirted with a Mesa Boogie Mark V, but channel 3 really had some high gain noise that I did not like. I then just purchased a Rocktron 300. This amp sounds great, but runs very hot and it concerns me. It lacks really punchy bass but has some good mids, can notice a little bit of a harsh high end at loud volumes. I will keep the rocktron, because of its form factor and use it as a backup. So I just ordered a VHT 2/50/2 and I really hope ( and my wallet hopes ) that this is the end of the journey for a while.....Its been a fun road though .. :)
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That's a load of experience, keep us posted!
 
I'm just using a touch of the poweramp sims with my ENGL e840. Never above 8 o'clock with any of my patches. It just adds a nice extra layer of warmth to the tone IMO.
 
I use my ultra with a Rocktron Velocity Valve tube poweramp , I like it better with amp sims on , more punchy sounds

Raf
 
The Rocktron Velocity isnt a valve amp - unless they do a valve model Im not aware of.

Still - My VHT 2:50:2 sounds better with PA sims on.
 
paulmapp8306 said:
The Rocktron Velocity isnt a valve amp - unless they do a valve model Im not aware of.

Still - My VHT 2:50:2 sounds better with PA sims on.
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It's a rare tube poweramp designed by Bruce egnater and probably the best ever build (according to my tube amp doc ;-) )

Raf

ps : just google for Rocktron Velocity VALVE ;-)
 
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