Thoughts on Synergy Amp Modules?

H13

H13

Inspired


This seems like an interesting idea. It's kinda been done before and I'm not sure what makes this version different, but even so I'm intrigued by the idea.

Generally speaking, I only use 2 amps in the AFX. The thought of whacking in 2 preamp modules and going for it is an interesting one (to me at least). However a "flaw" I can see with this is that it's just the preamp, the poweramp is gonna be the same across all the amps.

So the age-old question is...how much of an impact does the power amp have on your tone? Will switching out a preamp basically turn it into the amp it's "modelling" ?
 
Yeah, Egnater did this a lot in early 00s. Frankly I don’t see the point given how advanced the digital stuff is nowadays. And even when it wasn’t, I still didn’t see the point of buying a modular system vs, say, Egnater IE4 or TOL100 which basically has clean Fender, overdriven Fender, lower gain Marshall and modded lead Marshall, and all of them sound great, at a fraction of the price. When I need even greater variety of tones (which I almost never do) I just use pedals. I still do have an IE4, but haven’t used it in a long time.
 
The point of this of course is that it's aimed at the analog fanboys, who secretly crave the versatility that a digital modeler would give them, except as an article of faith they have to curse and spat at anything digital five times a day while praying towards the amp factory of their choice. Extra credits if you're on the gear page or a youtube commenter, who like a modern day Cato the Elder, just has to make a dig at digital modelers at the end of every comment. :D
 
Even then though, how many distinct amp tones can your audience tell apart? :)
 
I’ve been really happy with the synergy stuff. I went back to four cable method like a year ago and it’s been a nice change.
 
Modular amps have always seemed cool to me and this one sounds great. It's also neat to see amp makers like ENGL, Friedman, Diezel, and Metropolous having official modules. However, in a world with the Axe-FX, it's just not that appealing to me personally. But if you're still dead set on tubes, then it's a cool option that's far more affordable than buying several amp heads the preamps are based on.
 
Of note is the fact that they have a 1U Steve Fryette designed 50W tube stereo amp. If it’s as good as 2/50/2, could be interesting.
 
The Synergy stuff is very cool and sounds great. Hell, I loved the Egnater modular stuff when it was out. It's a cool concept with cool sounds.

The shared power amp does not have as big of an effect as the speakers do on how these modules sound. They don't all sound the same. However, if you run them all thru the same speakers/cab. that will limit the differences somewhat. Speakers are at least 50% of the final sound you get from an amp.
 
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