Express 5:50 - combo or head/cab?

[vbf]

Greetings everyone. This is my first post and I look forward to becoming a contributing member to what appears to be a pretty awesome board. Thanks for having me.

OK, so I've been test driving various Mesa amps and have settled on the Express 5:50. But I'm torn between the combo and the head/cab. I play in our church's contemporary band and with the orchestra/choir so I need an amp that provides awesome cleans all the way up to heavy distortion and the 5:50 covers all that ground nicely. I mic my amp and will likely play it mostly on the 5 watt setting, although we do play out and the 50 watts will come in handy. The reason I'm contemplating the head/cab is so I can place the cab where ever there's room and can keep the head near me for adjustments, etc. But i like the convenience of a combo but have heard stories of tube rattle and so forth. Because I mic my amp, and we have a very nice sound system at church, I really need to keep hiss and other noise as low as possible. But I wouldn't expect to get tube rattle at relatively low volumes, right? Is a head/cab generally quieter than a combo?

Thank you in advance...vbf

 

[EXPRESSLOVER]

I was caught in the same dilemma!!

It really depends on what you need it. I needed portability and power and mesa boogie combos are designed this way.

'big small amp'.

I didnt want to cart around two items so I purchased the combo to save space. I can always add a compact 1x12 or 2x12 later if im playing larger arenas.


I say combo

 

[vbf]

Thanks...that's exactly what I'm thinking. I also purchased a 1x12 Express cab..can't wait to get it.

 

[Newysurfer]

Greetings everyone. This is my first post and I look forward to becoming a contributing member to what appears to be a pretty awesome board. Thanks for having me.

OK, so I've been test driving various Mesa amps and have settled on the Express 5:50. But I'm torn between the combo and the head/cab. I play in our church's contemporary band and with the orchestra/choir so I need an amp that provides awesome cleans all the way up to heavy distortion and the 5:50 covers all that ground nicely. I mic my amp and will likely play it mostly on the 5 watt setting, although we do play out and the 50 watts will come in handy. The reason I'm contemplating the head/cab is so I can place the cab where ever there's room and can keep the head near me for adjustments, etc. But i like the convenience of a combo but have heard stories of tube rattle and so forth. Because I mic my amp, and we have a very nice sound system at church, I really need to keep hiss and other noise as low as possible. But I wouldn't expect to get tube rattle at relatively low volumes, right? Is a head/cab generally quieter than a combo?

Thank you in advance...vbf

On hiss/rattle/noise there's no difference between the combo and head.
From what i've heard here a few people have had a rattling tube that was easily fixed and was unrelated to whether the amp was a head or combo. But most us have had zero prob's with the 5:50 so no issue either way.

 

[savage8190]

Greetings everyone. This is my first post and I look forward to becoming a contributing member to what appears to be a pretty awesome board. Thanks for having me.

OK, so I've been test driving various Mesa amps and have settled on the Express 5:50. But I'm torn between the combo and the head/cab. I play in our church's contemporary band and with the orchestra/choir so I need an amp that provides awesome cleans all the way up to heavy distortion and the 5:50 covers all that ground nicely. I mic my amp and will likely play it mostly on the 5 watt setting, although we do play out and the 50 watts will come in handy. The reason I'm contemplating the head/cab is so I can place the cab where ever there's room and can keep the head near me for adjustments, etc. But i like the convenience of a combo but have heard stories of tube rattle and so forth. Because I mic my amp, and we have a very nice sound system at church, I really need to keep hiss and other noise as low as possible. But I wouldn't expect to get tube rattle at relatively low volumes, right? Is a head/cab generally quieter than a combo?

Thank you in advance...vbf

On hiss/rattle/noise there's no difference between the combo and head.
From what i've heard here a few people have had a rattling tube that was easily fixed and was unrelated to whether the amp was a head or combo. But most us have had zero prob's with the 5:50 so no issue either way.

How was it fixed? My tubes rattle like crazy.