Mini amp heads! What's your favorite?

Well it's been a while since I posted on here but I figured I would get a good range of opinions.

I currently have an ENGL E530 going into an old VHT 2502. It's a nice combination and sounds great. I don't really get a chance to turn it up though. I live in a town house and I'm not in a band.

I've been really interested in all of these mini amps that have come out in the past few years. Of course every time I start this debate in my head I think...well I could just get a Mark V and put it in 10 watt mode! haha

Which ones are your favorites? Especially for hard rock/metal

for metal stuff, it's battle between the Dark Terror, Jim root and mini recto.

I personally have a Mini and love it, but you can get a different tone out of oranges amps.

I've been reading up a lot on the Dark Terror, Mini Recto, Carvin V3M, ENGL Gigmaster, and Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister. The Carvin and H&K though seem to not be as geared towards metal though.

I wish I had a room to just sit down and play them all. My friend just got a Mini Recto so I'm going to have the chance to play that soon.

what about the diamond assassin or amt stonehead?

Dark Tower. Stephen King's Book? A very good series of books.

JCA 20.

It's really difficult to get an amp cranked up enough to make it sound the way you want and still not have it too loud for a townhouse. I have a MR, but play it pretty loud. For anything in the 10-25W range, it will be very loud when turned up, and a bit anemic when quiet. For in-home use, 1-2W is the right amount of power.

I have had reasonable success with a power attenuator. Also, for really low volume stuff, Sansamp makes some good stuff. I have a PSA-1 that I have played gigs with and played a lot at home. My take on it is that they sound very much like a tube amp (whichever one you choose to emulate), but don't really have the feel. I have A/B'd it against my Studio Pre, and it really holds its own. It is also designed to go right into a stereo amp, as it already has cabinet emulation built in. I keep it in my rack as insurance in case my Mesa dies on the gig.

Why not try something like a Torpedo Live into a stereo? Then you can play with HEADPHONES!!!

In my experience, low volume tone is often neutered by the guitar speakers more than the amp. When you don't have enough excursion the speakers sound thin and buzzy.

YellowJacket said:

Why not try something like a Torpedo Live into a stereo? Then you can play with HEADPHONES!!!

In my experience, low volume tone is often neutered by the guitar speakers more than the amp. When you don't have enough excursion the speakers sound thin and buzzy.

Click to expand...

You know I am starting to realize this now. There is a lot that happens when the speakers are getting worked that effect the tone that is just as important as the tubes being worked.

hmm maybe an isolation box would be a better option.

YellowJacket said:

Why not try something like a Torpedo Live into a stereo? Then you can play with HEADPHONES!!!

In my experience, low volume tone is often neutered by the guitar speakers more than the amp. When you don't have enough excursion the speakers sound thin and buzzy.

Click to expand...

Totally true IME as well.

Last band practice I killed to birds with one stone regarding this issue - I finally proved to myself and managed to convince my bandmate that his ENGL doesn't sound buzzy because of his settings/pickups/pedals/whatever but because any amp will sound bee-like if it's quiet to the point where the speakers aren't doing their magic. I think an amp that seriously suffers from "need volume" syndrome (apart from the Recto IMO) is the Marshall Vintage Modern, that thing is like a shaving machine on less than 3 on the MV.

Iso cabs are cool but I'd miss the trouser flapping :twisted:

Anyway, as far as mini amps go, I know it's not a mini tube amp (it's not even a head) but to me, the THR10 just flat out smokes any solid state practice crud out there in terms of tone&feel.

If only Mesa weren't so expensive here in the EU... I'd love to try a Mini Rec though for that price I can get a used big one :x

YellowJacket said:

Why not try something like a Torpedo Live into a stereo? Then you can play with HEADPHONES!!!

In my experience, low volume tone is often neutered by the guitar speakers more than the amp. When you don't have enough excursion the speakers sound thin and buzzy.

Click to expand...

I actually have a question on this matter. Would it be possible to accomplish the same thing with the cheaper Torpedo C.A.B. without the dummy load?

My thought being take the signal from the FX Loop out and send it to the Torpedo C.A.B., have a cable connected to nothing in the return, leave my 1X12 connected to the amp, and cut the output to 0.

the preamp should still be working even with the output volume cut so i should still get the signal I need for the CAB, and since the volume is cut all the way, i shouldn't get anything more than a bit of quite white noise out of the 1x12. is this all sound or am i mistaken?

It would be my dream to be able to get full fledged recto tone with headphones. I live in an apartment now, and it's super disappointing hearing how bad the dual sounds at a mouse whisper... i feel like i don't play as much any more because i just get upset with not being have my amp sound the way i want it to.

Dark Terror!

Just put some Tungsols in the pre and it sounds amazing!!

The Orange Dark Terror is a fantastic amp! I love how it makes no attempt at being anything but the highest gain amp head most people will probably ever play.