No, the ht5 has a bunch of op-amp gain stages, clipping diodes and a transistor-based PI. I'm certainly not calling it "not all-valve" because of the rectifier. I don't care less about the rectifier, I agree that amps with an SS rectifier are still "all-tube".Originally Posted by paultheoneyoulove
I have strong suspicions the tubemeister isn't all-tube either, but i'll reserve judgement until I've seen a schematic.
good call, if it's anythign like my 50 watt head. not much in the way of cleans, though.I'd have a long, hard look at the Jet City JCA2212 combo - two channels, does high gain very well and it's pretty light. While it's a 20W amp, they do sound great at low volumes (and they're very controllable). I have the head version, and I can quite easily get great tones out of it at bedroom volume through a 2x12". Not only that, but I can easily play gigs with it too
EDIT: Forgot the link:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/jet_city_am...itar_combo.htm
£250...bargain!
Ahh I see what you mean. I'd consider it tube enough for me, but I guess if you want true mojo, that might not tick the required boxes!
The tubemeister... They call it all tube, but it does have a high gain channel, which presumably uses extra gain stages which are SS as opposed to valve shizzle. It does have a sweet voice though, and I'm a strong believer in 'using my ears'. After all, how many people insist on a pure signal path, before sticking a tubescreamer, analogue delay and chorus pedal in front of the amp? :P
Egnater Tweaker 15 head or combo. Also Keep an eye out for the 5 watt version that is supposedly on the cards late this year.
(a) oh yeah, i mean if you like how it sounds it doesn't matter. Just I want people to go in with their eyes open, kind of thing.
(b) yep, that's why i'm suspicious- I've never tried one, but the clips i've heard have been really pretty high gain, yet it only has the one preamp tube (assuming it uses the whole second one as a phase inverter).
(c) true, though none of those pedals will make a tube amp's tube phase inverter solid state, lol. and those pedals can also be turned off, mixed and matched, etc. etc.
The new Carr Bloke amp has diode clipping, Rivera use it in Clubsters, Hughes and Kettner Statesman etc. loads of amps use it, I think when there is a decent amount of gain in a push pull amp and only 2 preamp valves there's going to be some solid state gain in the system somewhere. Nothing to worry about if you like the sound you get.
As this amp uses EL84s which don't require much voltage swing, then it could well use a concertina phase splitter, which only uses one triode, and then would allow you to use 3 gain stages in the pre-amp.
^ yeah that's possible, i suppose. As i said, i'd withhold judgement until I'd seen a schematic- H&K used the words "all-tube" in their descriptions of it, so
^^ i'd agree, up to a point, but i also wouldn't say it's "nothing to worry about", either. most of those high gain, actually-all-tube amps are expensive- you might think you're getting a good deal if a cheaper amp seems to be similarly high gain, when it's actually doing it with diodes etc. The other thing is, if you're more-or-less getting it from a pedal anyway in those hybrid designs, you might find a cheaper amp with a pedal in front does those tones just as well.
For what it's worth...the Jet City amps are all-valve, as far as I'm aware (since they're more or less carbon copies of existing Soldano amps, with the exception of the Picovalve). In fact, I think their amps are some of the only ones you can find at that price point which are.
yeah they are- even the loop is valve-driven (rubbish line-level loop, but still)
traynor is all-valve, too (the ycv50 on thomann), as are the laney vc15/30 and lc15/30. And gh50/100L (bit more expensive, but sometimes you can find deals). those ones have ss-driven loops and reverbs, but they're still technically all-valve.
that's kinda what i meant- blackstar apologists act like everyone is doing it. Everyone isn't doing it, there are still actually all-valve amps available at that price point.
and all those wee single-ended 5 watters are normally all-tube.
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