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Post by smolder on Oct 4, 2008 18:12:57 GMT -7
So I have a couple of systems. I run a Maz Jr clean (and with all effects) and a '54 deluxe as dirty. This is the 20 watt system. I also run a Fender champ clean (as it can) with a mini Z for the dirty end. This is obviously the 5 watt version and btw - both are run through similar quality 12 inch speakers.
What I notice most between the tow systems is that the 5 watt amps do not have near the tonal range of the 20 watt amps. Meaning... there are higher more sparkling highs, and deeper more robust lows in the higher watt set up. I know that corrolation is not causality... so I am wondering how much of this is the amp circuitry and how much of this is related to sheer volume.
Is there a way to expand the tonal range of these lower wattage amps?
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 4, 2008 18:46:38 GMT -7
If you have ever read about the Fletcher-Munson curves, you can appreciate part of what is going on. As volume goes down, so does our sensitivity to certain frequencies, especially bass and high treble. Take two amps with exactly the same dynamic response but one is 1/4 the power of the other, and we don't perceive them as being the same dynamics at all.
That would be part of it. The rest could be genuine differences between the amps relative to their sensitivity and dynamic range.
Add those two things together and there is no telling how different they may sound to your ears.
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Post by anacephalic on Oct 6, 2008 10:14:47 GMT -7
That was the point behind the loudness buttons they uesd to (still do??) put on stereos. They'd boost the extreems at low vol. another factor, especially in the low end is how stout the power supply is. The Doc's power supplies are stout. The trannies in my Rx match up pretty well with the trannies in my 230 wt VTL amps
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Post by smolder on Oct 7, 2008 16:06:08 GMT -7
Ah... so in other words I just need to play loud, right?
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 7, 2008 21:52:30 GMT -7
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Oct 8, 2008 4:32:49 GMT -7
What benntop and anacephalic said are true. One other factor in what you're hearing is the relative lack of low end in the Champ and Mini Z. The laws of physics dictate that to produce (or reproduce) low frequencies you need more power and, on tube amps, a larger output transformer. The MAZ and Deluxe, being larger amps, have bigger power supplies and transformers that are conducive to producing low frequencies. That will make them sound "bigger".
On the high end of the spectrum, there's no reason that a small amp can't reach the upper frequency limits of the guitar if they are designed to. However, the Mini (to me) is not a "bright" amp by design- it was meant to be a distorted rock 'n' roll amp and high frequencies when distorted can lead to "fizzy" or "buzzy", two things that the Mini Z are *not*.
What's cool is that microphones don't respond the way our ears do. Mic up a small amp like a Mini Z or a Zvex Nano and it sounds like a raging Marshall stack ;D
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