I need some help choosing my amp... I don't need a powerful amp since I wont be playing in a band in the near future but I really want good quality sound. My question is if I can get a small amp (since I don't need the power) without losing the quality of sound of a larger amp.
If thats possible I can save money and move around better but I wont do that if it means losing a lot of good sound.

BTW Do you have recommendations for an amp?

As a larger amp I was thinkin about an Engl Thunder. Havnt looked into smaller amps yet...

alot of people prefer lower wattage tube amps because they're easier to crank up for saturation... so that engl would be nice seeing as it's only like 50w-60w(i think)... but that can still be plenty for some gig situations in the future if you decide to go that route.

on thing i suggest you or anybody in your situation should check out,the "yellowjackets" (i think groovetubes makes them?), they allow you to put el84's in place of 6l6 or el34 style powertubes which cuts your wattage in half... so say if you have an engl thunder with two el34's(i think) running about 50w-60w, you can use yellow jackets to run el84's in place of the el34's thus giving you about 25w-30w... which will still be pretty loud, but more managable.

also, a power attenuator is a good tool for those purposes, it allows you to run your amp flat out at ten for the saturation but then you can still control the volume on the attenuator.... when turning the volume down on the attenuator you still get the carnked tube amp sound, but it "soaks" a some of the juice(you can control how much) before it hit's the speakers.

also, a smaller cab like a 1x12 or 2x12 will sound much different from a 4x12... and will also usually produce less volume(from less speakers)...
i actually like the way alot of 2x12's sound better than the 4x12 versions... thicker and tighter...

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power attenuators works, but they do shorten your tube's life by a lot.

eh, a big amp, the Thunder? you mean the combo? it's really small, but anyways, it is a kickass amp, though I'de probably save up an extra 100 bucks and go for the Screamer which has a bit more options! If you get a head, you could combine it to a 2x12 if you don't need a lot of sound.

if you want really small, like 10w'ts those Vox Pathfinders are the best there is coming from mini-amps, they sound brutal (hell, I know, I didn't expect it either!!) and they don't cost shit. ofcourse 10w is only enough for let say, your bathroom.

Thanks for the good info. But you havnt quiet answered my question.
I wanted to know if a 20 W tube amp will give me the same quality sound at a given (LOW!) volume level as a 50 W(for example the engl). Because if it is pretty much the same I will simply buy a smaller one from the beginning and then I wont have to mess with tuning my big amp down.

Well, I've played the screamer and the thunder, they sound great at low volumes too, if you have the combo versions (the heads seem to need more volume, but I only played one hooked up to a mesa 4x12)

I've never seen 10/20w tube amps by the way. has to do with tube characteristics (sp?) ofcourse you can get really low level ss amps.

Anyways, it depends on what you want to spend and what sound you're looking for, there's a whole bunch of combo's out there, but the Engl's are by far my favorite (though I'm an Engl junkie, got two of their amps and love em)

Big ones are cooler!

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I don't really care if big ones are cooler... I want to spend the least money(which I can achieve by buying a smaller amp) for a great sounding amp. But if larger ones are simlply better in every respect than I will get one of those.

problem is, bigger amps are more expensive and have more power that you probably don't even need (since you won't be gigging any time soon, right?)

Exactly!

I just dont know if bigger amps sound better even at lower levels(thats usually the case with normal loudspeakers). Thats why Im asking

it sounds like you want really low volume... i'd suggest a small s.s. combo.. tube amps are mostly desired for the cranked sound... even the smallest tube amps get loud when they're cranked, for example the orange ad5, it's only 5w(class A from a single el84) and when it's cranked it still isnt exactly bedroom volume... but she sounds sweet as hell... mostly when she's turned up.
s.s. is more of a "sounds good at low volumes and worse at high volumes"(s.s. breakup is harsh and blocky) kinda thing... while tube amps are more of a sounds good cranked and worse at lower volumes deal....

just play the amp at the volumes you'll be using it at and if it sounds good buy it...

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Thanks a lot
Thats the answer I was looking for!

Any suggestions for a good small s.s. combo?

A peavey bandit, OR if you wanna be a real big noob, get a line 6 spider.

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roland jc series... can do loud or quite... beautiful cleans... loves pedals...

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I'd go with a higher end Line 6 combo, a Flextone or even a Vetta if you have the cash. I really like the versatility of them and I can mess around with them for hours. If you get one you NEED the big floorboard. Flextone III would probably sound like a good choice for you. (Stereo combos might be nice too if you want to get a pingpong sound). If you don't want effects, I personally like Ibanez's Tone Blaster.

yeah, try getting your hands on that one though, it was limited edition here and they're like 800 bucks

I'de like to have one of those though, but I never seen one in the stores.

i've only seen one in real life.... and played it for a couple minutes, the simplest amp ever, i just dimed everything, the guy working there was cool, he'd be like "crank that shit"...
truely sweet sounding amp, i'd love to have one for some studio work and or a little jam amp, but i don't have the cash to drop and such things..

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+1, if you got the cash and want all the stuff... i could play with a vetta for hours...

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But the big amps are bigger!

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my amp is taller than me....

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