Okay, so sometime soon I will finally be getting rid of my 30W combo for an ENGL E530 preamp + Avatar or Carvin 2x12 cab. I have a few questions. I hear the ENGL has a built in poweramp, would this eliminate the need for a regular poweramp?

I have considered using the Crate Powerblock with this thing, as a tube poweramp is too loud for me for the time being. I hear the Powerblock works extremely well as a poweramp at lower volumes but can still be used at gigs. Would using the Powerblock as a power section be a good idea?

I also hear that the E530 works well with a hi fi speaker system. Would you still need a poweramp to use it with a hi fi speaker system or are poweramps only for use with regular guitar cabinets? What are some good examples of hi fi speaker systems, how much do they cost, and do they work well for guitar preamps?

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Do not get the powerblock.


Go on E-bay and get a Peavey Classic 50/50.


And yes your ENGL preamp needs a poweramp.


But not the powerblock. Because its shitty.



A Classic 50/50 will cost you about the same, but even at bedroom levels will sound better than a Powerblock at bedroom levels.

The Peavey poweramp is the only one I was considering for some time but figured it would still be too loud for use at home. Are you sure its possible to acheive bedroom levels with it with good tone? I've been watching ebay for em but they always sell for around 300$.

I'll take your word on the powerblock thing, I was pretty skeptical about it.

What about this whole hi fi speaker thing?

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Hi-Fi systems include a poweramp otherwise it wouldn't put out much sound.. and your engl, even with it's built in cab sim will sound like shit thru it ..

It does have an internal preamp, and if it's as loud as the one I have in my engl preamp, about 1,5 watts or so, it's damn loud and easily louder than my neighbours would allow, however that poweramp has ZERO headroom and doesn't sound that good because of that ..

If you are not gonna gig, try leaving the whole power tube thing if you are not too anal about your sound.. If you are going to gig however, get a good tube poweramp

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I use a Peavey Classic 60/60 with an ENGL 530 (love love love it) and it works great for pretty much everything. Although I can't turn it up as high as i'd like at night I can still get real good tones at bedroom level.


The internal poweramp is loud (not enough for gigging mind you) and it breaks up fast so the tube poweramp sounds a bit better. (nothing EXTREMELY drastic though) so you could play it through a cab on its own for sure for a while. I did that and i was satisfied. (once again a tube poweramp will just make it sound even better).

The only thing i'd say is get a noise gate/noise pedal/whatever cause it can get pretty loud. (I get some radio stations sometimes...)

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PLEEEAAASSSEEE take my word on the powerblock thing. Good.


Or get one of these : http://www.carvin.com/products/sing...r=HD900&CID=PWA

The same price as a powerblock, except it had exactly what you were looking for : Its solid-state, it'll sound the same at all volumes. For an extra 50$ you can get the exact same poweramp I'm using, the . HD1800

Now you might be thinking : Would'nt both of those amps have a little much? Yes and no. I find that S.S. poweramps sound best when cranked up to 95% of their power while the preamp's volume is used as a master. To demonstrate this, go to your car stereo, plug up an external cd player in the tape deck, turn the volume on the cd player all the way up and then keep the car's stereo volume low. Then reverse it, with the car's stereo volume all the way up and the cd player at a low volume. You'll see that the latter sounds way better, its the same with S.S. poweramps. This is to answer the question you might have, "How the hell do I use 900 watts at a gig?"

And trust me it works in the bedroom too --- its where I'm keeping my rig at the moment.

Keep in mind that if you do get the Peavey Classic 50/50, then 95% of your gain will be coming from the ENGL no matter how you crank it, and trust me there's plenty of gain in the ENGL. You'll get good tone at any volume no matter which poweramp you've chosen that we've recommended. The Peavey Classic 50/50 and the Carvins will sound better than the Crate at bedroom volume simply because they're built better. Quality parts = quality sound.

Aha the HD900... I saw one of those on ebay a few weeks ago and thought it was a gimmick cause of so much wattage. 28 pounds?! God damn. Looks very affordable, but does it have good tone? I probably wouldn't tell the difference between tube and solidstate, but would a Peavey 50/50 that costs about the same have better tone?

And damn... I know x watts in a solidstate is less than x watts in a tube rig, but still, isn't 900W(or 1800!) a little excessive? How far do you turn your volume knobs on the poweramp when playing at home late at night(and I mean VERY acceptable volumes, cause the foundations of my apartment aren't exactly anywhere near soundproof. I can hear every single footstep my 350lb. neighbors make. I could ask the fuckers to do jumping jacks and I would never need a fucking drummer with a double bassdrum.. )

I've just been so scared of solid state power sections as I hear nothing but bad things about them, especially when used with tube preamps. I really want to have a tube power section but I'm so afraid of having it being useless at home because of the volume knob being tootouchy.

So the Engl + HD900 + 2x12 would be fine? So much wattage wouldn't blow a 2x12 right?

Thanks a lot for the help folks.

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I almost always have the knobs on the poweramp dimed. I just use the preamp's volume knobs to adjust the volume, even if I'm playing quietly. It won't matter how 'touchy' the poweramp's knobs are, if you're using a preamp ( which you will ), it has volume knobs too. And those will adjust smoothly.

Your pros and cons of tube and solid-state power sections are roughly the same with their head-counterparts. Solid-state is tighter and more consistent, but it can sound cold and sterile ( depending on what you want. If you want Meshuggah/Dying Fetus tone, then you want s.s. ). Tubes require maintenance and replacement, everything just is'nt as tight. But the tone is more rich harmonically and has warmth. Personally I'd do the Classic 50/50 if I were you, I've never played a tube preamp through a s.s. poweramp, though people love playing s.s. preamps through tube poweramps. We all know for a fact though that the 530 plus the Peavey Classic will work very well. And trust me, it'll sound great no matter what volume you use.

Hmm, I'm actually not looking for the super sterile compressed sounds of Dying Fetus and the like. Hence why I'm not interested in the Peavey 5150 because -although it has some brutal tones- I kind of grew tired of the sound cause I hear it all the time from bands I like.

The tone I'm looking to acheive is organic, dynamic, and lively. Marshall-ish, you know. The best way I can describe the sound is basically how Morbid Angel's guitars sound on the albums with better production(Formulas, Gateways), also think Nile, or cleanish shred stuff like Joe Satriani(yes I know he uses the JSX). Just crisp clean golden sounds, not the glassy type of thing you get with EMG's or super modern hi gain amps like 5150's. Of course I want MY own tone but that's the area I'm aiming for. I know the ENGL can get modern compressed hi gain sounds too so I know it has all the versatility I'll ever want if I decide to play straight up brutal death metal all of the sudden.

I considered a blue voodoo 212 combo for some time but I hear they're very very unreliable, crappy quality electronics many people say. The BV-120 is just way too much power for me right now, and I hear the BV-60/50 is also unreliable, besides I just want to make 1 good amp purchase so I don't end up selling a Blue Voodoo cause I had GAS for a different amp. I change my mind very frequently. :P

After final exams I'll finally take a few days to try out a JCM 2000(again) and JCM900 plus a BV at a store. I doubt I'll find an Engl but I'm confident that what people say about it having one of the greatest tones out there is true. If I don't like the E530 I'll just sell the whole rig and get a JCM900 or 2000 and a 2x12.

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watts equal watts, doesn't matter if it's tube or not..

I too have a PA poweramp, 2x800 watts at 4 or 8 ohms (dont remember) and it can play very very quietly! This is also depending on when your speakers starts to bring out the low signal

I wouldn't ever dare too use with with my 2x12 because I'm afraid I'd blow the cab up, this is one reason SS poweramps sucks for guitars.. guitar speakers can't handle the headroom required with SS poweramps and still get pushed..

I use a marshall 8008 2x80 watts at 2 or 4 ohms (dont remember here either) for my guitar rig because the bigger poweramp I mentioned above, altho it's a high end yamaha expensive as fuck poweramp which would sound way better, would be able to blow my speakers up and I am afraid I will accidently turn the preamp volume up or something


edit: Soeru, do this.. Save your money and just buy the preamp, a stereo cable (the manual says you need a stereo plug in the internal poweramp or else it will blow) and a cab for the time, and when you start gigging, get yourself a tube poweramp

John Holland, are carvins actually high end good component poweramps? They look and seem very affordable, unlike high end poweramp brands like QSC and others

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The Carvin cab would have a shitload of headroom.Smaller s.s poweramps dont,and they clip.So for s.s,more watts is better in that sense,but that only apply's to higher volume's like gigs and shit.The ENGL's poweramp is small,but its fine for practise.
I like Timur's idea.

Ah. I originally asked if it was possible to use the preamp's 1.5W poweramp alone but Holland said I'd need a dedicated poweramp.

The preamp + cab only thing sounds good(and very affordable in the meantime for me. I just have a question. Just how much headroom would I be getting max? Anything near band practice levels? Are there any good SS poweramps with less wattage(say 300W max, cause that's really all I'll need live right?) that can be used with a 2x12 cab with Vintage Celestion 30's(the avatar cab I'm planning to get)?

If the preamp + cab only setup gives plenty headroom for ok band practice then I'll go with it until I can afford a good tube PA and perhaps additional 4x12 in the future. If it can't get as loud as my 30W SS combo then I'll put off buying my tube rig for a while. Sure I'm more concerned with the tone, but I want to be able to actually USE it at higher volumes than just low practice levels, cause then I wouldn't bother buying the cab and just use headphones on the E530 LOL.

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I dunno about the e530's poweramp competing with a drummer,but its designed for practise.You can always get a cheap s.s poweramp to start with.Or you can check this out.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ATOR112

I would consider Carvin 'high end'. They just sell factory direct.


And high-wattage s.s. poweramps work fine with guitar. In the way of amps I've had a 5150 and a Shockwave and what I have now stomps all over both. I'm also using the kind of speakers you would want, anything 75 watts or higher. People might say that you'll blow speakers out with a poweramp like that, but I've yet to do it, and other people I know who use all 800 watts of a Peavey CS poweramp have yet to blow out their Marshall 1960A ( 300 watt cab, GT 75's ... its the standard by which I judge all other 4x12's by ). People also blow speakers in a 100 watt tube amp rig. What I've found by experience is that it all comes down to the quality of the build.

And yes, the Carvin is built very very well. It competes with Crown poweramps that are three times the price with ease. The reason the HD is cheaper than the DCM is the connectivity, they're both essentially the same amp, except that with the HD you're limited to regular 1/4 inch cables. I had asked the Carvin representative over the phone :

"I'm interested in getting a poweramp for a Line 6 POD, I'm just going to run guitar out of it. I can afford either a DCM or an HD, its no problem, but I want to know what is the actual difference between the two?"

"The DCM has more advanced connectivity and greater power surge protection. Its really designed to be the cornerstone of a permanent house PA."

"Gotcha."


I really could'nt afford the DCM, I just wanted to see if I could trick him into explaining honestly whether or not the HD sounds inferior to the DCM

Hah,good plan.How much does it weigh?

it's all about how hard you push it. i used a c800 power for a long time through cabs with less power handling.. it's all in the headroom. as long as the poweramp doesnt clip sending squares to your speakers you should be fine.

usually you want to either have a little more power handling in your speakers than your head can put out... but when you get into the 300w+ realm you're there for headroom and the more the better and thats fine to overpower speakers as long as you're not clipping the speakers or poweramp. in the PA world it's suggested even.

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Its a heavy motherfucker, about 30 or so pounds.

Yeah the 1800 is 32 lbs. the HD900 is 28 lbs. Don't you care about my physical health?

Anyway, dislexic, is this the poweramp u used: http://cgi.ebay.com/BOSS-1600-watt-...yphotohost ing

Is it worth getting or staying the fuck away from?

The preamp + cab rig, how much headroom would I get? Could it get loud enough to annoy neighbors? That's the max kinda power I would need for the time being, and then in a few months I'd buy me the Peavey tube poweramp. Would this sound like a good idea?

Really appreciate the help, duders.

Edit: What about this? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...bayphotohosting

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I have a 2x12 vintage30 engl cab, no 4x12 300 watt cab, my cab can only take 120 watts or so.. I have watt meter @ 8 ohms on the front of my poweramp that goes up to 1000 and if the values are correct the whole watt thing isn't linear, 3 watts is actually fucking fucking fucking loud, and 30 watts just slightly above that and hardly any louder at all.. If I can rely on this watt meter thing, I would dare to use it with my 120 watt cab as I can make sure the signal wont exceed 120 watts


Soeru, the little 1,5 watt poweramp is fucking loud, your neighbours could kill you because of it, but it lacks headroom from the very beginning.. I wouldn't do band practise with it

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Ok sounds good. What is the difference between headroom and volume then? I thought it was the same thing.

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that is a car stereo amp.

this is just like mine.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Peavey-CS-800-a...1QQcmdZViewItem

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