Iv'e been lokking into buying one, and I was wandering if there's any cheaper alternatives ?

there are alot cheaper amps out there, but i think 5150's and triple x's are some of the best amps for the money. i think a 5150 II could rival other heads that cost a few hundred $$ more, like any of the tube/hybrid marshall heads, or mesa rectos.
have you looked into the xxx's?some people find that they like them better than the 5150's, but it all depends on what you want.

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The XXX is a more affordible Triple Rectifier rip off than sound great. Try it out

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http://metaltabs.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8712

Go to this, its just down from this post in the forum theres a few things about 5150's in it.

5150 heads are biased kind of cold (the combos sound better) and the XXX have a selectable bias so you can get a wide range of sounds. Calling it an affortable triple recto isnt all that accurate of a description. Yes you can get a rectoish sound but its better for other things.

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Yeh the 5150 heads do have their bias set pretty cold, but thats nothing a bias mod cant fix

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i personally think the triple x is WAY different from the triple rec., completely different tones.
it might look like its ripping off a triple rec, but when you've played through the mesa and the peavey alot, you can easily tell the difference in sounds and capabilities of these amps. i wish people would quit calling the xxx a wanna be triple recto, because i think the xxx's are great amps and shouldnt be tucked away in the triple recto's shadow, i know people that would take a xxx over a recto anyday, and vice versa.
for the record, TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT AMPS.

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Personally id take a xxx over a mesa but i hate mesa's

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hey, 1st time poster.
I swear by my 5150. I run it through a Mesa 412 halfback and it crushes.
one of the best metal tones you can get. (for the money that is)
http://quick.imgfree.net/images/2006/06/25/79049.jpg


The XXX's are also great is you can overlook the tacky appearance.

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5150's are great. I would have gotten one but I needed a really good clean channel as well. There are some decent tones on the 5150's clean channel, but its really just made for its brutal distortion. I would agree with the comments on cold bias though, a 5150 could definitely benefit from a bias mod.

and if anyone wasn't blind they would see that this thread is 3 years old so thank you for bringing up a dead fucking thread to make a pointless suggestion

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can you tell me exactly what "biasing" is? I know the basics but in deail what exactly does it do?
And your comment is not needed Metal_Monkey.

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Biasing has to do with adjusting the amount of voltage being apllied to the power tubes. A "cold" bias means there is less than optimal voltage being applied. This will make tubes last longer but will also make them sound like crap. Some people like to bias their amps a tiny bit hot because this sounds the best and only wears the tubes a little faster. Biasing too hot can blow the tubes.

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I know nothing about bias'ing an amp but I'd be curious to see what that does. Having said that, this is why I love my 5150.
All tube gain.
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.p...4C134452C293DD2

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Bias isn't the voltage but the electric current flowing through the tubes, its measured in mA I think.

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