EVH 5150III 100S EL34 vs Marshall JCM800 2203 [Update]

  • Thread starter Thread starter Simon Dorn
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Simon Dorn
Simon Dorn
Well-known member
I thought i give the 5150III 100S EL34 another try.
Short chugga chugga Version. 5150 Straight in vs Boosted 2203.
Got in on Saturday. I made up my mind.
What do you think?


Here's the longer Version:
 
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For the style of Metal you play the EVH Stealth won! It had more richness and depth to the sound, was very full on the lowend but still tight.

The Marshall sounded a bit bland in comparison, the lowend was not as rich with that defined tight low end......
 
Bram576 said:
5150 sounds great here. Know you love your Marshall’s but the 5150 sounds awesome. Excited to get mine next week, found one for cheap. 6l6 version though.
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You picked up a Stealth or a Standard for that price?
 
Both sound good.

I like the marshall better, but that's because I like music that the marshall fits better.

If you were into downtuned or chugga chugga the 5150 is probably better.
 
RaceU4her said:
excited to hear your thoughts, im really digging this 50w and most say the 100s are that much better
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Owned the 50 el34 and 50 stealth. Both punch way above their price imo. Liked the 6l6 of that better because of the blue channel being better out of the box, I’m sure with that mod out there for the el34 or a boost pretty unnoticeable. Excited for the 100!
 
Bram576 said:
Owned the 50 el34 and 50 stealth. Both punch way above their price imo. Liked the 6l6 of that better because of the blue channel being better out of the box, I’m sure with that mod out there for the el34 or a boost pretty unnoticeable. Excited for the 100!
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i did the mod on the mine and the blue channel is great, which i believe is supposed to make it like the 100w blue?? theres so many 5153s i lose track lol
 
I don’t know. Seems like if you equalized the 2203 low end to the 5153 I’d prefer the voicing. Resonance mod is really helpful for that amp.
 
For what it's worth, in the comparisons I've done between the EVH 50w and 100w Stealth, I found the 100w extends farther down the frequency spectrum and is able to develop more of a walloping low end because of that, and the voicings are just a little bit different between versions. The 100w tends to be a bit thicker in the mids while the 50w tends to be just a bit more "slinky" and slick sounding (in a good way) due to what sounds like a slight dip in the mids before gain.

HOWEVER, I was able to minimize the differences in the mids by using a GE-7 as a mid boost going into the 50w. Doing that brought back the thickness of the 100w and made the amps feel about the same overall, but the 100w still has an extended sub low end that I was never quite able to get from the 50w.

I don't think the 50w or 100w version is flat out better or worse though. They're different but they're both great amps.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
For what it's worth, in the comparisons I've done between the EVH 50w and 100w Stealth, I found the 100w extends farther down the frequency spectrum and is able to develop more of a walloping low end because of that, and the voicings are just a little bit different between versions. The 100w tends to be a bit thicker in the mids while the 50w tends to be just a bit more "slinky" and slick sounding (in a good way) due to what sounds like a slight dip in the mids before gain.

HOWEVER, I was able to minimize the differences in the mids by using a GE-7 as a mid boost going into the 50w. Doing that brought back the thickness of the 100w and made the amps feel about the same overall, but the 100w still has an extended sub low end that I was never quite able to get from the 50w.

I don't think the 50w or 100w version is flat out better or worse though. They're different but they're both great amps.
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I think that often tends to be the difference, 50s to 100s on the same amp. The extension of the low end, personal preference there. But I love me some ass.
 
Bram576 said:
5150 sounds great here. Know you love your Marshall’s but the 5150 sounds awesome. Excited to get mine next week, found one for cheap. 6l6 version though.
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Most of the Time i kinda hate the Marshall :D
That changes with my mood and/or when i have i reference Amp next to it.
It's really: shit in = shit out with the 2203.
I think i liked the 6l6 Stealth better than the 34. Still a bit anemic though.
Marshall MF280B
 
harddriver said:
For the style of Metal you play the EVH Stealth won! It had more richness and depth to the sound, was very full on the lowend but still tight.

The Marshall sounded a bit bland in comparison, the lowend was not as rich with that defined tight low end......
Click to expand...
I hear it the other way around. But the EVH sounds bigger for sure. But it's more like a mumpf, than an omph.
 
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