How well are Engl amps made?

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bionicmark

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Just like the title asks. Lol! Are Engl amps made well and who do you use for repair if they need it?

Thank you in advance.
 
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Cant speak on the new ENGL's but I had the Powerball mk I back in '06 and it was reliable.
The only issue I had with it was a few of the red LED's in back of the power tubes wouldn't light up.
Not a big deal, but a well built amp overall.
 
CEG85 said:
red LED's in back of the power tubes
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This been his thing for a while then? Recently got an new Ironball 20 (built like a tank) and it has them.
Thought he only did it to mimic the mini-rectifier because it was their version of a lunchbox.
 
DemNuts said:
This been his thing for a while then? Recently got an new Ironball 20 (built like a tank) and it has them.
Thought he only did it to mimic the mini-rectifier because it was their version of a lunchbox.
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I think ENGL's been doing it for a while.
Don't know if they do it on other models. I only have experience with the original powerball.
 
I've had an Engl rack rig for over 10 years; recently purchased an E651 Artist Edition - solid builds, no repair needs so far
 
excessive hotsnot/glue, components on the inside side of the pcb+chassis so you have to remove the board to do anything.

That said, they’re built well enough/shouldn’t run into any major issues. Maybe for the price I’d expect a little nicer - build quality is more like mass produced Asian made stuff than anything boutique but that’s not a comment on reliability or sound.
 
easstudios said:
excessive hotsnot/glue, components on the inside side of the pcb+chassis so you have to remove the board to do anything.

That said, they’re built well enough/shouldn’t run into any major issues. Maybe for the price I’d expect a little nicer - build quality is more like mass produced Asian made stuff than anything boutique but that’s not a comment on reliability or sound.
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Facts^

Engls sound quite good, and aren't built POORLY, per se, but they are a nightmare to work on

If you get one that lasts forever, you should be good, but if you get a lemon, be prepared for tears for years
 
DanTravis62 said:
Facts^

Engls sound quite good, and aren't built POORLY, per se, but they are a nightmare to work on

If you get one that lasts forever, you should be good, but if you get a lemon, be prepared for tears for years
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Yep, they are built fine but your local amp tech will likely get very intimidated by it in case of repair.
 
bionicmark said:
Just like the title asks. Lol! Are Engl amps made well and who do you use for repair if they need it?

Thank you in advance.
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This man seems to be very experienced and he does not know if it would be possible to access the main board for repair.

 
I was never a real ENGL fan but can't really say a bad thing about them (except that I hate the PB) and they're not particularly bad looking from the inside. Turns out many amps look like that. But anyways.

My Mesa 2:90 went tits up a few times within a year after I bought it new. On top of that it happened while I was gigging so I had to fall back on using a Rocktron Velocity 500 (great and reliable power amp btw.). My E850/100 on the other hand is still purring like a cat after about 15-17 years with minimal maintenance (tube bias).
A friend uses his ENGL Artist daily and we went on a little road trip together in 2015/2016 where he bought it with a matching ENGL cab. Has never seen a tech since then and no problems so far. The E580 MIDI preamp that I sold to a friend well over a decade ago still works as well. And many years ago I'd to borrow a Savage from that friend for a few months of gigging while my Mark IV was away for repairs. It began with bad switching relays and it just went downhill from there on. After owning a few different Marks this was the last one I sold and never looked back. The Savage has seen some regular maintenance and still works to this day.

My experiences with some so-called "built like a tank"-amps are mixed to negative whereas the ENGL stuff seems surprisingly reliable.
 
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Aside from the SEs, which I've heard A LOT of people had issues with and finding someone to repair them was next to impossible, I haven't seen many people have concerns with reliability on them. They do basically look like a computer inside, though. I could see why most techs would be hesitant to work on them. They look more like what I'd expect a solid state / digital amp to look like inside.
 
MatrixClaw said:
Aside from the SEs, which I've heard A LOT of people had issues with and finding someone to repair them was next to impossible, I haven't seen many people have concerns with reliability on them. They do basically look like a computer inside, though. I could see why most techs would be hesitant to work on them. They look more like what I'd expect a solid state / digital amp to look like inside.
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ENGL should release a video on Youtube on how to access the components in the motherboard. I could not find a single picture of the components inside as if no one in the world ever managed to do that.
 
Banned by IK Multmedia said:
ENGL should release a video on Youtube on how to access the components in the motherboard. I could not find a single picture of the components inside as if no one in the world ever managed to do that.
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Why should Engl release that kind of video?

It's doable. But who would do that just for fun? Have to release lot of pots, jacks, distance screws, some cables... Quite a hassle. But if necessary, it's not that bad. Other amplifiers would scare me more, i.e. some Egnaters.
 
mcstinger said:
Why should Engl release that kind of video?

It's doable. But who would do that just for fun? Have to release lot of pots, jacks, distance screws, some cables... Quite a hassle. But if necessary, it's not that bad. Other amplifiers would scare me more, i.e. some Egnaters.
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Yup, or Roadking, or Triamp.
 
Anecdotal but my buddy has an ENGL SE that has weird intermittent issues


That said, another buddy has had an ENGL Thunder head forever that has always been rock solid

Taking a look inside both amps, one of them is fairly straight forward while the other one looks like a fucking computer
 
godgrinder said:
Yep, they are built fine but your local amp tech will likely get very intimidated by it in case of repair.
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I don't think it's "intimidated" as much as "they're not worth the effort because it would take weeks, and cost more than the amp is worth"

"Fine" is a good way to put it - as far as PCB amps go, it isn't an SLO, but neither is it a Blackstar or Bugera.
 
I think they're OK. It's just that there's a misconception that because they're expensive in this side of the pond, they're boutique. When the truth is far form it. They're just the German Peavey making some good-sounding designs with OK quality in a place where wages are high, and then the import/export stuff adds on top of that.

You also gotta consider that their stuff is very feature-rich, and they usually have to cram a lot of stuff in roughly the same headshell a JCM800 fits a single channel with just essential controls in.

They're far from the worst. But they're further away even from Soldano.

I know Mesa gets a lot of shit for their build quality nowadays. But last I checked, Mesa an ENGL are comparable in price over here. Not saying Mesas are top-notch and issue free either, but Mesas are built better. JMO.
 
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