Let's talk "mini" heads - HT-5, 6505MH, EVH LBX, others?

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napalmdeath

napalmdeath

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I'm in the market for another low watt option for home use, as I'm primarily apartment levels these days. The JVM does well, but really needs juice to really shine, which I just can't do - and downsizing is imminent.

I've had experience with the HT-5, and I actually loved it, and it's kinda my preferred choice. I've had LIMITED experience with an LBX, and I really found it exceptionally loud, real quick. It seemed to me, that the 50 watter worked better at low volumes, but I can't recall real in-depth with the LBX.

The 6505MH seems to be love/hate. I personally have found some pretty killer demos, and it's getting to be a toss up with the HT-5. I can't demo one, though.

The Katana still sounds like COSM, Boss signature tone to me, which I really have no liking... I don't believe it's for me.

$500 is really my budget. And, 80's thrash to drop-D is really my wheelhouse, and FX loop is a must, or I'd look at the DSL15.
 
I have a HT5r and IMO, dollar for dollar, it's a good one. The loop is phenomenal. And the on board verb is really deep and lush, but can be very very subtle. Sounds good on the clean channel, more clean than the evh 50. The red channel sounds good at low volume, but it will get loud AF, and of course sounds much better. I've got a bad monkey I can kick on and off into the front to add a little dirt to either channel, and that even sounds good.

Include....Phones jack, emulated out, ISF, 2 channels, separate volumes, matching 112...just a killer little amp for the $$.

ETA. I have played a evh lbx, not a 6505mh, and the B'Star is a little closer to the Marshall voicing (IMO)...which I like.
 
Engl Ironball but it's outside the budget, but you get what you pay for.
 
What about the Fender Bassbreaker? I know it's not a metal amp, but neither is the Peavey Classic 30, and I had no problems getting good heavy tones out of it with an EQ in the loop and boost??
 
I'm blown away by the 6505!! Kick ass amp sounds huge and very versatile!!
 
I like the little 1 watt amps Marshall produced for their 50th Anniversary. Sometimes you can find them used for around $500 for the JVM1.

I have the JVM1H and it works great for home practice/recording. I run mine through a Mesa 2x12 cabinet. It has two channels and a decent loop. They also have a low power switch which cuts them down to a tenth of a watt. It would still be a bit loud for an apartment at full volume. I work 3rd shift, when I'm awake at 3 am on my off nights I can crank up the JVM1 without waking up the rest of the family upstairs.

I also like the Blackstar 1 watt head, way more reasonably priced than the Marshall 1 watters. I don't think it had a foot switch for changing channels but through a decent cab it sounded good to me. The HT5 is nice too but might be more volume than you are looking for.
 
The 6505MH is probably one of the most solid buys I've made. The fun per dollar from that amp is amazing.
If you had more money and quality wise, the Ironball was just a mind blowing amp for what it cost. Didn't own it but spent a fair amount of time with one
 
I'm sort of in a similar situation (apartment/thrash tones) and have been eyeing out the Fryette Valvulator GP/DI, Direct Recording Amplifier. A bit more than the $500 budget you mentioned but it seems to cover many bases for $799. I wrote to them about some metal demos for it and they said coming soon, in theory it can get into Pitbull and Deliverance territory but at 1 watt. :thumbsup:

http://www.fryette.com/valvulator-GPDI/
 
Put an ad up for a Baron Custom Amps Snott Watt on here. Killer little amp and some have an fx loop!
 
I just crank the master on my 210H and only turn the channel volume up a sliver, and I get huge sounding bedroom/apartment tones... :confused:
 
With a budget of $500, I'd be looking at the Jet City 22H for good hard rock Marshall tones, Add about $200 more to your budget and you could grab a nice used 5150 III 50 watt.
 
The EVH LBX was pretty cool however they made quite a few improvements so the latest version will probably be your best bet. If your playing with a drummer that 6505MH won't cut it.
 
The 6505mh is amazing, all three clean, crunch, and lead channels are fantastic.
 
napalmdeath":35e1onk2 said:
I went with the Peavey 6505MH!
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Congrats :cheers:


I'm sure you will love it.

As I was reading through the responses and thinking of my response - I was going to suggest Kyle's Baron (killer sounding), a Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 (I love mine but it is a combo) and the Laney IRT Studio as additional stuff to consider. Never a fan of Blackstar due to their shitty 'all tube' marketing shenanigans


Anyway - have fun!
 
I bought the 6505 MH last week and I am in love with it.The clean channel with minimum gain is fairly clean....bump up the gain on the clean and you a good plexi like crunch...then push the crunch button in and it takes it to a nice growl.......then you have the Lead channel which is as we all know is vicious.To me that is like having 4 channels.I ran this through my 1x12 Blackstar HT-40 Cabinet using a Creamback 75 and it sounds really cool.I then hooked it up to one of my brothers Marshall 1960 4x12 cabinets and it sounded insane with pretty damn good bottom end.I just ordered all new tubes for it so I will see what will happen.
 
congrats on the MH, I've never tried it.
I've got he LBX "I" , Engl Ironball and Friedman PT20.
I would say the Engl is the best for home usage, at 1W it sounds glorious and it's very easy to control volume wise. It's very silent and overall really well built. Tone wise, it's pretty dry and smooth, great for sure but it misses some "sizzle" that the others have.
The Friedman is really plug and play, almost impossible to get a bad tone out of it.. but.. I love the LBX more than the other two, it's not perfect, it's noisy, the effect loop is bleeding signal but man... it's so much fun to play I can't get enough of it.

I also have the Laney IRT Studio but I don't seem to be able to get inspired by it at all, although it's really feature packed compared to the others.
 
kunos":2p9y6z71 said:
congrats on the MH, I've never tried it.
I've got he LBX "I" , Engl Ironball and Friedman PT20.
I would say the Engl is the best for home usage, at 1W it sounds glorious and it's very easy to control volume wise. It's very silent and overall really well built. Tone wise, it's pretty dry and smooth, great for sure but it misses some "sizzle" that the others have.
The Friedman is really plug and play, almost impossible to get a bad tone out of it.. but.. I love the LBX more than the other two, it's not perfect, it's noisy, the effect loop is bleeding signal but man... it's so much fun to play I can't get enough of it.

I also have the Laney IRT Studio but I don't seem to be able to get inspired by it at all, although it's really feature packed compared to the others.
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The best low volume amps I've tried have been the 1W Marshall 50th Anniversaries.

I'm interested in the 6505MH & PT20, how does the PT20 do at low volumes?
 
If you like the Marshall sound, the DSL15h seems like the obvious choice.

I was not a fan of either the HT5 or the 6505MH.
 
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