se7en":rqyn25xr said:
First off, how loud are you turning up to? Are you playing with a band when comparing? I have 20th with KT77's and had it with 34's prior. I haven't played a 6L6 20th, so can't compare. I used to own a 101b.
The 20th blue is more open, modern sounding and aggressive in the mids (more bite) and the 101b has more of that vintage and spongy thing going on with a softer attack and more of a scoop in the mids by comparison (a bit more forgiving as a result). But, yeah, can't comment on the whole 6l6 vs. EL34 debate. There's a guy on Youtube that owns and demonstrates both versions - Tonicstud. Check it out.
I prefer the articulation and aggression of the 20th Blue, but I think the 101b Blue is great as well, as is any XTC for that matter. Make sure you get the power section cooking and then ease the gain back a bit and you'll be treated with a wonderful, dynamic Plexi on steroids tone that can cover a lot of ground. Definitely not an amp that you want to dial in like you would an Uberschall or Recto.
I'm not the typical scooped metal type guy so I don't dial my amps like a Rectifier or Uberschall. I prefer a liquid sustain like Satriani or Vai. Although I primarily use my XTC at home, I have learned to use it quite well at lower volumes. I get to open it up to band/gig volume once or twice a week so I'm very familiar with how it sounds with some volume. However, this is a LOUD amp and I won't be able to get it anywhere near max volume. I use a 25w speaker in a 1x12 cab to help get a better low volume sound, and I give my self about 20-30 minutes of practice before playing so it has enough time for the tube to get nice and hot.
Anyway, I know what you mean about the volume. As with any tube amp, those magical characteristics only come out with volume. I agree that the 20th is packed with mids. However, I don't get why people say the 101B has a bit of a mid scoop. To my ears, the 101B is oozing with juicy mids. The difference seems to be that the 20th might have slightly more high mids while the 101B has slightly more low mids. That's what is seems like to me. I want to say that the 101B is marginally warmer than the 20th, and that might have something to do with the softer attack perhaps.
I've seen the videos you're talking about, and both versions sound awesome. One important thing that I wish somebody would do on an XTC 20th video is have the amp set based on whether it's in "new" or "old" and "vintage" and "modern." I prefer to set the back of the amp on vintage and the front on modern, but it also sounds good old+vintage and new+modern.
I think what the 20th Anniversary has the most in common with the 101B is the red channels. Although EL34's are apparently a little tighter than 6L6's, the 6L6's have a certain kind of breadth and separation that sounds awesome. Man, there are so many pros and cons going either way. I think I'm just going to send my XTC 20th in to get converted to EL34. That way I can keep all the great 20th features and have the El34 sound I MUST hear. Not that EL34's sound better than 6L6's because I think the 20th is actually better with 6L6's, but I just want that EL34 thing specifically, strictly as a matter of tube preference.
One mod I REALLY want to get is a SMALLER HEAD SHELL! Man is the XTC 20th huge! It must be about 3-4 inches bigger than the 101b head shell, and the 101b isn't exactly a small head either. I prefer the size of the Shiva or Goldfinger.
