5150 5150II and 5150 III Shootout -for all you critical folk

I have seen a lot of arguments on this wonderful thread about how one version of the 5150 slaughters another: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=136657

Fortunately, I am a recording engineer AND I owned all three ON THE SAME DAY, so....

I figure for all you critical listeners, I will provide a blind test

The same DIs...
Through the same interface...
Through the same reamp box...
Through the same cable...
Through the same cabinet...
Using the same microphone...
And microphone preamplifier...
In the same room...
On the same day...

So what changed? The head. That's all

If you are even thinking about saying, "well with the drums I can't tell," or "why don't you post them soloed," you may continue to play in your bedroom to your mother, your cat, and your three goldfish. Practically no one cares what you sound like outside of a band and no one wants to hear you play solo guitar for an entire album with no other instruments behind it (at least not electric guitar) because everything in life is about context. If you don't like it, suck it

Have fun guessing which one is which If you can tell the differences, I'd love to see how many of you guess correctly, so if you've got some big balls, post your answers

Here is the clip:

The amp in the clip changes every 10 seconds, so:

0:00-0:10 (section 1) is one amp
0:00-0:10 (section 2) is one amp
0:00-0:10 (section 3) is one amp

The poll is here, so cast your votes my gear loving friends!

And without further ado...

THE CLIP: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/156 ... ootout.wav

I will post answers once the thread gets rowdy

This is cool. They sound soo close. Here's my guess, in order: 5150ii 5150iii 5150i

I have to be honest and say I could not hear a difference. Again I owned the 5153 and did not gel with its sound. I much prefer the stock PV 5150II and like my FJA modded 5150II even more. Must be my computer speakers????

Not much difference. I don't have a guess between 5150 and 5152. I'm guessing 5153 is the last one though.

I can't hear any difference on my iPhone

Very close. 1is my favorite and I guessed 5150.

I think the whole idea of which one is better (and this goes for anything like this) is sort of ridiculous. Sound/tone/feel is subjective. I've played the 5150 and the 5150 III 50 watt under similar circumstances and on that day I preferred the 5150 III. But I would take any version; they all sound great.

No idea, but I'm gonna guess

1 - 5152
2 - 5150
3 - 5153

No idea which is which, but 1>3>2 tone wise for me

I have no idea because I have little to no experience with these three amps.

After listening to that clip I think I may want one though! And if that was all three I'd pick up one of the 5150's I see here on CL all the time for $450-$500. No need to buy the pricey one!

fitty one fitty is serious business

up

lolzgreg":3o4qlsqg said:

If you are even thinking about saying, "well with the drums I can't tell," or "why don't you post them soloed," you may continue to play in your bedroom to your mother, your cat, and your three goldfish. Practically no one cares what you sound like outside of a band and no one wants to hear you play solo guitar for an entire album with no other instruments behind it (at least not electric guitar) because everything in life is about context. If you don't like it, suck it

Click to expand...

^ Fucking hilarious and I feel the same way.

As far as the clips go, shit I can't tell the difference but they all sound fantastic. Killer tone, mix and riff. Thanks for posting.

Hard to tell listening on my iPhone. But #1 and #2 sound identical and #3 sounds a tiny bit more distant/muffled in the mix........so I will say #3 is the 5153. Other than that I have no idea.

they are all kemper

gtr31":3um78xj8 said:

they are all kemper

Click to expand...

Hot damn. You caught me digital handed ...010001010100101011101001001011101001000001010100100000101010111

It can be pretty much the same amp with different tonestack settings. The core sound is the same.

I don't know which is which, but there isn't more than $10 difference in any of them.

Yup , Me too.
I don't know which is which , they sound almost the same.
But the first clip - IMO the best.

5150 is like the old DSL100, a cheap beast!

1 - 5150 II
2 - 5150
3 - 5150 III