Dual or Triple?

THE UNIVERSAL ONE · #1 12-11-2002, 10:32 PM

Hey guys, I need some help on this decision. I am very near a purchase of a new amp head. My choices that I've narrowed down to are the dual or triple recs. I mainly play inside the room, but very soon will be taking my sounds out to the world. Will there be a significant difference between the sounds of the 2 amps if I went with the dual (being as I doubt I will need the extra 50 watts for a long time, if ever)? BTW, if the guitar is a factor in your help, I play a UV777BK. Thanks in advance.

Kremlin · #2 12-12-2002, 12:15 AM

They're both major overkill for a bedroom player or a small gigger. And by major overkill, I don't mean "more than enough", I mean "too much." You will have a difficult time controlling the volume, and you will never hear that sweet power tube saturation.

IMO definitely forget the triple recto and consider a smaller amp.

Akhenaten · #3 12-12-2002, 02:06 AM

I use the Dual quite a bit...and have no problem with my gain. Another option is the single...it's only a 50 watt version, but it sounds killer....

30yroldpig · #4 12-12-2002, 03:00 AM

I would recomend a 50 watt anyday over the 100 watts counterparts. You can CRANK 50 Watters without killing anyone

BucketBot · #5 12-12-2002, 05:02 AM

Go for the triple. Everyone has duals.(or mesa for that matter

) If you got the money, why not?
On a side note...the main local dealer here just picked up the Mesa/Boogie line. They are selling like hotcakes! I don't get it.

I actually owed a duel recto a while back and quickly got rid of it. Personally, I like the rectifier setting on a Flextone II HD better.

Two hands31 · #6 12-12-2002, 07:40 AM

Yeah, I like my Flextone II. And I use the Rectified2 setting most of the time. It just sounds nice.

metalmarty · #7 12-12-2002, 07:59 AM

Take the Triple, it sounds better than the Dual by far (both aren't my cup of tea though)...

microdmitry · #8 12-12-2002, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat7

I would recomend a 50 watt anyday over the 100 watts counterparts. You can CRANK 50 Watters without killing anyone

Cranked 50 watt amp is only marginally quieter than 100 watt amp. At 3-5 watt you can crank the amp without killing anyone (and it will be LOUD), 50 and 100 will have almost the same volume when cranked.

In fact, a cranked 5W amp has only 1/2 of the volume of a cranked 50W amp (10dB quieter). 10db volume difference is perceived as 1/2 of the volume. This means that to have an amp that's twice as loud as 50W, you'd have to have a 500W amp, no more, no less.

There's a 3db volume difference between 100W and 50W amp, it's just _a little bit_ softer. This difference can easily be offset by using more sensitive (100dB as in Vintage 30 instead of 97dB as in Greenback, exactly 3dB difference) speakers.

To put things into perspective, 1dB difference in volume is the limit of human ear sensitivity.

MidnightFlamed · #9 12-12-2002, 09:43 AM

Maybe it was just the particular amps I was playing on, or my mind, but I always thought the triple sounded a bit bolder, and tighter. On the Road King too, switching the same settings from 2 6l6s to 4 6l6s just seemed to add a little extra boom to it.

chromeboy · #10 12-12-2002, 10:27 AM

The extra 50 watts will peel the paint off your walls...

ChrisReedSmith · #11 12-12-2002, 12:48 PM

Along with shooting down the perceived idea that "100 watts is twice as loud as 50, and 150 is 3 times etc etc..", I BELIEVE ( could be wrong) that some people perfer higher wattages because it simply adds "HEADROOM".
I'm sure different people will have different meanings for what headroom is but what Midnightlamed said about more "boom" might be a long the same lines...perhaps more wattage somewhat widens the freq. spectrum to an extent...

big al · #12 12-12-2002, 01:04 PM

Go for the dual. You can pull two of the power tubes as described in the owners manual. If you can live with two channels, the rectoverb is a cool 50 watt(er).

**jono** · #13 12-12-2002, 01:42 PM

If you're not playing big clubs either will be more than enough. There won't be any perceivable difference in tone unless Eric Johnson is in the crowd

I've used a fair few high power high gain amps in my time and all of them were too loud for small gigs. Most places will mic your amp up anyway and mix you through the PA so that you're drowned out by the cymbals and singer

.

I believe that both the amps you mention use the same pre-amp circuit and simply add another pair of power valves. So as most of your sound at club gig levels will be coming from the pre-amp, it'll sound pretty much the same.

I'd save myself the extra cash and go for a Dual Recto. Unless you've got cash to spare then you might as well go the whole hog

There was however a tonal difference between the 2 and 3 channel amps with many players preferring the original 2 channel design. I've also heard that Boogie have tried their best to rectify (pun intended) the situation

microdmitry · #14 12-12-2002, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MADWELL

Along with shooting down the perceived idea that "100 watts is twice as loud as 50, and 150 is 3 times etc etc..", I BELIEVE ( could be wrong) that some people perfer higher wattages because it simply adds "HEADROOM".
I'm sure different people will have different meanings for what headroom is but what Midnightlamed said about more "boom" might be a long the same lines...perhaps more wattage somewhat widens the freq. spectrum to an extent...

Headroom is only important for clean sounds. And I do mean CLEAN, not SRV semi-dirty. That's why I have a 100W head, anyway. Distroted sounds are by their nature very compressed, so having tons of headroom is a waste, since preamp signal comes out limited at the same level at all times.

urkoman · #15 12-12-2002, 09:48 PM

I´d go with the dual, but i´m not a big fan of any of them.