Which ENGL Amplifier

[mindwalker]

Hey guys!

I had a solid state Ibanez amplifier (10w) which broke down on me a couple weeks ago. I used a POD X3 live to play through it and I got a satisfying sound in my living room. However I may start practising with friends so I need better options. I checked some ENGL videos on youtube and those amps seem to be quite good. Now, here's the considerations:

- I don't have a car, so portability is an issue for me.
- I'm mostly into playing genres that fall into 80s rock, modern rock and progressive (dream theater style, papa roach, disturbed, etc) but also my friends who I may be practising with are more into jazz so the amp would hopefully be flexible enough to accommodate for all this.
- Money.. the less I spend the better, but I'm willing to pay more if it's worth it.
- I will still play a lot at home so the amp must sound good at bedroom levels

So judging by what I've seen on the Internet, the ENGL powerball sounded killer in most applications. However it's also a bit pricey and portability lacks if I don't have a car. Then I read about the ENGL Screamer 50... seems to be a perfect fit but I've read that it can't do high gain as well as the powerball (still probably gainy enough for what I need.. dunno). And then there's a cheaper option such as the ENGL Thunder but I don't have a clear opinion on this one.. is there a huge difference between the screamer and the thunder ?

If the Powerball really is the ****, then I may be willing to sacrifice portability a bit and go for it.. do you guys have any experience with these amps ? I just need to narrow down my choices a bit so I can go and try them out myself

[musicdr]

I just picked up an engl thunder 50 head..I owned a powerball for awhile.It had more gain than any amp should probably ever have.I never had the gain above noon for metal.Definitely need a noise gate.I had the older version and the built in gate didn't work very well.I hear the gate works better on the newer version.The thunder is going to be my backup head.It will do all the styles you request except newer metal, not without a pedal at least.It is a very brightly voiced head and seems more suited to 80s, classic rock.The gain approaches old school thrash, but not quite.I bought it used so it maybe could use some tubes.It does a nice clean, very nice crunch and decent lead.If it had a bit more gain it would do it all.Fits my application.I don't play with as much gain as I used to.I would definitely try before you buy.The powerball had good cleans and will handle any high gain situation with ease.The gain is voiced more modern as it doesn't sound open, it is more compressed.I have no experience with the screamer.If it has a little more gain than the thunder, it might do what you are looking for.Since you are new to tube amps, I would try out as many as possible.The egnater stuff is worth a look too.

[musicdr]

I changed preamp tubes.What a huge difference in sound.The thunder 50 will easily do metal and everything in between.