Hi!
Im shopping around for an new bedroom amp, and i have been offered a super deal on an Engl screamer. Love the sounds of most engls and it seems like a solid and well built amp. Now to the problem, i live in an 2 bedroom apartment, i also mostly play at home for my own amusement, i never gig. Will 50 tube wats rattle the windows of my walls or can i play it silent enough not to wake the whole building. Do i need an attenuator? Or do u think i am better of with something like an Blackstar ht-5 ministack.
i think it will sound loud i own a 20w solid state and i hardly turn the volume up and tube amp sound louder than ss amp if you are getting a good deal on it maybe you should just get it
50 watts is pretty crazy for a bedroom amp. Sure the Engl is good stuff, but it's really overkill for someone who is strictly playing at home, especially in an apartment.
Check out the ever growing range of low wattage tube amps that are out now. I have a Blackstar HT-5 head that I love, there's also the HT-20 which is recently become available.
Then theres the Orange Tiny Terror, Vox Nighttrain, Mesa Transatlantic, Marshall Haze 15 head, etc. Check those out for awesome cranked up tube amp tones in bedroom packages.
It will definitely get loud. It's more amp than you will ever use in a bedroom setting, but that doesn't mean it won't sound good at lower volumes, it just won't sound it's best.
A 5 watt ministack will still get loud enough to get you thrown out if you push it.
Personally I wouldn't waste money on an attenuator. I bought a THD hotplate for my Marshall Plexi RI and it was the biggest waste of money I ever had gear wise. It made the amp quieter, but it also made it sound sterile and thin.
I agree with Lone Phantom and elcid. I own a Mini Colossal, 5 watts all tube, and I could indeed play it loud enough to get evicted. But I probably never will turn it up all the way because it sounds so good at low-to-mid volume.
If the Engl's what you really want, like cid says, you can get it and just play it at low volume, but it just won't sound as great as a lower-wattage amp played at the same volume.
I'm not sure what the deal is on the Engl you've been offered but you can always get it, try it and if it doesn't work out for you, sell it off at a profit and buy a smaller wattage tube amp.
As has been said, even 5 watts will get loud enough to cause tenant problems but the Blackstar HT-5 is a great option.
The Screamer is a nice amp (just put up a new review here in comparison shopping section), however I find that you need at least rehearsal room volumes to get it going in lead mode.
I SOOOO wish I could try this option... but nowhere near the place I live can I find the Engl E580 (is that the MIDI one ?.. I'm actually more interested in the Engl E570, the special edition head pre-amp section).
Close to where I live people only seem to have the ENGL heads available for trying out! And I would hate to pre-order a pre-amp and then send it back!
Because I was thinking of getting the ENGL Invader and run the effects loop into my pod... or laptop with impulses.. and have a speaker load unit hooked on the Invader, or a real cabinet but with the amp in standby (I believe the pre-amp still works, just the poweramp valves are off). This way I could have good tone coming from computer monitors without having to blast the neighbours through the cabinet! But it seems overkill.. pre-amp route + power amp when needed seems better.
Yeah you can't find the Engl anywhere - I had to order it from Chicago and I understand it had to be shipped to the warehouse in Chicago from Germany - about a 3 month process - trust me it was worth the wait and I'll never return it.
i play HT 20 at my flat with Boss over drive, so it sounds still good at low volume with tons of sustains and gains. Sometime I put multix effect GNX4 into the loop and use it like master volume and turn all the volumes up but amp doesn’t sound raw or aggressive anymore (somehow colour and compress).
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