Poll - Best Version Of The 5150 Series Amps?

[TexasBaritone]

EVH 5150 III 50W Stealth is my favorite.
Better cleans than the 100w version and much easier to carry for gigs.

 

[Philosophy prof]

l've had so many 5150s over the years. My order, of the ones I've owned, would be this.

The ones I've really liked.
5153 100S (this is my all time favorite amp. The red channel has this weight to it that I love. I have 2 of these.)
5150 212 combo (the most unique and awesome of the Peaveys)
5153 100 6l6 (not too far off from the 100S in some ways, but less aggressive and less gain)
5153 50 6l6 (low end on the regular 50 watt just hits so much more similarly to the 100 watters than the 50s amps. I also have 2 of these because they sound great and are a convenient size and weight.)
5152 (Had one of these on and off for about 10 years. Just a great, tight metal tone without a boost needed)
5153 LBX-S (Awesome little practice amp. I gave this to my 12 yr old son and he loves it)

From here down, I start to like them less.
5153 50s (messier response than the original 50)
5153 EL34 combo (Didn't spend much time with this one, but still sounded like you would expect)
6505+ 112 combo (Similar to the 5152, but sounds much smaller)
5150 BL (Never gelled with the low end response on these. Absolutely brutal sounding, though)
6505MH (reminded me a lot of the BL I had, just smaller in size and tone)
5150 Iconic (This one is weird. I had a great experience with a 40 watt combo, but it wasn't what I remembered when I bought one. Didn't like the heads at all)

I haven't played the 5153 EL34 50 head or 100 watt head. I don't generally go for EL34 amps. I also haven't played the 5153 6l6 combo, though I'm sure it's similar to the 50 watt head.

I also owned and played all of these through different cabs over the years. Used Eminence Legends for a long time, and more recently with a Mesa OS cab with 2004 V30s. Vader cabs, custom cabs, Earcandy with green machines, KSR, celestion Redbacks, Peavey cabs with Sheffields. So kinda hard to nail some of this down because of that. Just what I remember of all the ones that I can pull out of my head. I may be forgetting versions. Many of these I've owned more than once lol.

I currently own 2 5153 100S and 2 5153 50 6l6 heads. The 100S is just my perfect in my head tone. Feels addictive to play. The 50 watters are around for convenience because the 100 watters are absolute massive haha. I keep the 50 watters at my practice spaces.

I always look at others amps, and they never stick around for more than a year or 2. Always end up back with a 5150. Guess it's a good problem to have lol.

This is very helpful. I don’t own a 5150. I have a chance to pick up the OG peavey combo but I also would like to get a 5150 head. If you had to choose one, which would you get

 

[NinjaRaf]

I prefer the combo to the head. The OG head has a massive low end and a ton of aggression, but that low end is overpowering and loose, IMO. The 5152 fixes that, but loses some of that aggression. The combo sits in between. Retains some of the aggression, but has a much tighter and well defined low end that's more fun to play. I just missed out on one at my local GC...should've grabbed it.

 

[killertone]

Also a massive 5150 212 combo fan here. Easily the best out of the OG 5150 series. But I got a Stealth EL34 100 watt recently and when I biased it up properly that amp came alive. Sounds insanely good.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

had the 100w EL34 Stealth for a bit and it got extremely close in sound and feel to the Wizard MCII I had at the time - good amp for the money IMO

 

[JackBootedThug]

I have only played a block letter once…actually the only time I recall ever playing a 5150…. Now I have a 6505+ combo I grabbed a couple months ago and I really like it. I’m running it through my avatar 4x12 with v30’s…. Killer little amp. In stereo with my rectifier is bananas

 

[angelspade]

I have only played a block letter once…actually the only time I recall ever playing a 5150…. Now I have a 6505+ combo I grabbed a couple months ago and I really like it. I’m running it through my avatar 4x12 with v30’s…. Killer little amp. In stereo with my rectifier is bananas

I have run a Peavey 5150II head with a Triple Rectifier...Killer tone for sure.

 

[Philosophy prof]

had the 100w EL34 Stealth for a bit and it got extremely close in sound and feel to the Wizard MCII I had at the time - good amp for the money IMO

Love your YouTube channel. Why did you sell it? I am considering getting one

 

[Philosophy prof]

Also a massive 5150 212 combo fan here. Easily the best out of the OG 5150 series. But I got a Stealth EL34 100 watt recently and when I biased it up properly that amp came alive. Sounds insanely good.

Was it not biased right when you bought it? Or did you mod it?

 

[napalmdeath]

Don't discount the 6534+.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Love your YouTube channel. Why did you sell it? I am considering getting one

The EVH was killer but somewhat redundant with the other amps I had at the time.

 

[glpg80]

Was it not biased right when you bought it? Or did you mod it?

I had no idea they were still biasing the 5150 III series into crossover distortion from the factory. I thought that was limited to the peavey’s from the factory.

I’m sure biased correctly it does make a huge difference. You need a clean power section to reproduce the immense amount of preamp gain going on. They aren’t plexi’s anymore with a pushed overdrive.

 

[Philosophy prof]

The EVH was killer but somewhat redundant with the other amps I had at the time.

I just got the OG peavey 5150 combo in mint condition. It’s such a killer amp. I’m very tempted to get the 100 watt stealth now

 

[Philosophy prof]

Also a massive 5150 212 combo fan here. Easily the best out of the OG 5150 series. But I got a Stealth EL34 100 watt recently and when I biased it up properly that amp came alive. Sounds insanely good.

I just got the OG combo. I love it. Blown away. I might get the 100 watt stealth. Any reason why you went with the el34 version? Is there that much of a difference between that and the black version?

 

[Philosophy prof]

Peavey 5150 2x12

Just bought one. I absolutely love it

 

[Philosophy prof]

Anyone know which head is closest to the OG 5150 combo?

 

[Philosophy prof]

Also a massive 5150 212 combo fan here. Easily the best out of the OG 5150 series. But I got a Stealth EL34 100 watt recently and when I biased it up properly that amp came alive. Sounds insanely good.

How close is the stealth head to the tone of the OG combo? I own the combo and absolutely love the tone. But from what I’m reading, they all seem to have their own tonal character. Not sure how true that is

 

[the4thlast1]

How close is the stealth head to the tone of the OG combo? I own the combo and absolutely love the tone. But from what I’m reading, they all seem to have their own tonal character. Not sure how true that is

Stealth has the most gain and compression out of all of them. It does sound awesome though. Really aggressive on the red channel but a more controlled lowend compared to the OG 1st version peavey ……but the Peavey was a little more open and raw.

 

[Philosophy prof]

Stealth has the most gain and compression out of all of them. It does sound awesome though. Really aggressive on the red channel but a more controlled lowend compared to the OG 1st version peavey ……but the Peavey was a little more open and raw.

That’s helpful. Thanks! Any opinion on the 5150 II.?

 

[the4thlast1]

That’s helpful. Thanks! Any opinion on the 5150 II.?

Ive had them all. The Peavey 5150 II / 6505+ might be my favorite but it’s close between the EVH 100w versions including the regular and the stealth. The peavey combo sounds good too I had a couple of them in the past. The 5150 II head is the most balanced to my ears. My least favorite is the OG 1st version peavey because the lowend can be a bit fuzzy like a Soldano Slo.