Difference between EVH Stealth and EVH 5150 III 50 watt

[Speeddemon]

@TheGreatGreen interesting findings!

I've seen one or two vids, comparing the two 50W versions and I got the impression the Stealth seemed to suffer less from that 'plasticy' honk in the mid-range and that the overall tone was maybe a hair more open sounding...as far as 'open' goes for a high gain head with a known compressed tone, 7 preamp tubes and all...

The EL34 version indeed was totally different for the blue channel and @Guitarjon 's recent videos convinced me more that I would find the blue channel on that too loose, almost sludgy sounding. Given how my home practice amps are an Engl Savage 60 and a Mesa Mark V:25, maybe you have some idea of how tight I like things to be?

 

[TheGreatGreen]

@TheGreatGreen interesting findings!

I've seen one or two vids, comparing the two 50W versions and I got the impression the Stealth seemed to suffer less from that 'plasticy' honk in the mid-range and that the overall tone was maybe a hair more open sounding...as far as 'open' goes for a high gain head with a known compressed tone, 7 preamp tubes and all...

The EL34 version indeed was totally different for the blue channel and @Guitarjon 's recent videos convinced me more that I would find the blue channel on that too loose, almost sludgy sounding. Given how my home practice amps are an Engl Savage 60 and a Mesa Mark V:25, maybe you have some idea of how tight I like things to be?

Both the regular 50w 6L6 v2 and Stealth 50w will have tighter Blue channels than the 50w EL34's Blue channel, yes. So yep you might prefer the former amps over the EL34 50w. BTW this does NOT extend to the EL34 100w amp. That amp does not have the same looseness in the Blue channel as the 50w EL34. Also the red channels of all three 50 watt amps are the same. The 50w EL34 on the red channel will have slightly more pronounced (or technically "less damped") mids because of the power section, but the red channel preamps themselves are the same.

Also I know what you mean when you say "plasticy" honk, but I did not find that the 50w 6L6 v2 or the 50w Stealth had this quality. I don't have much experience with the non-concentric pot 50w 6L6 though, maybe that amp is different than the v2.

 

[romanianreaper]

quickest return I ever did was on the 50 watt EL34. IDK bout the stealth 6l6.

Yeah, I never bonded with the EL34. I freakin love my 6L6 50 watt!!

 

[Philosophy prof]

For those who have played both models, is there a notable difference tone wise playing at low volume (bedroom) levels?

Little late to the party, but I own and absolutely love the 100 watt stealth. I own diezels, Mesa, etc, and I can say it is my favorite. I can get great tone out of any of the channels, and I can do so at almost any volume. It also takes pedals better than the other amps I own. Can’t stop playing it.

 

[Techdeth]

Little late to the party, but I own and absolutely love the 100 watt stealth. I own diezels, Mesa, etc, and I can say it is my favorite. I can get great tone out of any of the channels, and I can do so at almost any volume. It also takes pedals better than the other amps I own. Can’t stop playing it.

I have a lot of great rare amps but I love the stealth. I love the red for rhythm . With a noisegate .

 

[Magic Dragon]

Oh boy...

I’ve owned and been inside (as a tech) three of the 5150 III 50 watt concentric models (6L6, EL34, and 6L6 Combo). I’ve also spoken to the designer of the amps about the designs.

ALL of the EVH 5150 III amps have different preamp designs:

Green Channel:
6L6: 1uf cathode cap on the 1st gain stage increases the gain and rolls off some of the low-end vs the EL34. Will breakup at highest gain settings.
EL34: no 1uf cap. Lower gain than the 6L6 and increased low-end. More headroom -more “fender” clean.
Combo (predecessor to the Stealth and very similar preamp) 1uf cathode cap but different voltage divider downstream gives it much higher gain. There is really no clean on this one. There are also large bright caps on the volume pots making it the brightest of the clean channels. To me it sounds like a Marshall 2204 JCM 800 -which is cool if you don’t want a clean sound.

Blue Channel
6L6: the blue channel from the early non-concentric amps - this is the “standard” blue channel everyone raves about.
EL34: Same blue channel as 6L6 but paralleled coupling capacitor that increases the bass response in the channel.
Combo/Stealth: This is the BIG change in the post EL34 design amps, the blue channel 1st gain stage is moved from being shared with the green channel to being shared with the red channel. The blue channel has a lot more gain in the combo and stealth amps and has more low end filtered. It also has large bright caps on the volume pot.

Red Channel:
6L6 and EL34 are generally the same.
Combo and Stealth are much higher gain than the 6L6 and EL34 heads.

My favorite version is the EL34 with the second coupling cap removed from the circuit (C137 mod). The clean is better than the 6L6 and, with the C137 cap removed, the blue and red channels are the same as the 6L6.

 

[napalmdeath]

I preferred the Stealth. Better blue channel, and even though the red channel was still absurd with gain, it's voiced a little less abrasive and warmer. Maybe a touch more in the low mids.

 

[NinjaRaf]

I've had the 6l6 and Stealth 50 and 100 watters, and a Kruze modded 6l6 50...and an EL34 combo that I don't remember too well, and the LBX-S, which is cool but is basically a toy. It's cool to see what the changes between the models were, electronically. I mainly live on the red channel, so I would really only be able to comment on those differences. The clean channels on the 4 models I've played have all been excellent.

6l6 100 red channel is super chunky. Less compressed and less gain than the 100S. Has more of a thud to the chugs. 100S red channel...every not feels like it has weight behind it. A whole lot of gain and compression. Way more saturated and juicy feeling then the 6l6, if that makes any sense lol.

The 6l6 50 gets closer to the 100 watters feel than the 50S. 50S doesn't have the same weight that the 100S has. It has more of a bloomy and messy feeling low end than the 100S.

If you are deciding between the 2 50 watters, I would go with the 6l6. I have a non-concentric pot version, and it is awesome. However, if the 100 watters are on the table, definitely go with that. They are comically huge, but the size reflects how big the tone is on them. They hit with so much more authority than the 50 watters.