going from an AMP to PRE/PWR set up.. difference?

[joolzriff]

i havnt made my mind up yet,im still fishing for ideas....
im a Soldano SLO user....very happy w/ set up...... the covers act im in is expanding its set lists/styles...... im feeling i may need a 3 channel set up or 2 amp set up(clean/dirty) to be able to cover the spectrum.
going w/ a pre/pwr set up would be more portable than 2 amps.....
Ive been looking at a Soldano X88r pre & a Bogner FISH and what ever quality 6l6 pwr amp....
What differences would i feel/hear in leaving a head to a rack? .. would i miss anything? percussiveness & feel? what is the nicest 6l6 pwramp i can get for these Preamps.......
cheers
j

 

[steve_k]

My advice is to try it before you buy it and don't sell your heads until you do. I have been disappointed on more than one occasion.

 

[supersonic]

A rack will not pack the same oomph as a head. Due to what John Shur describes as a concequence of using seperate power supplies for each unit. I have owned 4 SLO's and two X99s' a VHT 2150 and a SM100. Sold my last x99 a year ago. At one stage I had both rack and head rigs and did quite a bit of A B ing.

 

[steve_k]

A rack will not pack the same oomph as a head. Due to what John Shur describes as a concequence of using seperate power supplies for each unit. I have owned 4 SLO's and two X99s' a VHT 2150 and a SM100. Sold my last x99 a year ago. At one stage I had both rack and head rigs and did quite a bit of A B ing.

While some pre's are nice to fiddle with, I don't think you can ever get an equivalent tone/feel with it being separated from it's power amp. Tried Mesa and Marshall and I liked the JMP because of the simplicity and ease of programming/recalling presets/FX loop. No way in hell though a Triaxis came close to a Mark series amp and the Triaxis is a little more involved as far as programming. Never tried a Soldano kit before though.

Steve

 

[Audioholic]

The rack setup I had did feel a little different then the heads it still was nice and I loved incorporating stereo fx. But eventually I went back to a head.

 

[JTyson]

I agree the feel is slightly different, but despite that, no way would I let go of my Langner preamp/Marshall pwr amp combo.
I love it
Why not have both?

 

[gtrlw]

I started a thread on this topic a while ago here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=90976

Once you get past the thoughtless posts there are some insightful and helpful responses, including Larry's.

 

[Filter500]

A rack will not pack the same oomph as a head. Due to what John Shur describes as a concequence of using seperate power supplies for each unit. I have owned 4 SLO's and two X99s' a VHT 2150 and a SM100. Sold my last x99 a year ago. At one stage I had both rack and head rigs and did quite a bit of A B ing.

It's true. I had to learn this for myself and am now convinced heads are the way to go in general. The feel is different and the sound doesn't jump out of the speaker in the same way.

 

[PBGas]

I've done this sevearl times thinking I have found the holy grail and I always end up with an amp head once again.
I think I'm going to stay with it this time. I just find that there is a certain something missing from the pre-amp poweramp thing. I think we are so used to hearing an amp driving a 12" speaker that when you move to the FRFR setup, it just seems a bit empty. Again, a lot of it is what you perceive with your ears and what you want to perceive. My brain just shuts down and says, it just doesn't sound like I want it to.

Sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side once you uncover the holes.

 

[Robotechnology]

I disagree with most on this one. A simple rack pre/power setup can sound as good as a head. I prefer my TriAxis/2:90 setup over a Mark IV head in every way other than weight (the IV is lighter). I also prefer a Carvin Quad X-Amp preamp over any head that Carvin has produced over the years. When I say prefer, I am referring to tone. I think it sounds better.

 

[Spaceboy]

I thought a head contained a preamp and poweramp, so shouldn't there be no difference? For example, the Engl SE is supposedly the same as the E570 preamp and E850 poweramp. So, would the Engl SE head sound different than the rack combination, only because they're separated? I assume maybe a head's sections are wired together differently than using instrument cable to bridge the rackmount equivalents.

 

[gtrlw]

I thought a head contained a preamp and poweramp, so shouldn't there be no difference? For example, the Engl SE is supposedly the same as the E570 preamp and E850 poweramp. So, would the Engl SE head sound different than the rack combination, only because they're separated? I assume maybe a head's sections are wired together differently than using instrument cable to bridge the rackmount equivalents.

Covered ad infinitum here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=90976

 

[rlord1974]

I don't think a head SOUNDS any better than a pre/power set-up and, believe me, I've tried them all and have owned the very best of both. You can get amazing tones/sounds out of both types of set-ups.

From my perspective, the difference is in the FEEL. Generally speaking, my experience is that a top-notch preamp (e.g., Fish, X88R, M4, Boogie Quad, etc.) when teamed with a top-notch power amp (e.g., VHT, Mesa 2:90:2, etc.) will give you a more immediate attack. When you lighten up on your pick attack, it *might* not have as much "squishiness" available either, . Perhaps that can be attributed to the different power supplies being used in the rack set-up, versus using a single power supply in a head? Really, I don't know - the jury's still out.

This is my experience.