KSR ARES 50 Anyone own one... need opinions

[MetalThrasher]

Amp GAS hit me. LOL. I've been looking at the Ares 50 and would like to hear what people who have owned this amp think of it. I will be playing this through an Orange PPC412 with V 30's. Looking for a thrash metal tone of a different flavor compared to my Mark III and V. Cheers!

 

[Terex]

I played one for a couple of hours thru various cabs. (Engl, Friedman, Diezel and Orange) It sounded absolutely crushing. No need for an overdrive pedal in front. Great great amp. Sounded pretty modern and natural to me. No fizz, not thin sounding.

 

[FourT6and2]

I have one. Second best amp I've ever owned. It's a keeper.

It's built really well. Takes pretty much any octal power tube. The FX Loop is perfect (switchable out of the circuit, has both send and receive levels, transparent). The lead channel/Master 2 is crushing. It's like a mix of a Mark III and something... I dunno... maybe a bit of VHT/Fryette or Diezel or... I have no clue. Definitely a bit of SLO in there. The Preamp looks similar but the amp doesn't have the grittiness that SLOs have to my ears. But it has a great mid grind and tight low end and it's clear and resonant at the same time as having a good amount of saturation and compression. But it sounds pretty open. No ear fatigue.

I use mine with a Mesa 2x12 with Mesa V30s. I tried it with NOS Sylvania 6L6GCs. But I actually prefer it with regular ol' shitty JJ 6L6s. Sounds better biased on the cold side. I don't use Master 1/Crunch that much. I kinda wish it had a straight up clean channel instead. But I can get good cleans by running Crunch off and the gain super low.

I have a hard time hearing the actual difference between some of switch positions though. The low-end switch I can kinda hear. In the middle it's supposed to be the tightest. In the other two positions, there is a SLIGHT low-end emphasis that makes the low-end sort of bounce or smear out more. But it's subtle. The mid switch... same thing. I don't really hear a huge difference between up and down. Bright switch is definitely noticeable though. I run it on because it adds more upper mids and snarl. Then I balance it out with the presence/treble low.

If you have any specific questions, ask away.

 

[MetalThrasher]

Wow I am really interested based upon your description. May I ask what your number one amp is? What kind of metal tones can you get from channel one?

 

[FourT6and2]

Wow I am really interested based upon your description. May I ask what your number one amp is? What kind of metal tones can you get from channel one?

My number one is the Ceriatone Chupacabra.

On the Ares, Master 1 with the crunch switch on is pretty much identical to Master 2. The amp technically has one channel, but two masters. And Master 1 has a crunch switch. So you can technically get two different "channels." In any event, I find Master 1 to be slightly less compressed and a bit brighter. It's subtle. But the Ares is a modern high-gain amp. 100%. It is angry and pissed off. But it doesn't have that Marshall type of grind. It's more Mesa/Soldano. But not as fizzy.

These are good examples (not me

 

[Rev]

I'll chime as I've owned mine for a little over a year now. I pretty much agree with the above description. The crunch channel has a nice JCM 800 voicing with a lot more gain. It's not totally a Marshall crunch but similar ballpark. The lead channel which can be on both master volumes is a mix between an SLO and Mark series boogie. If you run the channels like I do you can make it a two channel amp with a solo boost. The footswitch will allow you to get three different volumes while the front two masters can have different gain and voicing selections.

The switches on the front are subtle but definitely noticeable. There isn't a setting or switch position that sounds bad. I've never had an amp that could essentially sound great no mater how it was EQ'ed.

I run it with celestion blackbacks in an old Marshall cab and a KSR cab with H30's. In addition, I have tried 6l6's and EL34's, and both sound great.

 

[JackBootedThug]

they sound mean...

 

[FourT6and2]

I'll chime as I've owned mine for a little over a year now. I pretty much agree with the above description. The crunch channel has a nice JCM 800 voicing with a lot more gain. It's not totally a Marshall crunch but similar ballpark. The lead channel which can be on both master volumes is a mix between an SLO and Mark series boogie. If you run the channels like I do you can make it a two channel amp with a solo boost. The footswitch will allow you to get three different volumes while the front two masters can have different gain and voicing selections.

The switches on the front are subtle but definitely noticeable. There isn't a setting or switch position that sounds bad. I've never had an amp that could essentially sound great no mater how it was EQ'ed.

I run it with celestion blackbacks in an old Marshall cab and a KSR cab with H30's. In addition, I have tried 6l6's and EL34's, and both sound great.

By Blackbacks, you mean what? G12M-25s? Or G12H-30s? Or something else? Some folks call a bunch of different speakers by that name.

It sounds pretty good through my Bogner 4x12 with G12M-25 Greenbacks too.

 

[maddnotez]

Wow I am really interested based upon your description. May I ask what your number one amp is? What kind of metal tones can you get from channel one?

My number one is the Ceriatone Chupacabra.

Know where to find any hardcore metal clips?

I found one where some guy was playing some LOG riff but there doesn't seem to be any metal clips on youtube.

I really want a KSR but am curious about the Ceriatone.

 

[FourT6and2]

Wow I am really interested based upon your description. May I ask what your number one amp is? What kind of metal tones can you get from channel one?

My number one is the Ceriatone Chupacabra.

Know where to find any hardcore metal clips?

I found one where some guy was playing some LOG riff but there doesn't seem to be any metal clips on youtube.

I really want a KSR but am curious about the Ceriatone.

The KSR is definitely more modern metal than the Chupacabra. This is the only clip I have. Maybe you've already seen it. You can EQ it for a bit more tightness and more gain. But this might just give you an idea for the general tone of the amp. It's pretty aggressive and mean. The Yeti is the same amp, but it's a bit tighter and has more low-end. But it's not as snarly. From what you've described, though, I think the Ares is a better choice. Listen to the clips I posted above and you'll see the Ares is way more modern metal. The Chupa and Yeti are basically JCM800s with diode clipping.

 

[maddnotez]

Thanks for posting. I like it but I am more into the modern metal. That amp could certainly work though I bet.

 

[FourT6and2]

Sounds like the Ares would be a better fit for you. It's a killer amp. There's one on Reverb right now...

 

[Mike Vilogi]

Just snagged one up. I bought as an alternative to my Soldano Hotrod 25. They are getting $$ in resale and Im getting rid of it while iron is hot, so I snagged the KSR to try to get somewhere close. WOW. I still have not sold the Soldano, but it sits on the side now. The presence and cut I get out of the ARES is nuts. I also dont dig the low end on the Soldano so much. The low end body and bass controls make this thing epic with my 212 Victory. Just amazed at the build quality too. I feel lucky for getting in on these amps early. And no, I dont work for KSR

 

[ClintN667]

Congrats. I own an Orthos Mk2 50 watt. I was planning on buying an Ares but since it was going to be my only amp for awhile I wanted to have a clean. I use a Maxon and a RYRA Klon on my pedalboard so with the a little bit of a boost I can cover a lot of tones. Like using the clean channel with my RYRA gets me a nice post rock tone. Just recently I ended up turning the level all the way up then using the mode 1 and 2 for volume and I was blown away. I also got a Ceres which is freaking killer with the right power section.

 

[dead-pan]

Have an Ares and it is awesome though it is very sensitive to the tubes used.

Meanest little amp. I say between 5150 and Recto.

 

[longfxukxnhair]

I say get one! I own one and agree with what has been said here by others. Its a great amp......mine is a keeper and aint going nowhere.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

Curious about these. Not in the market right now, but I heard the Ceres preamp pedal and thought it sounded incredible for online youtube in room clips. With the KSR PA50 and the Duncan PS 170. That said, I want an FX loop, and I prefer smaller mini tube heads if I can get away with it as I gig quite a bit.

I'm coming from a JJ100 (sad face, had to sell it) and I've had multiple Friedmans, modded Marshalls, Splawn, Helios, etc.

I tend to like a bit of saturation. I always boosted the BE channel of the JJ100 and loved the JBE channel.

Would I dig the Ares?

 

[Holy-diver]

Curious about these. Not in the market right now, but I heard the Ceres preamp pedal and thought it sounded incredible for online youtube in room clips. With the KSR PA50 and the Duncan PS 170. That said, I want an FX loop, and I prefer smaller mini tube heads if I can get away with it as I gig quite a bit.

I'm coming from a JJ100 (sad face, had to sell it) and I've had multiple Friedmans, modded Marshalls, Splawn, Helios, etc.

I tend to like a bit of saturation. I always boosted the BE channel of the JJ100 and loved the JBE channel.

Would I dig the Ares?

The ares was by far my favorite of the 3 ksr amps I had. It’s pretty savage

 

[Apex1Rg7X]

I've had both the Ares and the Orthos MK2. The Ares is more straightforward with no clean channel but the Dual Masters and Gain knobs let you get more out of it than you would expect. Of course the Orthos is the Ares with a clean channel. In my experience the Ares does not require a boost but I liked boosting it anyways, I tend to like the feel of it with one on. KSR products are top notch and now I have myself talking myself into getting another, haha.

 

[Junk Yard Dog]

This is the video that grabs me. I was concerned it wouldn't cut as well in a mix compared to other amps I've owned.