NAD: 5150 III 50W Stealth

[Bad.Seed]

So recently I got a wild hare up my ass about 5150's. I hadn't been playing mine for quite some time as I had been in a Marshall style amp kick for a while and primarily my Splawns.

I picked up a 6505+ for a good deal and it kind of reignited my love for the 5150. I saw the stealth when it was announced. I figured I'd wait for the prices on the used market to come down before I jumped on one, but then covid happened, and they haven't really been able to get these in stock, meaning the used market won't saturate any time soon. On top of that, the el34 models seem to be holding their value really well on the used market, so I figure these will do the same.

Anyways, I managed to find a reverb seller with one in stock and worked out a decent deal so I jumped on it.

On first impressions, it definitely has more of a low mid voicing than the regular 6L6. It kind of reminds me of a more refined OG 5150/6505 that doesn't sound like it wants to spin out of control at any minute. Like the original was taken and polished, tightened, clarified, and spit out in a smaller box. So far, I'm digging it, but really have only had about 25 minutes to play it.

I'll come home on my lunch break tomorrow when nobody is around and really crank it up to put it through it's paces.

 

[thenine]

hare up my ass

 

[Bad.Seed]

hare up my ass

I use this saying whenever I can, ha!

 

[311boogieman]

Congrats

HNEVH5150IIISD

I hear nothing but good things about these EL34 versions. I'd love to hear your comparison thoughts on this vs your Splawns.

 

[Bad.Seed]

Congrats

HNEVH5150IIISD

I hear nothing but good things about these EL34 versions. I'd love to hear your comparison thoughts on this vs your Splawns.

Hey man! This one is actually the 6L6 stealth version, although I recently played the EL34 extensively. Blue channel on that one is flubby garbage. The red channel is modern high gain heaven. Vs the Splawns, it's pretty much the same story as any 5150 vs Splawn, more gain, more low mids, more saturation, less clarity and tightness.

 

[Devin]

My buddy tells me the 50W Stealth is the best in the series since the Peavey 5150II


I'd love to try one myself

 

[Bad.Seed]

Here's everyone's favorite measure of true tone: A crappy cell phone video!

All EQ, presence and resonance are set to noon, gain at 1 oclock.

 

[311boogieman]

nice

 

[ErikT]

Congrats dude! I've been thinking about getting this head. Clip sounds ripping! To me I'm hearing more clarity in the Stealth version but man both sound great.

 

[PDC]

Just about to say the same thing. Both sound fantastic - smart phone vid won’t tell any lies! I noticed a bit more clarity in the stealth and a bit more compression in the ‘std’ 5150. But I could play through either head all day long.

 

[Texhex]

Keeping my 2013 but if I needed a new 5150 iii I'd definitely go with the Stealth. Latest, greatest and all that.

 

[PBGas]

This version is a great amp! Great tones out of it!

 

[thenine]

Mean

 

[D-Rock]

Clip sounds great and very much like my original 6L6 50w with a GE-7 in front of the blue channel.

 

[Metlupass2]

I bought one but decided that I liked my original 6L6 50 watt more and sold the stealth.

 

[acev]

Sounds great, nice and tight. Not a drastic difference between the two.

Was just playing mine (playing is random crap, sorry)

 

[thenine]

What’s on top of your head in your vids? I see a pedal and single space rack unit

 

[acev]

What’s on top of your head in your vids? I see a pedal and single space rack unit

Pedal is a Bray LO-1, Line out box Rack unit is a stereo power amp for WDW setup, powering the wet cabs.

 

[skoora]

hare up my ass

I use this saying whenever I can, ha!

But even funnier with how you spelled “hair”

 

[the4thlast1]

They sounded very similar in the clip but Im sure there are more noticeable differences in the room. What about the clean channel on the stealth 50, the stealth 100w clean would breakup very quickly. Is the clean on the 50w version different ?