NAD Soldano Hot Rod 25

[jlb32]

It's plenty loud - gets damn loud

But does it have to be damn loud to sound great? That is my major concern. Does it still sound great and punchy at moderate volumes?

Love the Tele btw.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Nope, it sounds good with volumes at mouse fart levels. You could have a conversation and the amp tones are still pretty solid. The channel volumes work well. But when you turn it up it's got more personality that's for sure.

 

[jlb32]

Thanks!! That was my main concern was the volume level for it to sound great. I don't need super quiet but I don't want window shattering levels on any amp for it to sound punchy with full tone.

I had a 18 watt amp a few years back and it only sounded good at window shattering levels. Surprised me since I thought 18 watts wouldn't need to be as loud to sound good but that thing was as loud as most 50 watt amps I've owned and didn't have any punch or power until it was screaming. Was a pretty useless amp to have unless I was gigging with it.

 

[blackba]

Sounds great. Is there anything you don't like about it so far are it a total win?

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I had a Badger 35 that sounded killer but I liked it louder instead of really quiet but it was solid at any level. The Badger was really dynamic and would clean up with lighter pick attack. The Soldano isn't as dynamic but it's got 2 useable channels that both sound great.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Sounds great. Is there anything you don't like about it so far are it a total win?

So far the only thing that it should have (imho) is a channel switch on the front as you can only change with a footswitch. Not a huge deal but that's the only gripe. Tone wise it does what I'd hoped it would do. With the Fender Tele it's got a cool vibe- solid rock tones, with HB's it can get heavy too. Other than being over $2000 if you paid MAP pricing - meh, that's sorta a little gripe, nevertheless its a cool amp. I plan on making some more vids soon.

 

[Mr. Willy]

This may seem like a dumb question as you said earlier that it gets really loud, but you think it'd have any issues at band volumes? I've got a SLO and love it, but the magic doesn't happen for me until about 6 on the MV. That's stupid loud.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I don't think you'd have a problem but I'm not certain if you'd have as big of a wall of sound compared to a 100w SLO

I've played it into my 412 and 212, and oddly enough I like how it sounds with the 212 right now. I think if I started over and EQ'd it from the start the 412 would sound fine but the Creambacks sound damn good with it. It's pretty loud man especially with the gain over 12:00 and dirty master over 2:00, but loud is subjective I think.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Last band I was in was a classic rock cover band. Loudest I got the SLO was 4 on the MV. Any more than that and I'd be drowning people out. The "wall of sound" thing doesn't happen, for me anyway, until 6 on the MV. Like I said though, that's ridiculous loud.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Maybe I can load a decibel meter on my phone to test, but with gain channel on 7-8 it's pretty loud.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Maybe I can load a decibel meter on my phone to test, but with gain channel on 7-8 it's pretty loud.

That's above and beyond, man. You don't have to do that. It'd be an interesting experiment though.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

There is a free one in the App Store, not sure how well it will work but I'll try it

 

[jlb32]

Maybe I can load a decibel meter on my phone to test, but with gain channel on 7-8 it's pretty loud.

I bet at 7-8 it is pretty damn loud. What was your volume at in the clip?

 

[blackba]

Sounds great. Is there anything you don't like about it so far are it a total win?

So far the only thing that it should have (imho) is a channel switch on the front as you can only change with a footswitch. Not a huge deal but that's the only gripe. Tone wise it does what I'd hoped it would do. With the Fender Tele it's got a cool vibe- solid rock tones, with HB's it can get heavy too. Other than being over $2000 if you paid MAP pricing - meh, that's sorta a little gripe, nevertheless its a cool amp. I plan on making some more vids soon.

What I liked from the clip is that the hr25 had a nice low end thump that reminded me of a big iron amp. I tend to miss this in clips of high gain low wattage amps with EL 84s, such as the Mesa mark v25, which in the head to head video I saw with the bigger mark v just lacked the thump of its big brother. I don't notice this with more vintage voiced amps with el84s such as the Mesa ta15 or the classic vox ac15 and ac30.

Been kicking around getting a low wattage amp for a while. The only thing I don't like about the hr25 is the price.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

The HR25 has big iron

 

[jcj]

Sounds fantastic!

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Maybe I can load a decibel meter on my phone to test, but with gain channel on 7-8 it's pretty loud.

I bet at 7-8 it is pretty damn loud. What was your volume at in the clip?

I think the channel volume was on 5-6 on the gain channel. Played it at a buddy's house Saturday into a Bogner 4x12 with V30's and you wouldn't believe how much thump it had, no pedals just straight in. We had the thing on about 7 with gain 1/2 way up. It's a really fun amp to play.

With the volume on 7-8 it's pretty loud - you're right

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Sounds great! Pick up in the tele?

It's the stock Fender CS "Josephina Red Hot" pickup set. I was tempted to switch them out for a BKP set but they sound pretty darn good, so I'm afraid to mess with it.

 

[charvelstrat81]

if i am not mistaken this amp was inspired by VH's No.1 marshall.
Mike got to play that marshall and after he hooked up a variac to it he wanted to get that tone
in a lower watt amp.
All i know is i have wanted one since the first day they came out!

 

[JB6464]

Although the amp sounds great , i just don't get all the buzz about this amp to spend $2200.00 for one .
You can simply put a $160.00 variac on any HR+ amp and get the same thing .
The only thing different in the layout is he moved the loop after all the preamp and tone stack stages.