NEED advice, please!

[p4vl]

So you like the amps, but you don't like the speakers in the combo's?

I'm actually looking for a combo. I have a half stack and it's too big for the house, plus too much to lug from home to my buddies studio. The half stack stays there.

I did toy with the idea of getting a head and then using the faulty B52's combo speakers.
But guess what they are.......? Yup, V30's.
It's a matter of taste, and I actually like those speakers.

As for low gain tubes, I like the JSX's high gain channels, and the JSX clean is excellent with plenty of headroom.
Maybe the XXX neads lower gain tubes, but I haven't tried those yet, none around to try.
I didn't find the JSX's high gain to be fizzy at all.

Your suggestions are good, but it's a completely different set up than what I'm looking for.
Did you get low gain pre's because the regular tubes had too much gain for your style?
Did you try some better standard gain pre's to see if it's the stock tubes and not the actual gain?

I bought my XXX 2x12 in 2006, it was my first tube amp. The fizzy tone is long gone, due to the v12's and the MXR 10-band EQ (I definitely recommend getting one used if you get a XXX).

If you're looking for something that sounds good at low volume at home the XXX is perfect, 1x12 60w or 2x12 120w; doesn't matter. The JSX is smoother, but I couldn't get a really aggressive tone from them, not like the XXX.

Most of my previous post was concerning the weight of the 2x12, but if you plan on keeping it at home, don't worry about that. Also, the fact that the backside isn't completely closed means you're going to lose low end (what little the v30's have mwahaha).

You could probably jury rig something that covers most of the back (might want to email Peavey about the safety issues). That or get a used closed back extension cab and use the combo as a head, like I do.

If the 1x12 combo is cheaper, you also might want to get that and do some upgrading (the XXX seems to love JJ power & preamp tubes, Tung Sol preamp tubes, too).

Protips: The XXX has a Presence knob, but it is hidden. If you are using the Crunch channel, turn up the volume knob on the Ultra channel to at least noon and vice versa. I'm too embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to find out about that.

Also, the Active EQ on the gain channels (clean is passive EQ) is a serious pain in the ass to tweak (which is why I recommend an EQ pedal; I use that to make small tweaks and leave the channel EQ fairly close to noon). If you put anything in the FX Loop, crank both send/return knobs.