Randall and Synergy?

JackBootedThug

MURDERATOR
Will the Synergy modules fit in the old rm100 heads? I know-I'm late to the party. Please answer this noobs question. The closest I will ever get to a IIcp is a synergy module. And yes-All you guys with your real 2c+ amps and mark III colosseums...I HATE YOU!!!(no I don't)....
 
Yes they do fit perfectly. See the pic below of my RM100 with a couple of synergy modules in it.

You can also get any of the Randall stuff modded to use both channels of the Synergy modules. The mod also adds better midi control for the dual channels. Jaded Faith will do it for about $400. Of if you look hard enough you could find one that is already modded like I did.

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fyi all of the synergy will work except for the Herbert
They are all limited to a single channel and the input cap on synergy would not function.
That being said, if I had a Randall mts head, I would totally grab a SLO or mkii
 
I wanted to add that the Synergy amps & preamps will also take the old Randall modules. The Randall modules sound pretty decent but they can be modded to sound much better. Rob at Jaded faith has 2 of the one in the pics currently. They're being modded into a JFX (Peavey JSX) and Wrecked (Trainwreck Liverpool).

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Am i imagining things or is there a little switch on some of them that let you select what the default channel will be (for use in a Randall/Egnater system)?

I coulda swore I had read something like that before
 
Am i imagining things or is there a little switch on some of them that let you select what the default channel will be (for use in a Randall/Egnater system)?

I coulda swore I had read something like that before
Yes, some of them do have a switch to select the channel used when in a Randall or Egnater system, but not all of them have it.
 
That is exactly how I would load one of these amps.

The UL and IICP sound really good through the Randall. The foglifter definitely helps with note definition & clarity. The Rectified module was so-so. That one is with Rob getting converted to a Peavey JSX replica. A better Recto module would be one from Salvation Audio. That one has some really good Recto tones.
 
So for these modules, the V1 tube is not actually in the module: it's in the docking unit. Synergy's biggest trick is that the docking unit has three sets of V1 circuit values to pick from depending on the module used.

The older Randall and Egnator docking units/racks/heads don't have that feature and just have fixed V1 values that they hoped would work well enough for everything.

So the Synergy units will work with the Randall head, but you might not get exactly the same result as with a Synergy dock.
 
So for these modules, the V1 tube is not actually in the module: it's in the docking unit. Synergy's biggest trick is that the docking unit has three sets of V1 circuit values to pick from depending on the module used.

The older Randall and Egnator docking units/racks/heads don't have that feature and just have fixed V1 values that they hoped would work well enough for everything.

So the Synergy units will work with the Randall head, but you might not get exactly the same result as with a Synergy dock.

There is cathode bias switch on the Synergy modules themselves (most but not all). You can set it to more closely match the bass response if using the Randall stuff. The nice part with the Synergy amps is that they sense which module is plugged in and change the setting automatically. The Randall/Egnater stuff can also be modded to have an external global bias switch which give it the same base functionality as the Synergy amps. Main difference is it's less convenient to toggle the switch manually.

My Randall doesn't have that mod, but I find my Synergy modules sound just as good in both Synergy & Randall units. The part that makes the biggest difference in what I hear from the modules is the power amp rather than the V1 value. And even that difference can be pretty minimal if you take the time to optimize your settings.

If Synergy were to ever come out with a 3 slot 100 watt head I'd dump the Randall and get that. Until then my Randall head is more than sufficient at making the Synergy modules sound great. They really did a good job at Synergy at making sure modules would still sound their best if using in the older Randall/Egnater units.
 
Yes, some of them do have a switch to select the channel used when in a Randall or Egnater system, but not all of them have it.
This. I noticed the dirty Shirley did not which feels like a rip off because i will never know what that other channel sounds like. They should have put that switch externally.
 
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