Snorkler vs Alta vs others: which has the best master volume?

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buller

buller

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I'm trying to figure out what some of the best options are when it comes to big boy Marshally amps that can also sound really good at lower volumes. Looking for something with at least two footswitchable channels/modes for edge of breakup / light crunch and high gain.

I'm drawn to amps that have the Marshall kerrang but with bigger, richer, and chewier low mids. So far the Snorkler and Alta have piqued my interest most. Seems like the new Monomyth Unholy Grail could be a good pick too, but too early to tell.

I know Friedman amps are supposed to have great master volumes but I'm not a fan of how polished they seem to sound and also just the lame naming theme of their amps

So for anyone who has experience with some of the Marshally amps that seem to be so loved here, which have you found does the best at lower volumes?
 
I’d recommend a loadbox and forget extremely low volume performance as the primary use for a 100W modded Marshall. I know many of the guys here including myself do not tune them to sound their best at mouse fart volumes. That’s not to say we don’t care about the performance there but it’s not the primary concern. You’re throwing away a lot of your tone by barely cracking the volume and not using some type of volume scaling instead.

Another less common option that is way cheaper than power scaling is to shove a very low voltage gain preamp tube in the phase inverter. You’ll find your master volume will be way less touchy but the amp will still sound great. When you’re playing that quietly you can sacrifice high transconductance balanced phase inverter tubes for one with significantly less voltage gain and less transconductance to quiet down the whole amp without castrating it.

As far as what amp to choose, only one comes to mind with chewy mids. I’d go Bogner Helios.
 
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I think the Snorkler is perfect for what you’re describing. Probably the best I can think of for your criteria actually

The Steavens Poundcake is another I’d say, but the Snorkler is unusually low volume friendly. The Naylor’s also are some of the better options, but more pricy
 
buller said:
So for anyone who has experience with some of the Marshally amps that seem to be so loved here, which have you found does the best at lower volumes?
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I'd suggest getting the amp you like the most and not worry about the best master volume. Some disagree with this, but practically every amp with a lot of preamp gain (like the two you mentioned) have 'good' master volumes.

Sometimes there's little funny business going on with the MV design, but most commonly it's just a pot - a plain old pot that reduces level with zero good or bad about it. I'm not sure where the cliche "best master volume in the biz" started but Friedman, Bogner, Headfirst, Diezel, Mesa etc. can do excellent high gain tones turned right down.

Unfortunately the pesky human ear isn't going to feel the power or kerrang at low volumes, but that's another issue altogether.

It's when you get into lower gain amps like older Marshalls the need for attenuators is more relevant, and/or more complex master volumes.
 
glpg80 said:
I’d recommend a loadbox and forget extremely low volume performance as the primary use for a 100W modded Marshall. I know many of the guys here including myself do not tune them to sound their best at mouse fart volumes. That’s not to say we don’t care about the performance there but it’s not the primary concern. You’re throwing away a lot of your tone by barely cracking the volume and not using some type of volume scaling instead.

Another less common option that is way cheaper than power scaling is to shove a very low voltage gain preamp tube in the phase inverter. You’ll find your master volume will be way less touchy but the amp will still sound great. When you’re playing that quietly you can sacrifice high transconductance balanced phase inverter tubes for one with significantly less voltage gain and less transconductance to quiet down the whole amp without castrating it.

As far as what amp to choose, only one comes to mind with chewy mids. I’d go Bogner Helios.
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When I say lower volumes I mean 90ish db. Not sure if that's in the mouse fart range or not haha. My current rig is a Science Mother preamp pedal and Lichtlaerm King in Yellow boost into a Lichtlaerm PandorA as my power amp. Currently using a Bogner 112 with an M65 Creamback, but recently put in an order for a KSR vertical 212 with Alnico Cream and Redback. Not sure if there would really be much to gain by moving to a proper tube amp like the Bogner Snorkler for the volumes I play at and considering I'm just a home player, but would appreciate anyone's thoughts on whether it would be a worthwhile upgrade at those volumes
 
buller said:
When I say lower volumes I mean 90ish db. Not sure if that's in the mouse fart range or not haha. My current rig is a Science Mother preamp pedal and Lichtlaerm King in Yellow boost into a Lichtlaerm PandorA as my power amp. Currently using a Bogner 112 with an M65 Creamback, but recently put in an order for a KSR vertical 212 with Alnico Cream and Redback. Not sure if there would really be much to gain by moving to a proper tube amp like the Bogner Snorkler for the volumes I play at and considering I'm just a home player, but would appreciate anyone's thoughts on whether it would be a worthwhile upgrade at those volumes
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I think it would be fine. You’re getting most of your tone from the preamp, not the power amp. The difference in volume output between 50 watts and 100 watts is not much - it’s the headroom and response that you should consider.

In other words, whether or not you get a 50 watt or 100 watt won’t matter much in terms of being “too loud”, but tone, feel, response, headroom will be different. Your cab will make much more of a difference than what power amp you’re using. I use a loadbox and IR’s to remedy the volume issues
 
buller said:
I'm trying to figure out what some of the best options are when it comes to big boy Marshally amps that can also sound really good at lower volumes. Looking for something with at least two footswitchable channels/modes for edge of breakup / light crunch and high gain.

I'm drawn to amps that have the Marshall kerrang but with bigger, richer, and chewier low mids. So far the Snorkler and Alta have piqued my interest most. Seems like the new Monomyth Unholy Grail could be a good pick too, but too early to tell.

I know Friedman amps are supposed to have great master volumes but I'm not a fan of how polished they seem to sound and also just the lame naming theme of their amps

So for anyone who has experience with some of the Marshally amps that seem to be so loved here, which have you found does the best at lower volumes?
Click to expand...
Naylor, although not really a channel switcher though. Maybe if you found a dual and used a boost on the clean ch. But it is one of if not the best masters and low volume amps IMO. And exactly as you describe if you're looking for chewy low mids.
 
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