Soldano X99 preamp

[paulyc]

I have a chance to score one of these locally for a good price, I've read conflicting reports of the program change time on these, some say in the blink of an eye and others say it's slow...those that know for sure, please chime in. I'd be pairing this with a Mesa 295 Simulclass power amp. Will it sound like an SLO or no ? I'm intrigued...

 

[Giga]

it's been a few years since I had mine but from what I remember: the speed of channelswitching (or actually the lack thereof) was one of the reasons I sold it again. It seemed the channelvolume switching went faster as the pre-amp/gain switching resulting in huge volumespikes or dips when switching from presets with widely spread channelvolume. F.i. going from a leadsound with high gain and low channelvolume to a really clean sound with low gain and high channelvolume would result in a momentary spike in volume because it would first change to the high (clean) channelvolume and a few 10th of a second later to the lower gainsetting. I hope this makes sense for the reader..

I used it with a VHT 2/50/2 and that combination def was less raw then a full blown SLO.

Giga

 

[Piero the Guitarero]

I've read conflicting reports of the program change time on these, some say in the blink of an eye and others say it's slow...

check this video, change of channels is soooo fast ...

Will it sound like an SLO or no ? I'm intrigued...

No, it will sound .... different

 

[Little B]

Cant speak for the motorized one,but I can say that my X88R absolutely rips and peels the paint off.Ive owned a fully optioned slo head and I prefer my x88r thru my vht 2150 more.Would like to try the 99 sometime.

 

[supersonic]

I've owned 2 and gigged extensively with the X99. The changes are lightening quick, never had a problem. I've also owned 3 Slos' and find the SLO a one trick pony, the X99 is way more versatile live. The SLO is less polished sounding and as mentioned more raw than the X99. I do not own any Soldanos' ATM, would I buy another x99? Hell yeah.

 

[Jack Luminous]

I've been using a X99 in my main rack for the last 14 years. The preset switching is really really fast and I never had a complaint about it. It sound incredible. If you have a good price on one, just go ahead, don't think twice about it. I also have an SLO and the tone is very close. A bit less raw, slightly more refined but very close. I used it for a long long time with a Mesa 2:90. I bought a Soldano SM100r power amp last year. It's now even closer to the SLO.