braintheory
Well-known member
I think so. He told me my KT150 would blow EL34’s sky high if I tried them in it
Who Needs Another Clip of a Wizard? Probably No One, Ha!
- Thread starter dead-pan
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braintheory
Well-known member
Yeah always up for those discussions. Even with the KT88’s some of my other amps even with 34’s or 6L6’s have more low end thump than my hell razor, but the hell razor kt150 has its own unique strengths for it. I just like every amp I have to be as unbeatable as it can be vs others and I feel KT88’s helps with that for the wizards, but even with 34’s or 6L6’s I’m sure it would strongly do it’s thing vs my other amps
We have different opinions on the Hermansson’s, but also different donor amps for them as well as some different features. Some clips of his seem like I might prefer some of the other Marshall 5GS’s to 3 I’ve tried (one that I owned), but it seems the recto mods (especially the early 2 ch ones I have) just seem to me to have more grit, character and even more of that electric sizzle in the highs the Hermansson’s do so distinctly. I wasn’t sure about that sizzle at first, but I’ve grown to love it. It’s a quality I’ve only heard so far in the Herm’s
VonBonfire
Well-known member
Slight edge over the Gold's to my ear. A bit more bite. I'm still in the GB camp right now though. That first clip was tough to beat.
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Hermanson and He’ll Razors be the Kings until my Larry comes. For me that is only.
DanTravis62
Well-known member
Im in the minority here, i prefer it with the gold by far.
TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
I wonder how an ultra modern amp like the Hell Razor would sound with a quad of KT66's. They're basically better-built 6L6's, so I'd imagine the extended highs and lows would probably make the amp sound huge.
I think I agree with you. It's not perfect sounding, there's a kind of hollowness from a dip in the mids, but it's the clearest sounding speaker of the bunch.
I think I agree with you. It's not perfect sounding, there's a kind of hollowness from a dip in the mids, but it's the clearest sounding speaker of the bunch.
VonBonfire
Well-known member
That's weird but now that I re-listened to it I can see where you guys are coming from. I think the only way to really decide is to have clips in a band setting to hear how each type of speaker sits in the mix.
DanTravis62
Well-known member
Yeah the full mix would be the best test, but at least to my ear the greenback is way too fizzy and doesn't have a ton of definition compared to the gold, which is a bit hollow sounding (as @TheGreatGreen mentioned) but seems to have the most clarity and "life"
VonBonfire
Well-known member
The GB's sounded the most alive and present to my ears. I guess it could be termed fizzy in some way but to me it has a rawness and bite to it that I like. Maybe I'm biased because I ran a 6550 powered RI Plexi into GB's for years with a strat and it feels sort of like "home" in a way.
Yep, gimme a mix and we'll make an executive level decision, together! LOL
braintheory
Well-known member
KT66’s could be interesting, but if you’re looking for more lows and highs why not just go with KT88’s, 6550’s or KT120’s? To me 6550’s sound sorta like a bigger brother to 6L6’s and have thought about trying them even in my HR KT150 if it can take them. I have some vintage GEC and Mullard KT66’s. I like them, interesting sound, but seem to usually still prefer some of my vintage US 6L6’s and 5881’s in the amps I tried them in so far
I also don’t hear the hell razor as “ultra modern”. It has more than enough gain and tightness for that, but it doesn’t at all have that filtered/processed or cardboardy sound like the omegas, driftwoods, Uber ultra or KSR’s. I interpret those more as very modern. Like the Wizard MC you have, the hell razor also has a raw, orangic quality that make it almost sound like it could be a vintage amp. That’s one of the things that really make wizards stand out a lot to me vs other current made amps that sound more muted or restrained in a way
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DanTravis62
Well-known member
Sometimes the fizz can disappear in a full mix and sometimes it doesn't
The strat into plexi into greenbacks sounds like my ears are already ringing
And people tell me *I* like trebly sounds!
I do mixes all the time though, and at least to my ear, the gold has the kind of midrange that I could make sound great. Like, I could definitely work with it.
The greenback sound I feel like I would dial in at the amp differently for sure
VonBonfire
Well-known member
Cross channeled I could dial in as much bass as I wanted. I owned the amp for about five years before I even learned about jumping the channels. That's how BF Egypt I was at the time. Isolated from guitar info. Finally got a guitar shop magazine and figured it out. Boy she was trebly before that!!! I always thought the rig would sound like crap. "I can't get it dialed in right" but then on the playback I would say "it sounds great" cause it did. Had that "clang" as I called it but I guess it's actually "kerrang" or something, but that did actually describe it to a T.Sometimes the fizz can disappear in a full mix and sometimes it doesn't
The strat into plexi into greenbacks sounds like my ears are already ringing
And people tell me *I* like trebly sounds!
I do mixes all the time though, and at least to my ear, the gold has the kind of midrange that I could make sound great. Like, I could definitely work with it.
The greenback sound I feel like I would dial in at the amp differently for sure
I wanna hear some creambacks now. Some jbl's. Some EV's.....yeah boy this could get spicy!!!!
braintheory
Well-known member
For all things clarity, tightness and attack those are the best amps I’ve heard so far
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
There’s where we agree ! We just got it twisted some after that . It’s actually quite crazy
braintheory
Well-known member
Well for those particular qualities it’s not even close. They are next level tight and attack-y. I also though like growl, richness and thickness and that’s more where the early Uber and Rev C shine. No amp has it all
TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
Honestly I'd avoid KT120's because I don't want to budget like I'm buying a new amp every time I re-tube lol.
KT88's could be good though. Once amps get into 100w+ territory, I don't really care about overall volume and clean headroom though because anything with that much power is going to have plenty and I mostly play amps through load boxes or cabs mic'd at a distance, so it's mostly down to damping factor and frequency response. To me, KT88's sit somewhere between EL34's and 6L6's. They have plenty of bandwidth like a 6L6, but without the natural scoop of a 6L6, instead with mid presence approaching more EL34 territory, but not quite, due to the KT88's low damping factor. For a big wide sounding modern high gain amp with a bunch of clarity, a KT66 seems like it would sit in a good middle ground between a KT88 and 6L6. Big wide frequency response with a bit of a scoop but not too much.
It's interesting that you wouldn't consider the Hell Razor to be an ultra modern amp though. But it sounds like you think of the phrase "ultra modern amp" more like an insult that describes "bad" qualities in modern amps (filtered / processed), rather than a phrase that describes some idealized version of big tight clear high gain.
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braintheory
Well-known member
Yeah compared in the same amp I didn’t like KT120’s as much as 88’s. They sounded more distant and sterile for just a small increase I could hear in efficiency or bigness, but maybe with Rick designing his transformers around them I could be convinced otherwise in his amps. The real kings to me for power are GEC TT21 KT88’s and ‘90’s Tesla KT88S’s in 2nd, but both of those are very rare and pricy
Yeah my KT66’s pretty much exactly fit that description, but this Hell Razor with KT88’s seems to fit very well. I like 6550’s a lot though and would be curious to try them in it (if they’d take it)
I guess a more modern sound can mean different things to different people. I think of a modern sound as a sound that fits in today’s time (for better or worse). Before the 2000’s I can’t think of too many amps that sounded filtered or processed, so I guess I interpret amps that don’t sound that way to not sound modern and that cardboardy quality I haven’t really heard until amps made in the past 10 years or so, so I think of that as “ultra modern”. On the other hand, if I were asked what would be my top choice amps for playing modern metal I’d say Hell Razor, Hermansson, 1st revision Uber and Rev C (boosted), so I guess it depends lol
TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
Oh ok I see. I guess I consider ultra modern to be more along the lines of "idealized modern high gain" so more like "all the distortion anyone could ever want while retaining as much clarity, punch, and articulation as you want, and has an extremely wide bandwidth if you want it." So I guess I think of it in more theoretical terms, like what people want it to be, rather than some amps that have fallen short of the mark chasing that dragon.
So how close would you consider the HR to be to the theoretical "idealized super gained-out amp that stays clear and sounds huge" dream sound that high gain guys are chasing?
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