Members Quarterwave Posted May 5, 2013 Members Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hey guys,I'm running a Line6 HD500 into a Tech21 Power Engine 60.In short, I'm happy with the sound and convenience but I need more power - the little 60 just isn't enough for stage fill (festival stages). While I get guitar in the monitors, they are very directional, so as soon as I walk away from them, there's no guitar anywhere else as the little 60 is getting overwhelmed by drums and everyone else - so, I'm hoping there is a more heavy-duty solution. Why not get another and daisy chain it? Well, the whole point of downsizing from my tube amps, pedal boards etc.... was to keep things simple and have 1 amp, 1 guitar, 1 bag and pedap board. I need an amp that has vintage style and is ready to go.... Truth be told, I'd love to get an empty Orange cab and simply strap in a JBL PRX powered speaker! But I can't find anyone to build me a clone enclosure that would facilitate that.... Any ideas would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nagol5178 Posted June 7, 2013 Members Share Posted June 7, 2013 I have ran the HD500 different ways. Right now I run through the best set up I have ever heard with one. Which is, through a Mesa fifty/fifty power amp, and then through a Mesa 2x12 cab and then if I want the other 50 watts or to run dual amps, I use a Carvin 2x12 for that. Before that I used a Carvin TS-100 100 watt tube power amp. It's set up about the same as the Mesa, but the Mesa is way better.The Mesa is very afforadable. I got mine in mint condition on Ebay for 500 dollars. The Carvin TS-100 is 600 dollars new. These tube power amps are extremely loud. You can drown out a drummer by only using half of it and turning the volume to 3 on one channel. If I turn the volume to 3 on one channel, which is 50 watts tube, it's so loud things will literally fall off the wall in my room. This is why, when it comes to my Gsp 1101, HD500, or the Axe fx or anything like that, I still am old school when it comes to how I run it. I do not run direct. I run through a tube power amp and then through real cabinets. Although I still keep the cab sims on.There are some solid state power amps that people say are good. But I don't buy into it. They may "sound" good. But do they "feel" like tubes? Probably not. And there's no way they can be anywhere near as loud as the tube power amps or you'd need a ton of wattage with the solid state power amps. Look on Ebay for a Mesa Fifty/Fifty. Even a mesa 20/20 is EXTREMLY loud. The Mesa Fifty 50/50 has a 15 watt switch on it, which turns the 100 watts into 15 watts, for recording and playing at home. Eveven at 15 watts it's EXTREMLY loud. The Carvin TS-100 is also nice. But it isn't as loud as the mesa, it doesn't provide a lot of low end like the mesa either and you have to add an EQ on the Line 6 HD 500 to get more low end out of it. Another one to look at on Ebay, for around 350 dollars you can a Peavey 60/60. Which is 120 watts. 60 watts per side. Do not buy into this whole thing about the mesa power amp will "color" your tone too much. It doesn't really color your tone in any negative way, the only thing it does is make it sound more powerful, provides low end in loud situations, and makes it extremely loud.The Carvin TS-100 is the most transparent tube power amp out there. So it doesn't provide that low end that you might want when you're up really loud. Ebay is the place to go. Don't go buy a new tube power amp because there are some deals on ebay. And a lot of those guys ship to you fast. I got mine in like 3 days and it was in mint condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ultraworld Posted September 8, 2013 Members Share Posted September 8, 2013 Moving from the SS Tech 21 to a Tube amp will make a huge difference. It's also stereo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members erum Posted December 13, 2013 Members Share Posted December 13, 2013 Yeah, totally, they've got some great demos on their website as well. I just thought it would be cool to make a track with the amp model totally dry to show that it really doesn't need any help sounding great. I actually just upgraded to the Amp Modeler Pro from their website, it's fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Enchilada Jones Posted December 13, 2013 Members Share Posted December 13, 2013 I have a PodHD500x and recently got the DT25 amp. I'd recommend it even over the stereo tube power amp. I have a Randall RT2/50 stereo tube power amp and it sits unused now because of how well the DT amp works with the PodHD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Quarterwave Posted December 22, 2013 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2013 Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, I'll check out the DT and some of the other options! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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