Members sombersoul Posted October 17, 2008 Members Share Posted October 17, 2008 I've gotten interested in it after reading mostly positive reviews. I'm not in desperate need of a new head, but GAS is always present and I could certainly use a more versatile amp in addition to my beloved 6505. Since the Koch isn't really wide-spread, there is so little to be found on the Internet. Nothing on YouTube so far, only very few user reviews...nothing to really give a good impression of this amp. The sound samples on the Koch website are less than convincing but I've read that they do not really represent the true sound of this amp. People usually say it has a sound of its own (which is good) and that there's also an instant love/hate reaction. What I'd be looking for in a new amp: Good and warm cleans with enough headroom, medium crunch and searing hi-gain, usable for chunky metal rhythms and huge walls of sound. Features like Master A/B would be very welcome. The Koch seems to deliver all that and looks "perfect on paper". Anyone have one of these heads or played through them? Any opinions or experiences? I've never seen a Koch at a store. I'm very curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AART Posted October 17, 2008 Members Share Posted October 17, 2008 Great amps, the clean is very good for a high gain amp and the lead sound is pretty massive. It does have a very distinctive tone, the koch voicing maybe. Maybe some users could chime in (other dutchies around here maybe?) The quality of those amps is very good btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AART Posted October 17, 2008 Members Share Posted October 17, 2008 I did a search on a dutch forum and found these clips: http://www.myspace.com/switchbackrocks (recorded with PT II)http://wieringen.dyndns.org/arjan/Covers/Plugin%20Baby.mp3http://wieringen.dyndns.org/arjan/Covers/Hysteria.mp3 I hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nacher Posted October 17, 2008 Members Share Posted October 17, 2008 I had one Koch Powertone 2 for testing purposes. I only had chance to keep it for a few days, but it was pretty cool. Not exactly the sound I was looking back then, but definetly a great amp for the price. The clean was really lush and not icepicky on the highs like most hi-gain amp cleans are. The crunch channel was exceptionally good for a higainer. Seamless transition from breaking up clean to hard rock crunch. Hi-gain channel was massive, though with the same voicing as crunch channel. Maybe a bit loose in the rhythm work, but great for screaming leads. The definition "darker and boosted Marshall" fits the gain channels pretty well. Unlike Marshall, Powertone had some great tone shaping options though. The mid-notch switch was really cool and really adjusted the midrange from modern to more gritty high-mid grind. Damping switch was cool as well. Most of the tone shaping controls didn't do much at low volumes and the amp didin't have any real low end or punch either when I tried it out at bedroom volumes. However, master over 1-2 and the sound became really big and the low end was pretty deep and impressive. Even with all the gain and low end, the tone was slightly vintage-type and not really precussive, so Powertone might not be the best amp for really modern/fast tempo metal. Edit : At least Amorphis has used Koch Powertone 2 for their latest two albums. You may want to check some of their stuff out to hear the tone. Also, my Powertone 2 had 6550 power section, and I heard from the retailer that 6550-tubes were much better for metal than EL-34 in that amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sombersoul Posted October 17, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2008 @ AART: Thanks for the links! Listening right now. I like Muse, by the way. @ Nachher: Very in-depth! Thanks! It seems the clean sound is what I'm looking for. I don't mind the crunch channel having the same voicing as the ultra gain one. I'm used to 2-channel layouts, so the additional channel will be great for medium gain stuff with the same kind of sound. What I keep reading about the Koch is its massive low-end, which, according to your description, apparently opens up at rehearsal volumes. I wouldn't use it for bedroom playing anyway. Oh yeah, and I was going to go for the 6550 tube version, so it seems I was on the right track. I think Amorphis has switched to the new Koch Supernova. Now that beast would be too much for me. I like it simple. Well, I'm definitely still interested in the amp. I don't need any metal staccato ability, but palm mutes should be reasonably tight and chunky. Hm, I guess the amp can always be boosted with a "greenie", if it's not tight enough by itself. When you say "darker Marshall" and "high-mid grind"...how does it compare to the 6505 in terms of mids and grind? I definitely prefer lower mids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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