Good sounding bedroom level tube amps

[chrisolson]

Mesa F-100 and Subway Rocket are both pretty good. I imagine the F-30 & F-50 would be even better.

[slash]

Anyone ever tried a Mesa Boogie Rectifier recording PRE-AMP into a solid state amp like a MosValve MV-962? I'm curious as to what it would sound like at low voume.

[shredmonster]

I have a Framus Cobra that kills at lower levels. I also have a Marshall 6100 Aniversary LM that sounds great at the 25 watt setting at lower levels.

That being said unless you turn any tube amp up it won't drive the speaker enough to get a really great sound compared to when it drives the speaker.

This is a huge topic all over the various guitar forums. There are some excellent 1 watt amps out there. If I were to buy one I would get a MicroCube.

[markD]

i have never really had a hard time getting a great low volume sound from any of my tube amps, except my marshall 2204. that thing was head splitting at 2 on the master. at 1, it was a whisper and, frankly, useless.

as i posted earlier, the BEST has been the boogie MKIV. in my apartment i use a 100 watt rivera with a 2x10 cabinet, set to 100 watts - and it sounds good around 1.5-2.5 on the master.

i guess it depends on what you want to hear. like bill said earlier, at low volumes it is all preamp. truthfully, my rivera's sound BEST cranked up. the boogie MKIV - ehh, i like it BETTER when it is at whisper volume. i don't care for the way the power amp reacts to the speakers when the boogie is cranked.

[emperor_black]

Actually, its not a all-tube setup per se, but a Uber Metal pedal + BBE sonic stomp through a carvin TS100 gives me great tones at all volumes. I tried both a 1x12 closed back cab in my bedroom and through a 4x12 closed back at my friend's garage where we have band practice and its got all the sweet sounding crispy distortion that you could want. If you want an example, I can nail the Nevermore guitar sounds on the Godless endeavour album. The BBE can boost your low end as much or as little as you want. Its not a very expensive setup. $70 + $70 + $350 - $400 + cost of cab

EDIT: I dont doubt the boogie is great at any volumes, but the Mark IV is just too freakin' expensive. I was looking for them almost for a whole year and none of them sold under $1500.

[Cleveland Metal]

My CAE3+se and VHT2150 (one of the louder power amps out there) sound best to my ears at low living room listenable levels...

Smokes in clubs too tho...

As mentioned, I get all my sound out of the preamp. I never liked relying on power amp saturation as I had a different tone every night in the clubs. I get my tone from the preamp and use a power amp with much more power than I need (VHT2150) to make it as loud as I want and reproduce it without altering the tone much regardless of volume.

[slash-ed]

My SpiderValve copes well at low levels, but still sounds way better at higher volumes.

[vondran]

+1 on Mesa combos. I have a mark IIB. It cranks in live situations, but also sounds nice at home. I have a few friends with F30 and F50, which are very good as well.

[themisfit138]

A Mark IV sonds great at low volumes but not quite as good at high volumes, and the IIC+ sounds great at any volume. I also use to own a 3 Channel Duel recto at low volumes it sounded kinda fizzy but roared at higher volumes.

[GodWentPUNK]

Peavey Triumph 60 watt does a great job at lower than bedroom volumes.

My new Create V32, not so good.