tube amp recomendation

[ggunn]

Then thats what i shall get. Which is a good one? The THD Hotplate? And i read a few reviews and they say the because of the noice cancellation it takes away from your tone. I dont want that so is that true and is there another good one that doesnt do that?

Most power soaks are just big resistors; they convert a portion of your amp's output into heat. They also present a static load to your amp, which is different from the reactive load that a speaker is; a speaker's impedance is actually changing as the cone moves. The sound will not be exactly the same.

 

[punkin]

THD amps...my fave...the Univalve...complete with built in hotplate.

 

[Outlaws]

Then thats what i shall get. Which is a good one? The THD Hotplate? And i read a few reviews and they say the because of the noice cancellation it takes away from your tone. I dont want that so is that true and is there another good one that doesnt do that?

The THD Hot Plate is one of the best ones out there. Their BiValve amplifier Punkin mentions has one built in, but the stand alone has more tonal options.

Do they take away form the tone? Yes and no. Speakers need to move to sound the best, and when you crank a 100 watt head, they move big time. So moving them less will not sound the same. Its not really that bad of loss though IMO, until you start talking about volumes suitable for the middle of the night. Then you are heavily attenuating the power and hardly moving the speaker at all. But for most playing, I never found it too be that huge of a sound loss.

But there is a plus to the stand alone THD Hope Plates. They have more tonal options to compensate for those losses if you feel they are too great.

Even if you get a small 30 watt +/- combo, you should still consider a Hot Plate for that.