[FortePenance]

At first when I tried it I didn't like it because I kept my mids on max with bass and treble on 5 lol. Then when I recently tried it again at the store using the presets and only messing with presence and gain, it sounded pretty sweet. I liked the Meshuggah/Cowboys from Hell presets.

I must agree with the price tag. That shit's expensive!

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Ryan

I think they sound totally decent if you sit down with it and tweak a good sound. I'd love a 1x12 combo for a bedside amp.

The problem I have with them is that they sound just like a Spider at low volumes; the tubes don't warm them up at all.

Then by the time you get to the point of any warmth or dynamics, it's loud as fuck, in which case you might as well stick with a regular tube amp.

[Mr. S]

i was playing through one of the spider valve 4x12's yesterday and i was surprised at how awesome they sound they even seem to be a rather decent price too

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by JPMDan

I jammed on one, it is pretty sweet but the 699 price tag for a 112 gives me a yuck feeling.

You can get an HD147 used on ebay for that. If you're going to go line 6 and throw $700 on it (and if you feel comfortable using ebay) you can usually find HD147's in that range. I've seen Vetta II's for under $800.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Ryan

I think they sound totally decent if you sit down with it and tweak a good sound. I'd love a 1x12 combo for a bedside amp.

I respectfully disagree. I bought the SpiderValve HD to try out, spent hours and hours tweaking it, I could not get one semi-usable sound out of it. Sounds plastic and fake like all Line 6 amps. In no way does it sound or play like a tube amp. I personally get 100x better tones out of the Behringer GMX212 at 1/4 the cost.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

I respectfully disagree. I bought the SpiderValve HD to try out, spent hours and hours tweaking it, I could not get one semi-usable sound out of it. Sounds plastic and fake like all Line 6 amps. In no way does it sound or play like a tube amp. I personally get 100x better tones out of the Behringer GMX212 at 1/4 the cost.

Meh, to each their own I guess.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

I respectfully disagree. I bought the SpiderValve HD to try out, spent hours and hours tweaking it, I could not get one semi-usable sound out of it. Sounds plastic and fake like all Line 6 amps. In no way does it sound or play like a tube amp. I personally get 100x better tones out of the Behringer GMX212 at 1/4 the cost.

+1. Just feels like a really expensive Spider III. On the other hand, if modeling is the direction one wants to take, I still think a PODxt Pro through a nice poweramp (the one I heard was through a 2:90) into a cab is pretty killer. Still modeling, yes. But warmer and more dynamic than the SV. Perhaps that's because the Mesa wasn't as neutral as the Bogner power section on the SV, and was coloring the tone more. Regardless, it definitely sounds better than the SV.

[darren]

Somewhat related...

I was in the studio the other night and had to cut a quick guitar track to add into our final mix. The only thing readily available was a PODXT. I don't know how anyone can work with these things. It took me forever to dial in a tone that was even remotely decent-sounding, and even at that, it was really plastic and fake sounding. I thought the Spider Valve was a pretty decent-sounding amp, but a POD recorded direct just sounded like complete shit to me.

[JPMDan]

Originally Posted by Dave R

You can get an HD147 used on ebay for that. If you're going to go line 6 and throw $700 on it (and if you feel comfortable using ebay) you can usually find HD147's in that range. I've seen Vetta II's for under $800.

lol I'm not even wanting to buy any line 6 stuff, right now I"m looking for a cheap solidstate amp, and when I get a halfstack it's going to be tube.

Frank, it has Power amp tubes and Preamp tubes.

Jeff, I agree the JSX is 100% better.

[Toshiro]

It has 2 preamp tubes, one is a filter set-up after the modelling(sorta like how the tube works in a Valvestate), the other is the phase inverter.

I've yet to even see one of these, but I don't like Line 6's modelling tones in the first place.