[Shannon]

Allright. I've done lots of researching today on various Peavey tube amps. I've heard great things about all of them, and surprisely, a lot of Peavey dug the solid-state XXL by calling it "the best SS amp on the market."

Anyway, post up your thoughts on every amp you've tried or owned & participate in the poll.
How do they compare to one another?
Also, if you have soundclips, post them!

The ones for this thread are...

• Peavey XXX
• Peavey ValveKing
• Peavey 6505/6505+/5150
• Peavey XXL
• Peavey JSX

DISCUSS!

[Donnie]

Damn, thats a tough one. Out of those, I picked the 6505. It seems to have the most character of all the Peavey amps listed.
How come no JSX? That one is definately my fav of all Peaveys.

[eviltoaster]

right,what's with the jsx

[Shannon]

Added the JSX.

Please continue.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by eviltoaster

right,what's with the jsx

I think the JSX is probably the best of all of them, because it comes close to the gain of the XXX, while having a far better clean. I own the ValveKing, and it's kind of a 5150 Lite, but with a better clean tone and more variation because of it's ability to emulate class A tones with the texture knob on the back. I do love the 5150 though, and would always consider picking up a used one off of Ebay.

The XXX is cool, it's just a bit too rough around the edges in stock form, though all Peaveys (from what I've heard) benefit from both a change in speakers as well as tubes.

Mine started out with stock tubes and will have JJ's as soon as they come in, and I went with an Avatar 2x12 with V30's, kind of a poor man's Mesa cab.

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by Jeff

The XXX is cool, it's just a bit too rough around the edges in stock form, though all Peaveys (from what I've heard) benefit from both a change in speakers as well as tubes.

That's a comment I came across quite a bit also. Thanks for the review.

Keep postin' info-goodness, people.

[Donnie]

Changed my vote to the JSX.
Anyway, I think with the JSX you get the best of everything. You get a sweet clean channel. The crunch channel is my favorite part. Based on a Peavey Classic 50 with a bit more gain. The lead channel, well.... It's your typical kick ass tight distortion Peavey is known for.

[DSS3]

5150. I owned an XXX and a 5150 Mk1.

The XXX is badass... very very cool thrash/lead tone. It's a bit more refined than the 5150, more processed sounding, for sure. The 5150 is way more open, organic, and raw, without getting shrill. I had a problem with the XXX getting shrill at times. I could EQ it to where it would sound great at my level, but it would sound icepicky to the crowd. I never tried it with my new-found favorite V30's, though.

Between the two, however, I found the 5150 nearly useless without an OD infront (I always use an OD infront of amps). It's buzzy, mushy, and can get very very undefined. The XXX was the better of the two without one, I'd say. With one, though, I'd go for the 5150, unless I needed cleans and a 3rd channel. That's why I sold the 5150 for the Rectifier, though. I needed a clean channel, and it was a bit too one trick pony for me.

That said, I really miss both heads, and will be picking up another 5150 this summer, if at all possible. I'll sell guitars and shit if I have to... I'm more of an amp man.


Soundclip of the 5150:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/song...songID=3192316




Also, just for anyone who wants one, Musiciansfriend has the XXX 1x12 60W combo priced at 600 right now.

[Jeff]

Another thing about the ValveKing; it's made overseas, so their cost is significantly lower. I paid $450 out the door for my head. For the price, I think it's a steal.

[Shannon]

Jeff, can the ValveKing do super hi-gain METAL tones with a nice thick low end? Some say it can, others say it's more for the hard-rock Marshall worshipper's crowd. Do tell.

Sound clips would be even better.
Hell, sound clips of ALL the amps would be killer.

And guys, USE THE POLL PLEASE!