# AMT Stonehead



## Mazzy (Jun 3, 2012)

What do we know about that little beauty? I've, of course, seen Ola's videos and the handful from Musikmesse... but any official announcements or anything?


----------



## JamesM (Jun 3, 2012)

They'll be available all over the place in about three to four weeks.


----------



## SeductionS (Jun 3, 2012)

"AMT Electronics is proud to present their latest development - Stonehead 50-4 - 50-watt 4-channel solid-state guitar amplifier.
All 4 channels of the amplifier's preamp section are built on the proprietary JFET echnology which effectively emulates vacuum tubes-based devices. The increased power voltage allowed to reveal the channels' dynamic characteristics to their maximum while preserving the "correctness" of the guitar signal spectral enrichment.
Stonehead 50-4 power amplifier is based on well-established Tube Cake series of amplifiers, which ensures its correct behavior with the guitar signal and when loaded by end amplifier."
.:: AMT Electronics - News  AMT STONEHEAD-50-4 (SH-50-4) ::.

+ It's freakin hot 

The only disadvantage in my eyes:
- 1x 8&#937; output


----------



## Mazzy (Jun 3, 2012)

Is there a confirmed price yet? I remember seeing "around 500", but not sure where that was sourced.

Anywhere doing preorders?


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 3, 2012)

I've always said that I wanted a SS amp that's a lot like a Marshall JVM... This kinda fits that bill.


----------



## SeductionS (Jun 3, 2012)

&#8364;545 on Thomann's site.


----------



## klinic (Jun 3, 2012)

Was looking at modellers seconds ago. Now I want this. WHAT THE HELL DO I WANT?


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 3, 2012)

klinic said:


> Was looking at modellers seconds ago. Now I want this. WHAT THE HELL DO I WANT?



I know what you mean. 

I'm thinking about getting this and a 1x12 or a POD HD500 and a powered speaker for the small size and the "portable-ness"... It's like picking the red pill or the blue pill.


----------



## klinic (Jun 3, 2012)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I know what you mean.
> 
> I'm thinking about getting this and a 1x12 or a POD HD500 and a powered speaker for the small size and the "portable-ness"... It's like picking the red pill or the blue pill.



Are you kidding? That was only two options! 

I just have NO clue where I want to go. I know what sound I want, but every time I make a thread and decide I'm changing I get too freaked out by so many options! xD Too many choices isn't necessarily good!


----------



## wakjob (Jun 3, 2012)

Don't fear the 1x8 ohm speaker output.

You can plug it into any ohm cab because it has no output transformers being solid state. And if your cab(s) have parallel jacks, you can daisy chain them.


----------



## Mazzy (Jun 3, 2012)

SeductionS said:


> 545 on Thomann's site.


Unfortunately, I'm located in the USA.


----------



## Demiurge (Jun 3, 2012)

Mazzy said:


> Unfortunately, I'm located in the USA.



AMT has operations in the USA. They're apparently selling the SS-30 direct for the time being and the same might be the case for the Stonehead. Their email is on the AMT USA site.


----------



## JamesM (Jun 3, 2012)

^I'll save you the time. The USA models (120V as opposed to the currently available 220V) are currently being manufactured. Like I said, three to four weeks.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 3, 2012)

They also have an eBay account you can buy from. 

eBay My World - amtelectronicsusa


----------



## highlordmugfug (Jun 3, 2012)

Gimme.


----------



## zilong (Jun 3, 2012)

I emailed them last week, and they said that the Stonehead will be available in the States in 3.5 weeks for $699 (pretty sure, already deleted that email). Supposedly half of the incoming shipment has been either spoken for or are already sold.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 3, 2012)

zilong said:


> I emailed them last week, and they said that the Stonehead will be available in the States in 3.5 weeks for $699



Thats an MSRP or a street price?


----------



## zilong (Jun 3, 2012)

no clue, presumably what it would cost directly from them


----------



## Mazzy (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm hoping that's MSRP, and that we'll get it cheaper. I'm all for throwing down 500, even 600, but at 700 I'm going to be a bit more hesitant.


----------



## Thrashmanzac (Jun 3, 2012)

man i want one of these! i may have to sell my blackstar and a few other things i think!


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jun 3, 2012)

wakjob said:


> Don't fear the 1x8 ohm speaker output.
> 
> You can plug it into any ohm cab because it has no output transformers being solid state. And if your cab(s) have parallel jacks, you can daisy chain them.



Not true. If it's an 8 ohm minimum load, you can't plug it into anything less than an 8 ohm cab, otherwise you risk damaging the amp.


----------



## wakjob (Jun 3, 2012)

TemjinStrife said:


> Not true. If it's an 8 ohm minimum load, you can't plug it into anything less than an 8 ohm cab, otherwise you risk damaging the amp.



Sure you can. And you'll gain a bit of volume if you use a 4 ohm cab. The question is why? With modern transistor's there is very little risk of damage.

Transistor's can take way more abuse than a tube/output tranny combo can. If fact, lots of techs/engineers and producers play the impedance mismatch game all the time for a desired effect. Up or down 2 ohms is mostly safe and is done quite a bit.

But to be honest, don't do it to any extreme.

I wouldn't run a 16 ohm load on a 2 ohm amp. That will probably sound like poo.

And it wouldn't be a good idea to try and push 16 ohm's into a 2 ohm cab...poof! Been there.


----------



## USMarine75 (Jun 3, 2012)

I just discovered this... very interested. Of course it sounds almost as good as a Fortin Natas (I wonder why?) 

I wish someone like MF/GC had it so I could give it the 45-day test drive it so needs.


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jun 3, 2012)

wakjob said:


> Sure you can. And you'll gain a bit of volume if you use a 4 ohm cab. The question is why? With modern transistor's there is very little risk of damage.
> 
> Transistor's can take way more abuse than a tube/output tranny combo can. If fact, lots of techs/engineers and producers play the impedance mismatch game all the time for a desired effect. Up or down 2 ohms is mostly safe and is done quite a bit.
> 
> ...



Running at 50% of a SS amp's rated minimum impedance is a great way to needlessly damage an otherwise perfectly good amplifier. I've seen enough guys be idiots with expensive, modern solid state bass heads to risk it, including cooking a very nice Eden WT300 by accidentally running it into a 2 ohm load (it's rated for 4 ohms minimum) or blowing PA power amps by hooking up just a few too many cabs on 8 ohm minimum bridged mode.

Not worth the risk.

Now, with an SS amp you can run higher than the minimum impedance with no problem; you'll just have the amp producing less and less actual power. Not a big deal. Just don't go below the minimum rated impedance, or as the old Eden manuals say, you'd risk releasing the "magic smoke!"


----------



## Wookieslayer (Jun 4, 2012)

TemjinStrife said:


> Running at 50% of a SS amp's rated minimum impedance is a great way to needlessly damage an otherwise perfectly good amplifier. I've seen enough guys be idiots with expensive, modern solid state bass heads to risk it, including cooking a very nice Eden WT300 by accidentally running it into a 2 ohm load (it's rated for 4 ohms minimum) or blowing PA power amps by hooking up just a few too many cabs on 8 ohm minimum bridged mode.
> 
> Not worth the risk.
> 
> Now, with an SS amp you can run higher than the minimum impedance with no problem; you'll just have the amp producing less and less actual power. Not a big deal. Just don't go below the minimum rated impedance, or as the old Eden manuals say, you'd risk releasing the "magic smoke!"



yeah I agree. I don't see the point in risking blowing up an amp if you don't have to. My Randalls say they can run at 500w at 2 ohms but I'm sure as hell not going to try it lol. 400w at 4 is plenty powerful enough and who the hell has a 2 ohm guitar cab? yes I could try a bass cab but lol.

On another note... is it really true and safe to run a SS with no speaker load attached? I'm hesitant to try...


----------



## Mordacain (Jun 4, 2012)

Wookieslayer said:


> On another note... is it really true and safe to run a SS with no speaker load attached? I'm hesitant to try...



Yea, there is no output transformer on a SS state amp. The problem with tube amps is that they have an output transformer that requires a load be present.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 4, 2012)

+1 to above. When I record with my Ibby SS amp direct with impulses, I keep the amp unplugged from the speaker so I can only hear the recorded tone. Works without any hassle or damage.


----------



## Wookieslayer (Jun 4, 2012)

Well FWIW, I tried my T2's FX send into impulses the other day for the first time. Let's just say I never took it out of standby as a precaution, and it still sent the tone fine and nothing blew up! whew!  The preamp out and XLR out didn't sound right though; I'm guessing it has to be taken out of standby for those to work...


But yeah the Stonehead looks fucking cool


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jun 4, 2012)

Wookieslayer said:


> yeah I agree. I don't see the point in risking blowing up an amp if you don't have to. My Randalls say they can run at 500w at 2 ohms but I'm sure as hell not going to try it lol. 400w at 4 is plenty powerful enough and who the hell has a 2 ohm guitar cab? yes I could try a bass cab but lol.
> 
> On another note... is it really true and safe to run a SS with no speaker load attached? I'm hesitant to try...



If it's rated to 2 ohms, you should be able to run it at 2 ohms with no problem. That means you can run 2 4 ohm cabs, 4 8 ohm cabs, or 16 16 ohm cabs off of your Randall without an issue.

And yes, you can run an SS amp with no speaker load without a problem. I do it all the time when recording or using my Eden WT400 or Aguilar TH500 as a headphone amp or preamp.


----------



## JamesM (Jun 4, 2012)

Mazzy said:


> I'm hoping that's MSRP, and that we'll get it cheaper. I'm all for throwing down 500, even 600, but at 700 I'm going to be a bit more hesitant.



I'm with you. However, AMT USA will charge you $700 direct, and their prices are pretty much in line with everyone else (sometimes a little cheaper). 

At $500 or $600 it's a no-brainer. $700 is a bit different. Yeah, I know, it's a hundred bucks. But it being sub-$600 was one of the main selling points for me. I'll probably still get it, but who knows if I'll be able to keep it.


----------



## Wookieslayer (Jun 5, 2012)

TemjinStrife said:


> If it's rated to 2 ohms, you should be able to run it at 2 ohms with no problem. That means you can run 2 4 ohm cabs, 4 8 ohm cabs, or 16 16 ohm cabs off of your Randall without an issue.
> 
> And yes, you can run an SS amp with no speaker load without a problem. I do it all the time when recording or using my Eden WT400 or Aguilar TH500 as a headphone amp or preamp.



I know it says it can, says "2 ohm minimum load" in the manual... but I'm afraid to try it because I know some V2 and T2's had overheating issues. Maybe I'll run it one day for a bit for shit's and giggles but I don't know how reliable it would be running at that power for extended periods... who knows maybe it's glorious!

But thanks for the help. I guess I shouldn't feel nervous when I run them as preamps through my interface. I was just hesitant because the T2 is my baby


----------



## JamesM (Jun 5, 2012)

Price confirmed from AMT USA at $699.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 5, 2012)

There goes the previously predicted $500.


----------



## JamesM (Jun 5, 2012)

Yeah, bummer. Considering we haven't even really heard this unit yet (Ola can make anything sound good) it will be interesting to see how this turns out.


----------



## wakjob (Jun 5, 2012)

Gonna eat some crow here.

Minimum load ratings on GUITAR amps are different than audiophile grade amps, and damage can/will incur.

Ben talking to a tech in another forum on the issue. Seems there's component/design alteration between the two. Might have something to do with classification, they are getting back to me on this.


----------



## Mordacain (Jun 5, 2012)

wakjob said:


> Gonna eat some crow here.
> 
> Minimum load ratings on GUITAR amps are different than audiophile grade amps, and damage can/will incur.
> 
> Ben talking to a tech in another forum on the issue. Seems there's component/design alteration between the two. Might have something to do with classification, they are getting back to me on this.



I'm not sure if I understand what you are saying here.

Solid state amps are fine as long you don't use a lower ohm load than the amp's minimum (in this case 8 ohms).

So 4 ohm cabinets would be bad. 16 ohms, 32, 64 anything on up...is fine, the volume just wont be as loud (in general). Realistically though, in the guitar world, all you will likely ever see are 4, 8, 16, & possibly 32 ohm loads in certain rare circumstances.


----------



## Mordacain (Jun 5, 2012)

Actually, just to put the whole matter to bed:

OHMS & IMPEDANCE from the OUTPUT (speaker) perspective - FAQ courtesy of GollihurMusic.com

and just to join the choir, I'm bummed about the price on the Doom Toaster as well.


----------



## jackblack (Aug 3, 2012)

A bit of a bump:

I'm still a bit of a noob when it comes to amps and such, so my question is this: would I be able to run a Stonehead through my 16 ohm orange cab without causing damage? Sorry if this question has already been answered.

Any helpful links would be cool too.


----------

