# Victory Kraken. What to Love & what to Hate



## BurningRome (Apr 29, 2018)

As a new owner of the Victory Kraken I found it super hard to find solid reviews on the amp. Here are mine.

Love:

SMALL & Light
50 extremely loud watts, I promise
2 channels
FX LOOP
Hand built in England
Designed by Martin Kidd who designed Cornford amps.
Sounds awesome on both channels.
Channel one can do clean at loud volumes with tiny bit of bite.

Hate:

Channel 2 has terrible feedback when pushing the gain! My Sig X didn't suffer with this problem on channel 3 maxed on gain.
Super bright, like stupid bright through my Marshall 1960B cab. I tried to dial it out and had a hard time. 

Honestly it's a fantastic amp and I really like it a lot and probably have some stuff to learn about it at gigging volume, I need to really determine how to level out the feedback. Victory knows this is an issue and addresses this topic on the site by saying to swap out V1 with a 12AT7, some would say that your hurting the gain levels but this has SO much gain on channel 2 that really this isn't going to hurt but allow you to control feedback issues. It honestly would make the 1st channel even cleaner and I'll do this at some point, soon. I plan to use this at our next show which is Saturday.

Seriously though this is stupid loud, like way louder than any 50W Orange I've used. I think it really has to do with voicing though something where Orange has a dark mid-range making it a little muddy, maybe? This is clear and cuts. 

Also, I like it way more than the EVH 50W, want to get it out there right now. I wish the clean was cleaner but it's def clean enough. I can get it to sound as clean as a clean amp with a very light volume boost ran into a preamp, it's not like distortion. 

Anyway, I like the amp and I plan to try and make it work. 

Coming from a huge Fryette fan.


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## wakjob (Apr 29, 2018)

Feedback eh?

I'm surprised we don't hear more of this in regards to mini amps. Stuffing all the amp goods into such small chassis' limits proper layout of a circuit to prevent all the noises that come with high gain designs.

And I'm sure those T75's in your 4x12 aren't doing that amps treble response any good. I'd guess that amp was tuned in with something like V30's.

Glad you like it though.
I have no Victory dealers within 5-6 hours of me.

Try it with different cab/speakers sometime,
or keep rolling tubes to soften up that top-end.


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## teqnick (Apr 29, 2018)

Just picked one of these up myself. I noticed the feefback issue as well, and i have pretty low output humbuckers. Didn't bother to look too much into it. 

Coming from a 5153 50w, the Kraken is far more enjoyable.


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## BurningRome (Apr 29, 2018)

teqnick said:


> Just picked one of these up myself. I noticed the feefback issue as well, and i have pretty low output humbuckers. Didn't bother to look too much into it.
> 
> Coming from a 5153 50w, the Kraken is far more enjoyable.



Glad you responded so I can rest assured the feedback issue is just a stock issue. I'll put in the 12AT7 in the V1 postion tomorrow and let you know what happens.

What cab and speakers are you using? I'm probably going to run it through my Fryette Fat Bottom 412 at the show Sat but the Marshall I figured would be to dark.

I'm runnning 70's super distortions so that def makes it worse, if I keep the amp I'll go to low out put pickups, it has so much gain that I really just need a good clean signal from the guitar.


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## BurningRome (Apr 29, 2018)

wakjob said:


> Feedback eh?
> 
> I'm surprised we don't hear more of this in regards to mini amps. Stuffing all the amp goods into such small chassis' limits proper layout of a circuit to prevent all the noises that come with high gain designs.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the feedback, any good suggestions on 12AT7's?


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## teqnick (Apr 29, 2018)

BurningRome said:


> Glad you responded so I can rest assured the feedback issue is just a stock issue. I'll put in the 12AT7 in the V1 postion tomorrow and let you know what happens.
> 
> What cab and speakers are you using? I'm probably going to run it through my Fryette Fat Bottom 412 at the show Sat but the Marshall I figured would be to dark.
> 
> I'm runnning 70's super distortions so that def makes it worse, if I keep the amp I'll go to low out put pickups, it has so much gain that I really just need a good clean signal from the guitar.


I have an Emperor OS 2x12 with Weber speakers, but not sure on the model. 

I find the amp feel very similar to my old pitbull UL, maybe a little darker.


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## BurningRome (Apr 29, 2018)

Totally thought it was the closest amp to any Fryette I've owned, UL, CLX, SigX, Deliverance 120 and 60. I just sold my Deliverance 60 last week and thought they were very relative, not the same but relative.


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## 0rimus (Apr 30, 2018)

Wait wait wait. Can you guys elaborate? I've been pining for a Fryette/VHT for awhile now, love tight dry amps. But they're so hard to find and expensive blah blah blah

I was planning on caving and getting a Satan 50w but am kinda worried about how saturated that amp is. I go for more of a hollow overdrive, borderline distortion tone.

A Kraken would be a good $400 cheaper too.

Sorry, not trying to steal the thread, just this is the first I've heard of a Kraken being Fryette-esque


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## Hollowway (May 1, 2018)

Yeah, same for me! Ever since I heard the initial demo video, I’ve had the hots for this thing. I have a 50CL, and just literally today got a UL, so I’m probably good in the amp department now, but I’d like to know what people think about the tight and dryness of the VK. And which channel sounds like the Fryettes? Both, or just the 6L6?

Also, do you guys feel like it has a good bottom end? The 100 watt version just came out, so I’m wondering if that would have more chunk.


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## JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo (May 1, 2018)

I've always been pretty interested in these little beasts, and the Super Kraken is on my wishlist.


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## bnzboy (May 1, 2018)

Kraken slays. Such a tight amp and super light weight, both weigh and budget wise! I would say get it while it's still being produced in UK. I still can't believe the amp's pricing.


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## wakjob (May 2, 2018)

BurningRome said:


> Thanks for the feedback, any good suggestions on 12AT7's?




To be honest, the 12at7 is my least favorite sounding tube.
Old RCA 12ay7's are great sounding in v1 though!

But I do have an NOS Mullard cv4024 that I'm quite fond of in one of my vintage amps.


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## BurningRome (May 3, 2018)

Hollowway said:


> Yeah, same for me! Ever since I heard the initial demo video, I’ve had the hots for this thing. I have a 50CL, and just literally today got a UL, so I’m probably good in the amp department now, but I’d like to know what people think about the tight and dryness of the VK. And which channel sounds like the Fryettes? Both, or just the 6L6?
> 
> Also, do you guys feel like it has a good bottom end? The 100 watt version just came out, so I’m wondering if that would have more chunk.



I'll be really careful with what I say in regards to comparison of the Kraken to anything Fryette. The Kraken is clear, it's not as dry as the Fryette and honestly not many amps out there are but it has that mid and high range you find with the Fryette stuff just not as dry. It's def a quality gain sound, to me it's not like a 5150 or EVH it's refined in my view when compared to them. The Kraken is tight and full and lush etc. Everything sounds good on it, nothing sounds bad at all. It has edge to it and absolutely cuts through the mix with serious grind, that was the most noticeable difference I noticed, especially when compared to the Orange Rockerverb MKii 100. I struggled to define what I was playing in a room, sounded so full but got lost a little, this just absolutely is noticed and fully heard.

I placed my 12AT7 that I had in my Fender bassman into the V1 position and it helped a lot, it was a very noticeable difference in the change. The gain was more gradual and consistent where previously on channel two you had a big jump on gain when you go from 0 to 3. I did loose some gain but feel there is enough gain. This also helped channel one much more allowing me to have better gain balance. I can't say it made the amp better it just changed it, I will probably run it for my show with the 12AT7 so I can judge this better at ear splitting live volume.


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## A-Branger (May 3, 2018)

sice I saw at NAMM the pre-amp pedals Im kinda GASing for a Kraken pedal, sounded great, but I always got worried about it not having a proper clean chael, like yeah I can get clean but like if I put gain at 0.8/10 and like you say the clean you can get still ahs a bit of bite into it. They fixed on the new super Kraken, they added a proper clean channel, jsut whish it had made its way into the pedal too

I tried the other pedals they had there, the Countess, it was fine, but didnt had that sound of the KRaken for metal. MAybe I was just dialing it wrong?

still keen to see proper demos when they get released in summer


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## BurningRome (May 3, 2018)

Honestly I have purchased the following preamp pedals over the past few months 


AMT Soldano S1
Mooer Diezel
Bogner Uberschall
Diezel VH4 
All great but the Bogner being the best but I stumbled on an Ola video and this is by far the best sounding Preamp I've heard for metal. 



I only am interested in a preamp pedal strictly for recording purposes, I can't mic at my apt and don't want to deal with my performing rig.

I'm interested in the Victory pedals though, especially the Kraken.


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## gunch (May 4, 2018)

BurningRome said:


> Honestly I have purchased the following preamp pedals over the past few months
> 
> 
> AMT Soldano S1
> ...




I'm headed in the same direction, looking for one balls-a-swinging preamp that I can plug into a headphone amp, power amp->cab, DI, what have you.


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## BurningRome (May 4, 2018)

I'll be honest, I tried running these preamps through the power section of my EL34 based Mesa Stiletto and Orange Rockerverb Mk2 100W and they sound good but I have yet to find something that replaces the amps I like a lot. 

I think these are def solutions for home recording and are far cheaper than buying a bunch of equipment for micing up guitar at home but I still prefer taking my amps to shows and blasting them.

I'll follow up what I think of the kraken after our show tomorrow where I'll push it harder than I do at practice. We're playing a skate shop with only a vocal PA and just doing a floor show, no stage which I LOVE, reminds me of high school, so raw. See how the Kraken does.


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## A-Branger (May 5, 2018)

BurningRome said:


> Honestly I have purchased the following preamp pedals over the past few months
> 
> 
> AMT Soldano S1
> ...



yeah I saw that and many other reviews on youtube, its greatpedal. I only play at home, I got a Line6Firehawk, and thinking or either change to a Helix or just get the Helix FX pedal thing which includes cabs and IR loader and get a good pre-amp pedal, as I always tend to play 3 patches, clean/dirt/extra. So a full Helix its bit overkill.

I got interest on the Kraken pedal as they still are tube, and theres two channels as Im interested in cleans too. Problem with that Rev pedal its only dirt, I still need a clean solution


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## Fretwreck (May 12, 2018)

had one. hated it. 6534+ smokes it.


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## Hollowway (May 14, 2018)

Fretwreck said:


> had one. hated it. 6534+ smokes it.



Had a Kraken amp and hated it? What did you not like about it? Why did you like the 6534+ better?


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## BurningRome (May 22, 2018)

I don't know that the Peavey 5150/6505 smokes the Kraken honestly. The Kraken has an element of tonal quality the 6505 doesn't offer. I've already mentioned the downsides to the Kraken which is the immense amount of feedback squeal even on the lowest power settings, as mentioned though swapping out the V1 pre which is a 12AX7 for a low gain pre helps and leaves enough gain on tap.

What I personally am not liking about the kraken is that it has the thing going where it almost sounds like a constant clean boost is on, I understand both channels are gain channels but they're just edgier than I'd like, atleast to channel one.

As a person who loves what the kraken offers which is 50W with absolutely quality tone and gain on channel two I think there needs to be serious consideration to just investing channel 1 into a purely clean channel and investigating how to eliminate the channel 2 squeal with out having to tube swap, honestly the squeal is there after the tube swap but you have to be pretty high on gain to get it at that point. 

For the price of these amps I think these are fair criticism and honestly no one wants a high end amp that has a channel, in this case channel 1 based off a JCM900...just being honest. 

Not trying to complain even though it sounds like I am, it's something I hope gets attention because I am interested in the victory line now, I want to see other offerings in the small packaging that hover in the 50W range as they grow as a company.


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## Dawn of the Shred (May 22, 2018)

Love my Kraken!! One of my favorite amps I’ve ever owned. Definitely has a noise issue though. Which is a shame but not bad enough to get rid of it.


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## Wojtas_guitar1 (Oct 24, 2018)

Hi guys!
Here is my demo of Kraken:

This amp is very powerful and sounds very 'modern': lots of usable mids and gain. Only problem I have with this amp, is that when you turn the master knob above 12 o clock, the mids are starting to be popping out in a slightly annoying way. Thats not the big issue because after crossing 12 o'clock barrier, amp doesn't get much louder. But all in all I'm very happy with it. My favourite feature of this little beast is its weight. It is very light and easy to carry around. Two master knobs are also very useful.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 24, 2018)

Wojtas_guitar1 said:


> Hi guys!
> Here is my demo of Kraken:
> 
> This amp is very powerful and sounds very 'modern': lots of usable mids and gain. Only problem I have with this amp, is that when you turn the master knob above 12 o clock, the mids are starting to be popping out in a slightly annoying way. Thats not the big issue because after crossing 12 o'clock barrier, amp doesn't get much louder. But all in all I'm very happy with it. My favourite feature of this little beast is its weight. It is very light and easy to carry around. Two master knobs are also very useful.



You did more justice than the actual player the amp was named for,


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## BurningRome (Oct 25, 2018)

Just sold mine, I loved a lot about it but it just gave me ear fatigue like no other amp I ever owned. There is so much brightness in the amp, I always had my mid and lows next to none. 

If they revise this amp by eliminating the tremendous gain noise, give it a true clean channel by doing away with the Marshall-esqe channel 1 and just clean up the brightness I'd reconsider this amp again.


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## Seabeast2000 (Oct 25, 2018)

Super kraken on its way fyi.


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## chopeth (Oct 26, 2018)

I was almost sold for the kraken, if it had a clean channel I would have got one instead of my 5153 50w. I never looked back, I'm so happy. Also, I'm more in for 6l6.


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## op1e (Oct 26, 2018)

I heard the power section isn't involved enough. The preamp is on point but the power section is cold, perhaps? I would try checking and turning up the bias on the amp before giving up on it. I get the thing about ear fatigue. As much as I loved my EVH 50w, the presence from it wore on me. I far more enjoyed my cheap Peavey Ultra 120 more live. I go back and forth between that and my rm100.


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## Bentaycanada (Oct 26, 2018)

Victory amps released an official Kraken Kemper profile pack today, and it's pretty killer!


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