My experiences searching for a small/cheap power amp

    Hi,

    I've found the info on the forums to be very helpful, so for what it's worth, thought I'd post my own experiences in search of a small and cheap solid state power amp to play my unpowered head through a 2x12 cab. Hopefully it's useful to someone.

    • Try #1: t.amp E-800 from Thomann. It arrived defective (wouldn't take an input signal) so I had to send it back to Thomann, and they refunded me. Definitely cheap (I guess you get what you pay for), but not small or light (2 rack spaces, around 10 kg). The internal cooling fans were loud for my home studio, which I think would been annoying in the long term.
    • Try #2: Electro-Harmonix 44 Magnum: very small and very cheap, but significant background white noise/hiss on any volume setting and trying several cables. Very annoying, so I sent it back.
    • Try #3 ISP Stealth: more expensive than the other two, but not as expensive as a Matrix. Small, although the external power supply was bigger and heavier than I was expecting, although not a big deal. Still pretty small and light overall. Sounds great, no background hiss/white noise, so a keeper. I'm using it for my home studio, so I haven't tried it yet in a band situation, but seems like it's capable of getting loud enough.
    Quote from eh6

    Hi,

    I've found the info on the forums to be very helpful, so for what it's worth, thought I'd post my own experiences in search of a small and cheap solid state power amp to play my unpowered head through a 2x12 cab. Hopefully it's useful to someone.

    • Try #1: t.amp E-800 from Thomann. It arrived defective (wouldn't take an input signal) so I had to send it back to Thomann, and they refunded me. Definitely cheap (I guess you get what you pay for), but not small or light (2 rack spaces, around 10 kg). The internal cooling fans were loud for my home studio, which I think would been annoying in the long term.
    • Try #2: Electro-Harmonix 44 Magnum: very small and very cheap, but significant background white noise/hiss on any volume setting and trying several cables. Very annoying, so I sent it back.
    • Try #3 ISP Stealth: more expensive than the other two, but not as expensive as a Matrix. Small, although the external power supply was bigger and heavier than I was expecting, although not a big deal. Still pretty small and light overall. Sounds great, no background hiss/white noise, so a keeper. I'm using it for my home studio, so I haven't tried it yet in a band situation, but seems like it's capable of getting loud enough.

    Help to chose power amp

    Ben

    I'd agree with your choice eh6!

    Besides what you wrote, the 44 Magnum is definitely a guitar amp, and it's designed to distort in the last part of its volume control's range, which is probably not what a Profiler user might want. The Stealth is definitely more linear.