Monoprice 15 watt tube amp

[here4thefall]

Hey guy's I picked up one of these amps and it sounds great kinda of a kameleon as it can sound kinda Fender,Vox or Marshall and only 25 lbs ! I've never bonded with the Celestion seventy 80 speaker in any of my amps so ended up putting an Eminence V128 and while I was at it put some JJ el84s and a Tung Sol 12ax7 in V1.

Anyone else grab one of these ? What do ya think ?

 

[here4thefall]

The word on the street is this is a Laney cub 12r in a different cab and with a spring reverb instead of digital like the Laney. I've seen gut shot pics of the Laney and it sure looks the same as the inside of my 15 watter.

 

[Tazz3]

Yes its laney how much ??

 

[Ringo]

They were in the latest Monoprice email flyer for $226.99 w free shipping, just checked and they are out of stock for a week or so.
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_...utm_content=611815&utm_campaign=160124_sunday

I'd like to hear one, the price is good even if you had to change a speaker , seems like it would be a good grab and go practice / small gig amp, if it has enough clean headroom.

 

[here4thefall]

Yes its laney how much ??

I paid $227 for mine but I think there was a 15% off a couple days ago just before they ran out.
I think they expected more on 2/4/2016.
It's a fun little amp I can't get over how light it is to boot !

 

[here4thefall]

I'll post a video of sound soon as I can but from the videos I've seen of the cub 12r with 70/80 speaker,they sound the same. I'm getting good small gig clean headroom but I haven't gigged with it.
Another thing being a cheap "in cost" tube amp,is that it doesn't get to hot.
I've let it run for a little over 2 hours and she held up with no lose of volume nothing burning just the smell of hot glass and electricity

 

[PunkKitty]

I got mine last week and left it stock. I'll probably swap the speaker with a Kustom/Eminence KEI Turbo 12. Maybe I'll replace the power tubes. But they are Rubys. So they aren't bad. This is a really versatile amp. The reverb even sounds decent. I love this thing.

 

[MadJack]

I found one review:

 

[Rick330man]

I have one on order.

Has anyone given one a good work over? Any idea regarding B+? At 15 watts, it should not be pushing the power tubes too hard.

Any suggestions on tube tweaks or speaker changes? I've got an Eminence Legend 122 alnico that I'll probably be sticking in it. Curious to see what experiences others have had.

 

[harold h]

I found one review:

Is that Tom Green on the right?

 

[Ringo]

That demo didn't sound too good to me, especially the reverb! I hope those amps sound better in person than that!

 

[here4thefall]

That demo didn't sound too good to me, especially the reverb! I hope those amps sound better in person than that!

It's been crazy at my house but soon as I can I will try to make a video.

The reverb tank is a $8 dollar plastic accutroincs tank with no preamp tube to itself.
It's not the best but if you like just a little reverb to surround the notes it's will work.

Part of the sound you hear is that Celestion seventy 80 speaker.Imo it's a flat response speaker that is a little raspy, they sound pretty good for modeling amps but I don't like them in tube amps. Roll the treble down and raise the tone control and its not to bad though.

For $227 it's actually a really good tube amp and I'm sure there are some lemons but Monoprices return policy is great.

If you are looking for Blues Jr with a British voice, well that's what I'd call this amp.

 

[Rick330man]

Mine came in two days ago. The Ruby EL84 power tubes were dead on arrival. Fortunately, the Ruby tubes give you their plate current and transconductance values. I had several sets of Ei EL84s that were of similar values, so I dropped them in. Problem solved.

The stock Shuguang 12AX7A pre-amp tubes are surprisingly good: no hiss, no white noise, no buzzing or humming. I found that sticking a GE5751 in the V3 phase inverter helped add presence and detail. I am pretty happy with the tones I am getting. With this tube array.

The Celestion 70/80 sounds pretty good in there. I also tried an Eminence Legend 122 alnico, an Avatar SA40 alnico, a Celestion G12M-25 Greenback and a few others. I also used it as a head and ran it off an open back Avatar G212 cab loaded with an Eminence Red Fang and a Jensen C12N and pine TRM cabs 2 X 12 that is loaded with a Celestion G12 blue alnico and a G12M-25 Greenback. After lots of experimenting, I stuck with the Greenback. All speakers/cabs were 8 ohms.

This little thing sounds pretty good. The D.O.A. power tubes are disappointing, but decent tubes and a good speaker turn this low budget amp into a very respectable tone monster.

 

[dqami]

Call them and tell them to send a new set. Their CS is good. I bought the 5 watt and a few days later they offered $20 off any item over $100, i called and asked for the discount and they gave it to me.

 

[LordByron]

I've had mine for about a week. It's not a half bad sounding little amp, particularly since I got mine for a bit under $200. It actually sounds great running in tandem with my AC15. They compliment eachother nicely.

 

[here4thefall]

Finally got around to making a video hope it helps.

 

[MadJack]

Finally got around to making a video, Hope it sounds good enough to help others.

Check your privacy settings, it's coming up with "This Video Is Private."

 

[here4thefall]

Check your privacy settings, it's coming up with "This Video Is Private."

I don't know why it's showing 2 of the same video, I can't get rid of it.

 

[TNO]

Nice-sounding amp.

 

[Rick330man]

No Customer Service

Call them and tell them to send a new set. Their CS is good. I bought the 5 watt and a few days later they offered $20 off any item over $100, i called and asked for the discount and they gave it to me.

I sent them an e-mail asking for just that. They never responded, so I am a little disappointed with the poor customer service.