NOAD: Peavey Audition 110

[Dan German]

Well, I was looking for a little speaker cab (or small combo I could turn into one). I found a box that I plan to turn into a speaker cab, but the habit of searching the ads died hard. So it was that I stumbled onto a Peavey Audition 110 that I got for pocket money. My reasoning was that if it sounded OK as a pedal platform, I could also just use it as a practice/jam amp. My issue with small speaker cabs is that they sound… small. The Audition has a 10” speaker, which opens up more options for upgrade than all the 6 and 8 inch boxes out there, and the box is… well, it’s a 1981 Peavey. There is nothing flimsy about it, to put it mildly. All it needed was a wipe-down and some vacuuming. I haven’t gotten ambitious with it yet, but the pre-purchase test to make sure it made sounds and didn’t catch fire was as expected. Good clean, horrible distortion. Typical old Peavey.

 

[middy]

Just stick a DS-1 and a DD-3 in front and you’re good to go.

 

[Dan German]

Just stick a DS-1 and a DD-3 in front and you’re good to go.

Or in my case, a Funny Cat and a TC Spark.

 

[Jeru]

WELL DONE. Great amp for ~pocket money. I have a weird thing with the old solid state PVs.
Kind of wanted a Backstage Plus for a while. Finally got one one for $20, and/but then couldn't
leave well enough alone and did a lot of work to it. WAY lipstick on a pig / cute pig though.

 

[5595bassman]

Well, I was looking for a little speaker cab (or small combo I could turn into one). I found a box that I plan to turn into a speaker cab, but the habit of searching the ads died hard. So it was that I stumbled onto a Peavey Audition 110 that I got for pocket money. My reasoning was that if it sounded OK as a pedal platform, I could also just use it as a practice/jam amp. My issue with small speaker cabs is that they sound… small. The Audition has a 10” speaker, which opens up more options for upgrade than all the 6 and 8 inch boxes out there, and the box is… well, it’s a 1981 Peavey. There is nothing flimsy about it, to put it mildly. All it needed was a wipe-down and some vacuuming. I haven’t gotten ambitious with it yet, but the pre-purchase test to make sure it made sounds and didn’t catch fire was as expected. Good clean, horrible distortion. Typical old Peavey.

Significant improvements in tone come from different speakers and different cabs sizes and constructions.

Here is how I achieved this with my Audition 110.


Removed chassis. New full size baffle for a 12" (Line 6/Celestion G12E-50). Chassis in a new head cab.
Better frequency range but still lacking low ends.

Medium size home made open back cab for 2 x 8" speakers (Traynor/Marsland).
More low ends, a bit less high ends.

Larger ported closed back cab (formerly a 12" & tweeter PA cab) with the same 2 x 8" speakers model.
Really fuller sound. Not a small amp anymore.

All three cabs are providing a 4 Ohms load as the original 10" speaker was.

 

[Dan German]

Update:

This little box makes a surprisingly good clean amp. Also, I have confirmed that the distortion (Peavey Supersat) is quite awful. My memory told me that it was, and it was not wrong. It’s OK, I zero those knobs and use the channel switch as a mute. The TMB is very usable, and it’s easy to get the tone I want. What surprises me is that my distortion (Roland Funny Cat) sounds nasty through this amp. Nothing I can do gets rid of the fizzy nastiness. I thought maybe something was wrong, so I tried it through the other amps. Nope, it’s OK. Back to the Peavey—fizz. Weird, but whatever.

I hooked up the speaker to my amp heads (Mojo Diamond and Micro Terror) and it sounds good both ways. Definitely better than the Orange 8” cabinet that’s marketed for the Micro Terror. Since that was my primary reason for buying it, I’m happy.

 

[Dan German]

Further update: I finally got around to getting a better speaker for the Audition 110. I got a Jensen Mod 10 4 ohm. What’s strange is that taking the amp apart to replace it (and clean), I see that the original speaker has a 1 1/2” tear in the cone. The grille cloth is quite dark, so I didn’t see it before. Nothing about this amp suggests that it’s had the speaker out, or anything else changed. It’s a bit dusty, but consistent with “bought, barely used, lived in closet.” Has it been this way since it was built in 1981? Fascinating. Now to find out what the Mod 10 sounds like…

 

[tonepoet333]

I have confirmed that the distortion (Peavey Supersat) is quite awful.

Further along, the Peavey Engineers came up with the Solid State "Transtube" that is quite good for distortion and clean. My experience is with the "Red Stripe" era (early 2000s) Bandit 112 and Envoy 110. I like them both.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com

 

[Dan German]

Further along, the Peavey Engineers came up with the Solid State "Transtube" that is quite good for distortion and clean. My experience is with the "Red Stripe" era (early 2000s) Bandit 112 and Envoy 110. I like them both.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com

Yes, they got better later. A friend had a Bandit 112 that I really liked. The cleans have always been good IMO, though, and my original intent was only to use it as a speaker cab anyway. I doubt I could have made a cab for less than this thing cost, and no effort was involved.

As for the MOD 10, it’s a big improvement. I have spent the last little while playing it. The Peavey sounds tighter and smoother. Even the distortion channel is improved. Of course, the old speaker had a tear…

I also played it as a cab with my H&K Spirit of Vintage. Very nice. Ooh, how about with my Hotone Mojo Diamond? Also good. Definitely a speaker worth the (quite reasonable) price. A bit surprisingly, given the affordable price, it’s Made in Italy.

 

[Maguchi]

Well, I was looking for a little speaker cab (or small combo I could turn into one). I found a box that I plan to turn into a speaker cab, but the habit of searching the ads died hard. So it was that I stumbled onto a Peavey Audition 110 that I got for pocket money. My reasoning was that if it sounded OK as a pedal platform, I could also just use it as a practice/jam amp. My issue with small speaker cabs is that they sound… small. The Audition has a 10” speaker, which opens up more options for upgrade than all the 6 and 8 inch boxes out there, and the box is… well, it’s a 1981 Peavey. There is nothing flimsy about it, to put it mildly. All it needed was a wipe-down and some vacuuming. I haven’t gotten ambitious with it yet, but the pre-purchase test to make sure it made sounds and didn’t catch fire was as expected. Good clean, horrible distortion. Typical old Peavey.

Congrats and happy new amp day. Yeah the old Peavey solid state amps are the $h!+. Loud, clear, clean and built like a brick $h!+ house. But your right, get your distortion from a pedal. Enjoy.

 

[SnorkelMonkey]

Further update: I finally got around to getting a better speaker for the Audition 110. I got a Jensen Mod 10 4 ohm. What’s strange is that taking the amp apart to replace it (and clean), I see that the original speaker has a 1 1/2” tear in the cone. The grille cloth is quite dark, so I didn’t see it before. Nothing about this amp suggests that it’s had the speaker out, or anything else changed. It’s a bit dusty, but consistent with “bought, barely used, lived in closet.” Has it been this way since it was built in 1981? Fascinating. Now to find out what the Mod 10 sounds like…

I think the teal stripes came in around 89-90? Someone can chime in on that. But basically the early 90's era Peavey. It's probably their best years in terms of build quality. The engineering is superb and the components are top notch. It starts to go south on both moving into the next era. I've worked on late 70's to early 2k's Peaveys fwiw.

I would check out my LED mod with these. Either cut the clipper diodes from ground or put them on a switch. I like them on a switch. More usable channel, a lot more volume, and boosts the mids a little cutting through the mix (aka great for leads). Not a huge fan of the "metal" channel but when the EVH calls it's available.