tone of different poweramps

[JDC]

a random thought came to me today, if I had a load of 6L6 poweramps, would they all sound the same? the only thing I can think of is maybe the presence control might effect the sound differently on each one (not that I fully understand presence, I just know as a treble control on a poweramp)

[ailean]

I know the power stage of an amp doesn't have the same impact as the pre-amp, but I can't imagine that it would have no effect. Different circuitry, different power transformers, different valves is all going to add up.

How much of an impact it will have I don't know.

[FELINEGUITARS]

It can make a difference
I had a Peavey classic 60/60 and compared to my Marshall 9100 that uses 5881s( a 6L6 variant) there is a lot of difference - although the 5881s are apparently different in the Marshall as they are actually a military spec russian valve rather than a true 5881- MartinW from Martamp was filling me in on those specs

[Spitfire]

it does change the tone, definatley...

6L6s allow for more headroom than EL34s before poweramp distortion and compression. in my opinion 6L6s sound colder and more.. well.. digital sort of.  EL34s are warmer.. (not that 6L6s are in any way digital i must add, just a comparison)

[FELINEGUITARS]

Yes - but the question still remains will a VHT poweramp with 6L6s sound different to a Boogie Poweramp with 6L6s or whatever other brand......

[HTH AMPS]

Poweramps from different manufacturers are bound to sound different depending on the circuit used (yes there are differences) even with the same output valve type.

The quality of the output transformer used will have a massive impact on the tone, hence VHT poweramps have a very good reputation.

[JDC]

I completely forgot about transformers, cheers guys, so does a higher quality of transformer give you a tighter sound? or is it more of a tone that's different sounding?