Bedroom amps - Cornford vs Cornell

[Bradock PI]

Harlequin vs Romany ?

[WezV]

i am not sure any valve amp is very suitable for bedroom use in reality....

i dont own an amp above 5w but they are still more than loud enough to shake the house and annoy the neighbours

[d1dsj]

I think I'd go for a Matamp Minimat... wish I'd got one last year when I had the chance of a bargain.

[Pete24v]

I have a minimat for home cranked valve tones, it's great!

If it were between the two C's i'd go Cornell, i've tried the Romany Plus and loved it, his Plexi was plain awesome too.

[morgasm]

i had a cornell romany plus which i loved. having a 12' speaker made a big difference if you can push the price i would go for that one. also has reverb which is nice. im gna say go with cornell simply because i owned and loved one, but i hear the harlequin is very good too...
best of luck,
morgan

[Andrew W]

I have a Romany Plus and the power scaling (from 10 watts down to 1/8 watt) does make it very suitable for domestic use.  I think it sounds wonderful: classic Fender amp tone, more tweed than anything else.  It has some lovely break-up as you turn up the wick and an EQ cut that really adds some dirt albeit with a little more volume.  If you want to play anything heavier than late 60s rock then I don't think it's the amp for you but it does everything from clean spanky country sounds through to ZZ Top "La Grange" filth with aplomb.  I may actually like it more than my Cornell Plexi Seven now and I didn't think that would ever happen.  

It's such a versatile amp that it encourages you to experiment with tones.  This evening, for example, I found that running it with the EQ cut on, a tubescreamer and my Strat set to bridge only and the tone almost wide open gave me a very passable "tear your face off" Albert Collins tone.  A couple a knob twiddles later and you can dial in a Curtis Mayfield/Hendrix "Little Wing" sound.  Just a lovely, lovely amp.  If you do get one, I'd suggest getting the Plus model as the reverb is top notch and I think you'd regret not having it in the long run.

[sgmypod]

in sound clips much prefered the romany

[morgasm]

thought i would also mention,
denis cornell is a great guy, i had a couple of questions and he spent half an hour answering them in great depth over the phone, which i was not expecting. he's known for being very good with his clients. any issues, and he'll sort you out lol
morgan

[sgmypod]

Hasn't feline got his Cornell Stinger/romany for sale still

[WezV]

I have a Romany Plus and the power scaling (from 10 watts down to 1/8 watt)

didnt realise it went that low... i guess that would be crankable at home volumes

my amps are a matamp little rock (4w clean)  and a champ kit (5w approx).   they go through a 12" speaker and can be cranked for home use .... but only at certain times of the day  and less since i got neighbours with a baby. 

valve amps are generally not at their best when used for low volume stuff

[morgasm]

i used to crank the romany plus when using 2w at 4 in the morning lol

[dave_mc]

i've tried the cornell romany plus, and the carrera, so the two more upmarket versions of those two amps. I want both of them at some point, basically... :lol:

anyway, the cornell is very fendery in tone, much more of a vintage tone. the variable wattage would be good for home use. pretty versatile, but it's a vintage-style amp so you're not getting modern metal out of it without some serious pedals.

the cornford can get a lot more modern (80s metal without a boost), and again is pretty versatile, but the cleans aren't amazing.

both very nice, but do very different things.

[Bradock PI]

I have heard the Fender blues deluxe reissue which looks similar to the cornell but is 40w is this the sorta sound the romany gets as I did like the tone?

[hamfist]

The Cornford's are much more suited to a bit of overdrive/distortion than the Romany.

The Harlequin and Carrera are both stunning amps IMO. If you're looking for some decent, refined distortion in a small amp the Cornfords are completely in a league of their own, for the price, IMHO.

[Gizmo]

 :lol: both amps are very good. they are different beasts though.

i have to agree with dave_mc. I own a cornford carerra and its a great amp, It does slightly heavier stuff and blues stuff v well but i still yern for a rich fender sound and would like a cornell in the future as well. If you can pick up a new mint carerra for @600 or harly for 350-400 id get one.

If you want the more fender type sound for home use the cornell is the best around and worth the extra for the plus for larger speaker etc.

Have your tried them yet?