New mini amp - advice?

[Alex]

Dear all!

I currently have a Krank Rev Jr that I love a lot, but it doesn't have a clean channel that is footswitchable. I'm considering buying a new amp around 450-500£.
When I bought the Krank, it was the only small head that would do metal sounds on its own at home volume levels - I don't consider the Tiny Terror a true contender, as it would never do death metal the way the Krank can. Since then, three other amps have come out, that all feature channel switching by foot and do high gain.

As I am currently busy with work, I don't really have the time to go out and try new gear, nor do I feel like it.
Any experience on these would be highly appreciated:

ENGL gigmaster 15
http://www.engl-amps.com/cms/index.php?id=36&tx_ddfproducts_pi1[uid]=28&iPhoneBypass=1

Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18
http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/products.php5?id=142&prod=TubeMeister%2018%20Head

Marshall Haze
http://www.marshallamps.com/product_range.asp?productRangeId=28

I'm somewheat leaning to the ENGL, as it is made in Germany, but I'm open to toughts.

What I play (style):
Aerosmith, Guns'n'Roses, Zakk Wylde, Arch Enemy, Megadeth, Hypocrisy, AC/DC etc.... plus I like nice clean sounds!

[braintheory]

The orange dark terror which is coming out later looks like it might be good.  Also, the new Vox NT-50 (not the 15) is supposed to be great.  It has vox type cleans and in the clips I heard the gain channels were raw and growly, and even though it's a fifty watt head it still weighs a little less than 30  pounds, so it's not that much heavier than your rev jr.  Another very promising amp is the Diamond Assassin.  It's not out yet, but will probably be way better than the other small amp I mentioned, but it might be out your price range.  Also, when I played the marshall haze it sounded like shite.  Very inorganic and I doubt you will be able to play death metal with it.  Also, some people really love those Randall RM series of amps. 

[hunter]

Forget the Haze, it's tiny sounding and really not a great amp.

The H&K is much more quality than the Engl, Engls have undersized transformers, whereas the tubemeister has pretty big trannies for such a small amp, and it sounds great great great for the money. Tweaker 40 I would look at as well if I were you.

[braintheory]

Tweaker 40 I would look at as well if I were you.

The tweaker though will not be able to do death metal or other extreme styles of metal.  Also, the tweaker is somewhat spongy, which you probably won't want for your style. 

[gordiji]

the orange thunder(th)30 is worth a look, clean/dirty footswitchable channels, lots of gain, one on ebay as we speak.

[braintheory]

I also forgot about the new carvin micro series v3.

[Alex]

Ok, the Haze is clearly not popular then.

I've checked some of those mentioned here out on the webpages:

Vox Nighttrain - 50 Watts sounds like a lot for at home and it isn't the cheapest either, but clearly has potential
Orange Dark Terror - laughable EQ and no channelswitching
Orange Thunder 30 - very interesting
Carvin V3 mini - this will probably be way overpriced over here

Forget the Haze, it's tiny sounding and really not a great amp.

The H&K is much more quality than the Engl, Engls have undersized transformers, whereas the tubemeister has pretty big trannies for such a small amp, and it sounds great great great for the money. Tweaker 40 I would look at as well if I were you.

Are you talking about ENGLs in general or just that particular ENGL?

[JacksonRR]

I'm trading off some EMGs for a Blackstar HT5 on Sunday night. I'll let you know how it works out for me if it's any help to you. I saw a schematic of it and there's a good bit of solid state in it(the first few gain stages, FX loop, EQ section and phase inverter), but I've read the same thing about the Gigmaster(haven't seen any gutshots so maybe rumour?).  I did try an HT5 a bit ago and thought it was OK by itself, but it wasn't with my guitars, a boost of any kind and into the Blackstar 1x10 cab they sell with it. My first thoughts were to put an oversized tranny in it and boost the front end. Oversized. Ha. A 10W replacement tranny is oversized for that little creature. Sorry, can't comment on the clean channel, though it is foot switchable. I never even tried it out, was just looking to hear the gain character. The FearedSE vid on Youtube makes me think I can do a lot with a little adjustment on it and through decent speakers. Good luck on your search.

[Telerocker]

The Tubemeister is what I would get me. Or an Egnator Tweaker.

[braintheory]

I did more research on the diamond assassin and it is expected to be $550, but if you're in the uk it will probably be more, but you should consider that this amp is built in the usa and even hand-wired.  If this diamond sounds as good as the other ones I've played it will probably blow away the other mini amps mentioned so far.

[hunter]

Are you talking about ENGLs in general or just that particular ENGL?

Most Engls I have seen. Old Straight 100W or Savage are an exception, but most of the high gainers have really small trannies. This is one of the major reasons why they sound compressed, not enough iron to develop a real dynamic behaviour. This works well for some styles though.

[Alex]

I did more research on the diamond assassin and it is expected to be $550, but if you're in the uk it will probably be more, but you should consider that this amp is built in the usa and even hand-wired.  If this diamond sounds as good as the other ones I've played it will probably blow away the other mini amps mentioned so far.

Uhm I think I need to stress that I really want an amp with channelswitching, because I want a footswitchable clean channel, and, btw, the Krank is made in the US as well.

[schenr]

Ive been holding out for both the Dark Terror and Tubemeister. And I'm pretty sure the lit up internals of the H&K is what sold it for me. Also, much more versatile. Although it would be interesting to see how heavy the gain gets, which will be the ultimate deciding factor in the end.

[danger5oh]

I recently was in the same market and after weeks of spending time with a TON of amps, I finally decided on an ORANGE THUNDER TH30 and I've never looked back.  Not only can you scale down the power by selecting 2 or 4 valves, but you can further select either Full or Half power... effectively going from 30 to 7.5 watts (I'm assuming, I'm no scientist).  Compared to everything I've tried it had the most crushing gain at the lowest volumes.

[MontyW]

Try something totally off the wall?

Yerasov Gavrosh 10H - Google it  :D