Series One 104EL34 - tried it out, NICE!

[nkay]

Thought I would cross post some of this from my experiences in the HT forum to this forum, as I am thinking of jumping up to a Series One 104EL34...

I had a chance to the play the Series One 100 2-channel amp and also the Series One 104EL34.

I have to say I was VERY disappointed with the 2-channel Series One 100, it sounded very thin, no balls whatsoever, and my HT 100 ($950 Canadian) sounds so much better and this Series One 100 was selling for $1869!. The cleans were fine, but the Crunch and Super Crunch channels were just a let down.

However, the 104EL34 Series One 100 4 channel amp was awesome! much better tone! It actually compared very well with the Marshall JVM 410 I played a few days ago, and the OD channels on the Blackstar were much quieter, + you get the DPR power feature. This amp had the balls that the 2 channel Series One didn't have. The crunch channel was more crunchy, and OD1 was just fantastic. Wasn't a fan of the more modern voiced OD2 channel, but that's not the type of music I play anyway.

Now is the Series One 104EL34 at $2200 that much better than my HT 100 at $950+$50 preamp tube change? That's a hard one. I think the Series One's are overpriced myself. I would have went for it if it was $17-1800. I can buy the Marshall JVM 410 brand new for $1675 and it would hold value much better.

Touch choices, but thought I would give my opinion on my experiences. It actually makes me really appreciate the HT line.

[gerrygt62]

maybe you should try the tube change with your HT100---that's still a great amp, but once you do the tube change, it's gonna be fire-breathing, LOL!!

I just did a tube change on my HT20 [Mullard EL34s + JJ Gold-Tipped ECC83s] and boy , what a difference it made!!

Give it a try--then if that doesn't work out, spring for the Series 104

[nkay]

I already did a tube change on the HT 100, it sounds much better. I just had a chance to try some Series One amps today just to compare for the first time.

I really did like the 104EL34, but its more than double the price of my HT 100 and I don't think I'm going to get more than double the benefits. That's the quandary.

[KKND]

Actually they are over priced. The Venue series is perfectly priced, but the stock components are mediocre.

I can't justify the S1 price, yet I own an S1 104 6L6. Killer deal that is all.

Thanks

[taylor4]

I have the S1 50 watt head and the crunch and super crunch sound amazing. I play classic rock, hard rock, modern metal and this amp is a monster especially through a 4 x 12 using a Gibson Les Paul Custom. Crunch channel has enough gain on it's own to get a bad arse hard rock tone. Super crunch is great for modern metal or whatever you want to throw at it. The S1 50, S1 100 and the S1 104 are exactly the same except for the two extra overdrive channels (od1 & od2 ) on the S1 104, hence the name. So for you to say that the crunch channel on the S1 104 sounded better than on the S1 100 doesnt make any sense since they are the same circuit. Maybe you wanted to hear something different, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[leatherskin]

Where are you going to get a Marshall JVM 410 for that price when they sell for $2400 online?