6505MH or PRS MT-15?

[Millul]

I guess this horse has been beaten to death and beyond, but...

Need to tube-ify my sound, after a few years, and I'm looking at the options that are available.

I'll be playing in an apartment setting, so the key is good sound at low volumes (wattage reduction/power scaling?); killer crushing gain is a must (good saturation, not a fan of "dry" gain), might be using cleans and crunch here and there but...definitely sparingly.
Recording freatures like cab sims etc welcome but not a must.
Budget - I'd say up to 600eu/$ new or used (on top of this, I'll have to buy the cab, a 1x12 I guess).

The 2 options I'm looking at are the Peavey 6505MH, and PRS MT-15: any reccomendations of one over the other from the members here?
Any other similar options to be considered?

Cheers!

 

[MrWulf]

MT15 is very loud. And the volume pot is piss poor because it goes from 0 to 100 with a mere nudge. But it is very good tone wise. I favored it vs the 6505mh because it has 6L6 vs EL34. If i were you i'd also buy an attenuator just so you can keep the volume controllable. It is not very expensive. As for cab, just get a v30 1x12 from Thomann's brand Harley Benton. That should be suffice.

 

[broangiel]

MT15 is very loud. And the volume pot is piss poor because it goes from 0 to 100 with a mere nudge. But it is very good tone wise. I favored it vs the 6505mh because it has 6L6 vs EL34. If i were you i'd also buy an attenuator just so you can keep the volume controllable. It is not very expensive. As for cab, just get a v30 1x12 from Thomann's brand Harley Benton. That should be suffice.

Another user on this board mentioned having a tech swap the volume pot for a different taper. Might be cheaper than an attenuator.

 

[Asphyxia]

I just got a Marshall DSL20. I like it way better than the MH6505. Haven't tried the PRS.
The DSL is not as saturated as I want. Sounds good with any boost though and takes pedals very well.

 

[Bentaycanada]

I guess this horse has been beaten to death and beyond, but...

Need to tube-ify my sound, after a few years, and I'm looking at the options that are available.

I'll be playing in an apartment setting, so the key is good sound at low volumes (wattage reduction/power scaling?); killer crushing gain is a must (good saturation, not a fan of "dry" gain), might be using cleans and crunch here and there but...definitely sparingly.
Recording freatures like cab sims etc welcome but not a must.
Budget - I'd say up to 600eu/$ new or used (on top of this, I'll have to buy the cab, a 1x12 I guess).

The 2 options I'm looking at are the Peavey 6505MH, and PRS MT-15: any reccomendations of one over the other from the members here?
Any other similar options to be considered?

Cheers!

I'd go with the MT-15. I had one and it was badass. You can get a used 5150, cheaper than a 6505MH, and they're night & day better.

I'd recommend getting the MT-15 and a JHS Little Black Box ($50) to run in the loop as a 2nd master.

 

[viifox]

MT15, hands down.

 

[jarledge]

had a 6505 mh and it wasn't very good. It doesn't do what a 6505 is known for and when your amp is considered a 1 trick pony, you kind of expect the MH version to get you close to the same sound just at lower volume but it doesn't. Given what i have heard about the mt15 or dsl20 I'd buy either one way before considering another 6505 MH.

 

[ATRguitar91]

With your budget and volume requirements, I'll throw in an alternative suggestion: Preamp pedal/budget modeler, pedal power amp, and a 112 cab. In my opinion, this would probably sound better at apartment volumes than some of the low wattage heads, but I think my opinion of apartment volume is quieter than some other posters here.

I personally think the Amptweaker Tight Metal Pro sounds very tube like, and a lot of the "feel" people miss with plugins and the like is from using a cab.

 

[Millul]

had a 6505 mh and it wasn't very good. It doesn't do what a 6505 is known for and when your amp is considered a 1 trick pony, you kind of expect the MH version to get you close to the same sound just at lower volume but it doesn't. Given what i have heard about the mt15 or dsl20 I'd buy either one way before considering another 6505 MH.

Was hoffte hören ich, das ist nicht...! Thanks for the recommendation, this sounds worrisome.

Looks like the general consesus is to avoid the 6505...right when I had found a decent deal on one ehehe

 

[Millul]

With your budget and volume requirements, I'll throw in an alternative suggestion: Preamp pedal/budget modeler, pedal power amp, and a 112 cab. In my opinion, this would probably sound better at apartment volumes than some of the low wattage heads, but I think my opinion of apartment volume is quieter than some other posters here.

I personally think the Amptweaker Tight Metal Pro sounds very tube like, and a lot of the "feel" people miss with plugins and the like is from using a cab.

You do raise a valid point - at the same time, what I fear is that would open up an even higher deeper rabbit hole (which preamp? Which power amp?), so I'm not sure I'd be keen to go that way, but I'll make sure to check some demos from the Amptweaker you named, and do not hold back if you have poweramp suggestions.

Budget is somewhat indicative, i can "splurge" for something I really like, it's more of a mental cap to avoid going "Bogner and VHT" for something I already know won't see much "on" time.
At the same time, the THX and digital stuff have run their course with me, I feel the need for the real thing again (my old ENGL Thunder with KT88s was pretty sweet!)

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

MT15. Sounds great, very well made, you will not regret it. As mentioned before, these are loud and the volume pot taper is not very smooth, so it’s a bit difficult do dial in bedroom tones. It can be done, just have to be very sensitive with the knobs. I’ve seen a video where the guy said these are 50w which are wired somehow to run at 25w. I’ve also seen the output measured at 24.9w or something right around that. Comparing this to my dsl 15 I absolutely believe it. Sounds great with a V30 cab, I think the orange PPC112 is the cheapest 112 with a V30. I used to have one but now I’m running a Mesa 112. The Mesa has a UK made V30 and the PPC is a Chinese V30, but they sound about the same to my ears.

 

[op1e]

Get the new Kartakou Colossus. It has an IR loader now even. I have the Beastbox rack and a few others have their 5150 preamp and it's like having a modded 5150 for under $500. Run it into any power amp and destroy souls. I had a 6505mh. With a ecc81 in V1 it was good for a preamp into a bigger head. Good cleans even. Sounded great. But when I ran it thru a cab on its own I did not get on with it. el84's bleh. Never woulda kept up live.

 

[Millul]

Thanks everyone!

I just found out some ENGL heads or combos (Gigmaster and Metalmaster) caan be had for dirt cheap around here, so...I might be going for one of those actually!

 

[Millul]

Get the new Kartakou Colossus. It has an IR loader now even. I have the Beastbox rack and a few others have their 5150 preamp and it's like having a modded 5150 for under $500. Run it into any power amp and destroy souls. I had a 6505mh. With a ecc81 in V1 it was good for a preamp into a bigger head. Good cleans even. Sounded great. But when I ran it thru a cab on its own I did not get on with it. el84's bleh. Never woulda kept up live.

Checked out a couple demos of that, it does sound insane, but looks like Thomann does't carry it - any idea on the European retailer?

 

[budda]

Fractal/line 6 modeller + used powered PA speaker.

 

[ATRguitar91]

You do raise a valid point - at the same time, what I fear is that would open up an even higher deeper rabbit hole (which preamp? Which power amp?), so I'm not sure I'd be keen to go that way, but I'll make sure to check some demos from the Amptweaker you named, and do not hold back if you have poweramp suggestions.

There certainly is a risk of that happening. For preamps: KSR Ceres, ISP Theta, Megalith Delta, and the Empress Heavy are all cool options. There's also the AMT pedals and the Mooer Micro pedals which are well liked.

For poweramps, I use a Quilter Microblock on one rig and a Rocktron Velocity 120 for another. The Rocktron is nice because it can be used in stereo. There's always the Seymour Duncan Powerstage stuff, the Orange Pedal Baby, and any tube head with an effects loop would work.

 

[Millul]

Heard a few demos of the Amptweaker, it kills. Also the AMTs.
So many frigging options LOL

 

[op1e]

Checked out a couple demos of that, it does sound insane, but looks like Thomann does't carry it - any idea on the European retailer?

Gotta buy it off reverb or ebay outta Russia. He's legit don't' worry.

 

[Elric]

The 6505mh is an incredible amp for home studio use. The gain channel rocks as you’d expect and the crunch channel is amazingly good. I was blown away by this amp for a home studio and practice metal amp. Lots of great features... the cab sim on the direct out sucks but other than that everything else on it is great even the clean is better than expected. 20/5/1 watt switch.

It probably is not going to be loud enough to be a main gigging amp for most but it is such a good amp I have considered slaving it.

What they go for it is a no brainer if you looking for a metal amp for home. I can’t imagine anyone who actually plays metal and is not deaf not loving this amp for that kind of application unless the amp was broken/in need of service or something.



Just like the regular ‘big’ 6505 amps there maybe sexier and more fancy choices but few better performers.

 

[jarledge]

Thanks everyone!

I just found out some ENGL heads or combos (Gigmaster and Metalmaster) caan be had for dirt cheap around here, so...I might be going for one of those actually!

you can pickup 60 watt fireballs for cheap. You can even put JJ 6v6s in them which drops the output by around half to 30 watts. That is what i did with mine. The cool thing about the fireball is the cleans are actually really really good for a high gain head and they do have a lot of gain. If you need a little more push in the mids you can always back the gain off a little and throw a boost in front, or run an EQ in the loop.