[johnreardon]

Posted this at another place and thought it may be of interest here

I have just tried 3 small amps, side by side, in a shop. A Fender Custom handwired 57 Champ and a Marshall Class 5 and a Cornell Romany.

My needs was something smallish that I could use for rehearsals and gig with some folkie people in small pubs. Up to now I had been using an Epi Valve Junior, which satisfied most of my requirements. Unfortunately last week, one or more of the resistors burned out, so it is undergoing repair and perhaps a few mods by my son. I told him he could have it if he fixed it and I would get something else.

Anyway, I lined the 3 amps side by side in the shop and used a Gibson R7 and a CS Strat to fiddle about.

Tried the Champ first. This was the smallest, in size, of the three, and weighed 16,5 lbs. I managed to master the single control and got quite a clean tone, up to around 6-7. Above that, with the LP, the sound started to break up quite nicely until 12 when it did rasp a little. The champ only has an 8 inch speaker, so I assume that's why. The Strat started to break around 8.

Good sounding amp, but a bit too limiting for me at gigs.

Then tried the Marshall Class 5, This was the biggest of the three and looks very similar to a small Bluesbreaker. The amp has more controls, with a volume, treble, middle and bass. As soon as I plugged the LP in, I could hear a far fuller sound. I had set all the controls to around 12 o'clock, initially and then played around with the EQ.

The LP started to distort quite nicely with volume about 6 and was growling around 8. I couldn't go right up without annoying the rest of the people in the shop. The Strat broke up slightly higher than the LP, somewhere between 7 and 8, and seemed, to me, a lot more punchier than in the Champ.

This was a great sounding amp and, although bigger than the others, weighed only 26.4 lbs. Still portable enough for folk gigs

Last was the Cornell Romany, which has a higher wattage than the others at 10 watts. The controls are slightly more complex than the Marshall, having a volume, EQ cut, treble, bass and an ouput switch. The EQ cut is a bypass for the tone controls and the output switch is like a built-in attenuator. It has three positions of 10 watts, 2 watts and a quarter of a watt.

Plugging in the LP, the amp sounded more of a Fender sound, in fact almost a bigger/better Champ. Both the LP and Strat sounded great, however, in my opinion, in the 10 watt position it never sounded as full as the Marshall. I had to put the volume almost to full before both guitars started to break. However, turning the EQ off did increase the gain quite nicely.

I thought at first the output switch was a great idea, however, I found the B & C positions of 2 watts and a quarter watt, to be almost unusable. They might be useful in the house, but completely useless at small gigs. Why didn't Dennis make the B position 5 watts

I really liked the sound of the amp, with volume almost full, the EQ turned off and output in the A position of 10 watts. It was slightly smaller than the Marshall, but still weighed 25.3 lbs.

So which of the three low watt amps did I go for?

Although the Cornell and Fender were twice the price of the Marshall, cost didn't really come into the equation so my decision was going to be down to pure practicality and sound.

Well I immediately discounted the Champ, which although a very good amp, was not really suited for me.

That left the Marshall and the Cornell.

The Cornell was easily the best made of the three. It exuded quality, more so than the Champ and the Marshall. It sounded great with the EQ cut and max output. Use the tone and output controls and it, IMO, did not sound great.

So it was this





The Class 5 satisfied all my wants and was also well under half the price of the other two. It's a great sounding amp that Marshall could have really charged a higher list price. Check them out

[fauves]

Wow that is a really sweet looking amp. I had not seen one yet. Thanks for the review. I am on a similar quest for a new amp and kinda thought the same thing about the new champ.

[Jukebox]

That was really a great review! Thank you and yes that is a nice looking lil amp. Well done!!

[ellengtrgrl]

Niice!!! I just wish they made it with a master volume. Although, I guess you could always use an attenuator in a pinch.

[roadjunkie]

Right now I would call the Swart 5 watt Space Tone Reverb "KING" of the current production small amps. Amazing lil amp that doesn't know it's a lil amp. Plays big!

David Allen just came out with another small amp that's supposed to be another lil killer amp. I think it's 5 watt with a 10 in speaker.

My 10 watt Allen 3x10 really does't fit into the small amp spacing. The cab is built for a 40 watt Old Flame and the chassis is off of the 30 watt Accomplice and it plays big time Marshall.

[Michiel]

If weight / portability is the main criterion, you might want to check out the AD30VT too. 30W amp weighing ~12kg (~26.5 lbs). Lot of bang for the buck.
The amp has one valve on the input & rest is amp modelling and some effects.
I find it very practical and still holds up pretty good agains 6-9 horn players.

[coolbus18]

Congrats on your new amp. Thank you for the comparison of the 3 amps glad to see the pics too!

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by johnreardon

Posted this at another place and thought it may be of interest here

I have just tried 3 small amps, side by side, in a shop. A Fender Custom handwired 57 Champ and a Marshall Class 5 and a Cornell Romany.

My needs was something smallish that I could use for rehearsals and gig with some folkie people in small pubs. Up to now I had been using an Epi Valve Junior, which satisfied most of my requirements. Unfortunately last week, one or more of the resistors burned out, so it is undergoing repair and perhaps a few mods by my son. I told him he could have it if he fixed it and I would get something else.

Anyway, I lined the 3 amps side by side in the shop and used a Gibson R7 and a CS Strat to fiddle about.

Tried the Champ first. This was the smallest, in size, of the three, and weighed 16,5 lbs. I managed to master the single control and got quite a clean tone, up to around 6-7. Above that, with the LP, the sound started to break up quite nicely until 12 when it did rasp a little. The champ only has an 8 inch speaker, so I assume that's why. The Strat started to break around 8.

Good sounding amp, but a bit too limiting for me at gigs.

Then tried the Marshall Class 5, This was the biggest of the three and looks very similar to a small Bluesbreaker. The amp has more controls, with a volume, treble, middle and bass. As soon as I plugged the LP in, I could hear a far fuller sound. I had set all the controls to around 12 o'clock, initially and then played around with the EQ.

The LP started to distort quite nicely with volume about 6 and was growling around 8. I couldn't go right up without annoying the rest of the people in the shop. The Strat broke up slightly higher than the LP, somewhere between 7 and 8, and seemed, to me, a lot more punchier than in the Champ.

This was a great sounding amp and, although bigger than the others, weighed only 26.4 lbs. Still portable enough for folk gigs

Last was the Cornell Romany, which has a higher wattage than the others at 10 watts. The controls are slightly more complex than the Marshall, having a volume, EQ cut, treble, bass and an ouput switch. The EQ cut is a bypass for the tone controls and the output switch is like a built-in attenuator. It has three positions of 10 watts, 2 watts and a quarter of a watt.

Plugging in the LP, the amp sounded more of a Fender sound, in fact almost a bigger/better Champ. Both the LP and Strat sounded great, however, in my opinion, in the 10 watt position it never sounded as full as the Marshall. I had to put the volume almost to full before both guitars started to break. However, turning the EQ off did increase the gain quite nicely.

I thought at first the output switch was a great idea, however, I found the B & C positions of 2 watts and a quarter watt, to be almost unusable. They might be useful in the house, but completely useless at small gigs. Why didn't Dennis make the B position 5 watts

I really liked the sound of the amp, with volume almost full, the EQ turned off and output in the A position of 10 watts. It was slightly smaller than the Marshall, but still weighed 25.3 lbs.

So which of the three low watt amps did I go for?

Although the Cornell and Fender were twice the price of the Marshall, cost didn't really come into the equation so my decision was going to be down to pure practicality and sound.

Well I immediately discounted the Champ, which although a very good amp, was not really suited for me.

That left the Marshall and the Cornell.

The Cornell was easily the best made of the three. It exuded quality, more so than the Champ and the Marshall. It sounded great with the EQ cut and max output. Use the tone and output controls and it, IMO, did not sound great.

So it was this



The Class 5 satisfied all my wants and was also well under half the price of the other two. It's a great sounding amp that Marshall could have really charged a higher list price. Check them out

Ya convinced me! It really does sound like a great amp.

[johnreardon]

Originally Posted by ellengtrgrl

Niice!!! I just wish they made it with a master volume. Although, I guess you could always use an attenuator in a pinch.

It is loud and yes they should have included a master volume, but it's still a great sounding amp.

[johnreardon]

Originally Posted by Michiel

If weight / portability is the main criterion, you might want to check out the AD30VT too. 30W amp weighing ~12kg (~26.5 lbs). Lot of bang for the buck.
The amp has one valve on the input & rest is amp modelling and some effects.
I find it very practical and still holds up pretty good agains 6-9 horn players.

It's not just weight, it's the low wattage I need as well. I have the 15w-50w range well covered. I do agree the AD30VT is a great amp though

[araT]

Nice score & nice review John! congrats on the Marshall!