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65 Amps King's Head?

#21
I'm still trying to get a spec sheet from 65, but I'm told it's 140w, which I must say is hard to believe, but if it is it's the LOUDEST 140w I've ever heard. Absolutely amazing volume into my Bergie AE112's.

Going to be quite pricey as I understand - $3800 list, but it is a point to point handwired machine. The transformer is as big as a child's head and ran up the price a bit. 65 won't compromise on anything, so there it is.

Still trying it out, but so far it's a beast. Review will be coming.

Chef, I'll try to get hi res photos uploaded and get the link to you for closer inspection.
 
#23
bigtexashonk said:
I'm still trying to get a spec sheet from 65, but I'm told it's 140w, which I must say is hard to believe, but if it is it's the LOUDEST 140w I've ever heard. Absolutely amazing volume into my Bergie AE112's.

Going to be quite pricey as I understand - $3800 list, but it is a point to point handwired machine. The transformer is as big as a child's head and ran up the price a bit. 65 won't compromise on anything, so there it is.

Still trying it out, but so far it's a beast. Review will be coming.

Chef, I'll try to get hi res photos uploaded and get the link to you for closer inspection.
Click to expand...

140 watts?

really...
 
#24
Now I have to say, WOW thats a sexy looking box... I think for the price they should Chrome plate the chassis though drop them a line. Those things remind me of Flash Gordon... Total Art Deco, just the design alone makes them look great in the corner of the living room, who needs to play that thing? Thats just icing on the cake! I want one to just look at.... Went out to the website, A big 810 under all matching would be way way cool... I honestly without sounding like I'm druling all over myself, that is the coolest looking amp I have ever seen. Can anybody actually say something else is sexier? BOB
 
#25
Oh one more thing, did they send you a manual on that unit? Am I reading the switch on the back right? It has the ability to Swap the power supply choke? They wouldnt do that would they? Capacitor input choke would give you more voltage (higher wattage maybe more hum) and choke input cap would be lower voltage, better regulation and less hum... Or is that choke switch for something else? BOB
 
#27
Hey Bob. I'll agree that it's one of the most beautiful amps I've ever seen. I'm working on 65 to get the specs/features. They haven't even produced the info yet as this is the first one released into the wild. 65 always keeps #1 of anything they build at the shop in Hollywood.

Not sure what the deal is on the choke, but with it engaged the amp becomes super clean.

The smooth switch is for when the amp is running at very high volume. Supposed to take out the nasty stuff. Haven't even tried it yet as I haven't had it up to gig volumes yet.

The footswitch is a boost.
 
#29
If those are 6L6-ish, that would be ~100 watts.
If they are KT88-ish, that's ~200 watts...

that's "just plain more or less," and YMMV and probably will.


Ahhh, I see those are 6550, which would make it ~200, more or less....
 
#31
I'm by far not the smartest guy about tube amps, but might that be because they're not re-biasing to lower plate voltage enough?

---really, i have no idea what i'm talking about though. i have a tough time finding the on switch on solid state stuff sometimes.
 
#32
The head alone of this thing is cool, but it screams for a big cab to park under it. It needs all that fancy over stuffed double color tolex work. Maybe a big ported 215 fridge sized cab with the open grill look of the second pic or a double 810 with the closed grill of the first picture. Make the big cab look like a two cab stack, or maybe make a two cab stack? DUH... MAke it so you can flip the grill over to make it opposites on the bottom.

Has to look like this though, I think I'd find a way to buy one. Needs to be 6' tall though. I'd park it in my living room and play it everyday, it would never leave the house. BOB
 
#33
bigtexashonk said:
That's what I was told. Hard to believe as loud as it is. I've asked 65 for confirmation on this.
Click to expand...

its not really a matter of "loudness", rather a matter of having enough energy and wattage to push big ol' low end frequencies out w/ proper authority, especially w/ my 5 strings.

i've used countless guitar heads into bass cabs, and the more you push those poor heads, the more the midrange begins to overdrive/distort/compress and the low end disappears. and voila, its always sounded like a flabby midrangey mess.

still, i guess this amp is more for the B-15 people. my alessandro basset hound only does 60 watts, but man, what a gloriously awesome 60 watts it is. its only used for low low acoustic gigs, but again, its a terrific sound w/ my pbass.
 
#34
jokerjkny said:
my alessandro basset hound only does 60 watts, but man, what a gloriously awesome 60 watts it is. its only used for low low acoustic gigs, but again, its a terrific sound w/ my pbass.
Click to expand...

I'd love to try one of those sometime, they're such cool looking amps - did you ever do a review of it here?
I hope you opted for the $50,000 solid gold chassis upgrade... :D
 
#35
cripula said:
I'd love to try one of those sometime, they're such cool looking amps - did you ever do a review of it here?
I hope you opted for the $50,000 solid gold chassis upgrade... :D
Click to expand...

haha,

no, but mine does have the upgraded black gate caps and silver wiring, which make a HUGE difference over george's "standard" innards.

and yea, look around for a search. also, if you can find it online somewhere, i'm pretty sure there's a review done by the now defunct "Bass Guitar" magazine.
 
#36
Time hasn’t permitted too much time with the King’s Head, but it's clearly a very special amp.

I’ve been running the head through a stack of Bergantino AE112’s at 4 ohms using a Sadowsky RV4 and a Fender Geddy Lee with an Audere pre.

The amp is very well made and heavy. Not like an SVT, but it’s around 50lbs. All tube point to point wired, 6550’s in the output stage and a huge Mercury Magnetics transformer. Great meaty clean power running in standard mode without any of the boost switches engaged. EQ is sensitive and actually responds without radical cranking.

Engaging the “deep” switch turns the amp into a grinding overdriven beast with even more power and volume. It’s manageable at lower volume but can be opened up all the way up to insanity. There is a “smooth” switch on the back panel that according to 65 smoothes out the peaks when overdriving into distortion to get rid of fuzzy hiss in the top end.

Haven’t used the “boost” switch yet, but I’ll expand the review as I get to it. Also not sure about the “choke” switch on the back panel either. 65 should have specs and more info shortly as they prepare for the KH rollout at Winter NAMM.

I'm using the amp at a gig for the first time on Saturday so I’ll have a better idea of what it can do after that.
 
#37
I've got an old Audio Research D-150 that uses a quad of 6550's per side and has a rated output of 150 watts. so, the 140 watt rating sounds about right to me. This amp is certainly an interesting development. I hope they are exceedingly successful with it!
 
#38
While the band I played with is loud (not heavy metal loud) and I'm the only instrument without pa support, the 1st gig results with the KH impressed me greatly.

Never ran the volume over 4 without the boost or bass switches engaged. Fat and meaty clean all tube power and tone that sat very nicely in the overall mix and was never buried by the guitarist and his 100w Marshall combo mike'd through the pa.

Gnarly and growly when the tune called for it with more power than I could ever forsee using except in the largest of halls.

I think I'm in love.
 

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