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New Head: Valkyrie from Baer Amps... Thoughts?
- Thread starter Hollow Man
- Start date
Same here. It's hard to go wrong with the sophisticated, yet powerful look of basic black...
MM
Same here. It's hard to go wrong with the sophisticated, yet powerful look of basic black...
MM
I agree, the black and silver look is perfect looking.
My only criticism is the knobs (front face of them, anyway); with this type of knob depending on the stage/ambient lighting it can be difficult to see the indicator line and know from a glance where the controls are set. This is the same issue I had with my Ampeg PB250's knobs.
wondering what the "studio quality optical compression limiting circuit" means. it looks like some new text vs the website.
I think you guys are really going to love this amp. I checked it out before the revisions and thought it killed. Its even better now. From what I understand, its just a little bit away from being where Roger wants it. I respect him not wanting to put it out till he feels totally good about it.
I agree, the black and silver look is perfect looking.
My only criticism is the knobs (front face of them, anyway); with this type of knob depending on the stage/ambient lighting it can be difficult to see the indicator line and know from a glance where the controls are set. This is the same issue I had with my Ampeg PB250's knobs.
The knobs are easier to see in person. These knobs were custom machined for us with a saw cut line on top that goes down the side and is filled with white paint. They are also 3/4" tall, which makes them easy to grab.
The preamp is all solid state, so we use an optical compressor circuit to help keep peaks from sending the pre into harsh clipping. "Studio Quality" may be a bit of marketing speak, but as our engineer has designed some of the most respected studio outboard mic preamps, EQ's, compressors and power amps in the industry, I feel justified in using the term.
So, Roger, can you give us a status update on how the development of the Valkyrie is coming along?
And what's the rationale for moving some of the EQ points upward vs. what's currently on the website?
And what's the rationale for moving some of the EQ points upward vs. what's currently on the website?
We are working on the final manufacturing prototype right now and qualifying the vendors who will be making the components.
The Valkyrie's pre amp is very flat. There is no baked in mid cut or top end boost at all in this preamp. As most players are used to hearing amps with a fairly substantial top end boost, I felt making the top end EQ sound just a hair brighter would allow more players to dial in a sound that is familiar to them.
Thanks for the reply on the knobs, Roger. I agree that photos can be deceiving so I trust your judgement on the visibility of the indicator lines.
I agree that photos can be deceiving so I trust your judgement on the visibility of the indicator lines.
Roger didn't the original version of the amp have a tube or two in the preamp? I'm curious to know how/why it evolved to an all solid state pre.
My impression was that there was a tube gain section with a signal blending option. Looks like the tube gain knob is still on the amp face.
This seems to present a little bit of confusion, so let me try and clear this up a bit. The preamp is all solid state. By engaging the tube circuit, the preamp can then be routed through a twin tube, transformer output tube section (think of this as a separate, miniature tube guitar amp) that is located after the preamp and before the power amp. This is quite different than the traditional "hybrid" approach of just putting tubes in the preamp for "warmth". Our engineer believes that a big part of true tube amp sound comes from using an output transformer, and I have to agree.
The tube section is not blend-able. We tried that early on and I saw no advantage to it. If you like all solid state, then obviously, that option is there for you. If you like very clean tube sound, you engage the tube circuit and keep the tube gain low. Turning up the tube gain increases harmonics and tube distortion and tube compression. Usually the blend option is used by players to keep the low end tight and punchy while blending in some tube grit on top of that. IMO, that treats the tube as more of an effect, while our approach is something entirely different. This amp was intended to appeal to both solid state AND tube players, or those players that would like to have a clean solid state amp one one gig and be able to dial in some real tube sound on another gig.
Roger, every time you post I want one of these more and more. I have a feeling that by the time these things hit the shelves, some of my less vital organs will be up for sale.
I too liked the red, but I realize that the black will be much easier to sell across the board. And the black does look good, so I can live with it
I too liked the red, but I realize that the black will be much easier to sell across the board. And the black does look good, so I can live with it
...I too liked the red, but I realize that the black will be much easier to sell across the board. And the black does look good, so I can live with it
The red was really hard to pull off as we are using an all aluminum chassis and front panels. We tried paint and powder coat and while it would hold up on the the panel pretty well, it would peel away from the aluminum under the rack screws after numerous rackings. We tried anodizing, but every plating vendor warned us that red is one of the hardest colors when it comes to getting the color consistent from batch to batch and it also tends to darken over time into a more brick red color. Apparently, most of the really good red anodized products you see are done overseas, as China uses chemicals and dyes for red that are not allowed here in the US. We are set on using US vendors, so that was out.
The black and clear anodizing is cheaper, easier to produce and easier to touch up. Once we set on the black/clear scheme, I went in and redesigned the front panels to give the amp a kind of Harley Davidson type feel and I'm really happy with how it came out.
