The Un-Official Sadowsky SA200 Thread...

[JimS]

Has anybody not liked the Sadowsky SA200?

 

[Willem]

Pair it with his NV610 too and tell us about that too please.

EDIT: i was talking to KJones of course

Ps I'm asking myself the same question as JimS...

 

[Fuzzbass]

I have played it with a Whappo, Jr., an Accugroove Tri 112, and an Aguilar GS 410.

I have heard the Wizzys many times with other heads, and I would think that would be a great pairing. Articulate, but with lots of balls.

Fuzzbass and I are friends (he's subbing for me twice in the next 30 days!) and we could hook up and test the SA200 with his HS210s.

You up for it Fuzz?

Kevin, I envy the cool songs you get to play in that band...


What was the question? Oh yeah: count me in, I'd love to compare SA200/SA410 and SA200/HS210x2 rigs!


Then again, the last thing I need is SA200 gas. Maybe I should just drop the cabs off at your place and let you hear 'em yourself. J/K, I'm dying to hear the SA200.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Pair it with his NV610 too and tell us about that too please.

That's a good thought! I might even be able to haul all three cabs in my wagon...

 

[Big String]

That's a good thought! I might even be able to haul all three cabs in my wagon...

Don't hurt your back Ken.....
We gotts to watch out for our TB Brothers.

 

[kjones]

Don't worry about Ken too much, I'll help him with the unload anyway.

The only thing I'm worried about with him is my band will hear him play and suddenly lose my phone number!!!!!

 

[Fuzzbass]

Don't worry about Ken too much, I'll help him with the unload anyway.

The only thing I'm worried about with him is my band will hear him play and suddenly lose my phone number!!!!!

Kevin, you can play, and you're also running an all-Sadowsky signal path, so you got nothin' to fear!

And Dean, Kevin will assist and I'll be careful. I'm more worried about future damage done to my bank account after I hear the SA200. Thank goddess they're out of production.

As for the SA200 cab party: give me a week or two. Middle of August?

 

[kjones]

PM me good sir, we'll set something up tout suite.

 

[Fuzzbass]

PM sent. Bump for the thread!

 

[kjones]

I know what this thread needs! A review of the amp by everyone who's got one!

No more reviews for Willem?

 

[KJung]

Well, since I'm one of the few who has probably even played through one of these, I'll just post a quick one.

I'm not a big fan of all tube amps, and also don't particularly care for four rack space monsters.

That being said, I could be very, very, very happy playing through one of these! It's just a beautiful piece of engineering and also general design... just beautiful looking, feeling, etc. Loud, and tube clean. I didn't really explore the overdriven tone (since there was a V8 just growlin' through an NV610 right next to it in Tom's basement), but I assume that sounds good also.

I kind of figured this amp would have minimum sales potential due to the size/weight/price (which of course, isn't that bad for a tube amp), but it's just in the opposite direction the market is heading.

BEAUTIFUL amp IMO! You guys that have them are lucky!

 

[JimS]

I'm not a big fan of all tube amps!

Why? Curious.

 

[KJung]

Why? Curious.

I like a very clean, tight, quick sound. While some tube amps are capable of that tone, I find a high powered SS amp MUCH better for delivering that quick, tight, modern punch... and most of them do it in a format that is 1/3 the size, weight and cost. I've grown to not even like tubes in my pre. Again, totally personal taste.

So, it's really a matter of matching up my tone goals and preference to the gear... not a 'better or worse' sort of thing.

If you look at the guys I list as my playing and tone influences, as far as I know, they are all SS guys through and through.

Edit: That being said, the SA200 sounded REALLY good to me.

 

[tombowlus]

I think Tombowlus owns both, mebbe he'll answer that...

Wow, I can't believe I missed this thread for this long! I must be slacking....

Well, yes, I own one, so add me to the list.

As for the comparison to the VT-300A, here is what I wrote in a private correspondence once:

I finally got around to spending some real time with these two, and here is what I have come up with. They both have the same overall character regarding their clean tone. It's in the same ball park. But, just as there are exceptional and merely good players in every ball park, one amp - the SA200 - shows more poise, presence, and prowess. There really is no "flat" setting on either amp, but I set them both with the tone controls at noon - and tried to match the gains, which is a bit difficult considering the three gain stages of the SA200 versus the two gain stages of the VT-300A. As I mentioned, the clean tones were similar, and the Eden does in fact sound very good. I'd say that it is on a par with the Quatra Valve and VA400 that I also used for comparison. But compared to the SA200, the Eden is just less polished. The lows aren't quite as full, the mids aren't quite as true, the highs aren't quite as crisp. It strikes me as being a lot of little things that add up to a strong preference at the end.

When it comes to actually using the tone controls, the SA200 wins hands down. This was always the most frustrating aspect of the VT-300A, in my opinion. The tone controls are powerful, but not easy - or intuitive - to use. The SA200's tone controls are just perfect for the amp itself. I don't know how this tone stack would work with a different amp, or with a solid state setup, but in the SA200, it is magical.

Things get more interesting when you talk overdrive/distortion. The VT-300A really does "distort", and if someone wants a buzzsaw overdrive/distortion, the Eden is the ticket. It is nice that you can dial in this extreme distortion at very low volumes. But it does sound a bit forced, and perhaps unconvincing. It is too obvious that the preamp tubes are being driven harder than they need to be. With the SA200, it does not actually distort, as I think of the word, but does allow for varying degrees of natural sounding overdrive. From a slight fattening of the tone, to some real grit and growl. As I mentioned before, it's more like an added tone control than an "effect" - which is how it sounds in the Eden. The overdrive/distortion consideration is where these two amps differ the most.

Volume. Despite the claimed 300w for the Eden, I find the usable clean volume of both amps to be right about the same. If you push into overdriven tones, I think you can get a little bit more final volume from the Eden, but the SA200 offers for clean headroom.

Cone control. The SA200 definitely does a better job of controlling cone excursion, so despite any concerns I had before about damping factor, the SA200 delivers in spades.

Final thoughts. The SA200 wins every contest, with the possible exception of overdrive/distortion preferences (and here it wins me over the Eden). I feel very confident in saying that the Sadowsky is the superior amp. The Eden might have faired better if some of its more unique footswitchable options didn't come with a reliability price. As it is, I still give the Eden high marks. I was considering selling mine, but in truth, it sounded pretty good tonight. It just couldn't stand up to the SA200.

 

[tombowlus]

As for reviews, here is a link to my initial thread on the SA200.

Tom.

 

[tombowlus]

And what the heck, how about some more photos?

And yes, this sounds fantastic!

 

[KJung]

That is a GOOD looking piece of gear.

 

[Chef]

Gawd, the guts of that amp are *beautiful.*

 

[JimS]

Why do the transformers say Warmoth?

 

[KJung]

Why do the transformers say Warmoth?

Tough crowd