Tried the peavey headliner 600 head

[exkaos]

I had a chance to try out the Peavey Headliner 600 head at the local store today. I played it through the Headliner 410 cab and got the tone I was looking for quite easily. The only other heads in the shop to compare it to were the Fender Rumble 350 and a Peavey Tour 450. To rate things fairly, the Headliner is a 300w head, but I was able to get at least as much volume from it as the Tour 450 through the same cab (there was nobody else in the store, so I was able to crank it up to past "music store" volume). I just couldn't get a tone I liked out of the Fender and the Tour 450 was lacking something as well. The Headliner 600 is no micro - same footprint as the Tour 450 and not feather-light, either.

My question is: has anyone else had a chance to compare the new Peavey Class D offering to other amps at that price point ($300-400)? I'm mostly interested in how it compares to the Ampeg PF heads (the same shop also sells Ampeg, but I'd have to have them order me one). I live a long ways from the nearest GC, and the local stores don't carry a ton of bass gear.

 

[jeff7bass]

I thought the Headliner was a class D amp but with a built-in overdrive/distortion circuit. Did you crank up the drive on it? How useful is the distortion? Full and buzzy good or kind of thin sounding?

 

[BbbyBld]

To rate things fairly, the Headliner is a 300w head, but I was able to get at least as much volume from it as the Tour 450 through the same cab (there was nobody else in the store, so I was able to crank it up to past "music store" volume).

The class D power section in the Headliner is designed so that it is loud like a tube power section. In other words it's 300 watts, but it's loud like a 300 watt tube head would be. I hate to say it, but it can actually hang with the Tour 700 as far as volume.

I thought the Headliner was a class D amp but with a built-in overdrive/distortion circuit. Did you crank up the drive on it? How useful is the distortion? Full and buzzy good or kind of thin sounding?

The distortion control is just a button (also foot-switchable). There is a built in crossover for the drive and a blend circuit that blends in clean lows at a fixed ratio. The higher you set the pre gain the more distortion you get, but the volume will stay the same between clean and distorted at whatever the pre gain setting is.

 

[exkaos]

What I noticed about the distortion is that with the pre-gain set low, you get more grit the harder you dig in. Comparing it to the overdrive section on the Rumble 350 - which I thought sounded pretty thin - the Peavey is buzzy in a good way. I'll check it out again and mess around with the pre-gain more.
And yes it is a loud amp. I had all three amps up to what is my usual volume at band rehearsal and the Headliner seemed to have a lot more to give. The quality of construction is pretty much the same as the Tour heads from what I could tell. FWIW, the Headliner 410 cab sounded pretty decent but didn't look as roadworthy as the older Peavey cabs I own.

 

[jeff7bass]

The class D power section in the Headliner is designed so that it is loud like a tube power section. In other words it's 300 watts, but it's loud like a 300 watt tube head would be. I hate to say it, but it can actually hang with the Tour 700 as far as volume.



The distortion control is just a button (also foot-switchable). There is a built in crossover for the drive and a blend circuit that blends in clean lows at a fixed ratio. The higher you set the pre gain the more distortion you get, but the volume will stay the same between clean and distorted at whatever the pre gain setting is.

Sounds well thought out. I'm gonna have to try one. Available at GC anytime soon? I work across a parking lot from the one in Arlington Heights, IL.