5150 (6505) vs ENGL Powerball

[Catastrophy]

Hi all! :Spin:

I'm planning to buy a new amp, finally And I'm still not sure which one
I should choose ; a Peavey 5150(6505) mk1 or a ENGL Powerball. I've heard the 5150, sounds great, but I've never heard a Powerball. The 5150 has been used on many metal records (so I now what to expect) , but do you guys know any records that have an powerball on it? Any opinions on the powerball vs the 5150?

Thanx!

 

[Seizure.]

new Hate Eternal is powerball.... tesseract is powerball...those are the ones i know of... maybe check www.rocksolidamps.com they have soundclips of lots of Engl Amps online

 

[Fragle]

i'd vote for the 5150. i know, i did. i sold my engl blackmore for a block letter 5150. comparing those two, here's what i found out:
engl:
-more versatile
-clearer
-less noisy
-less low mid punch
-didn't cut as well as the 5150 does
-has a slightly SS sounding top end (this might be due to bad tubes...i sold the engl without buying another set of tubes, maybe JJs or something can remedy this)
-more usable gain
-less volume
-not as organic sounding

as i already said, i didn't own a powerball, but a blackmore, which had stock tubes in it, whereas i retubed my new 5150 with SED 6l6 and various preamp tubes. however, the general voicing is much different. the 5150 has more "beef" in the lows, esp the resonance really fattens up the bottom end, has more usable highs (not as shrill), and a LOT more mids.
apples and oranges, imho.

basically, i'd say if you like sounds such as machine head, or kreator-enemy of god, get the 5150.

 

[Enmity]

I had a Powerball. Solid amp. Can definitely do metal no problem and is capable of some ridiculously heavy tones. Clean tone is very nice and smooth sounding. Voicing takes a bit getting used to. The amp also is very, very feedback prone when put the gain anywhere above 10:00. You're going to have to pick up a noise gate of some sort. Whereas the 5150 gets feedback a lot around 12:00 / 1:00

If you play in a single guitar band, you shouldn't have any trouble cutting, but if you're jamming with another guitarist in a full band setup, prepare to do a lot of dialing in for getting a cutting live tone. I had trouble hearing myself at band practice, and I know that many folks have had the same issues, typically when combined with Marshall or Peavey amps, Powerball is Mesa friendly though. To get more cut, you gotta back down on the bass or play through a Mesa cab or the ENGL cab.. Recording wise, it is excellent.

Forgot to mention, I ended up selling my Powerball simply because I could not get it to cut enough in a live situation for my own liking. The dude I sold it to teamed it up with a Mesa cab and got excellent results (they play in a different tuning and its an entirely different style).

 

[Kazrog]

I love the sound of the Engls, but the 5150 is the only amp I own. I would get a Framus before I would get an Engl, honestly.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

Kazrog. You have a 6505+ head dont'chya? Curiously, have you ever tried that new Peavey Valveking head by chance?

 

[MilkAndCheese]

5150, no contest.

 

[JeffTD]

5150, please.

 

[jamesboyd]

more versatility, better bass response etc get the engl.
easy to record, gets a range of familiar tones get the 5150.

I think the 5150 tone is starting to be over used, they're still the best hi gain head for me for recording (the 5150 mark 1 not 2)

try both if you can, either one will rule.

 

[KeithRT99]

i have a 5150, it's great but i'd trade it in a second if i could have a powerball, or even a fireball... hell even a thunder or screamer combo. the 5150 is nice, but sometimes you just want a different sound, and it's not super versitile. It can do alot of different tones and styles but you still can tell its a 5150 is what i mean.

 

[\m/FRNK\m/]

Heyy Jeroen!! Make sure to check out the Savage120 too.. kickass.. 2nd hand they go by for nice prices here or in Germany. No experience w/ the Powerball, but just go to Musik Produktiv or something to compare those heads sometime.

grtz and see ya!

some Engl-fan.

 

[Kazrog]

Kazrog. You have a 6505+ head dont'chya? Curiously, have you ever tried that new Peavey Valveking head by chance?

Yes, the 6505+. The ValveKing looks cheesy, I didn't really consider it. Maybe it is the magic though, I honestly have no clue!

 

[Hexer]

I have tried a 5150 in a store once and I prefer the Powerball by far (I own it now).

and I think it IS versatile, much more than the 5150, but my opinion about the 5150 is based only on that test in the store of course!

about the cutting-through issue of the powerball: all you need is a good cab!
I had problems with hearing myself when I used my cheap Behringer cab (though I never had problems hearing myself on stage for some reason...). now I got the ENGL 212VH (horizontal 2*12 cab) and now I have to be carefull not to drown out our other guitarrist (uses Boss GT-8 into a variety of amps, Echolette, Marshall, Randall,.... whatever is available)

about the feedback-problem: my metal-rythm sound is channel 3 of the powerball with gain at around 12 o clock, and I have no feedback-problems (of course this also depends on your guitar/Pickups and how far away you stand from the amp)

 

[Kazrog]

Hexer - You probably played the 5150 through the Peavey cabinet right? They sound a lot better through Mesa, Marshall, and even Line 6 cabinets than the Peavey ones.

 

[MilkAndCheese]

Hexer - You probably played the 5150 through the Peavey cabinet right? They sound a lot better through Mesa, Marshall, and even Line 6 cabinets than the Peavey ones.

And it won't suffer from the glassy highend, nonexistant lowmids, and inability to cut through that the ENGL does. And don't even get me started on turning it up loud

 

[Fragle]

: oh man, stefan, you just KNOW we can't possibly agree on this one.
milk and cheese, you basically described my feelings for ENGLS. i've heared kickass sounding savage 120 clips, and heared them sound kickass in a live setting, but i've yet to PLAY an engl that REALLY kicks my ass. the blackmore is said to be pretty damn close to the savage. if this is really the case, then it also suffers from the glassy highs, nonexistant low mids issue.

the 5150 in contrast to that has a shitload of mids. i like mids A LOT (that's why i always come back to marshall style amps), but even i do not turn the mids past noon on the 5150. it also has an insane amount of lowend thickness, which can be customized by using the bass and resonance controls.
the only thing that's slightly turning me off is the peavey trademark high end "fuzz".

 

[JeffTD]

Hexer - You probably played the 5150 through the Peavey cabinet right? They sound a lot better through Mesa, Marshall, and even Line 6 cabinets than the Peavey ones.

Very true! Any good quality cab with V30's will sound killer with it. Mine slays through my Rivera K412T.

the only thing that's slightly turning me off is the peavey trademark high end "fuzz".

I find my TS to take care of that quite well

 

[Fragle]

"I find my TS to take care of that quite well "

really, do you? that's interesting. imho the TS cleans up the bottom end and makes it sound a lot tighter (and you're able to run the resonance higher without excessive bass, which results in a thicker sound), but to my ears the TS even adds a chainsaw like quality to the highs.

 

[JeffTD]

Yeah, it can add some chainsaw highend, but you can tweak around it. For reference, my settings are:

Gain on 4
Bass on 6-6.5
Mids at 2-3
Treble at 4-5

No chainsaw highs for me! I find if I keep the mids up too high (past 4), it gets a bit chainsaw-y. OD808 settings are Level at noon, Gain at 9 o clock, tone at 11 o clock.

 

[Fragle]

well, actually the 5150 is kinda like a jack of all trades, master of none amp, at least when it comes to metal and rock. i can't quite decide which sound i should dial in. ATM i have it set like this
low gain input, boosted by a TS level and drive both at noon
6 (with crunch and bright), 6, 7, 5,5, 4, 2, 2,5, 3, 6
rhythm channel boosted for marshall style rhythm (jcm800 territory), lead channel for leads

but sometimes i'll set it for a way heavier and more modern sound, similar to this
TS level noon, gain 9:00, tone 10:00, high input
7 (bright and crunch), 5, 5,5, 2,5, 5, 2, 2,5, 7, 7
also rhythm for rhythm and lead for lead

but as i said, there's a vast array of usable sounds, but i haven't found THE sound (yet).

keeping the mids low definitely gets rid of some of the brightness. on the other hand, the mids high around 14:00 with the treble very low like 9:30 is also a great sound that's twice as punchy, but can be a little "stiff"

i need to play it more often in a band context to get the best out of it. ATM i'm using it only at home (but LOUD...like 2-3 on the master)