Amp for playing quietly at home

Make it loud here.
User avatar
Larsongs
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2414
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:39 pm

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Larsongs » Sun Nov 07, 2021 5:15 am

The OP didn’t specify his Budget.. Or the kinds of Music he plays.. There are a 1000 choices…

User avatar
hulakatt
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1050
Joined: Sat May 08, 2010 7:58 pm
Location: Pittsburgh

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by hulakatt » Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:05 am

ZVex Nano head. I have a bunch of other amps that I play around the house but this sounds the best at the lowest volume. I usually run it through an Orange ppc118 for low volume stuff but it gets quite a bit bigger running it through a 4x12! It covers a lot of ground between those old amps from the 40's and early 50's through to a much quieter roaring Marshall!

Image
Last edited by hulakatt on Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
mikeymike
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 4:42 pm

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by mikeymike » Tue Jan 25, 2022 7:20 pm

No master volume, and everyone's "too loud" situation is different, but I've had a Princeton Reverb reissue which has a sweet sound even at 2 or so on the dial (when people are sleeping), but isn't obscenely loud at 4 on the dial (during the day). I know that's not a huge range, but I've always been pleased with it for an "at-home" tube amp.

User avatar
marqueemoon
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 7343
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:37 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by marqueemoon » Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:40 pm

Those Dark Gene heads look pretty cool. Probably what I would get if I was in the market.

I’d probably get an attenuator first though, and one that can be used as a straight load box for silent recording.

User avatar
nonemoreblack
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 188
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:58 pm
Location: oshawa, canada

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by nonemoreblack » Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:50 am

I took a chance on a Positive Grid Spark amp last year and it’s worked out pretty good. I have a JCM 800 but rarely have the chance to put the volume up above 1 anymore. The Spark has a ton of amp and effect simulators which are fun to play around with. I mostly use it through headphones at night after the kids have gone to sleep, but the speakers still sound pretty good for the price. Another advantage is it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and the design looks pretty good on a living room shelf.

User avatar
ElephantDNA
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 244
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:14 pm

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by ElephantDNA » Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:01 pm

nonemoreblack wrote:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:50 am
I took a chance on a Positive Grid Spark amp last year and it’s worked out pretty good. I have a JCM 800 but rarely have the chance to put the volume up above 1 anymore. The Spark has a ton of amp and effect simulators which are fun to play around with. I mostly use it through headphones at night after the kids have gone to sleep, but the speakers still sound pretty good for the price. Another advantage is it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and the design looks pretty good on a living room shelf.
This is exactly what I did with a Yamaha THR. Same idea - it actually looks quite good as decor. I use it mostly as my main speaker for watching TV but it can double as a practice amp for me which is great.

User avatar
Norrin Radd
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:55 am

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Norrin Radd » Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:13 pm

I gave up a long time ago trying to find the perfect at home amplifier to play with. I did however find the perfect solution to that issue for me:

Image
Last edited by Norrin Radd on Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Zork
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1811
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:01 am
Location: Bremen, Germany

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Zork » Sat Jan 29, 2022 1:22 am

I've been looking for a nice quiet amp as well and found the 6W Laney Cub Super 10 gets raving reviews. I think I'll get one soon. There's also the 10W Cub Super 12 with an additional 1W input and reverb. I think they sound very good: https://youtu.be/qxR99956U-o

User avatar
JackFawkes
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 232
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2022 10:32 am
Location: Northern California

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by JackFawkes » Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:53 am

I think it depends a lot on how quiet you need to be, what kind of amps you like the sound of, and how driven a sound you want it to have.

Not knowing your specific preferences, my recommendation is the same as johnnysomersett, Filipe, and ElephantDNA: Yamaha THR
I have the THR10ii and even though it's a digital modeling amp, the accuracy of the sound and response is very satisfying; and it gives awesome control over the final volume regardless of if the amp being played is dialed in softly or set wide open. It even sounds great with overdrive or distortion pedals run into it.
For a bedroom/living room/practice amp, it's actually pretty hard to beat...

Jack

User avatar
Caddy65
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:45 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Caddy65 » Thu Feb 03, 2022 10:05 am

This type of thread always leaves me wondering. I have been playing since 1957 and not once have I owned an amp that I couldn’t turn down to low volume and still have it sound good to me. Every amp I have ever seen has at least a volume pot.

Been many years (decades) since I gigged in a band and since then all my playing has been at home and doing home recording other than a rare jam with friends. I play at lower than normal TV volume. In fact I do a lot of playing while watching TV and never have any problem hearing the dialog. Size of power of the amp has nothing to do with that. My acoustics (even smaller bodied ones) are actually louder than I play my electrics.

I read of people looking for a practice amp or a ‘bedroom’ amp (that one I never understand, in over 60 years of playing have never played in a bedroom) when any amp should be capable of playing fine at low volume.

User avatar
JackFawkes
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 232
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2022 10:32 am
Location: Northern California

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by JackFawkes » Thu Feb 03, 2022 10:15 am

When I hear the term 'bedroom amp' it makes me think of people who might not really have their own space to make a lot of noise in... think teens in their parents house, college students in dorms or apartments, and 20-somethings with roommates.

Jack

User avatar
JSett
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8803
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:33 pm
Location: Old Hampshire, Old England

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by JSett » Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:14 pm

Caddy65 wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 10:05 am
This type of thread always leaves me wondering. I have been playing since 1957 and not once have I owned an amp that I couldn’t turn down to low volume and still have it sound good to me. Every amp I have ever seen has at least a volume pot.

Been many years (decades) since I gigged in a band and since then all my playing has been at home and doing home recording other than a rare jam with friends. I play at lower than normal TV volume. In fact I do a lot of playing while watching TV and never have any problem hearing the dialog. Size of power of the amp has nothing to do with that. My acoustics (even smaller bodied ones) are actually louder than I play my electrics.

I read of people looking for a practice amp or a ‘bedroom’ amp (that one I never understand, in over 60 years of playing have never played in a bedroom) when any amp should be capable of playing fine at low volume.
That's all well and good but you've said before you "don't play with overdrive/distortion" (and have apparently "never listened to music with it in") so, yes, to get a good sound quietly and crystal clean is not hard.

BUT the vast majority of us enjoy a nice overdriven tube sound though...and that inevitably requires significant volume. You are the exception, not that that's a bad thing, to each their own.

And most kids aren't allowed to practise guitar in the living room, or prefer to do it in their own space - which is normally their bedroom. I know I did until I left home. How can you not understand that? You either started playing in adulthood or were born already 20 years old and living independently :D
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

User avatar
Caddy65
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:45 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Caddy65 » Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:40 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:14 pm

And most kids aren't allowed to practise guitar in the living room, or prefer to do it in their own space - which is normally their bedroom. I know I did until I left home. How can you not understand that? You either started playing in adulthood or were born already 20 years old and living independently :D
Actually, I began playing in 1957 at 10 years old. But did my playing in the finished basement or in the family room once in a while.

User avatar
Lost In Autumn
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 886
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:01 am
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Amp for playing quietly at home

Post by Lost In Autumn » Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:33 am

JackFawkes wrote:
Thu Feb 03, 2022 10:15 am
When I hear the term 'bedroom amp' it makes me think of people who might not really have their own space to make a lot of noise in... think teens in their parents house, college students in dorms or apartments, and 20-somethings with roommates.

Jack
Or 50-somethings in urban condominiums.

Post Reply