I was sitting on a back order for the LXII and this convinced me to cancel it and grab a used SYN off Reverb for $800. Thanks for saving me a bunch of money. Good job.
I have been looking at these…I saw that Malcontents episode where Steven Fryette said the LXII has a more expensive,paper layer wound transformer,and some other component differences….I currently have a Power Station,PS2 and PS100,but for my stereo rig,I am using an old 1989 Marshall 9005 Tube power amp..the big 4 rack space one…it’s huge,weighs a thousand pounds,but it sounds great…it would be nice to have something a little smaller and more portable…..The LXII did sound clearer..Great video..
Thanks for doing this video. I got a syn 50/50 because of those features. I needed/wanted separate volumes. I'm using helix and running W/D. I'm surprised at the differences in sound. LXII is brighter and seemingly more alive (assuming this is the case in room). Not unhappy with the synergy but I guess that is what about $200 will get you.
Very cool. The best setup I ever heard was a Mesa Boogie strategy 500 running 4x4/12 cabs with a adamp1 pre amp. The volume on the Mesa on both sides on 8! Was almost scary powerful!
The switchable depth/presence jack on the LX-II is pretty great. For my setup, A/B a slaved head and a preamp(BE100 on a load box for gain and a Mesa Studio Pre for cleans) that's a very handy feature as I'd like flat for the slaved head, and the depth/presence when I'm running a preamp. Very cool feature.
Thank you! Excellent comparison and very, very useful. Seem that you’ll be able to make them sound relatively close to each other it seems that LX II sounds bigger and clearer. Suprisingly enough.
Thanks for posting. I have the Syn50-50 and have been wondering about the LX II. I actually find the Syn50-50 to be too bright with my Syn-2 preamps and speakers. I usually have to keep the presence almost off. Sounds like the LX is a lot brighter so I think I am better off staying with the Syn50-50. So yeah, thanks for saving me a grand…lol.
Cool video! I was actually wondering what the difference was between the syn and Fryette single space poweramps. I saw Steve Fryette talking about the single space power amps and realized he designed both the Fryette and the Syn 50-50 which got me wondering. I think you just made the definitive guide on these poweraemps. I like the Fryette Poweramp better, but the controls seem like weird choices on it. I supposed it's probably good for a touring musician though.
The lx ii is pretty complicated, and I have owned power amps and tube amps before. I still have no clue how to run it bridge mono, so just use one channel at a time to protect it. But it is a very loud amp at 50 watts, it will hold it's own against my mesa power amp , and iic+ 60 watt power section.
Great content ! I’m currently looking to add a simul class 290 to add as a power amp to my rack preamps. Prices have gone insane. Strongly thinking about either of these plus they are new as well.
Torn! I like the Fryette as well but man that internal pots is a lame feature. Even if you're touring you might want to adjust depending on the room. The Synergy is a lot more practical it seems!
I have the lxii and it is kind of intimidating with all the load configurations. I have yet to be shown how to safely hook up every load configuration the amp provides. If you do not build or service amps you are pretty much stuck with mono a or b or stereo a, and b. The amp can be bridged and also has 3 outs per channel and an impedance selection option, but like I said they have yet to print a manual that explains the load config in detail or make a video for it. They just keep emailing me page numbers from the manual which the amp does not ship with.
Great video once again!! Have you ever considered like a monthly podcast? Talk about your gear and just shoot the crap? Happy holidays to you and your family
HI I noticed you had an Engl E580 in the rack a few vids back. How is the volume output on your unit? Mine with the volume and the master cranked just manages to clip the +4db ceiling on my Switchblade GL switcher, while all my other preamps can do that with about half their potential output. My Amp Tech cannot see any problem with it and you are the first other person I have seen with one, so it would be good to know your experience. Also, I highly recommend you try some Radial Stagebug SB-6 Isolator boxes. I have a whole bunch of the in a 24U rack, they are the best thing I have found for killing off all the noise gremlins in your studio.
My E580 suffers from the same problem. I took it to a tech as well and they couldn't find any issues (other than some shipping damage). It's strange as some of my preamps play nice and then some (Mesa) do not. I am still working out the kinks but thanks for the tip!
I eventually fixed the volume issue with the Engl E580. I left it set to the line level output setting on the back and then put an Ebtech line level shiftier between the Preamp and Poweramp . Now it has the overall level of the Preamp volume is good and the Volume and Master controls on the Preamp are useful.
@@Cpt_Adama The line level pot you are referring to is for the frequency compensated line outs that are use for direct recording, not the standard line out that goes to the power amp.
Thanks! I have an amp switcher with multiple cabinets. I recorded this demo using a Divided by 13 4x12 cab with Greenbacks and V30s.. The mics I used are an AT4050 and a Fathead. For the unused channels I have a load resistor on a 1/4" jack.
Where did you get your Langner? Somewhere out in the world someone has my old Langner preamp I had modified by Bogner I traded to Denver guitar center when I was young and dumb.
@@michaeltoren Someone out there has it and doesn’t even know. Todd made me one when he was working at ADA. I bet it was one of the first ones he made. Then I sent it to MakeNMusic to try and get the Antrax mod done to it that Bogner was doing there for the Fish Preamps. I didn’t know shit about tone then. I ended up trading it for a new marshall 4x12 or something stupid. I was young and had no idea what a good tone was. That is the 1 piece of gear I wish I had back or even knew the serial number. I was smart enough to buy a Klon new though for $350 when they came out and keep it. It’s my break glass in case of emergency piece of gear.
I was thinking on buying an engl e 530 pre amp and running it into my mesa 2x12, and was curious if the lxii poweramp would sound any good with a tube pre amp or is it made only for modelers?
Alot of the Synergy demos sound pretty disappointing, but I suspect that’s because the synergy power amps are pretty underwhelming. A good power amp is crucial. The Fryette stuff is worth the investment.
I have a Fryette Power Station but have yet to use it as a power amp. Michael Nielsen used them this way with great results. I would assume that the PS is very similar in character to an LXII but it is worth a look. I think the biggest pro would be that the PS can be a power amp and load box, if you have amps as well. The con would be that is is 2U (with the rackmount kit) while the Syn 50/50 is 1U.
Hey mike. Power amp noob. I’ve always been a head guy. But I’m putting together another rig using a sms classic preamp. It has one output jack. Can I go out of that into the lx2 and then split to stereo out? Thanks
Congrats on the SMS Classic. There are a few ways to get stereo out of a mono preamp. Simplest would just be a Y-cable to split the signal to the 2 channels of the power amp. If you are using rack effects you can find a unit that has mono in and stereo out. If you do this I would recommend getting one that you can bypass the effects without altering the tone, like a Rocktron Intellifex. If you want to go one step further you could get a line mixer, then you can run multiple effects units and blend the signals.
So, am I right that having a line out from the power amp is still just sending the signal from the preamp? Like, you're not somehow capturing the power amp tone with that, are you?
That's a great question. I checked the manual and its "A line level version of the speaker output sound .." So you do get the power amp flavor in the line out.
@@michaeltoren Interesting! I've always wondered about line outs from preamps, like the syn2 has, and how we seem to not consider it a big deal that we're missing the power amp tone. But we'll go crazy about someone powering their modules with a solid state power amp, haha.
I heard that as well. Fryette talked about it on one of his Malcontents vids and said the same thing. I just wondered if he was being diplomatic (even though he designed both).
I was sitting on a back order for the LXII and this convinced me to cancel it and grab a used SYN off Reverb for $800. Thanks for saving me a bunch of money. Good job.
Always great to see your videos!
I have been looking at these…I saw that Malcontents episode where Steven Fryette said the LXII has a more expensive,paper layer wound transformer,and some other component differences….I currently have a Power Station,PS2 and PS100,but for my stereo rig,I am using an old 1989 Marshall 9005 Tube power amp..the big 4 rack space one…it’s huge,weighs a thousand pounds,but it sounds great…it would be nice to have something a little smaller and more portable…..The LXII did sound clearer..Great video..
Thanks for doing this video. I got a syn 50/50 because of those features. I needed/wanted separate volumes. I'm using helix and running W/D. I'm surprised at the differences in sound. LXII is brighter and seemingly more alive (assuming this is the case in room). Not unhappy with the synergy but I guess that is what about $200 will get you.
LX-II flat: 10:13. LX-II Presence and depth (mystery settings): 11:03. Syn 2 middle settings: 12:06
Very cool. The best setup I ever heard was a Mesa Boogie strategy 500 running 4x4/12 cabs with a adamp1 pre amp. The volume on the Mesa on both sides on 8! Was almost scary powerful!
Happy Holidays Michael . Great demo . Cheers and rock on
Thank you and Happy Holidays to you as well!!
The switchable depth/presence jack on the LX-II is pretty great. For my setup, A/B a slaved head and a preamp(BE100 on a load box for gain and a Mesa Studio Pre for cleans) that's a very handy feature as I'd like flat for the slaved head, and the depth/presence when I'm running a preamp. Very cool feature.
Thank you! Excellent comparison and very, very useful. Seem that you’ll be able to make them sound relatively close to each other it seems that LX II sounds bigger and clearer. Suprisingly enough.
Thanks for posting. I have the Syn50-50 and have been wondering about the LX II. I actually find the Syn50-50 to be too bright with my Syn-2 preamps and speakers. I usually have to keep the presence almost off. Sounds like the LX is a lot brighter so I think I am better off staying with the Syn50-50. So yeah, thanks for saving me a grand…lol.
Now that's a rack! Holy moly, excellent.
Thanks for this demo. I just subscribed because 1) your videos are great and 2) you subs number was at 999! lol! So, I'm the 1000th subscriber!
Thank you very much!!
Cool video! I was actually wondering what the difference was between the syn and Fryette single space poweramps. I saw Steve Fryette talking about the single space power amps and realized he designed both the Fryette and the Syn 50-50 which got me wondering. I think you just made the definitive guide on these poweraemps.
I like the Fryette Poweramp better, but the controls seem like weird choices on it. I supposed it's probably good for a touring musician though.
Thank you! It was a rabbit hole I needed to go down and report back.
The lx ii is pretty complicated, and I have owned power amps and tube amps before. I still have no clue how to run it bridge mono, so just use one channel at a time to protect it. But it is a very loud amp at 50 watts, it will hold it's own against my mesa power amp , and iic+ 60 watt power section.
@@SHREDTILLDEAD Mesa amps are almost never as powerfull as they say they are.
@@SlimeyGuitarStrings I know , they are more powerful at less wattage than most amps. Thanks for clearing that up.
Great content ! I’m currently looking to add a simul class 290 to add as a power amp to my rack preamps. Prices have gone insane. Strongly thinking about either of these plus they are new as well.
The 290 is an awesome power amp but sadly the market is crazy high. You can't really go wrong with either of these two.
@@michaeltoren thanks very much Michael keep up the good work !
There must be Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Worth of Gear Behind Him ....WOW !
Torn! I like the Fryette as well but man that internal pots is a lame feature. Even if you're touring you might want to adjust depending on the room. The Synergy is a lot more practical it seems!
I have the lxii and it is kind of intimidating with all the load configurations. I have yet to be shown how to safely hook up every load configuration the amp provides. If you do not build or service amps you are pretty much stuck with mono a or b or stereo a, and b. The amp can be bridged and also has 3 outs per channel and an impedance selection option, but like I said they have yet to print a manual that explains the load config in detail or make a video for it. They just keep emailing me page numbers from the manual which the amp does not ship with.
Great video once again!! Have you ever considered like a monthly podcast? Talk about your gear and just shoot the crap? Happy holidays to you and your family
That's a great idea. I will have to look into that. Happy holidays to you and yours as well!
HI I noticed you had an Engl E580 in the rack a few vids back. How is the volume output on your unit?
Mine with the volume and the master cranked just manages to clip the +4db ceiling on my Switchblade GL switcher, while all my other preamps can do that with about half their potential output.
My Amp Tech cannot see any problem with it and you are the first other person I have seen with one, so it would be good to know your experience.
Also, I highly recommend you try some Radial Stagebug SB-6 Isolator boxes. I have a whole bunch of the in a 24U rack, they are the best thing I have found for killing off all the noise gremlins in your studio.
My E580 suffers from the same problem. I took it to a tech as well and they couldn't find any issues (other than some shipping damage).
It's strange as some of my preamps play nice and then some (Mesa) do not. I am still working out the kinks but thanks for the tip!
@@michaeltoren Sounds like they are working as intended, good to know, even if it seems bizarre.
Thanks for letting me know.
I eventually fixed the volume issue with the Engl E580. I left it set to the line level output setting on the back and then put an Ebtech line level shiftier between the Preamp and Poweramp . Now it has the overall level of the Preamp volume is good and the Volume and Master controls on the Preamp are useful.
@@cshortlife9179 Hmmm, very strange indeed. Is that with the line level pot on the back all the way up to 15db of gain?
@@Cpt_Adama The line level pot you are referring to is for the frequency compensated line outs that are use for direct recording, not the standard line out that goes to the power amp.
You're not crazy Dr. Rack... If that normalcy could be achieved easily, I'd be normal as fuck lol. Great stuff man.
Michael... Could you compare your two Soldano SP--77 preamps, please? USA vs Japan, both channels. I'm looking for this comparison for years.
Sounds like you have a ground loop issue. Both units sounded good just slightly different.
Could you do this using the syn pre amps?
I plan on doing a MTS platform (Egnater M4/Randall RM4/Synergy Syn2) review and can try to work that in.
Thanks a lot ! Great review ! In both units you must use a loadbox/cabinet right ? What did you use ? Congrats !
Thanks! I have an amp switcher with multiple cabinets. I recorded this demo using a Divided by 13 4x12 cab with Greenbacks and V30s.. The mics I used are an AT4050 and a Fathead. For the unused channels I have a load resistor on a 1/4" jack.
What is the best single rack tube power amp?
Where did you get your Langner? Somewhere out in the world someone has my old Langner preamp I had modified by Bogner I traded to Denver guitar center when I was young and dumb.
I got one from a seller in San Francisco and the other was off of Reverb. I can't imagine how cool a Bogner modded Langner would be. Holy crap!
@@michaeltoren Someone out there has it and doesn’t even know. Todd made me one when he was working at ADA. I bet it was one of the first ones he made. Then I sent it to MakeNMusic to try and get the Antrax mod done to it that Bogner was doing there for the Fish Preamps. I didn’t know shit about tone then. I ended up trading it for a new marshall 4x12 or something stupid. I was young and had no idea what a good tone was. That is the 1 piece of gear I wish I had back or even knew the serial number. I was smart enough to buy a Klon new though for $350 when they came out and keep it. It’s my break glass in case of emergency piece of gear.
Thank you.
I was thinking on buying an engl e 530 pre amp and running it into my mesa 2x12, and was curious if the lxii poweramp would sound any good with a tube pre amp or is it made only for modelers?
I'm surprised you don't demo the cleans with strat in between tones and some landau like playing.
Alot of the Synergy demos sound pretty disappointing, but I suspect that’s because the synergy power amps are pretty underwhelming. A good power amp is crucial. The Fryette stuff is worth the investment.
Is not the Synergy 2 50/50 designed by Fryette? So both units are designed from the same manufacturer.
@@Cpt_Adama yes, but they are quite different internally and even feature wise.
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with buying poweramps😉😍
Except that they take up a lot of rack space!
@@michaeltoren Mmm good point... But for a VHT Poweramp, I would make an exception Lol
Nice video. What would be pros/cons of using synergy power amp or Fryette ps2/ps100 with preamps?
I have a Fryette Power Station but have yet to use it as a power amp. Michael Nielsen used them this way with great results. I would assume that the PS is very similar in character to an LXII but it is worth a look. I think the biggest pro would be that the PS can be a power amp and load box, if you have amps as well. The con would be that is is 2U (with the rackmount kit) while the Syn 50/50 is 1U.
Does your DCP-1 have the hyper mod
I have 2. One custom built for an artist and one production unit. The production one has all the mods available at the time.
Hey mike. Power amp noob. I’ve always been a head guy. But I’m putting together another rig using a sms classic preamp. It has one output jack. Can I go out of that into the lx2 and then split to stereo out? Thanks
Congrats on the SMS Classic. There are a few ways to get stereo out of a mono preamp. Simplest would just be a Y-cable to split the signal to the 2 channels of the power amp. If you are using rack effects you can find a unit that has mono in and stereo out. If you do this I would recommend getting one that you can bypass the effects without altering the tone, like a Rocktron Intellifex. If you want to go one step further you could get a line mixer, then you can run multiple effects units and blend the signals.
So, am I right that having a line out from the power amp is still just sending the signal from the preamp? Like, you're not somehow capturing the power amp tone with that, are you?
That's a great question. I checked the manual and its "A line level version of the speaker output sound .." So you do get the power amp flavor in the line out.
@@michaeltoren Interesting! I've always wondered about line outs from preamps, like the syn2 has, and how we seem to not consider it a big deal that we're missing the power amp tone. But we'll go crazy about someone powering their modules with a solid state power amp, haha.
I’ve heard the synergy adds a little more color to the preamp…..fryette has supposedly less color & slightly higher quality inner components….
I heard that as well. Fryette talked about it on one of his Malcontents vids and said the same thing. I just wondered if he was being diplomatic (even though he designed both).
When did you say you are gonna sell me
That morin preamp again? :)
Well... its almost 4/1
@@michaeltoren hahah WELL played! 10/10
The joke is on us, Amazon sells that same wallpaper for the background.
Please discard my previous comment. Didn’t was the video and confused you with Louis Torres 🤦🏼😂
lol. All good.
@@michaeltoren But i Will Watch later ❤️
Not enough knobs, dials and buttons in this video.
How does the fact that your $500,000 studio makes a mad buzzing sound not eating away at your soul????
I paid more than that for mine, only to realize the “buzz” was just me playing horribly 😂🤘🏽
🤣
You’re playing that riff wrong
What’s up with all this synergy. I thought it was the worst of the worst? Have you joined the dark side.? 😂😂😂