Cranking Affordable Tube Combos! | Marshall, Harley Benton, Bugera and more

[@jaunianise4172]

I've got the HB Tube 5, the clean is surprisingly good !

[@bluzmansix]

I liked the sound of the Bugera.

[@andylowrey5174]

I own the Bugera V5 for living room use. It gets better with a better quality 8" speaker. I use mine all the time.👍

[@alexanderjarvis9827]

What better quality 8 inch speaker did you put in your Bugera?

[@andylowrey5174]

@alexanderjarvis9827 I first replaced the original Jenson speaker with the Celestion Eight 15. It was better but not great. Then, a couple of years later, I replaced the Eight 15 with a Warehouse G8C. The G8C was the ticket for me. It doesn't hurt to replace the power tube occasionally. Finally, if you're really adventurous, replacing the capacitors with better quality caps really helps as well. Good luck!

[@DavidGodfren]

Hope you guys are well, doing good and not affected by the floods. Stay safe G and K.

[@captainkirk70]

Shocked how good they all sounded.

[@fr.abbadon]

I have the stage right version of the Harley Benton, and love it! I did dig the Marshall as well

[@fabricerobin2948]

J'adore mon Bugera V5 ! Un super petit ampli pour jouer à la maison. Et il prend très bien les pedales d'effets ! Une petite Merveille ! 😊🎸

[@dave_roacha]

I got the DSL 1H with the MX112 and a V30 inside. I love it. I mostly play it on 0.1W in my Bethroom.

[@ThePierrezx]

You must choose between bathroom and bedroom 😂🥃🥃

[@dave_roacha]

@ThePierrezx oh fuck. In the Badroom. But in my Bethroom... 🤔🤣

[@ThePierrezx]

@@dave_roacha maybe you have eaten too much weird mushrooms 😁

[@photoguy4212]

I bought the Bugera based on your other amp shootout video. Thanks for giving these amps a proper demo.

[@GitShiddy]

Bugera was the best to me. Though the Blackstar cranked sounded best in the room to my ear.

[@EstelonAgarwaen]

The tube5 when cranking it is real nice. The power amp distortion kinda gives it that pzazz! Clean it comes alive with delay and reverb.

[@damasterkarej]

I had DSL1. My mistake was not getting head on 112 cab. That's the perfect combination

[@MattTee1975]

I got head on a 112 cab backstage at a Molly Hatchet show in 1981.

[@davidschaer]

😂😅 golden

[@ChengLi1979]

@@MattTee1975😂😂

[@markdoolan3424]

I run the head with a Blackstar 1x12 sounds cool still loud at home for sure!

[@christophervincent8420]

I think the Bugera was the biggest surprise in this one. The HB definitely has a vintage vibe though

[@Lalairu]

I own one of thowse and they can GROWL. I am considering the 22v because of the speaker, and also because the EQ is much more complex.

[@christianiffland3729]

I have both the HB and the Bugera. The HB is great for riding the sweetspot, the Bugera is great with pedals.

[@florisvanlingen]

Why not save up a little and get yourself something better?

[@christianiffland3729]

@@florisvanlingen In which way better? I have several amps. These two are the small ones. And they are good.

[@eoinjennings519]

I have the Bugera but find it a bit hard to work it at home - tend to have to turn it up to get nice tone - bit dark. I have the Blackstar ht5 which I like for rock. I have an Artist 5w which is probably same as your Harley Benton - this is very in your face clean so good for blues. I have the Marshall dsl5 which I like best and can get nice tones out of it at home volumes. Finally the Hughes and Kettmer 5w which has very nice clean channel but not great dirty

[@steverolfeca]

To my ear, they all sound much better in the room (thank you, Francis!), than when close-mic'd. The Bugera was a real surprise to me- I dislike their bass amps, but based on this video, that combo would stand up well to a lot of more expensive small combos.

[@captainkirk70]

It's weird. I used to have a real 1965 Champ and when close mic'd it sounded absolutely huge and the best amp ive ever heard. My '76 sounds nothing like it. Even though it's supposed to be the same circuit.

[@metalzonemt-2]

@@captainkirk70 Different speaker?

[@captainkirk70]

@@metalzonemt-2 Yeah. The '65 had the original and was dead mint when I had it in 1990. The '76's speaker was pretty much just dust. I had to put the Warehouse champ speaker that everyone says is the best. I've heard it's an improvement over the stock speakers but who knows.

[@FarmerSlideJoeBob]

Love the cranked up series😃

[@ramilrodriguez8340]

Nice. You can hear the small speaker effect on the close mic but that room mic sounds so nice!! I All of them sounded good. I prefer the Bugera however I wouldn’t buy any of them.😜😜

[@joerobertson795]

I would like to see this test with an external 1x12 cab. Tiny speakers can be very limiting. Great vid!

[@jcugnoni]

I still have the 1st gen Blackstar and it is nice as a bedroom / living room amp. If you connect it to a 12'' or 4x12 it becomes a beast (a 1W beast.. But with a large speaker it is still very load)

[@TheLordcasio]

Quite brilliant what you two have done. The close mic vs (a rather expensive) binaural set of mics for realism, really helps us, the viewer, get a proper sense of what to expect. A room diagram would've been a (nerdy) nice touch though. Then, between the two of you, I appreciate the range of playing...minimal to shred/single coil to humbucker/Tele to Strat, with nice spots in-between. Ultimately, I don't think I'd buy any of these amps. I was spoiled in the 90's when I borrowed my friend's 60's/70's (?) Fender Champ....but I don't "shred", so that's a taste thing. ANYWAY, this was a really good and somewhat scientific review...without all the crap small talk (just the right amount of small talk) of other gear reviewers. 👍👍👍👍

[@roimodeste]

I had the DSL 1w but the anniversary version made in UK. It had too much gain and the clean channel was pretty but remained too clean even at max volume. Its weak point was the slight crunch and ultimately it's better to have a "vintage" type amp with an overdrive pedal to boost.

[@benallmark9671]

I kinda agree with ya but it’s still a fun little amp for what it costs

[@jaunianise4172]

Hi Chris & Guillaume !! Please do the same with the 5W heads (Affordable Tube) you have for sale, and the 10“ and 12” Harley Benton cabs. ❤👍

[@tahoemike5828]

The one I am interested in is the HB/Stage Right (I am US based) 15w/1w with the built in reverb. I wish you would have used that one.

[@aaronm.1998]

I believe that amp is 15w/5w

[@fred972levrai]

Why do you only use one guitar per amp? I'd like to hear both kinds of pickups on every amp.

[@Oizzy]

Do any of these have an fx-loop?

[@compucorder64]

The Bugera was probably the only one I thought sounded good - sounded a bit like a Champ, broken but quite full. But, the Blackstar sounded better than I expected, in some parts. With the Harley Benton, think it's worth getting the Tube 15, for the bigger cab. Honestly made me think of picking up one of the Bugera's at some point for that Champ-like tone.

[@ClaudioMartella]

the big limit of these amps is the speaker and the cab to be honest

[@christianiffland3729]

Depends on what you want to do with them. The HB gives you a freaking great overdrive or when dialled to the sweet spot a great rockabilly rhythm sound for recording over a mic and the Bugera is a great little pedal platform and more than sufficient for gigs in a pub.

[@captainkirk70]

Personally I use my 20w Marshall Origin head through a 1x12. They get a bad rap because the controls don't work like the classic Marshalls. Watch a KZbin video on how to set the controls and you will be very happy. Mini Plexi with step down wattage too. No biasing on the 20w. And it gets plenty loud if you need it. So it's far more versatile. But get the head IMHO. the combo only comes with a 10 inch speaker but I believe you can still run ext speaker cabs from the combo. Just any combo is going to be more prone to failure. Can't remember.

[@Michel-r6m]

The Boss Dual Cube lx is also a nice little amp. Got both DSL-1 and Dual Cube, the Cube I use most. Via line outs into mixer the Dual Cube sounds very nice!

[@DaruoshAghajaney]

I use my blackstar ht1 II with a 4x12 and it sounds massive.

[@allenmitchell09]

Great video

[@frankswildyears2217]

For whats it worth the black Star had the best bedroom room Sound the bugera cranked ist unmatched in the room mic. Close miced all fine, marshall my least liked. A fun Episode. Cheers

[@CraigDeubler]

Great video, I was hoping to hear them all through that 2x12 too ;-)

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Thanks a lot! Maybe next time. 😉 //Kris

[@Jeroen_K]

Bugera was the only one that didn't sound like a swarm of bees to me.

[@matzer8846]

Nice little fun boxes ... well maybe the HT1 does spoil it due to ridiculous pricing ... but the others are lovable little fun@home thingies

[@LeifPalmin]

So were was the tube 15?

[@captainkirk70]

Or you can spend $120 and buy a Bugera Power Soak PS-1. And any amp will be a bedroom amp. I use mine all the time. Zero problems. 5 Years going. The best option if you already have a nice amp by far.

[@dzungpham]

missing vox ac4, the best bed room tube amp i ever heard.

[@livornoamaranto1]

Ho avuto il bugera e non suona affatto così!!!!Toni troppo caldi ,alti inesistenti.

[@PooNinja]

There is something about having the right speaker. I know a lot a folks like 10’s but its gotta be a 12 for me. Sorry lil amps its just my personal opinion. 8 or smaller just don’t do it for my ears.

[@ThomannsGuitarsBasses]

Hey Poo, don't tell anyone, but I feel the same way. 🤫😅 12" is the sweet spot for me and you have a solid collection of alternative speakers in case you don't like the one built in your combo / cab. That being said one of the most impressive combos I've ever heard was a Magnatone with 2x10" so what do I know, haha! //Kris

[@jerryhorton5708]

I was surprised by the HB and the Blackstar

[@what1864]

the biggest difference in tone from a high end amp and a budget amp is the speaker , there is a lot more then just the tone that makes a high end amp high end, but the part that counts the most is the tone and with a 100-200 dollars you can get just as good of tone as a high end amp if you do your research , with just a speaker swap .... for instance i have a harley benton tube 5 amp that i put a vintage alnico speaker and tubes in ,and it sounds amazing rivaling vintage 5 watt tube amps i have tried out ...

[@guilletjean-jacques5107]

j ai prefferré prendre la tete Tube 15 avec mon cabinet jensen ; meme si je joue en appartement , plutot qu un de ces petit ampli , mais si je devais choisir pârmis tous ceux la , je prendrais le HB sans hesitation , je preffere le son de ce petit ampli .

[@Ninu-ce8op]

In fact, measuring 85-90 dB just at the close mic position isn't telling much. Usually, if you measure sound level, you do it at 1 m from the source. So, if you get 85 dB at 4 cm from the source, knowing that you lose 3 dB, each time you double the distance (85 dB at 4 cm, 82 dB at 8 cm, 79 dB at 16 cm...), you are at +/- 70 dB at 1 m... No wonder, standing at 2 m from your amp, you are hearing your strings more than the amp... ;-)

[@Craig52-zq1bt]

Cutting the corners usually means an El Cheapo speaker. So, poor speaker, poor sound.

[@davidschaer]

the blackstar gave me propper ear-cancer.. bugera sounded surprisingly good

[@talkychris]

Blackstar easy winner. Bugera I liked clean but hated it it cranked. Harley Benton sounded thin. Marshall just sounded awful.

[@danielktdoranie]

They all sound horrendous

[@mr.d.572]

They all sound kind of bad...the Bugera at least has some potential for blues. The Marshall sounded awful, probably the worst but others were down there too.

[@yetimatzenightcat8702]

Geht nix über Marshall 🤷‍♂️

[@markus_MaKro]

too many mics

[@markus_MaKro]

pls not playing while talking