I was searching for this video for a couple months and just found it and you only posted hours ago so thank you very much for doing it. It’s a big deal actually.
I am really starting to love the sound of 6V6 power tubes recently. I think that’s why I love the Soldano Astro so much. It seems like 80% of the amps out there use either EL’s or 6L6’s, so I’m enjoying the amps that use something different.
The difference for me is…the grill. The KT77 is going to look beautiful on my new custom cab…and that’s what matters as a home player and one who uses gear as interior design :)
I agree with you: the difference is negigible. But reducing the Fireball 25 to a pure metal amp doesn't do it justice. It's got a great clean channel which you can push into overdrive and the distortion channel can produce a fantastic classic rock tone, too.
@@garyslash7552 I am pushing its clean with SD-1 and compressor and the sound is stellar. I like it more than the overdrive channel. It has even more definition and clarity.
Cool video man! The FB25 is so cool! Even thought the sonic difference might be subtle I still think it's cool that they're making these different versions!
I expected a bigger difference between the high gain sounds, the KT77 sounds slightly fuller on the clean channel. I'm keping my 6L6 Fireball, thanks for the great shootout.
Thanks for this! I'm in the market for this amp, and based on this video, I have decided to go with the KT77 version. I'll be ordering it tomorrow. Cheers!
There's tolerance differences in all the components (sometimes up to 10-20% depending on sourcing) that make up the preamp staging, pots, resistors, caps etc.. etc..etc.. Just setting all the knobs at the same setting doesn't tell the whole story. I bet you could dial them in to sound ever more close to the same. Not saying the power tubes being a different model wouldn't make some very small difference, but there's way more going on that just the power tubes. And then add to that it's rare someone isn't going to also have an OD and and EQ in there somewhere. I bet you could stand two of the 6L6 model next to each other and set the knobs to the same settings and still hear some variation. Just get whichever one is cheaper or that you like the aesthetics of more.
Thanks to you and Engl for doing this! I was wondering what the differences were myself, as I have been eye balling the Engl Fireball 25 for some time. They just don't carry them in my neck of the woods, unfortunately. The only K77 versions were limited runs here in the US, but now I know what they sound like. To me, the differences were very subtle, but maybe those differences will be important to some people.
I am that guy that wanted this video from you, it just took me 6 months to get here. 😂 2 months to start playing guitar and another 4 to move towards looking at a high gain amp.
There is a big difference in strings clarity in the last test. With 6L6 you can actually hear strings ringing. Open strings with 6L6 are not so much distorted like with KT77. KT77 has better cleans and low gain for sure. It sounds fuller and warmer. High gain is tough. I probably like the 6L6 version more thanks to better definition of mids. KT77 sounds scooped but maybe it could be improved by the mid boost. KT77 highs sound bad to my ears. 6L6 sometimes sounds boxy. Thanks for the video, it really helped me to choose :)
On clean white amp what a little tiny bit more scooped, on high gain black amp was a little tiny bit more scooped. And I'm pretty much sure two 6L6 or two KT77 amps could me more different then these two, because it's parts tolerance that makes the difference.
The KT77 amp was definitely compressing more than the 6L6 amp, but I'm not sure if that was because the KT77's provide less headroom or if was due to component tolerance differences between the pots on both amps. What absolutely did *not* change, however, was the EQ curve. Both of those power sections sounded about as flat as they come.
sounds like the same difference between me running my prs mt15 through its own power amp and switching to a solid-state power amp which I occasionally use in louder situations. The tube power amp is warmer and the solid state is a little bit more thin but when cranked up loud almost in perceivable, unless it’s on the clean channel and even then it’s minimal. some tubes handle more power, and so it gives the power amplifier a little more headroom but it all really depends on how you use the amplifier on whether or not that will even matter. certain amplifiers I notice a bigger difference than others, but relatively speaking. I think the tone is pretty much the same, not a big enough difference for me to really put any thought into anyways. I play at home and record at home so I have no issue getting the tone I want either way. I would probably pick the white version, though just because of appearance, looks pretty sick.
Exactly as I suspected. No perceived difference. What I do when I listen to these types of videos is I pretend like I don't know anything I am just a listener that's it. And from that aspect there's no effing difference!!!🙃 But from a musician there is a slight difference as you said not enough to make me buy one or the other I actually would rather get the 6L6. I have used those before and those are for Americans lol😊 But seriously the black one sounds more metal😅 Great video as always you make it very entertaining and enjoyable to watch something a lot of us probably already know the outcome of. Enjoy your weekend thank you
But please don't forget the amps color makes a tiny difference at best, while the color of the guitar makes a massive differenece. And of course what kind of coating is used. Nitro not only makes everything smell better, but also sound better. And when it's purple... You can't even imagine.
The mids on the white one are a tad more pushed and the black is a bit fatter or perhaps a tiny bit scooped in the mids. The difference is negligible......but there is most definitely a difference.
Der 6L6‘er klingt einen Tick tighter,hat einen Bandtauglichen Low-Cut,also gut händelbar im Low-End(nicht falsch verstehen,der ist schon wuchtig unten rum,aber lässt sich trotzdem richtig gut einstellen)und klingt ein ganz kleines bisschen mittiger. Der KT77‘er hat etwas mehr Biss in den Obertönen,und etwas mehr Low-End.Ich würde beim 6L6 bleiben,lieber etwas mittiger,im Gesamtmix nen Tacken besser zu orten.Zuviel Low End bedeutet Ärger mit dem Bass und dem Drummer (Bezogen auf die Base) im Gesamtsound.Sußerdem finde ich die String-Clarity beim 6L6 sehr angenehm und gut hörbar,das geht beim KT77 ein bisschen unter.Den KT77 würde ich eher für den Rock-Bereich nehmen(oder nen Tubescreamer beimischen,um den Low-End Bereich etwas aufzuräumen),den 6L6 eher für Metal in allen Ausrichtungen.Beides geile Amps🤘
So hard to notice anything different that moving a pot for volume,gain or the EQ controls a fraction couldn't correct..even the differences in tolerance of any one component could be enough to make the difference between the 2 amps.
i think the black one have fuller sound and more bass.i like it more and i like more also how it looks with those iron bars.i think its time to buy my self a engl amp.i never had one or had the chance to test one.i have 5150,laney irt 60 ,and boss katana 100 head.i want that engl tho ;(
This to me sounds like what Steven Fryette talks about during his interview with Kohle Audio Kult. He said that amps built with different tubes in mind have different transformers, phase inverters etc. so it's not just the tubes that change between different tube versions of the same amp but quite a few other smaller stuff as well (link to the interview: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XtrW3-d3V1E.html). So, probably a better tube comparison would be to change the tubes of the same amp and rebias. That being said, I imagine you could probably 'tone' match(is this a thing?) these amps to sound exactly the same with EQ settings
Well obviously the black and white amps sound identical on RU-vid - almost everything does. Henning should have dispensed with the pointless shootout and just given us his opinion :)
