The Plex sounds a bit more bitey and “pissed” at both settings (through mid heavy phone speaker). I surprisingly preferred the SV20H on leads. Will listen on monitors/headphones later and see what’s up then.
What are your thoughts on the tone "in the room" when playing them both 6 volume-ish? Is the SV even comparable? I've seen some pro/touring guys running SV's mic'd into stadium stuff...and I wonder if its just that good or if the 50w 1987/Plex etc is just a lot better period.
great tones from both! weirdly i prefer the sv20 in the first comparison! i wonder if a simple eq adustment can make the plex match the sv20 in the beginning
I own both. Friedman, wow, it takes the prize for sure but the SV20 is not too far behind. Love the mods you did here for the sv20. I think the mods improve the tone.
I'd like to buy the Friedman Plex (I already have Friedman Twin Sister, SLO30, Marshall Mini Silver Jubilee, Custom Audio OD50 and Magnatone M80) but the SV20 is way way way less expensive. I can afford the Plex but I'm just wondering: why? Could you please give me your opinion to help me? Thanks.
@@francesco0185 Man the PLEX is just on another level tone wise. Far more versatile and better tone. No comparison. If you love that Marshall plexi tone you will love it. And if you're an EVH fan it'll do those early tones spot on.
Great compaison . The marshall sounds alright. If you could get one used for a good price and mod it, then great. But the plex build quality is far, far superior, and I'd rather give Dave my money! That's a great sounding amp, and it will last much longer.
I only took out the 4n7 bright cap, which is located over the treble channel volume pot and puggy backed a 22mF over the 820R cathode R of V2A. Then added a 100pF or 220pF over the treble volume pot where the 4n7 was located.
stock SV20 sounds great, very close to the plex. I would save my money and get the Marshall. The bright cap experiments told me...stay with the stock SV20
Put a pair of 6CA7s in the SV20, I did in mine and the improvement is dramatic, I know longer want to try modding it because I wouldn't want to change a thing about how it sounds after the swap.
I dunno man that's pretty close, especially if the tubes aren't identical. If the Friedman master volume actually works well, that adds a lot of value. Otherwise I'd have to say the Marshall is too close to ignore the cost difference.
Both sound great but unfortunately the Friedman amps are a bit overpriced in Europe! I have these Marshalls in my collection (Jcm800 20w stealth, Silver Jubilee 20w special edition & Jvm 1w custom tattoo) I would like to add SV20 & DSL20.. i would love to add a Friedman to my collection but i do not want to spend that much of money on these small amps! Hopefully they make them more affordable!!
Easy choice here in Europe to pick the SV20H. Sounds great and WAAY cheaper. €850 vs €3400 is miles apart for two amps sounding so close. Friedman's pricing in Europe vs competition is explaining why their amps are so far down in popularity/purchase statistics. If Friedman could release a 20W that's around €1300 (incl VAT), they'd see much more sales here. It's a small upcharge (€450 more, or around 50% more) to Marshall, but it's also providing benefits for that upcharge. Currently Friedman's 20W is €2000... more than double the price (235% more) of Marshall's studio series amps. I'm not alone in thinking that's not worth it.
Friedman have been milking the whole Marshall amps for decades now… not worth their price tag considering they’re NOT really boutique made by a small team in a garage but instead, built by a production line in an American sweat shop (BAD). I will never support their business, regardless how good their amps could be. They are many others choices… if you want mass produced, then you can get some for way cheaper. If you want real boutique, then you can get some from real boutique brands… not just a distributor that use the boutique name! I love my Two-Rock, I love my Dr. Z, and here I would definitely pick the Marshall… no doubt about it.
Hmm.. So somewhere in the SV20 there's more bass / less treble going through. Since the preamps are near identical, could it be the different power amp designs? cathode biased class A vs fixed AB as you said in the beginning? Any differences on the phase inverter maybe? Negative feedback taken from a different transformer tap?
I'm very curious to hear about this as I'm modding the SV20 quite extensively but lack proper experience, and one thing it does that's very "vintage" of it is have that softer top end. More like a softclipping overdrive rather than a fuzz, which modern counterparts seem to sound like, to put it into other words I guess. I'd love to find a way to give it that rough top end. I guess that's the bite you mention. Could it maybe be the transformer in the SV20 being a bit weak and acting like a high cut?
Sure. Power amp makes a huge difference. I just wanted to similar results for my recording purposes. If you crank the Plex it eats the SV20 for breakfast.
@@duese888 hmm.. the PI is where a lot of the drive comes from iirc, the voltages being different there is surely one part of the puzzle. Could adjusting the resistors on it get a similar result, maybe?
troll comment of the day- why play a PRS in this video when there are 2 perfectly good Gibsons (1 custom?) in the background? what do you think is the best value amp?
Great comparison. On this video i prefer the Marshall SV20H stock. The Friedman sounds more kind of mushy. Did you play loud or use an attenuator since there is no master volume on the Marshall? I like Thin Lizzy a lot too!
Nice amp collection! What is your favourite plexi-style amp and how do you think the SV20 compares? I got one a couple months back and have only used it at home with an attenuator so far. Can't wait to try with a band and turn it up.
I just love amps and was curious. And most of my amps, no matter if bought or build either are just full clean sounding or have much more distortion or are multichannel amps.
I still struggle to understand why an FX loop could not have been put on the Plex. I've got a Metro Zero-Loss FX loop in my 1973 Marshall 50w head, which presumably has the same topology as the Plex, and it sound great! No issues with the concern that an FX loop in this topology just pushes the FX into a driven phase inverter.
Really depends. If you use just one setting on the amp which is clean/mild crunch ( volume below 5) you‘re good. But if you run the volume past 6 you‘ll get your fx distorted too. Of course it depends on your style, but who wants distorted delays or verbs 😊. Better to use a Fryette power station or similar.
@@duese888Thanks! That’s interesting. I’ve not noticed that with mine (I’m probably between 7-8), but then my primary driver for an FX loop is for a solo volume boost (I don’t mic up in the smaller venues I play), to which I add a bit of digital delay (BOSS DD2). Maybe a dual master volume is a better solution than an FX loop, if volume boost is the main aim? Power station is a good idea, but an expensive price of gear for the problem.
@@vin9976 SV beyond 6 just compresses more and sounds mushy. However, thats already very loud. At 5 its perfect. I‘m glad thst I am using an isolation cab at home.
@@duese888 Gotcha...so the SV holds up to the Plex until 6+? Very cool. I've got an SV20h into a 1965a Cab. I just use a JohnH attenuator that a guy on the MarshallForums built for me. It definitely helps out!
