Hi, could you use the PA-100 chassis to custom-make a version of the PS-2A with 2 channels and FX loop? Love these two features but would prefer a 50W amp with 6L6’s over a 100W amp with 6550’s.
Hi tubio and welcome!
Are you basically wanted a PS-100 that is 50W and uses 6L6s? I mean you could do this if you want, but it would be a DIY project. There are some subtle physical differences between the PS-2A and PS-100 so it’s not something that you could even swap in and out etc.
What are you chasing tonally that makes you want to do this change? You might discover it does not actually help with what you want.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, you could put it that way. It may be a bias, but in general I tend to like the sound of the 6L6 more, and I don’t need 100w. However, if it had to be DIY’ed, then I guess it’s beyond me.
This is actually doable. It would take a bit of tweaking, but that’s not a problem. The problem is that it won’t sound any different.
You’ve probably heard different tubes in the same amp and surmise that the difference you hear when you do this is caused by the tubes themselves. However, the difference is really caused by the output transformer, which is made to match the tubes it was designed for. So when you install different tube types, there is an impedance mismatch and other subtle factors that alters the behavior of the amp.
This happens when, for example, you put EL34s in an amp designed for 6L6s and vice versa. Merely tweaking the bias doesn’t remotely deal with the consequences of mismatching the tubes to the transformer.
Of course, if it’s worth it for you to pay a few hundred dollars extra to hear it for yourself, we might consider it.
Dave
Thanks, Dave. I’ll think about this.