Two Hundred Dollars Very Well Spent!!! 
by William Jones from Jasper,GA USA, October 2008
Music Background:  Semi-Pro Musician, Home Recordist and Hobbyist

I just got this bad boy today. I have to say that I'm completely bowled over by what a little tone monster it is!!! Just by adjusting the volumes and tones on your guitar and the amp,and using the different inputs on the front of the amp you can get tones ranging from sparkling clean, bluesy,country,jazz and searing rock tones that'll feedback. Yummy!! Very simple amp to use. It also has my favorite power tubes EL84(THEY ARE THE BOMB). I'd say you could gig or record with this baby. You owe it to yourself to check it out!!!

  Awesome 
by Joe Harper from Central Square, N.Y. USA, August 2007
Music Background:  Semi-pro, hobbyist

The sound of this little monster just floors me every time. I couldn't have spent the few dollars it cost on anything better. There are some definite classic tones that pour from this little guy but don't let the word little fool you because this thing is LOUD! Believe me this is definetly worth the cash.

  Nice Sounding small Class A tube amp! Great Price for Great Sound! 
by djmonnette from Kankakee,Il, August 2007

OK, I was looking for a small tube amp and seen the Peavey ValveKing Royal 8.The Gain,Tone,and Master knobs on front with a low and high gain input,plus headphone jack was just what I was looking for.The amp sounded good right out of box,so after tubes and speaker gets broke in.Will only sound better down the road.The tubes are Electroo-Harmonix(12AX7 EH Premium EH version 12AX7Special high gain,low noise,spiral filament reduces hum common on amps that use AC on the filaments This is a very good if not the best 12AX7 made today , highly recomended !!!)

and
Sovtek EL84 are extremely reliable and good sounding. The construction has improved steadily over the years. Sovtek EL84 are currently being used by such manufacturers as Fender - Crate - and Peavey. The Sovtek EL84 produce an unbeatable smooth - warm distortion. Excellent replacements in vintage VOX AC-30's and the like.

I ran a Line 6 Pocket Pod in front of amp and it sounded great!

  ROYAL 8 Metal Shredder 
by Stoked from CA, July 2007
Music Background:  guitar player 15 yrs

What really blew me away was the brand of tubes Peavey put in this amp STOCK. Straight from Sweetwater it came with pream 12ax7 SOVTEK and the EL34 power amp tube is a ELECTRO HARMONIX! Really.
The speaker is either crap or going to sound like a 1960s Celestion 25watt out of a 4x12 cab once broken in. It was my biggest complaint, now, I don't even think of it, IT IS LOUD. The gain stock is like ac/dc or early priest. Thats it. BUT drop a BOSS or quality pre-amp in front of it and it will scream. SATURATION the GOOD kind of distortion. And, when the vol pot is wound down on your axe, its quiet. Records like a dream, no adjusting mics, a sm57 on front, 1 inch cond. mic 3.5 to 4 feet above at angle to speaker, mixed.

  Tube Tone Wonder!! Most Amp you can buy for the $. 
by Fretmeister from North Florida USA, June 2007
Music Background:  35 year hobbyist - musician

I've been trying to find a small wattage tube amp to use for practice and recording, and I've worked my way down to the current crop of 5 watters. This little amp sounds terrific clean and it breaks up perfectly at a reasonable level that you can use in your home. I love it with single coils and humbuckers plugged straight in, and my effects sound better than in front of this than much larger tube amps (and ANY SS amp). Slight rattle somewhere in the enclosure, and I may replace the speaker with Jensen 8" AlNiCo. BEST BUY.

  Royal 8 is a keeper 
by Randy from Savoy, Illinois, May 2007
Music Background:  Pro musician, part time recording nut

For the record, I love low watt tube amps when pushed a little, but also dislike dealing with older (read vintage)tube amp issues. I'm still waiting for someone to do a 1 watt amp with the gain, tone, and master volume controls. Five watts is still seriously loud. You can gig with 5 tube watts in smaller venues, and larger venues will mic your stage monitor amp or feed you DI to the board anyway, so why haul more amp than you need to get the tone you want?
Here's the lowdown. Peavey Valve King Royal 8, 5 watts, class A, 12AX7 & EL84 tubes, gain , tone, master volume controls, low and high gain inputs, headphone output (disconnects speaker for late nite playing), jeweled pilot light and REAL toggle switch. All in all a great amp so far. It has a lot of versitility straight from the box, but I plan to eventually put it in a custom tweed cabinet with a Weber 12" driver. I do like an amp that pushes a little more air, and a 12" will do it. I do like the ability to overdrive the amp at low volume and the tone control is also quite nice to have. I've got a fair amount of Peavey equipment already, and for good reason. Most of it works fine and lasts a long time. What more can you ask for if you like the sound? This one is a keeper.

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