Electro-Harmonix 44 Magnum 44-watt Guitar Amplifier Pedal Reviews

Bought this to run my quad cortex into my recto cab for our full band practices and gigs when only vocals are mic'd. To be short it works and sounds perfectly fine. However my presets did lose the bass which is to be expected going from a hifi setup such as studio monitors now into a real cab with its own eq range. Also it's LOUD, the first 8th turn goes from barely audible to getting the cops called on you. Mind you that's the clean zone, from there it breaks up but that's not what I bought it for. It costs less than other power amps and does just as well. 5/5 would recommend.

Wow! What a beast of a little pedal size amp. I bought it on a whim & was fully ready to be disappointed. I was surprised that it really does come close to being 44 watts. It is perfect to be tucked away in your gig bag for emergencies. I was also surprised at the amount of head room it had. Tonelly, it was far better than I expected.

I read a lot about this little pedal before purchasing. A lot of people say that there is a real bad hiss when using it and I disagree. I feel it is no different than cranking a "real" amp. Once I found the sweet spot for my Headrush MX5, I was amazed! My signal chain is MX5-.44- an old fender 112 at it is versatile and clean. High gain to acoustic sim. Glad I went with my gut!

I got the EHX 44 Magnum a couple days ago, and I have to say, it is the single best amp I have ever tried.

I play a mixture of styles, everything from thrash metal, melodic death metal, progressive metal, and doom metal, and it keeps up extremely well, with tons of headroom, way more than enough volume, and such an easy, user-friendly layout. This thing, granted my pedalboard with various distortions and fuzzes are the main source of my dirty tone, is so loud that I know it'll be great and will keep up well with live performances.

I was looking for a power amp to use with a homemade cabinet, and I kept getting unlucky, with every other amp having too much wattage or not supporting 8 ohms speakers. The EHX 44 Magnum was exactly what I needed, and it happens to be really loud (I can't say it enough and I'm going to continue saying it). The sheer power this thing has is absolutely incredible. I thought I would be slightly underwhelmed by the lack of power that I thought it would have, but I was absolutely wrong. This thing, even clean, is so loud and so heavily emphasized on volume with transparency that I had to actually turn it down some, which in my eyes is a good problem to have, or even a non-problem.

I run this amp into a 1x12 speaker cabinet that operates at 80 watts at 8 ohms. This tiny, pedal-sized amp, despite being 44 watts, can run the speaker cabinet and overdrive it a little, giving it some very slight crackle to it (and no, my speaker is not damaged at all), even at low volumes, which are still loud.

Due to the sheer volume this has, the pedalboard-friendliness, and the individual gear requirements I needed for my rig, this amp is a keeper. Thanks EHX and thanks Sweetwater!

Works Awesome, easy to use and very sensitive!!

it does exactly what I wanted it to do!

Sweetwater is the most thorough an customer friendly group ever. You are a top priority from moment you enter there website an if purchasing item to end product delivered an you are completely satisfied. Scott my sales rep is one of the best.

After a 35 year hiatus (yeah really), I decided to start playing again. Initially I planned to focus on the acoustic side, but pretty quickly the lure of bashing out crunchy chords and nasty leads sucked me back over to the electric side. My two Sunn amps (Beta Lead 410, SL 260) are in pristine condition, but still a bit dated given the modeling craze. It didn't take long for me to realize that a lighter practice amp was a must. For better or worse I stumbled into the Spark Amp and I'm finding it a fun way to explore new sounds. I've never played with pedals before, footswitches yes, but no effects other than those on board the amps. With Sunn, it's basically gain and reverb.

After watching hours of youtube videos on the Spark, I found one that showed how you can use the headphone jack with a 3.5 mm to 1/4" cable to send a signal to the Electro-Harmonix Magnum 44. Sweet! (like I need a good battering of my ears at 64 - not really, but I guess that's what hearing aids are for). Well, I thought about sending the signal out from the Magnum 44 to one of the Sunn amps, but while I was thinking, I found a craigslist ad for a Yamaha 412 cabinet in flawless condition. I could hardly get the cash out of my pocket fast enough. (After all, who doesn't need a 240 Watt 4x12 cabinet when all you have is a 4x10 100 watt soul crusher to play through?) A couple days later, I ordered the Magnum 44. It arrived lickety-split. Everything has been sitting now for about three weeks, waiting for the first demo.

Oh my. I was not prepared for the sound, I had the Spark set to Crunch program, my SG on the bridge pickup, volume and tone knobs at 10. Magnum on 'bright'. Wow. The Spark amp is described as a 40 watt amp, and I haven't tried pushing the volume on it, but there is no way the two 4" speakers in the Spark can match a 12" (let alone 4 of them). Still, it just didn't compute for me how 44 watts would turn the 4x12 cabinet into a roaring giant. Oh, and I had the magnum set to about 20% of it's power curve. It's not exactly what I hoped for. It's way more. Clearly I'm not astute with respect to amplification, but I can only relate what I heard. GLORY.

I'm not advocating that you run out and buy a Spark amp, though I love mine. And I'm pretty sure you'll have a difficult time finding a Yamaha cab, so I won't encourage you to waste time looking for rainbows. But if I lost all this gear tomorrow, I'd replace every piece I could. The 44 Magnum would be the least costly of the bunch, and it would, in fact, be indispensable to the setup. I'm giving it 5 stars, despite the fact that you can hear raw power being driven through the cab while it waits for you to crush it. It's not loud, but it's there. I'm fairly certain that the people I let play with it will not be complaining.

Well i am. I bought two! Stereo HX effects hah! A single 44 magnum alone is preiiiiiiiiiiitty loud! I've yet to crank it up to noon as of yet. Buy two before i blow someone away! Muaaahahaha's?

I've been trying to get away from playing tube amps live and bringing smaller, lighter, cheaper gear to gigs for years now. I don't really care for the digital stuff, it sounds pretty good, but I prefer analog knobs over programming patches. Anyway, this thing blew me away! It's dynamic, loud and small, the 3 things I need. It also has plenty of headroom to stay clean at stage volume. I use a pedal board loaded with a noise gate, overdrive, flanger, chorus, a fly rig, an EQ pedal, a boost and a reverb. My pedal board, 212 cab, 1 guitar and 1 speaker cable and my guitar is all I need to gig anywhere! I love it so much I sold all my tube amps and switched to this and Tech 21 Fly Rigs. I still love the sound of tube amps, but these and a good preamp sound just as good, so why bother? Plus, they're cheap to replace! I love these things!

But I still gig after fifty years. the gear just gets easier to move. I have one of these and I stick in the back of a single 12 cabinet with the power supply and it weighs about fifteen pounds. I get most of my tone from my Boss ME-50 so I don't need any of the other regular controls on a big amp. This thing is built like a brick. It easily gives you stage volume even all by itself. This brick and an eq pedal would suit me fine. It seems a little pricey until you compare it with other similar products. If you are looking to downsize and you carry a pedalboard anyhoodles, this is a good investment.

OK the size of the pedal is nice but it does comes with the power supply adapter that is slightly larger than the pedal itself.
None the less, it's still a great alternative to power your favorite pedal board, effects etc. and you can store it in your gig bag. It's surprisingly loud from 9:00 to 12:00. At 12:00 it's really loud. Connected to a BASSON 1 x12 8 ohm cabinet. After 12:00, it's a nice true amp saturation tone. Used it on BOSS GT-10, AVID Eleven Rack, ZOOM G3 and Eventide H9 effects. It sounds really good. Great backup to your main amp. The bright switch can be toggled for a warmer tone if you prefer. Warning, lower the volume knob before making any connections and then plugging in the juice. Totally impressed. Every guitarist should have a backup when gigging, and this piece may be the right choice. I'd like to see EHX come with and EQ version, similar to SD Power Stage 170.

This amp is wonderful. For folks who are tired of transporting heavy equipment around, like I have for decades, this amp is blessing.

I purchased this to drive an Avatar G110, housing an Eminence Lil Buddy 10", 50W speaker. The simplicity of this amp is a blessing since it allows me to put together my own sound shaping modules - which gives me flexibility to alter my sound easily and effectively.

It is very quiet when the correct input/output cable combinations are used, i.e. instrument in, speaker out in the most simple of cases.

I have several pedals that I use as input to this amp and collectively it all works great.

I would not purchase any other amp going forward and plan on purchasing another for backup as well as a stereo driven setup for home practice.

Thanks again for the great service.

I'm running an RK5 fly rig into this and into a 1x12 cabinet. This thing is amazing. Nice and clean up to about half way. Pretty loud too. Running it past that then you get break up and natural distortion but not a real increase of volume. Fear not though this is loud enough to gig with in most cases. Everyone should have one of these to use with pedals or multi effects.

Really impressed with the little (but big) Magnum 44. I use a Kemper profiling amp and needed a way to drive a monitor while going direct out through the Kemper. I have tested and used the Magnum to drive a Marshall 1x12 cabinet and also a big Mesa 4x12 cabinet and the results are great. It doesn't color the tone at all unless you flip the bright switch on, so you gig the sound you are after through your monitor. But this little pedal will drive the Mesa 4x12 without any problems whatsoever. In fact, I haven't even turned it up past 1/4 turn, it'll get loud quickly. I am very happy with this purchase and as always, Bob Furlong from Sweetwater rocks!

Absolutely blown away. I've been playing for 15 years now. Have owned a few halfstacks. Have had a few combos. Now I have a Panama 2x12, pod hd500x, and this thing. The combination is simply amazing. I can get any sound I want and it really sound professional. I absolutely love it.

I now have two of these to power my stereo effects speakers when I play live. These are very cool LITTLE amplifiers. I'm using it with a Fender X2 Champ speaker cabinet and it plays plenty loud but you should hear this driving a Marshall 1960 4x12 speaker, whoaaaaa, very big sound from this amp the size of a pack of cigarettes. The power supply is bigger than the amplifier but it's not a deal breaker by any means. I love these little amplifiers. The Sweetwater deal made them a lot better!

I got this to use in my home studio. I wanted something simple to replace my setup using the return input of a tube amp's fx loop. It does the job very well. I guess it could be a good amp for products like Kemper or Helix. I wish it was available as a rack mount device.

All I can say is WOW!!!! I was absolutely floored at how loud this little guy was even at a low volume! Probably the best clean power you will ever need to run your pedal board (I'm using it to run my POD HD500X). Definitely worth every bit!

I forgot to mention that my sales engineer "Carson McClain" was the one who sold me on this small but lethal power amp. I asked his opinion on the matter and told him that i was going to run my Zoom G5 in front of it and then into a 1x12 sealed cabinet, and Carson stated that this would be a great addition to my sound. Like I said, I'm grabbing another one of these to run stereo and also as a back-up for my church gig....

Kudos to Sweetwater and Carson... Thanks again guys...

Manny

OKAY, so I had a gig at a private party on a Friday night and before I went I checked my mailbox and there was my new Magnum 44 power amp. I had already loaded up my Fender Princeton 1972 model... so anyhow.. when I got to the gig I decided to run the magnum 44 instead of my fender.... OMG!!!!!! THIS LITTLE AMP/PEDAL KICKS SOME SERIOUS BUTT!!!!! I ran it just below the 9 o'clock position and it was stinking load!!!! But yet I felt it had plenty of headroom if I needed more juice... anyhow... if you ever thought of getting one of these, YOU SHOULD..... it can be a great back up amp or your main gig amp... I am going to grab another one so that I can run my rig in stereo....no more lugging my old fender or my other back up amp.... WOW is all I can say..

Recently I bought the 44 Mag's younger brother, the 22 caliber (which sadly is no longer produced). I got a great deal for a functional but beat up Ebay variety and didn't expect much. I have to say--cranked up most of the way, through a home built 2x10 open back cab with Celestions, this thing really cranks. It's clean and strong up to about 2/3 of the way and then starts to distort/overdrive. (this is why I like the small amps--you can crank them to overdrive, but not go deaf from the volume)

If the 44 has the same flavor, but louder, I am certain that it is exactly what I need. The younger brother 22Caliber is perfect for livingroom blasting. The 44 could actually power a small venue. I'm very happy with the smaller model, and seems to have withstood a lot of undue abuse. The 44 is going to be fantastic.

As an older (67 yrs) bass player, I'm learning to appreciate the virtue of smaller and lighter equipment more with each gig. I plugged this little unit into my Bag End 10" and also my SWR 4x8 cabinets and was amazed at the volume and clarity of the sound. Tried it with my Martin Sigma acoustic-electric bass, my Cecelio electric upright and with my Music Man StingRay 5. Wow! the electric acoustics sounded huge, strong and clear-- just like they sound when I'm practicing unplugged, only louder-- and you crank the volume and get that old school saturation. Just for fun, I put my ancient Ibanez Bass graphic EQ between the guitar and the 44, and was rewarded with even juicier possibilities. Haven't had a chance to gig with it yet, but it seems loud enough for many of the coffee house/blues club gigs I do, and I can walk in the door with my gig bag containing bass and amp in one hand, and my small but powerful 10" cabinet in the other. I highly recommend it.

I bought this little guy after blowing a fuse mid-gig on my tube amp head -- figured it would make for an easy back-up way to get through a gig if it happened again. It arrived today, I plugged it into a speaker cab...

...and I could not believe my ears. It sounds amazing. I'm running my Tech21 Fly Rig (with Sansamp, Plexi overdrive, reverb, and delay) into it, and the tone is fantastic -- every bit as tube-like as my actual amp head.

I tried this pedal out over the 4th Of July weekend and could not believe that a stomp box size power amp could sound this good with just a volume knob and a bright switch, but it does. I ran my pedalboard into it using my Mesa Boogie Toneburst pedal to function as a preamp. I ran 1 JCA12S and 1 JCA12S+ 1x12 speaker cabs on the output side and WOW. It recommends running it into an 8ohm speaker cab and mine are 16ohm each and this thing makes them talk with a strat copy and a Squier Classic Vibe Tele. You can also run an active EQ pedal into it for more tweaking ability. I have also read that other reviewers found this little jewel to work nicely with multieffect pedals. I can't wait to try it out with the new Line 6 Amplifi FX100 Floorboard. Now I just have to try out the Amplifi and make sure I like it as much as the EHX 44 Magnum. Try one. They can bail you out of a pinch if your main amp breaks down on you during a show. All you need is some delay, chorus and a littlle reverb in which the EHX Holy Grail Nano is a nice little addition before going into the 44 Magnum also.

I heard and seen this thing in action by Scott Rolaf (a teacher and session musician check him out on face book) and I was blown away by the simplicity of this pedal!! Powering his rig, he ran it through a Marshall 1960A which was close by (at the store) and WOW it was FREAKIN loud! Sounded like early VH.*** This is not a plug for Scott, but for this pedal. When I can afford to spend the cash (everything in its own time), I will get one!

I bought this as a backup for my tube amp. I have a cheap Joyo American sound pedal in front of it as a preamp, a mini reverb after that, then the 44 Mag. This group of pedals is mounted on a small board that I can place between my pedal board and speaker. I've only used it in practice so far, but it sounds pretty much like my 60w tube combo. And the whole thing fits easily into a small laptop bag. I have no doubt that this will get me through a gig should my amp ever fail.

I recently moved to using a Synergy SYN-1 module enclosure and a Mesa Boogie cab with 1 x 10 containing a Celestion Creamback speaker and decided to make the 44 Magnum the power amp. Incredibly powerful, loud and clean tone. Haven't compared this with any of the other pedal power amps or the larger tube options out there but why bother. This is perfect for my needs AND tone. Only had for a few days and haven't tried it with my 11 Rack or my vintage Sans Amp pedal but I have nothing but the highest expectations based on using it with the 44 Mag.

My only (and super minor) complaint is that there's no on/off switch on the unit or its brick power supply. I can't imagine that it would have either been a technical challenge or it would have added to the cost noticeably. Great product. Thanks EH and Sweetwater.

light, small, great head room and tone. handles pedals well. wonderful value. real easy to boot the van at 3am. staff was very helpful and no bull. if Israel didn't have an answer he said so, found out and called me back. refreshing.

I run this as my power section from a carvin X1 preamp into a peavey 2x12. It warms up around 12 o"clock nicely. I"ve never had it past 12 as that is painfully loud. If you are pushing a 4x12. And need volume or crystal clean tones at considerable volume. consider the seymore Duncan model. I like mine a lot. So much so I"m buying another and running 2 in stereo.

This is an ultimate solution if you want an ultra portable setup. I am using this amp with my 1x12" Blackstar cabinet. It sounds very good. I even used it with a Marshall 4x12" and some friends thought I was using one of my tube amps. Since this amp transfer the flat signals to the speaker, you would like to use use a transparent compressor pedal or an EQ pedal to get a better and more controllable sound. I even recorded with this amp and it sounded great. Warning; this unit has a high volume, and it starts from 5 and goes to 8. I mean it goes from zero to five with a slight turn of a knob. And after 8 you get an overdrive sound. It comes with a 110-240 V universal power supply which is very light weight but bigger than this pedal sized dude. Good job EHX and thank you Sweetwater.

Great amp and handles pedals ok. Great for rehearsals or small club. The power transformer is as big as the pedal but a quality unit and item. Always make all connections first the final plug in the power. If Electro-Harmonix made a stereo 88 (or 100) I would purchase that as well (keyboard, small mixer) The 44 rocks and easily pushes my 410 marshall cab. Small package big punch, not a tube sound but it still kicks. Thx. (...cannot go wrong with Sweetwater; service is impeccable, all pro!!!)

I tried this and another brand of "portable mini amp." This one actually bench tests at a true 44+ watts of output RMS into 8 ohms. (actually mine tested at slightly higher 48 watts, but that was with a regulated AC power supply to feed the included power-supply.)

The included wall-wart that comes with these is FAR better than most. It is HEAVY duty. That's important since any amp can only be as good as its power supply. A good power-supply does not guarantee a great amp, but a crummy power supply DOES guarantee a poor performer. This power supply also has sufficient cable between the transformer and the amp to prevent inducted EMI noise. Obviously you must not wrap power cables around signal cables for any amplifier. If you did not already know that, consider yourself so informed now. Ask any "sales Engineer" at Sweetwater if you don't understand. They are all trained to know that stuff and explain it.

With high-output pickups, you can plug straight into this and get superb old-school clean tones that smoothly grade into saturated distortion just like real tube amps. That means you can use your guitar's volume knobs like a real musician.

It does NOT go into stuper-gain metal madness without a pedal in front of it, and that's a good thing. With the bright switch ON and gain near max, it sounds AND behaves very much like a 18 watt Marshall or old-school plexi, just quieter.

The sensitivity of your speakers has far more to do with perceived volume and tone than this amp does. Since I am a speaker-geek, I tried it with a wide variety of speakers including 8", 10", 12" and even 15" bass speakers. My extensive speaker collection includes classic Celestions, Eminence, B&C, selenium, peavey, Faital, Dayton Pro and others. The amp drives all of them well and you can actually hear the tone of your speaker and cabs. That indicates the AMP is neutral and cooperates with gear you already have. Just be sure to have the appropriate CABLE so you can connect this amp to your cabs.

At moderate gain, It has a tube-like saturation and "sponginess" that feels very much like a modified tweed class A amp.

With the gain at 12 o'clock and single-coil pickups, bright switch engaged, it is very clean and "strat-blues" sounding.

With the gain above 12 and hot humbuckers, bright switch off, it can go from clean jazzy tones to smooth distorted leads without shrillness.

The input stage is designed to handle a WIDE range of input voltages, so it is very "pedal friendly." I tested it with aCarl Martin Plexi-Drive, a Sansamp GT2, a ZOOM multi effects, a classic tube screamer and a Boss overdrive. All those worked admirably well and the amp allowed their unique characters to shine through. Depending on the preamp or pedals you use in front of it, you must adapt the volume (gain) to match the characteristics of that particular pedal.

Bench-tested Signal-to-noise is better than most guitar amps at <91 dB. Obviously, when the bright switch is engaged, you hear more hiss since that switch is a simple treble-cut. Judging by the capacitor value and sound, I'd guess that switch cuts treble above 7 to 10 kHz. When ON, the bright switch sounds like a presence control of real tube amps. In noisy nightclubs, you need the extra high-end to get articulation above chattering patrons. But you won't notice that hiss above the din. In quiet environments, you might want the bright switch off, especially if you have sensitive ears or dislike clean articulation in favor of muddy grease to disguise less than perfect technique.

I am surprised no other reviewer so far has mentioned what a great amp this is for blues harmonica! Because of its input range, a classic bullet mic sounds incredible through these amps! Think of Sugar Blue and the harp solo on Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks." I piped this through two 8-inch speakers in a closed cab using the Shure Green Bullet, gain on max, bright switch OFF. Almost made me want to start a blues band! ( except as a Jazz player, I'm already poor enough.)

Kudos to EHX for honest power ratings and rugged design.

My only criticism would be the large heavy wall-wart power supply, but that is a necessary compromise to skirt UL certification hassles and keep cost low.

Thanks to Brian Lemert for letting me try both mini amps before selecting this one. He tolerates my technical questions and persnickety tone snobbishness.

As a spare amp for emergencies that fits in your glove compartment, I can find no better amp or value. For a guy who likes to travel light and already has a nice assortment of pedals, this thing is awesome. I would feel perfectly comfortable using it as my main amp and so far it shows no sign of failure. Highly recommended.

I've been using this with my pedal board > Mag 44 > Open backed Cab 1x12" Celestion Vintage 30 and it sounds great. I'm thinking about getting something like the Tech 21 Fly Rig to use with it and even lighten my load more. Plenty loud enough. My only Con is that the power supply is as big as the pedal and a power switch on the pedal would've also been nice. Otherwise it would've gotten 5 stars.

You really can;t beat this pedal for cheap, small, light bcakup or even main power amp. I run a Tech 21 Chracter pedal into mine as a preamp and a few pedals along with that. I have even used it as my main gigging rig from time to time. Nobody notices I'm not using a tube amp until I tell them. Great security blanket. It can even get you through a gig by itself, but to me it meeds a preamp to give it more amplike "feel".

This thing is so dang handy, I use it in 3 ways... One, as the Stereo Right output from a Boss GT10 using the 4-cable method into a stereo-wired 2x12 cabinet, which saves me from having to carry another bulky amp-head around. In this setup , since the "tone" is coming from my primary Amplifier pre-amp, and the Magnum provides the output power, the sound is really articulate and awesome. The second way, is when I use stomp-boxes, I'll have a chorus pedal split to a Combo Amp, and to the EHX 44 into a 1x12 speaker. In this config, the Magnum yeilds a "direct into the board" tone becasue this is merely a power amp without any tone shaping circutry. This flat tone compliments the combo in sort of a wet-dry setup which is fine for a small stereo rig. The third way is to amplify my Rythym / Drum Machine output for at-home practice. Awesome clean power. I never need to raise the volume past 12 o'clock, and the Bright switch adds the desired high-end crisp.

Very cool amp. Use it with a Helix and it"s awesome.

It's tiny and works as good as any other power amp. Run a preamp and your effects into this and it's just as good as any decent solid state amp.
Plenty loud to gig with . A no brainier as a backup and/or practice amp.

Seems a little pricey....until you actually take it, and use it for a gig! I used mine with my usual pedal board as a front end [ a digitech in this case ], along with an individually sealed box, 8 ohm 10" speaker. Plenty loud, with ample headroom, and the thing sounded great with all presets that I normally use with my old Marshall valvestate power amp. I was quite surprised. The fact that it fits in a pouch of your guitar's case makes it worth every nickle. Just be mindful of the 8-16 ohm load specs. I suspect if there are any difficulties with it they would be due to not having a load attached prior to power up, or an ohm load that is too low. I'm certain this is a chip driven class D amp. I'll probably get another and use these as my normal stereo setup because of their size and weight. Get it under a hundred bucks, and you'll have a real winner!

I bought this guy to replace using a tube head to power guitar cabs on stage for live shows. I am in a full time touring band and I travel to many countries so to cut rental costs etc down I bought this guy to run cabs on stage with my kemper. It has plenty of volume but it unfortunately cannot replace a tube amp for power. Most people's concerns are with head roomph and volume which this little guy has more than enough for, even for a death metal band like mine, but the sound is lacking cause it's solid state. I only gave it 3 stars cause I was hoping it would be able to do what I need live. I will continue to use tube power live as it has a better feel and sound than solid state. But it is a great tool for a practice or someone who isn't worried about solid state versus tube power. I need more time to tweak things with it but unfortunately I live in an apartment and cannot make that kind of noise, nor do I have room for cabs in there. But this pedal delivers on what is says. Great product.

I bought this poweramp pedal to run some preamp pedals (Grindstein and Tight Metal Pro II) and I find it very lack luster. It sounds flat and my preamps lose a lot of character. The normal and bright switch dont provide enough customization to really find a sweet spot with your cab or room.

Another thing I dont like is the volume knob. You go from having little to no volume to all of a sudden being incredibly loud. I may look at the Orange Pedal Baby or Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 as replacements as they have more eq functions.

If I could give this a negative 5 stars I would. Bought this on reviews and recommendation to run my Friedman IR-X into my cab when I'm not running DAW or FOH. No proper AC grounding and all I get
Is a machine gun sound. Had Dave Friedman actually help me diagnose properly. He stated the Duncan works with the Friedman. I tried to save some money and buy this and it was a waste of time and money. Returning and spending the money on the Duncan 170watt.

I have a few pre-amp pedals such as a JCM800 clone, Victory, AMT, ENGL etc ... I had an idea that in a pinch I could have everything on the pedalboard. I had everything on the board but was running into a 60 Watt Tube Power Amp. I bought this to throw on the pedalboard for convenience and transportability but it sounds absolutely horrific. The sound is distorted and washed out. Now I do have a intentionally distorted sound, the distortion from the Magnum is different. It is a fizzy washed out sound. I tried everything to resolve including just the preamp into the power amp and out to the cabinet, sounded awful in every setup. Tried my ADA MP1, Marshall JMP1, Peavey Tubefex, Vooduvalve, ADA MP2, and ENGL E530 with high quality cables and it just sounds horrible at any volume. It can get very loud, but sounds terrible