PRS Archon 50 50-watt Tube Head Reviews
Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, the second version of PRS's coveted Archon 50 tube amplifier delivers the full spectrum of saturated distortion that today's modern metal guitarists crave. Its 50-watt design conjures unabated sonic fury at bedroom and headroom levels, with master volumes on each channel to find the perfect level without affecting your tone. To deliver the goods without loading the user down with bells and whistles, the Archon 50 sports simple-to-use 3-band EQs and bright switches for each channel, with global presence and control knobs for nailing whatever sound you seek. This ultra-powerful amp also features back-panel inputs for 4-, 8-, and 16-ohm cabinets, so you can rest assured that whatever rig you're playing through will sound its absolute best. Whether you're chiming or chugging, the PRS Archon 50 will take you to your final destination with superb tone!
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Highest Rated Reviews
A Unique Beast
This amp is like a recto, a 5150, and a Twin Reverb all rolled into one. The tubes really are a perfect mix of 6l6 and el34. Awesome stuff! Btw, the noise from the fx loop (all Archons and the MT15 suffer from this) can be easily remedied by swapping out the fx loop tube with a 12au7. It's just a lower gain tube that removes unwanted hiss, and totally solves the issue!
Overall, this is an amazing amp for an unbeatable price.
Archon 50
I went through several amps on my search for the tone I was looking. I wanted something that had some clarity that wouldn't muffle the sound under high gain. I found it in this amp! No matter the open chord I play I am able to have higher gain and still hear every string ring out. The clean channel also sounds amazing and when you turn on the bright switch it adds a whole other dynamic. If you are looking for something that is versatile for any style of music I would highly recommend this amp (I paired it with a PRS cab that has a celestial Vintage 30 in it).
Outstanding Amp
The new Archon 50 amp has an incredible tone. The tone is a bit on the darker side, but luckily there are bright switches to help with that. I was able to dial in a tone that I liked rather quickly on both the overdrive and clean channels. There is also plenty of gain on tap. I play classic rock/80's hair metal and I've only have the gain turned up to 11:00. This amp can cover a wide verity of tones. The clean sounds so good you could play jazz on it.
PRS ARCHON 50
Might be bit too powerful for home use but who cares. The lead channel is what sonic dreams are made of.
Marshall Meets Diezel
I've had mine for five months, and finally feel like I'm playing the amp, as opposed to through it. At the risk of repeating a cliché, this amp is as versatile as they come. Sparkling "high-fidelity" cleans, gnarly, growling and harmonic distortion, and everywhere in between. The simple control layout is responsive, but the amp stays friendly, i.e. any tone you find can be the right one. All genres of rock / metal are equally served.
While the amp itself isn't finicky, its interaction with your rig can be. When I first bought it, it fit a need and I was happy, but not blown away. I also had a brand new guitar with Fishman Moderns in it. Over time and after trying some other guitars, I grew to realize it was the pickups and not the amp that had me missing that certain something. I put in some Fishman Classics, and I'm in heaven. High output pups don't always pair well with a high output preamp. Lesson learned.
The same can be said for pedals, even noise gates. It takes all pedals generally well, but it's a bit of a mix and match process until you land on the on the perfect combo. I happen to think that process, in and of itself, is fun, but it's not cheap. Luckily, for what you get, the amp is (comparatively speaking).
The distortion is a throaty, mid-focused harmonic tone a-la Marshall, but with a little more grind. I'd liken it to somewhere between a Marshall and a Diezel, or a high-gain Orange without as much fuzz. The presence and depth controls really are as advertised. With them, it can go from bolted down tight to a deliciously hot mess.
The real tone was hiding from me for a long while before I paired it right, but I now have a great feel for the amp's voicing, and I love it. It's the perfect template to craft a tone that is truly unique, but not just for the sake of individuality. It sounds great; musical, powerful, and all mine.
If plugging into a computer just doesn't do it for you, this can.
Sounds good, but...
Bought an open box version of this. Sound was awesome both clean and high gain, plus in between. The two issues I had were that during a 2 hour rehersal, the top back panel was hot, I mean...VERY hot even for a tube amp that's being driven. The next day I powered it on and got NO sound at all. Never figured out why, returned it. Such a shame.
Mine was very noisy!
I loved the sound of the ARCHON. I plugged it in to many different power sources only to find the same result. This noise from this thing was surprising me because it just didn't make sense that an amp this good would have noise issues especially with the PRS badge. I was a little disappointed until I plugged in the effects loop which has more noise than any effects loop I've ever tried to use!! So sad on such a killer amp. Sorry Paul sadly I had to pass.
