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Brad_Ames
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So I went to my local Willis Music to try out some box amps and noticed an Amplifi 75W. The one at GC wouldn't connect and it's sounds banks were terrible, so I figured I should give it a second chance and I'm glad I did.

 

Sounds: The amps clean tones were just as good as the Vox and Blackstars I've played, very chimney and full bodied if using humbuckers, and twangy with singles. And after spending 2.5 hours at the store actually showing the staff how it works, I've gained a new appreciation for the effects and distortion. Yes the bass is weak, but I actually prefer that (sound is subjective right?), and the effects are easy to tweak.

 

Functions: as a speaker it's great, as an amp it's absolutely good, as practice tools, it is almost perfect. The song tone match thing works good, I could upload custom tones (search for X japan-X for one I made) and when it couldn't find them, I made some. Saving was easy, and actually switching tones mid song was just fun. USB does nothing yet, the aux in for mp3 works fine, headphones are good as they can be, and the amp is quick to set up and start playing!

 

Construction: Plastic and what seems to be cheeeeeeap cheap wood...not my favorite, but it'll do. The amp looks sleek though, and definitely more modern. Most of the time I was concerned it would fall apart, but it got knocked over once, bumped on the wall (by staff members), and a strat fell against it without more than a little scratch, so in my book that's good enough.

 

Playing: I started with just the defaults, and they were as expected...generic as can be, which is fine. When I started picking music in my library the app did it's absolute best to find tones, even when I picked x Japan it found 1 tone, which is phenomenal to me, so I made another. The overall quality of the sound was interesting, it depends on how you combine certain things. I'm sure with firmware and software updates the sound can be improved, but it seems pretty solid; those tones I wanted took about half an hour of tweaking, but I found them satisfactory and more unique than on say a valvetronix or Blackstar amp. The amp never lost connection, connected to the server just fine, and loaded presets fine. My only complaint is that some people make bad sound patches on occasion.

 

Overall as a bedroom or even small stage amp, this amp is great if you use it for what it is and I think that my initial dissatisfaction was because the one at GC has issues, plus I had no idea what I was doing. After spending 3 hours with it today, and tomorrow, and Friday to help the store show people how to use the amp so they can sell it, I think I will end up replacing my Spider IV with it, it simply to me, sounds better, and the dt25+500x are Very expensive and I think I'll hold off on them while I'm at university.

 

Verdict: is this amp worth $400? Well for what I'm getting and the 2-year warranty the store gives free, plus the fact I own apple devices...yes to me it is, plus it's not a toy for me, but one heck of a multi effects modeling amp. I considered the 150 watt, but I didn't really notice a sound difference on it at all. Even with the weakened bass tones it.is a good amp, because I really didn't like the bass sound on the spider, and I truly see it's potential as a teaching tool, awesome speaker, and practice amp, plus the store has a policy where if during those 2 years I don't like the amp, they will let me trade it for another that is just as much..I'm going to play it more, and if I pick it up ill do an extended review after I set some custom tones onto it!

 

-cheers

Brad

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Verdict: is this amp worth $400? Well for what I'm getting and the 2-year warranty the store gives free, plus the fact I own apple devices...yes to me it is, plus it's not a toy for me, but one heck of a multi effects modeling amp. I considered the 150 watt, but I didn't really notice a sound difference on it at all. Even with the weakened bass tones it.is a good amp, because I really didn't like the bass sound on the spider, and I truly see it's potential as a teaching tool, awesome speaker, and practice amp, plus the store has a policy where if during those 2 years I don't like the amp, they will let me trade it for another that is just as much..I'm going to play it more, and if I pick it up ill do an extended review after I set some custom tones onto it!

 

-cheers

Brad

 

Great write up.  I think you got it right.  It is just as you described and you are the player it was built for.  This is a prefect amp for the guy or gal at college or in an apartment that needs a quality practice amp that the can take out if needed.  The price is not cheap but not over the top.  You get a lot of bang for the buck here and the fact that it can double as your regular stereo is just bonus.  It was never intended to replace the POD/DT/L series so those comparisons are not helpful.  Glad you were able to give it a second go and shared your thoughts...

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Great write up.  I think you got it right.  It is just as you described and you are the player it was built for.  This is a prefect amp for the guy or gal at college or in an apartment that needs a quality practice amp that the can take out if needed.  The price is not cheap but not over the top.  You get a lot of bang for the buck here and the fact that it can double as your regular stereo is just bonus.  It was never intended to replace the POD/DT/L series so those comparisons are not helpful.  Glad you were able to give it a second go and shared your thoughts...

 

I really wanted a DT head, and POD HD500x, but it's just not good for my situation for college and practicality right now.  I found the amp nice and easy to use, and this one in the store actually works without flaws while I was using it...I even got a phone call and the amp stayed connected, The tones only temporarily cut out.  I'm going to play it a few more times before I get it to make sure, plus the really neat part is the store doesn't know how it works they're actually giving me $20 USD off the amp to teach them how to use it, plus financing without a credit check so I can get it!  After I get the thing I will make a new topic with a really in depth (as far as I can get) Review of it.  Now that it works in store, I really can't understand the hate this amp gets other than unrealistic expectations..I got an orange micro terror to sate my tube amp/cab needs anyways.  I can't wait to do the full review of this thing!

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I think some of the hate comes from people looking for the next flagship amp from Line6, which this is not.

What I think is slick, is the concept, all the kids/young adults are on the iDeives, so, at any given time, turn on the AMPLIFi and play. More impulsive opportunities to engage in jamming and making music.

 

Sounds like a great fit for you ATM.

 

The fact that they are giving you a bit $$ is a bit of icing!!

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I think some of the hate comes from people looking for the next flagship amp from Line6, which this is not.

What I think is slick, is the concept, all the kids/young adults are on the iDeives, so, at any given time, turn on the AMPLIFi and play. More impulsive opportunities to engage in jamming and making music.

 

Sounds like a great fit for you ATM.

 

The fact that they are giving you a bit $$ is a bit of icing!!

Oh indeed, and today the store is giving me the opportunity to take one 75 & then a 150w so I can give them a review to help boost poor sales and misguided people. (Ergo the layaway they have means I can switch them out until one is paid off). Friday should be the day I bring my 75 home, that 150 I think only sounds better when it's louder due to the different Celestion in it, but man I can't wait to try it for more than 4 hrs!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update: connection issues rampant and the tone banks get frequently corrupted meaning I have to re safe to hardware. The sound is superb though! The store isn't able to get anymore in at the moment so they have to exchange it for another amp, so they've given me a vox AC4C1-PL. Was a nice amp with a huge plethora of features that everyone needs to try at least once in their life! (Amplifi). I'm sure I'll pick up another one around August if they get more in, it is highly useful and the tone for a SS amp is just great!

 

Sad to see it go, and if the opportunity (anywhere but GC) presents itself again I'd Definitely buy it again. PS anyone interested in X-Japan should check out the tones I made, I'd like some feedback :3

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