Does the RT2/50 sound any good quiet?

Hi all,

I'm in the market for some new guitar gear and I'm stuck on whether to get a randall RM4/ RT2/50 combo or a couple of low wattage valve amps for recording at home.

Volume is an issue.

Does the RT2/50 sound good when it's not cranked or do you need to push it some to get it firing.

The alternative would be something like a zvex nano head and Fender pro junior for recording at low volumes (although i just tried the fender and it's bloody loud when you turn it up to the point of sounding good)

Cheers,

Rick

I just sold a Zvex Nano...its loud too...and, IMO doesnt sound that good. I'm not in any way an expert in recording ,but maybe if I relay some of a conversation that I had recently it might be helpful for you. I spoke with a record producer in LA about a month ago when I was trying to work out a deal to buy an old Marshall Plexi...really nice guy, long conversations via telephone and we spoke about quite a few other things than just the details about the amp purchase. One of the subjects that came up was recording guitar tones. He told me that nearly everyone in the recording industry uses an attenuator of some kind...his favorite is the THD Hotplate. He admitted that it colors the sound of the amp, but he actually feels that most amps sound better with it than without...in other words, that it colors the sound in a good way. When I record, I use a DI from my cab...but if you want to mic the cab to get your sound, you might try some attenuators...I have the THD and the Weber Mass...they dont sound good at bedroom levels, but at resonable levels (loud, but not insane) they sound awesome, IMO.

I play at bedroom volumes all the time with it and it sounds fine. I mean there's nothing like moving air, but I still enjoy it.

You could throw in a pair of 6V6's and maybe some EL84's with Yellow jackets to drop the wattage to under 20 watts a side.

I think of all the amps I've played over the years (30+) the Egnater design is top notch at sounding good with the master down at a reasonable level. At slightly above bedroom it will still record with a good amount of character. I think you will get a good sound from MTS series for recording.

That said, I have always wanted to plug my M4 into an Epiphone Valve Jr though. I think that would be cool. There is also the Randall RM20. Twenty watts, two EL 84's.

Thanks guys,
I fired up my old live rig yesterday for a jam with some mates. I think I'm totally over it. It's an ADA MP-1 into a Carver PM-300 power amp into a Marshall quad.
Starting to think that if I go with a RM-4 and RT2/50, I could always get the RM20 later and use the modules from my loud rig.

Hi Rick,

I agree with what 3 Mile Stone said aboud character and sound quality.

As a owner of a RM100 loaded with JJ's E34l's driving a MTS412 straight cab with Celestion V30's i can tell you that driving the RT@/50 with it's master volume set low and preamp volume set high would work since i can for myself, get nice tones and good sustain (even going into feedback) with this setting. It's a matter of finding the proper balance between module/power amp volume and room loudness.