RandomBass Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Thanks TraceAmp. Naughty Ashdown - their site advertises the CTM15 as 'all tube', with an 'ECC83 driven preamp' and 'Dual EL84 power tubes'. Quite misleading of them, considering their reply to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 [quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1388743495' post='2325407'] Thanks TraceAmp. Naughty Ashdown - their site advertises the CTM15 as 'all tube', with an 'ECC83 driven preamp' and 'Dual EL84 power tubes'. Quite misleading of them, considering their reply to you. [/quote] Ay. A little disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 so does that mean that all the CTM range are valve power only with ss pre or is it just the baby one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBass3901 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I'm fairly certain the the CTM 100 and 300 are all valve... Not sure about the 30, although the LB30 was all valve IIRC and the CTM 30 is just a new face on the LB 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 The LB30 is def all valve and the CTM30 is the same thing in a different box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) Disappointing to hear it's a solid state pre, but it sounds great as it is, it's like a hybrid amp done the right way round! Even though the LB30/CTM30 is all tube, the LB I had a couple of years ago sounded very bright and brittle compared to this, not helped the fact it had no gain control. The 15 is perfect for bedroom/studio use, I would consider getting a CTM100 for rehearsals/gigging in the future. Anyway, I took it into PMT today and couldn't reproduce the crackling issue at all - it had been getting better since day one and has now almost disappeared completely. The noise levels were the same as their shop model, ie pretty quiet but not silent with gain at min and master at max, and getting very noisy with the gain cranked. Bit of a wasted trip in the end, but good to know that mine isn't any noisier than it should be. Might try some replacement EL34s down the line but happy with the stock ones for now. Edited January 3, 2014 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) No big deal if its got a solid state pre. I guess the front end runs clean anyway and the juicy tone comes from the rorked valve power stage. (Tube screamer!!!) Its a sensible choice as I guess all valve pre at high voltage would squeal like a pig being in such a small footprint, and you would need two ECC83 to get the tone stack to do anything. It sounds great, I will be putting an order in for the drophead 15, great for songwriting days! For Info Amps I have CTM300 defo all valve UK LB30 Defo all valve Also have a UK spyder 550 it has a high voltage tube preamp All of the above really neatly well made and sound amazing! Edited January 3, 2014 by dan670844 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 I was this close to buying the CTM100 that was up here for sale over Xmas, probably for the best that I missed the boat as my wife and neighbours are having a hard enough time as it is with the 15W! She doesn't understand that it needs to be loud to sound its best! Going to start looking to join a band again soon though, so I may pick one up at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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