Small "Hifi" amp head recommendations sought!

[Stub Mandrel]

Curve ball alert.

 

If low fan noise and transparency are important what about an Orange Terror?

 

Before you mock me, remember it has a clean switch that gets rid of all that lovely Orange overdrive. 

[Clarky]

50 minutes ago, stevie said:

The amp I actually use is the Trace Elliot TE1200, which is superb - and does the 3D/projection thing very well. I know @Clarky has a Monza and a TE1200. Maybe he'll chime in if he sees this. The Trace is a bit pricey, unfortunately, and probably not as portable as the OP is looking for.

I would concur the TE-1200 and Monza sound fabulous, although I think of the Trace as a small/mid sized head (its not a micro/mini in any sense). The Trace is really quite clean (doesn't overdrive like a valve or hybrid head) but sounds superb. It is not, as noted above, a cheap head and there are many other alternatives with more Watts for your pennies. Disclosure: I have only used at home so far, so haven't tested volume capabilities with a loud band (first rehearsal in a week or so's time)

[Linus27]

@andyhaines Tested my Gnome tonight and I can confirm that the fan is silent .... sort off. The fan noise is silent, no wooshy noise etc. The only thing you can hear is the sound of a component moving but it's so minimal that you can only hear it if you put your ear right next to the amp. At any other time it is silent and like I say, no fan noise in the traditional sense.

[Linus27]

Oops, double post.

Edited 13 hours ago by Linus27

[BassAdder60]

I have the MarkBass LM IV and with the newer 58R series lightweight cabs it sounds very transparent 

 

Older MarkBass cabs sounded woolly to me or dark perhaps in tone. 
 

I’ve had EICH T900 and TE1200 and the LM IV is as good in tone and can go warm / vintage with the old school control 

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

I have the MarkBass LM IV and with the newer 58R series lightweight cabs it sounds very transparent 

 

Older MarkBass cabs sounded woolly to me or dark perhaps in tone. 
 

I’ve had EICH T900 and TE1200 and the LM IV is as good in tone and can go warm / vintage with the old school control 

 

I actually run my LM IV with all the dials at 12 and the two filters turned off and it gives me a really nice clean tone. Only occasionally depending on the room will I drop a bit of bass and low mid if I have to.

[andyhaines]

Thanks again for all the responses - it's invaluable hearing everyone's real-world experiences to balance up against the usual marketing nonsense and slappy online demos! Most helpful to me so far has been people's different takes on "hifi" and "transparent" which has certainly made me re-frame what these things actually mean to me. @Phil Starr - good to hear from you (and thanks again for the Monza recommendation!): Your take on "hifi" is I think pretty close to my own - not swamped by bass with a light and airy top end, so in that sense it could be that I'm not actually looking for "flat". In this sense the Monza is ideal as it is just that - flat, so whatever I sculpt on the preamp/pedals/amp is what it will produce. I would therefore like to risk knocking the discussion off track by redefining what I think I need from the amp physically and sonically, bearing in mind all of the excellent comments so far:

 

Physically:

-Needs to be small enough to go in my gig bag and sit on my desktop for DI'ing into Cubase or Zoom for recording/teaching

-Really want to avoid fans if I can (but do appreciated the thoughts expressed so far)

-Must have pre/post DI and FX Loop

-Loudness is not critical. It does not need to have huge wattage - my Monza's efficiency has shown how much can be produced with comparatively little input. I don't need to compete with loud drummers or guitarists.

 

Sonically:

-Must have a low noise floor from the preamp and poweramp- this is primarily what I mean by "silent" (rather than fan noise etc). To provide context here: I used the Spectrum Curve tool in Cubase on the DI from the PJB D400, impedance on passive, gain up 100% (so worst case for noise), but with the connected bass turned right down and compared it to the same situation but measuring the DI from my Headway external preamp. The Headway was near as dammit silent - almost nothing on the spectrum curve  above -100db apart from a slight 50hz bump from the mains. The D400 on the other hand had noise ripples going all the way up the frequency spectrum at around -76db.  So anything I did on top of that for EQ, reverb, compression was just going to make that a lot worse.

-Rather than specifying "flat" or "hifi", I think "refined" now best defines what I look for in tone. I don't rock, I don't slap. What I need is a solid warm low bass, well projected upper mids/lower highs with a smooth, airy top end. Most of this I can sculpt with my Source Audio EQ2 but I have to start with a good fundamental tone. Basically I really want to only use the amp's EQ for compensating for room / stage issues. The older PJB kit was a close match but much less so with their newer preamps. The D400 was (I think) the last of that "old" sound, which is why the noise issues were so frustraing.

 

Forgot also to say that health-wise, charging up to Warwick or Camden Town is no longer a practical proposition for me, so I'm fairly restricted to what I can purchase on approval or take a risk on used.

I entirely understand if the collective group throws up their hands in despair at my pickyness - but just wanted to express again how valuable your thoughts have been in getting my own thinking right!

 

[Beedster]

On 31/08/2025 at 15:42, andyhaines said:

Sadly my new PJB D400 is going back. Much as I love the open, clear "hifi" sound, the preamp section is just a bit too noisy for my fussy tastes

 

Might be worth mentioning that I had a similar issue with a PJB Briefcase, sent it back, got a replacement, issue solved (and Phil himself was really helpful). Perhaps worth a try? 

[stevie]

If you could make it to the SW Bash in five weeks' time, there will be lots of heads for you to try.

[stevie]

26 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

Might be worth mentioning that I had a similar issue with a PJB Briefcase, sent it back, got a replacement, issue solved (and Phil himself was really helpful). Perhaps worth a try? 

 

Sounds like a solution. Maybe get the retailer to check it for noise before shipping.

[andyhaines]

Thanks @Beedster, The head’s already gone back - tbh this didn’t feel like a faulty device, I think this particular amp is just a bit on the noisy side (and I’ve since heard from one other previous D400 owner that theirs hissed a bit too). The preamp on my Flightcase combo is certainly quieter and is also rated at 90db SNR whereas the D400 is 85db SNR

[andyhaines]

12 minutes ago, stevie said:

If you could make it to the SW Bash in five weeks' time, there will be lots of heads for you to try.

Sounds promising! Whereabouts and when?

[stevie]

 

[Hellzero]

So, the small amp heads (still available today new) without fans are:

 

Ampeg PF-20T (and can be used without speaker even if full tube): https://www.andertons.co.uk/ampeg-pf-20t-all-tube-20w-bass-head/

Ampeg PF-50T (and can be used without speaker even if full tube): https://www.thomann.co.uk/ampeg_pf_50t_bass_head.htm

Eich Amplification T300: https://www.thomann.co.uk/eich_amplification_t300.htm

Phil Jones BP-800: https://www.thomann.co.uk/phil_jones_bass_amp_head_bp_800.htm

Trickfish Bullhead 0.5K (but hard to source)

Trickfish Bullhead 1K (but hard to source)

 

That's it!

 

You can add the GR Bass One series with their defeatable fan.

 

That said, as you don't need so much power, the Eich Amplification T-300 is a good choice, but remember that it's in reality a 220 Watts into 4 Ohms head.

 

The two Ampegs are excellent sounding, but the form factor is not that convenient for your use.