Quilter SuperBlock US volume - a surprise

[Gitterbug]

I'm currently testing Jensen's new Tornado Special Edition 12", 100W Neo speaker expressly voiced for rock'n'roll. To judge a speaker primarily by how it handles distortion is like judging a camera lens by its out-of-focus (Bokeh) performance only. The good news is, the Tornado SE produces extremely pleasant cleans. I have yet to A/B it against a Tornado Classic, but my feeling is that something good has happened at both ends of the frequency range.

As part of the testing, I today tried to eke out the maximum volume from the Tornado SE lodged in a Toob 12S cabin, using four different amps. My noise meter is not of lab quality, but a parallel online meter through my cellphone gave almost identical readings, so I think at least the pecking order is correct. The amps: Quilter SuperBlock US, R-E Luna 200R, TC Electronic BAM200 and DV Mark Micro 50M. The loudest, to my surprise, was the SuperBlock US with 117-118 dB. This with the '57 Tweed setting, all EQ knobs at noon, Volume at maximum, Gain 3 o'clock, zero Reverb and Limiter. The Luna 200R was about 1 dB behind, while the DV Mark and BAM200 remained in the 113-114 dB ballpark, with the DV Mark slightly ahead. Enough oomph from all for the amp-on-stage feeling.

Speaking of that, my son, a rock guitarist, has moved over to the modeling camp with his Kemper profiler Stage. His stage monitor is a Toob 10S, now loaded with Jensen 12D quasi-FRFR speaker, powered by a BAM200 amp. We feel that the Tornado SE in this neutral and articulate enclosure is a good, guitar-tasting compromise for those switching back and forth between modeling and ordinary rigs. On our shopping list: Quilter Tone Block 202.

Disclaimer: 825 Toobs and Metros (soon 400 of the latter) made by Yours Truly. The march goes on.

[Ukena]

I find the Warwick Gnome i has a good deal more volume than I remember my SBUK getting out of my TOOB Metro.

I pair the Gnome with Ras' Brute EQ pedal and a T-Rex Creamer Reverb, and I like the sound. The SBUK will have to be repaired, as the speaker-out port has a problem.

[Gitterbug]

The SBUK is a tad louder than SBUS. My Gnome is on loan, so no comparable readings, but it's distinctly louder than the BAM200.

EDIT: Careful with the volumes! Your Metro's speaker is rated for 20W RMS (25W according to my speaker supplier), a fair match with the SBUK but a risky pairing with the Gnome.

[Gitterbug]

What I failed to point out in my first post, in order to keep it reasonably short, is that amps differ in how adding gain/distortion affects the SPL. We all think that overdrive is louder than clean, but this varies from one amp to the other. With the DV Mark, pushing the drive channel (= chip) on instantly makes the speak howl with feedback, but the actual SPL declines a bit. BAM200 stays clean all the way, so the gain is there to adjust to different bass PU's. The SBUS stays almost clean until gain at noon, whereafter volume does not change a lot, if at all. Interestingly, I get the same SPL readings picking a single string hard or whacking all six.