Koch Jupiter JUNIOR 20W

[Marcel_A]

Well, there is a big difference. Today the tube arrived and what a difference to the el84! Koch states that once the volume is after 3, it should break up a little and more if you turn the volume up. With the el84 in it, that didn't really happen. In the end it broke, but the sound got a bit muddy. With the 6V6 it starts breaking up slightly and if you turn on the volume it breaks up more. With the gain boost, it's a really nice gentle overdrive!

[SunRe]

This appears to be the only place on the internet with people having some hands-on experience with Koch amps. I'm looking for a home practice amp. Until now I only played through headphones using an HX Stomp. I'm mostly interested in blues and some jazz/fusion.

I've kind of narrowed it down to either of the Jupiter amps since they seem versatile and because of the solid state power stage they appear easier to tame, volume wise. Reading this thread though, Classic SE6 picked my interest. They're roughly in the same price range and I'm thinking the 2W setting could be manageable in a home environment.

However I never owned a guitar amp so my question is: would I be missing anything in terms of dynamics and feel by going with the Jupiter instead of the SE6? I'm inching towards the Jupiter because it seems to me it has more features, probably is more manageable at low volumes, it has an effects loop that would work great with my HX Stomp, seemingly you can get more tones out of it. But I'm wondering still if I would be missing out on the SE6.

Thank you!

[M.T.Pilot]

I've got the Jupiter 45C. Been using it for a number of years now. Still like it. It has a tube in the front end and one in the power-section of the amp. The clean channel stays clean at ear splitting volume (thanks to the attenuator). But you can get it distorted by upping the gain, or by using the hot-channel. Serial FX loop is very nice. The amp takes pedals upfront very well, too. The onboard reverb is very nice (seems to have a bit of a delay "twangle" in it..?).

I don't think the "hot" channel is all that special. It is kind of similar to the old 'the Guv'nor'-pedal of Marshall. The contour switch is nice, but I always leave it in the upright position (is that the "Fender"-position?). I would have loved to have separate EQ knobs for the hot channel and for the cool channel, because I feel the hot channel needs different EQ settings than the cool channel. But that would have upped the price, obviously.

I do not like the weight of the amp. It is at least some 19kg which has led to me not bothering to bring it to jam sessions on a couple of occasions (and then regretting it when having to play over the PA-system..).

I have used it in a gig-situation, as well, and for normal smaller gigs it is absolutely loud enough. For bigger gigs, you don't need a more powerful amp, because you'd want to mic it anyway. But there is the option to connect it to a speaker cabinet.

OR...use the record out-option. Which does a very good job of mimicking the tube driven power amp sound of the amp. The sound(wo)man will be very happy when you use that - sort of DI - option, as well. In that situation, you can turn the amp towards yourself and use it as a stage monitor. However, if you change the volume on the amp, it obviously will also change the output towards the fronthouse mixing board, so make sure you arrange all that during the sound check, if you plan on using it that way. (You can also unplug the speaker without any risk of damage, should you want to choose to not use the amp as a stage monitor).

Final point: I think the amp could use a tad bit more bass body to it, sound-wise (the physical body is very sturdy and well built). Mind you, that might be due to the guitars that I use.. (a Gibson SG and an Ibanez S470..both not for jazz...).

All in all, I still like to play with the amp. Both alone at home and out with others.