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Theory of Operation – Technical description and Applications
[Description]
The final link in the emulation of the “tonewheel” sound, the AMA
is a Leslie™ amp in miniature.
Ever since the first amplifier was created Engineers have sought to make it
perfect. IN the case of vacuum tube designs it was always a trade off. Produce
maximum power from a vacuum tube and you loose sound quality. Keep the sound quality high, and you can’t produce much power. The original 122 and 147 designs took the middle way – a reasonable amount of power with a reasonable amount of fidelity.
Why is this important? Because of this design decision and the way these
tone cabinets were used by performers, the unique tones of the hard driven and over driven Hammond™ were born.
With our preamps, the tonal warmth of vintage organ was resurrected for the
clonewheel keyboard, now with the AMA the subtle hint of distortion of a hard driven Leslie™ and the over the top grudge of a fully over driven one are once again available.
The AMA has done for Solid State rotary cabinets what our preamp did for the digital clonewheel keyboard. It authenticated the sound; making new sound like old though the careful use of vintage vacuum tube technology!
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5 Responses to “122AMA (Absolute Modeling Amplifier) Preamp”
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May 3rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I let some of Speakeasy’s creations pass me by the last few years and went with what I was playing “from the factory.” But Steve Hayes really hit a home run with the new AMA Absolute Amp Modeler! I got the complete unit, a 122/AMA, both SE preamp and modeling power amp stage in a 2U shallow rackspace size. I’m amazed at the sound with my Electro, both ‘dry’ with no rotary effect for jazz, and with the NE2′s Rotary effect on. The AMA’s not like an effect at all, much more than that. It adds its sound after the Speakeasy tube preamp, with a 10 watt tube power amplifier having similar characteristics to a full-size Leslie power amp – thus the “modeling” term – like a mini-Leslie amp to my ears.
The AMA does get hot in “cranked up” use – I have been known to play loud at times – so I put mine in a 3 space rackmount with a little breathing room for the top and bottom.
There’s a line level connector output on the back along with a speaker output for an 8 ohm cabinet. The speaker output is enough for a small cabinet and sounds fine, loud enough for playing at home and low-volume practice. This has me thinking of miking a small hi-fi cab onstage or in my home studio. And I think the line out could go into a DI box. Speakeasy’s AMA does seem to come with some great and extra-useful potential applications.
All the controls are on the front: Input Volume, Treble, Bass for the preamp side, and Power Amplifier with Line Out Volume for the AMA amplifier side. The apparently simple EQ controls really work well in this configuration. Turn up the Treble and it morphs right into the mix. Adding Treble almost seems to make the top octave “fatter” rather than “shrieky.” Turn up the Bass and the bottom comes right up, smooth and fat instead of uncomfortably loud. Neither EQ control seems to emphasize certain frequencies at a loss to others.
For organists playing through solid state amplifiers, powered cabinets, rotary solid state cabinets: One of these 122/AMA modelers with your clonewheel organ will be IMO as close as you can get to investing in a real tube vintage Leslie – weighs a lot less too! I can’t say enough good things about this piece of gear. BTW, you might want to get two. I haven’t opened the second box yet!
November 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Spent last week in the studio owned and run by a pretty well known producer.
Unfortunately (and surprisingly) – the Hammond/Leslie at this studio is an M100 – into a preamp pedal, into a solid state Leslie 865 (I think).
I have actually recorded there before, and it sounds pretty good, but I brought my Speakeasy AMA to insert between the Organ and the Leslie.
It was indeed a game changer. BUT….there was an electrical hum coming from the Leslie, with or without the Speakeasy inserted, that rendered it unusable.
I did have my Muse Receptor and Nord Stage with me to do some overdubs we were planning, so I set up Nord Stage->AMA->VB3 Leslie on Receptor (with the drive off).
I had done something similar before with my XK-3, so I knew it would be OK, but once again this combo blew us away. I was able to sit in the control room, with the Producer asking for more or less grind and distortion, and was able to dial the desired tone right in. You miss absolutely NOTHING from a 122 in terms of tone. It is not LIKE a 122 amp, it IS a 122 amp.
I have no affiliation w/ Speakeasy, but I feel compelled to rave about this box. This is the single biggest step towards clonewheel happiness that I have found. Unbelievable – or I guess I should say, extremely believable…
February 21st, 2010 at 1:11 am
Hi Guys,
I believe I may be sold on your preamp but need help on the best set up. I play an electro 2(Soon to be 3) and can split the organ and piano outputs. They run in mono with the piano side going to my amp and the organ side going to my Motion Sound rig. Is the only way to get the best of both worlds to buy the rhodes preamp for the pianos and the AMA-122 for the organ? This sure would be pricey. Do you need the amp side of the AMA or could I use the mono-mono preamp I saw using one channel for each? Are they completely seperated? This way I would be forced to use the tremolo on the Nord but, Oh well. Also, how does the AMA-122 sound straight to a PA using the leslie sim? I hate to ask this but need to know. Sorry for so many questions but I want to do this right the first time.
Thank you,
E.J.
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Simply put the 122AMA is meant as a TOTAL model of a vintage tube Leslie and back end of an AO-28 preamp (used in the B3/C3) so if you want the total vintage sound including overdrive, that’s what you want.
If you want a little warmth and grit, then the Vintage Tube Preamp is what you want.
The Suitcase Rackmount Preamp, is a combo of the old Pro-EQ preamp (crystal, bell like Rhodes tone) and a tube output to “warm it up”
For you, the ultimate would be a Suitcase Rackmount Preamp and a 122 AMA – BUT be aware that the Suitcase Rackmount preamp NEEDS stereo speakers for the vibrato to work (just like the Rhodes Suitcase did)
We’ve had several customers use on-board simulators with the 122AMA and all of them have been pleased with the results.
May 1st, 2010 at 3:29 am
Hi!
I bought an AMA in Dec’09. I have a 1959 Hammond RT-3 chop and a Leslie 3300. The Leslie is as powerful as they come, and very configurable in terms of speed settings and EQ – but it doesn’t have the amp tone my 145 had. With the AMA, I don’t miss anything in tone or dynamics, it sounds and responds just like my old Leslie amp did, but now with the added headroom of the 3300. The AMA took my setup from great sounding to glorious Hammond extravaganza!
I also have your vintage tube preamp (A0-28) which really adds the extra warmth and bite to the tone of my XK3c, and a Stereo Tremolo for my 1971 Fender Rhodes. I just wanted to say thanks a lot for making such good sounding products, I’m glad to have all these live and in the studio. Top quality sound and craftsmanship and no effort spared to get the best possible sound!
Cheers!
Jonas