Low Watt Tube Amps

[m-Kresol]

are you looking for something to build yourself or are you looking for a commercial amp?
there are lots of diy kits out there, which is the way to start here. amps require a different amount of preparation for the parts, so good to have all the right things in a kit. I can recommend the low watt (4-5W) projects of tubetown.net in Germany. I built the Emma and am really happy with it. don't be fooled, still way louder than living-room level if turned up.
for commercial, you could always hit up second hand site and you might get a good score there without even going to low watts unless you specifically look for those.

[jtn191]

^yeah Tubetown stuff looks cool

[culturejam]

I think OP said he didn't have the time right now to build from a kit. So I think he's looking for a commercial amp that is cheap and can be modded.

I'd say go for one of the VHTs. Easy to mod, relatively cheap (especially used).

[junkemail86]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Yea, I'm looking commercial as I don't think I'll be able to find time to build an amp any time soon.
The VHT and Egnater are tempting.  The Mesa Mini Rectifier looks awesome, but don't know if I want to spend that kind of money on a spare amp.  Anybody have any experience with the Wang/Biyang VT1H?

[m-Kresol]

you could also go for the Hotone Nano Legacy. They are solid state, but the demos sound really good and they sure are cheap.

[jtn191]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Yea, I'm looking commercial as I don't think I'll be able to find time to build an amp any time soon.
The VHT and Egnater are tempting.  The Mesa Mini Rectifier looks awesome, but don't know if I want to spend that kind of money on a spare amp.  Anybody have any experience with the Wang/Biyang VT1H?

My video review:
https://youtu.be/T0alXmC5tEU

I stand by everything there. I learned about it from FSB and InTheBlues. (I still want a JTM1 sometime...) If it had more tone controls, bright switches, Blackstar's ISF that'd be awesome. But it doesn't and it's totally useable...a perk for those who want to keep it simple.

I was in a situation at a church where I was told it was too loud! Haha

[chuckbuick]

The Carvin Vintage 16 could fit the bill.  Switches between 16 or 5 watts.  And not much more than I paid for my Blackheart Handsome Devil, which is a great little amp, too (15/7w).  I've added the Bitmo Dapper Devil and Reverb mods to the Handsome Devil.  Adds nice flexibility to it.
http://carvinaudio.com/products/vt16

I've never used the Vintage 16 but I have a Carvin V3M that I like a lot.  I've had it for about 5 trouble-free years.

[jtn191]

Nice, and spring reverb!

[AntKnee]

Interesting stuff. I'm working through small tube amp heads now, too. Tried the Valve Junior, don't like it at all, don't feel like modding it. I'm using an AC4TV now, much better than the Junior, but not what I want. I use pedals for my tones, and just want a clean amp head with decent EQ that I can set and forget.

[GermanCdn]

Depends on your price point I guess.  I've got 10 lower wattage heads, here's a quick summary from cheapest to most expensive

Epi Valve Jr - already covered, mod away
Blackheart Lil Devil - insanely loud for 7/15 W amp, retube is a must, though stock tubes are fuzzy good in their own way
Egnater Tweaker - already covered, good little amp, nice features, cleaner settings better than dirty
Jet City JA20 - Smoking dirty/dirtier amp, only problem is there is some signal bleed on the lower gain channel from the higher one
Traynor Darkhorse - less bells and whistles than the Tweaker, but a better sounding amp.  Wish it had an effects loop
Marshall DSL15 - Nails the Marshall Tone, who'd have thought?
Marshall JVM-1 - One trick pony, but it does that one trick really well.
Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 - hands down the best value for money.  Great clean channel, takes pedals like a champ, dirty channel starts where the clean leaves off, super switching option, FX loop, integrated DI
Mesa Boogie TA-15 - Amazing amp.  All modes sound "right".  Insane power management abilities.  Only issues I have with it are that it doesn't have reverb/FX loop, and that the Vox channel is on the same side as the Marshall/Mesa channel.
VVT Lindy Fralin 2 head - lush Fender-y goodness at ear and back friendly levels.

The TA-15 would be my choice if money wasn't an issue, the Tubemeister in the mid price range, and the Darkhorse in the lower (you can usually find them used for cheap).

Peavey's got some nice micro heads out now as well, as CJ has already described in a separate post.

[junkemail86]

All good suggestions, thanks everybody.
I ended up ordering a Blackstar HT5H in the end, thought it would complement my other amps the best.  Liked the idea of the Jet City JCA20 but I have a couple of Marshalls.  I thought the Egnater Tweaker, VHT Special 6, and Carvin VT16 would cover similar territory to my Vox AC15.  Didn't like the digital modeling aspect (for no good reason, just principle) of the Fender Superchamp X2.  I recently also bought an Orange Micro Terror.  I think the mini amp addiction is replacing my pedal addiction.  So much GAS so little time

[pickdropper]

Depends on your price point I guess.  I've got 10 lower wattage heads, here's a quick summary from cheapest to most expensive

Epi Valve Jr - already covered, mod away
Blackheart Lil Devil - insanely loud for 7/15 W amp, retube is a must, though stock tubes are fuzzy good in their own way
Egnater Tweaker - already covered, good little amp, nice features, cleaner settings better than dirty
Jet City JA20 - Smoking dirty/dirtier amp, only problem is there is some signal bleed on the lower gain channel from the higher one
Traynor Darkhorse - less bells and whistles than the Tweaker, but a better sounding amp.  Wish it had an effects loop
Marshall DSL15 - Nails the Marshall Tone, who'd have thought?
Marshall JVM-1 - One trick pony, but it does that one trick really well.
Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 - hands down the best value for money.  Great clean channel, takes pedals like a champ, dirty channel starts where the clean leaves off, super switching option, FX loop, integrated DI
Mesa Boogie TA-15 - Amazing amp.  All modes sound "right".  Insane power management abilities.  Only issues I have with it are that it doesn't have reverb/FX loop, and that the Vox channel is on the same side as the Marshall/Mesa channel.
VVT Lindy Fralin 2 head - lush Fender-y goodness at ear and back friendly levels.

The TA-15 would be my choice if money wasn't an issue, the Tubemeister in the mid price range, and the Darkhorse in the lower (you can usually find them used for cheap).

Peavey's got some nice micro heads out now as well, as CJ has already described in a separate post.

I've got a TA-15 here on loan from one of the other FFX guys.  It's a great little amp (although I agree with the criticisms about lack of reverb and effects loop).  Since I usually like reverb and sometimes delay, this basically means I don't use the distortion built into the amp.

Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

[culturejam]

Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

The Tweed era of Marshall amps is definitely my favorite.

[pickdropper]

Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

The Tweed era of Marshall amps is definitely my favorite.

Well, seeing as Marshall started with a Fender Bassman, that would make sense.   

[GermanCdn]

Speaking of which, isn't the Marshall setting on the Tweed side?

You are correct sir, brainfart on my behalf.