Electra Dyne or Mark V

[kramerxxx]

If you could trade for one amp or the other, at no cost to you, which would you choose?

 

[primal]

Understand you are in the Electradyne forum. So expect bias responses as I am sure you will get if you go in the Mark V forum.

And while there is a few hundred dollar difference, most of us who bought the ED could have gotten the Mark V instead.

For me, already owning a Mark IV, it was an easy choice. The Mark IV covers everything I want from a Mark series tone. When I tried the Mark V, on channels 1 and 2 I was like, wow this amps kicks, channel 3 I just kept tweaking never finding what I was looking for.

When I plugged into the ED, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor 5 seconds into my first chord strum (ok, maybe a bit of an exageration )

But in the end these two amps are polar opposites and may in a lot of ways appeal to different style musicians.

 

[teletalkin]

ED

 

[Laskyman]

The ED is my 4th mesa, and the amp that I *knew* would be coming home after 10 minutes of plugging in. I could have bought any other mesa- I chose to buy the ED. I personally don't think the V is in the same sport as the Dyne, but for others, the Mark series is in their DNA. Truth be told, neither amp can do what the other does- but I want what the ED does. Oh yeah, and an ED combo will make the V combo sound small and tinny when played side by side in a demo. I was blown away by this when I was first really thinking about buying- and so were the employees in the store.

 

[Bullseye]

For me …it’s the Dyne.

I was originally going to get the Mark V but after hearing all the problems the guys in the V forum were having it turned me off…..secondly there are too many knobs…I know there are great sounds in the V but I don’t want to tweak forever to find them….I want to Play and not tweak….thirdly I A/B them and for my musical tastes the Dyne was more of my flavor anyway; to each is own I guess. I started out GASing for the V something fierce only to find out the Dyne is the AMP I have been searching for over the last 25 years. 8)

Cheers
Bill

 

[gplex]

Kinda like asking whats better a Gibson or a Fender, a Marshall or a Vox. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Only had the ED for 12 hours, I'm letting me fingers rest a little. I have both. I like both. Neither is better, just different. But both are better than most.

 

[theweatherman]

i just had a painful episode of GAS for a mark V. so i went out and picked one up. ive never played on a mark series amp. what a GREAT amp. for heavier music styles i love the tone out of it. for classic rock the ed is so good. both are great amps. very different. the mark V is more versatile i think.

 

[JLBoogie]

I just played both yesterday. Probably going for the Mark V but really want both since they are very different amps and should not be compared in a poll like this. They both are very good, price is always is a factor in most peoples decision making. The ED is a very warm sounding amp to me and would be fantastic for blues!

 

[J.J]

I have an express combo which I love, but the ED is a step up for me every where. Now I really want an ED !

 

[Scary]

Hay guys! What do you like better? Apples or Oranges!

 

[gplex]

I'll take a Orange RV50 over an apple anyday :lol:

 

[lucidology]

ED is a great sounding amp ... but breaks up way too early in the clean channel for my purposes..
So there was no question that the Mark V was the better choice for the music I make ..

(even the 5:50 Express' 50 watt clean channel has more headroom then the ED's)

 

[Bullseye]

ED is a great sounding amp ... but breaks up way too early in the clean channel for my purposes..

WHAT?....The ED has Headroom for days...even in the 45watt mode..dial the volume back and master up...I can get crystal cleans on mine at noon or 1 o-clock on the master( which is way louder than I would ever need it to be for a gig anywhere indoors) and for an outdoor show I would use a pa system anyway for better sound dispersal so I have no worries about having enough headroom there either…….How loud are you playing that your getting break up?

 

[formisano]

ED is a great sounding amp ... but breaks up way too early in the clean channel for my purposes..

WHAT?....The ED has Headroom for days...even in the 45watt mode..dial the volume back and master up...I can get crystal cleans on mine at noon or 1 o-clock on the master( which is way louder than I would ever need it to be for a gig anywhere indoors) and for an outdoor show I would use a pa system anyway for better sound dispersal so I have no worries about having enough headroom there either…….How loud are you playing that your getting break up?

Yeah, lucidology might not have utilized the "clean level" control on the back of the amp. Channel 1 on the ElectraDyne has more headroom than just about any amp I've ever used, and that is in 45-watt mode. Need even more headroom than that? Just flip it to 90-watts and headroom increases even more.

 

[Laskyman]

Yeah- something not quite right- this amp is by far the loudest amp I have ever played, and #2 is closer to #3 than #1.....

 

[skunizzi]

If you remember the "KISS" theory as in "Keep it simple stupid" you will see that the Electra Dyne is the only amp you really need. Great dirty channel, very nice cleans, a above average reverb unit in one simple compact unit. What else can you ask for?

Put me down for an Elaca Dyne!

 

[formisano]

If you remember the "KISS" theory as in "Keep it simple stupid" you will see that the Electra Dyne is the only amp you really need. Great dirty channel, very nice cleans, a above average reverb unit in one simple compact unit. What else can you ask for?

EXACTLY!

****, I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[primal]

ED is a great sounding amp ... but breaks up way too early in the clean channel for my purposes..
So there was no question that the Mark V was the better choice for the music I make ..

(even the 5:50 Express' 50 watt clean channel has more headroom then the ED's)

I think we may need to compare settings because Even with an attenuator, I really have to push it hard to get the cleans to break up.

Unless of course I have cranked the gain (volume), but in that case it's not power amp distortion and is uneffected by the volume.

It may just be that you like the amp setup with so much gain on the dirty channel that when you do switch to clean there is breakup.

I usually keep the gain (volume) at about 2:00, and set the gain trim to clean if I am looking for cleans with no breakup.

 

[lucidology]

Interesting ... maybe it's the sound of the cleans on the ED that don't suit my ear ...
Very different IMO then the one's on my Lonestar Classic & Mark V...

 

[MBJunkie]

I own both, and I love both! Both amps offer great clean, low gain/crunch and hi gain sounds which are seamlessly footswitchable. The ED offers great sounds in each mode, but there are some definite compromises between modes for gigging by the nature of the intentional "simplicity" of this amp. That being said, I can easily set up the ED to cover the essential clean, crunch and high gain sounds that I need for live performances without much sacrifice.

That being said, my preference is definitely the MKV because with this amp each channel has 3 modes (most of which I love), each channel has dedicated tone and presence controls, power mode selections, Graphic EQ choises, reverb mix levels, etc....and all necessary functions are footswitchable. The MkV also includes the very useful footswitchable solo boost feature which was not available with the previous Mark amplifiers.

I know this is the ED forum, and don't get me wrong....The ED is an excellent amplifier and for many may be exactly what they want / need. However, for me the MKV definitely rules. I am not just comparing it to the ED, The MKV is the best amp for me period!