NAD - Award Session 5E3-Extra

HAL9000

Only arrived twenty minutes ago so only first impressions for the moment…

It absolutely looks the biz with its tweed covering.

Only knobs are volume, master, and tone. There’s also a ‘fat’ switch (which does exactly what it says and fattens things up nicely), and a ‘Hi / 7W’ switch which brings in the distortion a bit sooner. So far I haven’t managed to get a bad sound out of it (apart from my playing that is). I’d describe its base tone as clean (but not jazz clean) with a fair bit of warmth to it. I’ve got the 22W version which is LOUD! I don’t see many people needing the 45W model.

Everything looks to be solid and well put together.

I know it’s early days (well, minutes actually) but so far I’m impressed.

inewham

Looking forward to hearing more about this. I had an old Rockette for a while and rather liked it so I was wondering about one of these or a Blues baby

DrCornelius

Nice !

I want to hear more as you run it through its paces too if thats ok HAL9000.

Ive recently got my hands on a Sessionette 75 and am very impressed (tbf I am about anything new, thats my problem !)

HAL9000

Well, I’ve now had a three-hour session (no pun intended) with it…

When I said it was loud I hadn’t realised quite how loud. Saying the 5E3-extra is pretty loud is a bit like saying Einstein was half-decent at maths!

The 7W setting doesn’t make things a lot quieter - it’s more about bringing on a saturated sound rather earlier. It can still get blisteringly loud.

Despite being labelled as a 5E3 type amp it will never go the full Neil Young.  Just a nice saturation that never gets too impolite.

Master at 12 (all the knobs go to twelve) keeps things nice and clean. Volume at about 4 or 5 gives a nice, slightly gritty, sound (using the master.to keep things in check).

Tone at about 4 or 5 keeps it warm and mellow. Any more is too bright for my taste. Not that it ever gets ice-picky - I just happen to like a fairly mellow tone.

Responsiveness - I’ve played valve amps with less feel and dynamics. Admittedly most of the valve amps I’ve played have been low to mid price - nothing high end - but I reckon most users wouldn’t ever guess it’s solid-state (until they pick it up and realise just how little it weighs).

Jazzy_Jake

Thanks for the review!

I'm a happy BluesBaby user, but this review is making me consier picking up one of these bad boys! In my mind I am already thinking about getting a custom cab built in the style of the old Gibson GA-50 amps with one 12" and one 8" speaker... Must resist!!

maharg101

Happy NAD @HAL9000 and welcome to the 5E3-Extra club. Which speaker did you go for ?

HAL9000

maharg101 said:

Happy NAD @HAL9000 and welcome to the 5E3-Extra club. Which speaker did you go for ?

The Celestion A-Type. Listening to demos of the A-type vs the V-type (and vs a few others) convinced me that I wouldn’t be happy with anything other than the A-type.

maharg101

Nice I've got a Neo Creamback in mine. They are very classy amps imho !