Tech 21 Power Engine 60

1x12 version
60 Watts
12-inch Celestion Seventy80 speakers
XLR In
XLR Out (The signal is taken from the inputs)
1/4"
Ground lift
EQ Controls
Level Control

Like the previous reviewer said what else could you want?

When playing live I use this with my POD X3 Live, the PE is my monitor and provides fill. The PA provides the front of house volume.

For home use I plug the Floor POD in.

This Amp ticks all the right boxes: -
Does not colour my sound ??? it allows the POD to sound as it should do.
Tone is brilliant, warm and big.
Loud ??? Easily gets above our drummer during rehearsals ??? you would never know that it was only 60 watts.
It???s simple to set up and use ??? perhaps the odd bit of EQ is all that???s required.

Light weight (14 kg) and solid as a rock.

The feel and quality is the best I???ve seen for a while. These are expensive but that is reflected in the materials and build quality. The pots are so smooth ??? no nasty sudden spikes in volume.

The high standard of this amp shines through.

I contacted customer support they replied very quickly.

I have wasted so much money on gear in the last three years; I???ve been through a couple of Marshalls and a rack of FX pedals. Same old story I wish I knew then what I know now ??? but I guess this game can be a bit of a voyage of discovery at times.

Buying the POD changed my world and the Tech 21 Power Engine has put the final piece in the jigsaw. My live sound rig has been transformed and I am very pleased to be where I am currently at.

Tell me three years ago that I would be using a POD and Tech 21 60 watt solid state amp in my rig then I would have laughed all night. How wrong was I about both Line 6, who I thought produced toys for kids, and Tech 21 who I had not even heard of. 60 watts ??? you must be joking right?

Would I go out and buy another ??? you bet ??? that is if I can find one in the UK.

I bought this brand-new (May 2009) from the Tech 21 web site. I have the 2x12 version. Sixty watts, two 12-inch Celestion Seventy80 speakers, 1/4" and XLR in, XLR out with ground lift, active EQ controls and level control. Controls are located in the back, inputs on the under side of the power amp. Run your pre-amp to the 1/4" or XLR in, and go from the XLR out straight to the board, or to another PW60. For what this is, they put in every feature you could possibly need, so it gets a 10.

Note: This amp is NOT meant for you to plug your guitar straight in, you need a pre-amp of some sort (POD, ToneLab, V-Amp, etc.). Plugging your guitar straight in will NOT sound good!

I'm using a PODxt Live and a couple different guitars, both solid bodies with DiMarzio humbuckers. The PODxt has a "combo poweramp" setting that turns off the mic emulation; this is the secret to getting the Power Engine 60 to sound great. Using the POD or any other modeling unit in front of a regular amp has you stacking preamps, which ruins the amp models. Some of them have settings to compensate for this, but you can't get around coloring your tone with the amp. The PW60 is truly transparent and doesn't color your tone at all, but that means it doesn't really have any character of its own. Just clean power and volume.

It gets plenty loud, and the EQ lets you tweak to compensate for the room or venue (it's an active EQ that boosts as well as cuts, unlike the passive EQs on most amps). If you need more volume, add another PW60. You can run two straight out of your preamp if it has stereo outs, or daisy chain them via the XLR outs on the back.

Since all your tone comes from whatever preamp you're using, there's really nothing bad to say about the way this sounds. It behaves exactly as it should and will sound as good as your preamp will let it. However, an Atomic Reactor -- the only other viable combo for something like a POD or ToneLab -- will actually warm up a digital signal and make it sound more organic, albeit at almost double the price. Still, this is the sound category, so I'll give it a 9 (even though I don't think a little extra warmth is worth a few hundred more dollars).

It's new to me, but Tech 21 has a solid reputation. You won't find people badmouthing their gear. This thing looks and feels as solid as they come, and all the knobs and switches feel sturdy. It only weighs around 35 pounds -- which is a big plus when you have to lug it around, but might make it a little easier to knock over. But I'm not sure whether I should even deduct points for a quibble as small as that one. I might give it a 9 for being on the light side, but I think that's negated by the huge bonus of being easy to transport. So, 10 here too.

I e-mailed customer service with a few questions just after I ordered. They got back to me within a day and gave very thorough answers to all my questions. But then they took five days to ship it to me, even though it was only going from New Jersey to Connecticut. I should've had it no more than two days later, so I'll take off a point here.

I've been playing 17 years, and I've been through a handful of amps in the past few months. For a long time I only had small practice amps, but recently I decided I wanted a "real" amp, so I tried out a few tube combos, eventually settling on a Hughes & Kettner Switchblade (I found a fantastic deal on one). This is a 100-watt tube amp -- way too powerful for me. I decided to sell it after getting a TonePort and really liking all the Line 6 amp models, which sounded great through my headphones. I decided to get a PODxt Live and wanted the best possible amp to play it through. It was between the PW60 and an Atomic Reactor, both transparent poweramp/cabinet combos. At $800 for the 50-watt Atomic Reactor 2x12, I opted for the sub-$500 PW60 (plus the AR's have all been on backorder ever since I've known about them, and I couldn't find a used 2x12 model).

I don't at all regret purchasing the PW60; I wish I hadn't bought my H&K tube amp, to be honest! Now I've gotta try and sell that beast. If the PW60 were lost or stolen, I'd order another one the very same day. Having gotten used to the versatility of modeling units, I can't think of any other amp I'd ever want to own. Even if I switch to a different modeler or preamp (Axe-Fx, anyone?), I think I'll be using the PW60 for many years to come. I'm so impressed with this thing, I'm curious to try out some other Tech 21 gear. In checking out reviews of the PW60 before buying, I learned about all their supposedly great character pedals and modeling preamps. I might have to pick up a SansAmp Tri-AC as a backup for the POD!

My PE60 is the 1x12" cab model, version 2 (with the celestion 70/80 speaker ... more on this below.) Good features for a power amp/cab. All the flexibility that i needed for my applications - Volume, 3-band EQ, IN's & Out's. Cab is light-weight and attractive. Controls are on the REAR of the chassis ... ? Bad design (IMO) and VERY INconvenient. Fortunately, you don't have to access them very often, since this sort of amp is more or less a "set and forget" thing.

For what i need it for - running digital modellers/processors in a home studio - it works pretty well. The sound is re-produced cleanly and un-colored, which is what you need with a modeller.

Problems:

(1) the PE60 is noisy when engaged, and at various times while in use - alot of hum. At other times, it's okay. (NOT related to the guitar .... hum is present regardless. And i'm NOT close to major power cables or other electrical equipment either.)

(2) My model of the PE60 (version 2) has the Celestion 70/80 speaker. I had no experience with this particular speaker, so i can't comment on it for its use in other setups; but for the PE60, it REALLY farts out at lower frequencies.... VERY badly. Now, with the on-board EQ, and all the variations one has with modellers, you can EQ around it to a degree. But, it really is an annnoyance at times. There have been a number of times when i've designed a perfect tone/effect, only to have the PE60 fart-out on the low-end once i pick up the playing volume. Again, for my specific application in my studio, i can compensate for it (reluctantly) .... but, i can imagine that this could be a show-stopper for players in various live situations. I haven't read much in the way of negative commentary about this from others, so perhaps my situation is an anomaly. Note that i am a blues/rock/jazz player, NOT anything too "heavy", so i'm definitely NOT taxing the PE60 on the low-end. A couple of comments i've read (somewhere...? maybe here) mentioned farting and/or lack of "beef". So, maybe they are having the same trouble.

I'm presently researching replacement speakers .... if you've got any suggestions, e-mail me at: ajbstrat@gmail.com.

I bought this unit second-hand off eBay. So far, it's been fine in terms of reliability, but i don't really put much "stress" on it, since it's in my home studio only, and i generally don't play TOO loudly.... ha :-) It's a bit expensive for what it is (new, that is) ... it was a better deal 2nd hand. It's light-weight, so if you need to carrry it, you'd be less inclined to bang it around, since you wouldn't be dying after a short haul. It's a solid state power amp, so it's pretty much going to "keep on ticking".

No opinion .... per se. I've only delt with Tech 21 via e-mail a couple of times. They were responsive, so it seems that you could dialog with them. I've presently got an e-mail inquiry in to them about the speaker farting issue.....i'll see what they say. (They'll probably just tell me to EQ it .... hmmmmmm :-)

I'm giving the PE60 a pretty high rating, despite the speaker farting, because it functions well for my specific use .... supporting digital modellers. It pretty much sucks for 'regular' guitar amp use, but with a caveat - because i don't have a Tech 21 amp which can daisy-chain with the PE60, i don't know how it performs in that case. Honestly, the PE60 isn't designed to be used as a regular guitar amp anyway, so that's not an issue for me.

Vol,treble mid n bass knobs,does what it states.

I run a digitech rp500 into 2 Powerengines.
To reply to the previous poster 2 reviews down, I find the exact opposite differences between the older powerengine celestion speaker and the newer celestion one!
Weird I think its a personal preference thing, I find the newer speaker more "high fi " and articulate,were the old speaker version is darker!
I spoke to tech21 and they said the specs havent changed ,but I do hear a difference and Im glad someone else on this site did as well!
Regardless both the oldversion and new sound GREAT,but when run in stereo the is the tonal difference but Its not so detrimental that I can live with it.
Overall a great product if your running a multi FX unit.

So far so good

I have another tech21 amp and they have been nothing but kind,informative and quick to respond to my emails.

This power amp does what it should, though maybe a more beefier speaker to handle highvolumes would be cool and I thought the unit was alil pricey for what it is so I give it a solid 8 instead of a 9 (im picky lol )
,but nonetheless the multi fx unit sounds very good through the power engine.

Got it new from ZZounds "more on this later" most of thr features have already been mentioned so i wont go there.

I planned on useing the amp giging
@ +4db input using a gt 10 it would have enough power for small gigs "mic'd up"

Very noisey! When i first hooked it up and turned it on i got a loud errrrrrrrrr sound like a shorted ground noise. I never have any noise problems in the practice room, never! I swap it out with another guitar amp just to see if its in the line. My other amp was a quiet as can be. I hook it back up and its still noisey. I then hooked up a HUM X that i bought for two gigs we play at thinking it might get rid of single coil noise issues. It didn't work there. But it did filter out some of the noise i was getting from the PE so i went on and started playing. After about 45 minutes of playing and still bothered by some noise this amp went off! and loud! What the heck! to put it mildly. i un hook it and stick it back into the box.

Reliability?
I email tech 21 and they tryed to help.
I called zzounds for a return R/A # The guy i spoke to on the phone was very nice and took down the info of what happened and then said the returns dept. will call the following day, what? OK...... They never called. So i went on line and did their R/A request and got a email the next day? Asking what the problem was. I then told them i had already spoken to ----- ! ext # -- but wrote it all down for them and said i wanted to return it for the reasons stated. Get an email back the next day stating "We don't tipcally have problems with Tech 21 and would i like to excange it for another?
AH------ i'm trying to be nice here. I said No but i do need some raw frame speaker @ XXXXX brand and to please pick up you Defective amp picked up at my home.
next day.......i get a RA # for the return and something about a amp exchange.WTF! Do you read english?

On line i use musician's friend most of the time and returns are taken care of rate away no bull****!
I think zzounds needs a few lessons. I think it will all get worked out but its just a hassle at this time.

my experence with this product sucks but yours may differ.

if you understand that this product is intended to be used with an external preamp such as a pod etc then the features are as rich as whatever preamp you are using! in itself this doesn't have tons of features but it isn't supposed to so i won't deduct any points here. for what it is intended to do (give a transparent sound for your preamp) it is excellent.

i am using prs se's through a pod xt live and this is EXACTLY what i was looking for. i can't believe how great it sounds and i am astounded that no other companies (other than atomic) seem to have come up with a product to do what this does. it gives a transparent sound so that your pod etc can shine through how it was designed to. people always whinge about how digital or crappy pods sound. i would suggest that they need to try it though this. when you use a pod, or any other modelling software through an amp, you are layering the pod on top of the amp's preamp. this will ALWAYS colour the sound and not let the modeller shine as it should. please, everyone with a pod who wishes to use it live buy one of these!!!!!!!!!!! i used to use a marshall through the fx return and then i tried a hartke piggy back but this is the only thing to sound how it should. GREAT. i have no idea why line 6 don't recommend this or even design one themselves. plenty loud enough for me too, for small gigs.

just bought it, but no probs and seems well built.

i have heard good things but having not dealt with them myself i can't comment. their website is very helpful with plenty of information.

PERFECT for what i need it for. it offers a transparent sound for your fx or floor units, pods etc. it is just great for this. can't recommend it highly enough after trying many amps and various setups with my pod xt live this is what i always needed.

Not sure but, it's the later model because it has the 70/80 Celestion speaker. This amp is EXACTLY what i was looking for since I use a POD XT Live. I play blues, rock and some metal in a cover band and this setup allows me to duplicate all the styles with ease. The amp is a solid state power amp with 1 x 12" cabinet which has a retro style grill cloth and cabinet design. This amp is perfect for home studio work as well as live stage gigging. Has more than enough power unless you're too deaf to begin with! It'll easily keep up with a drum kit and bass rig if your presets aren't oversaturated. To be honest I have a Marshall 2205 half-stack and a vintage Silvertone 212 and this thing sounds just as good and is a hell'ava lot more versatile for playing out live... also a hell'ava lot lighter too!

I use a variety of Gibson Les Pauls, a Carvin bolt, a 1959 Gibson Melody Maker and Gibson Explorer as well as a custom made Firebird shaped retro 80's metal complete with Floyd Rose and single EMG 81 pickup. They ALL sound killer on this rig! I can do the SRV strat sound to the David Gilmour tone to the best sounding 70's classic Les Paul/Marshall tones to the 80's metal and beyond. If you use a modeling preamp/multi-effect like POD XT Live or equivalent you can't go wrong with this rig. Mine isn't noisy as some have indicated particularly when you're playing clean toned models and with hi-gain models it is no worse than my Marshall which is pretty dang quite too! It's clean sound is fine as well as the distortion which depends entirely on whether you have the patience to work with your modeling preamp/multi-effects patches. I did and it has made making the transition to this rig seamless and in fact sounds better than I had hoped it would. The guys I play with can't believe the volume and tone packed into this rig. And again it's a hell'ava lot lighter and more portable than lugging a head and 4 x 12 cabinet around! And sounds just as good too!

I wouldn't hesitate to gig this rig without a backup!

I didn't get a warranty because I got it off Ebay for a little over $200 but, I can honestly say that I doubt I'll ever need to worry about either! I spoke with and email corresponded with Tech 21's staff before buying and were impressed by their eagerness to answer any of my questions. I certianly think they have a good handle on customer service!

I've been playing for more than 30 years now and began playing in bars when I was 16. I own lots of guitars and many tube amps which I cherish for their tone but, they'll probably never see another "live" gig since I have this now. If were lost or stolen I'd definitely replace it!!! What do I love about it? Everything! What do hate about it? That I didn't buy one sooner! It would've saved me thousands of dollars searching for that tone arsenal I've tried to achieve for over 20 years! Oh and for those who need more volume... it has an XLR out jack which will make your soundman grin from ear to ear and your crowd not run to the back of the bar... nightclub... or auditorium. You simply cannot beat this little rig for using amp modeling/multi-effects processors... it takes your amp models and effects patches and recreates, convincingly, everything you are used to hearing in your studio monitors and headphones without adding additional coloring to your sound which most, if not all, combo or head style tube/solid state preamp equipped rigs will do. I have played everything from vintage tweed amps to boutique $3000 dollar class A rigs to Plexi heads, JCM 800's, JMP lead heads and 4 x 12 cabinets orf all kinds as well as many Mesa's. This does all of them and with a lot less money! Coupled with a POD XT Live or any amp modeling/multi-effects processor and you can go from a one dimensional toned rig to limitless capabilities tone wise.

Has a speaker in a cabinet with volume, high, mid, and low knobs. Not much else to talk about. Less is more in this case!

The main reason I wanted to write this review: I've had a Power Engine for around 4 years now with the older Tech 21 speaker (the 2112-A) that I've used in conjunction with a Trademark 60. WONDERFUL combination. I recently bought a Boss GT8, went direct into my Power Engine, and have found the tone I'm looking for at last. I recently bought a new Power Engine to go stereo with the GT8, and was a bit disappointed with the difference in tone with the new Celestion speaker they're using compared to the old 2112-A speaker. The Celestion is a little more "creamy" sounding whereas the 2112-A speaker (I feel) more accurately represents the tone you're feeding into it. So take that with a grain of salt if you're incorporating a new PE60 with an older one. Thankfully my Trademark 60 had the 2112-A speaker in it, so I swapped the chassies/cabs and presto - I had two Power Engine 60s that sounded exactly the same. Be sure your cabs have the same type of speaker if you're incorporating more than one Tech 21 cab into your rig. Aside from that, the Celestion did sound nice and warm on its own - just wasn't what my ears were used to hearing using the 2112-A speaker for so many years. I can see why they put the Celestions in the Trademark amps, but not sure why they're in the PE60s, as they do seem to alter the tone a bit.

Have been using Tech 21 amps/pedals of all types for a number of years and never had a problem. Unless I win the lottery, I could care less about ever playing through a tube amp again.

The few times I've sent an email I usually hear back from someone within a few hours. And it's actually a real knowledgable person that writes back. I'd give them an 11 for this if it was available.

I love these amps. I don't miss hauling a 1/2 stack around one bit. As mentioned, just make sure if you're using more than one of these that the speaker types match. I would give it a 10 but agree with another user who mentioned the one design flaw of the knobs being on the back of the amp rather than on the top. I've had a few times onstage where I go to make a volume tweak, start playing, and realize that I turned the treble knob by accident. So for that, they lose a point!

All is already written. Plain simple. Mine is with the 70/80 speaker, a later model.
Play in a coverband and use a Tonelab Se in front. Tried numerous combinations but this one does the trick for me. Also have used the Marshall JCM 800, Line6 Vetta, Mesa Boogie, Koch, Laney LC. All tubeamps with exception of the Vetta. Also had the POD XTL, Tobelab LE, POD X3L. The X3L is still in the repairshop for the second time. If that horrible thing is coming back it goes straight away to Ebay

Pro Tech21 PE60:
- sound
- power (it is loud enough for small gigs)
- EQ for slight adjusting of the total signal
- XLR out. This is one big plus. The XLR out is going to the PA and the sound guy is taking care of that. Use the PE60 as monitorbox on stage. If I turn the volumeknob down or up it has no influence on the XLR signal to the PA!

Con:
- why are the knobs placed on that strange place (behind/down)? I really want to know that. I have the PE in front of me on stage and have to adjust something. With my guitar around my neck it's just simply impossible the do that quickly without damage

What goes in comes in a amplified way out. No colourization, no breakup, no waffs, buffs, boops..... And that does it very good!!

Looks well built.

Had several combinations of pre-amps and poweramps in the past. Still have the Mesa 50/50 and two 2x12'' The sound coming from this combi is very good but in my eyes PE60 beats it in:
- portability
- $
- maintenance
- TCO
Ok the sound from the tubes are different but for me in my coverband? Everyone is satisfied, the sound of the PE60 is more than OK. Just try it (with a good pre-amp, no POD) and wonder.

I have two: one in the rehersalroom and one at home. At a gig I take them both with me. To play in stereo and to have a backup in case one goes down.

After lgn years of searching and bying and sellign I think that this one will stay a very long time. I'm very happy with it!

This amp is a basically a powered monitor. There is no preamp. However, there are features, especially when compared to an Atomic. This one has a 3-band eq, XLR, 1/4" in. as well as XLR out which is very handy on stage when you want to monitor with the PA. One improvement would be a headphone jack and front power switch. It is not easy reaching around to turn it on / off.

I play this PE 60 with 2 setups. First, is a PodXT bean. Reading the reviews here, I expected to hear exactly what I heard on headphones with the PodXT. Well, no. The PE 60 is a marked improvement over a traditional amp, but it is not pure transparent. Pretty close, really. But there is a low level hum, that does not go away. I called T21 support on this, and they said it was part of the amp. The hum is low, but it is there. I have no hum in my headphones with the Pod.

My other setup is with my pedalboard and the T21. This sounds better than the Pod, which is no surprise since my pedals are higher quality than the Pod. The hum is there still. The key to running a pedalboard with this amp is to have some kind of modeling. I have a Damage Control Womanizer, and it sounds spectacular with the T21. I would imagine any pedal with "studio out" would sound great.

I give a 9 because of the hum.

This amp is solid. I definately would gig without a backup.

I called about the hum issue, and I wasn't real thrilled with their answer. I expected them to go into some details, but they only said "it's analog - that's how analog works". Okay, how come my Fender amp doesn't do that?

I've been playing for 20 years. I play a Fender Telecaster Plus and an American Strat. With the Podxt, this is a pretty nice setup. With a pedalboard, it's spectacular. My pedalboard is:

Guitar--KeeleyWah--Marshall Guvnor--EH Metal Muff--DOD SuperStereo Chorus--DamageControl Womanizer--T21

The Womanizer really is the preamp in that setup, and is fantastic.

I compared the T21 to the Atomic, and at half the price, it was a nobrainer. I also don't like the idea of tubes coloring my sound, which the atomic does. Some claim it is an improvement, but it is colored.

If it were stolen, I probably wouldn't get another one. I'd get a power amp and monitors for a stereo setup. Maybe a mixer and monitors.