Atomic Amps Atomic Reactor 112-50

What a great concept. Tube power amp and speaker smack into one incredibly muscular package.

I run everything from a Les Paul to a Hamer fat strat to a Line 6 Variax 600 into this thing. I use a Boss GT-8 as the preamp and also use the ENGL e530 tube preamp occasionally.

This thing handles everything perfectly. Talk about adding tone! If you want to singlehandedly improve your modeller's crappy SS tone get this monster - it ROCKS. I've had this guy for a long time now and it won't let you down. This is more than just hype - this is an AMAZING AMAZING amp.

I rely on this thing for every gig now. It has handled the rigors of the road very well. If this thing every breaks I'll have another one on order the same day.

Tom King at Atomic Amps is THE MAN!

Friendly, and makes sure everything goes perfectly. A great company and an even better product.

All the talk is real - this is an AMAZING amp. One of a kind for sure. I love the oversized cab and the weight is very agreeable. I can easily move it around by myself.

Made in 2006, this amp is almost a gadget-freak's dream come true. It's simply an all-tube 60 watt power amp placed inside a closed-back (and ported/tuned) speaker cabinet with a 200 Watt speaker that does not color the way your gear sounds at all. This amp has 5 controls; power, standby, volume attenuation, internal speaker on/off and effects loop on/off.

A low-noise, tube-driven effects loop and the ability to have custom templates for 5 of the major modeling preamps (and a blank one if your favorite is in a rack or on the floor). This amp also is designed to provide power to all of those 5 preamps, and route them through the input/output jacks on the amp. It runs a pair of 12ax7 tubes and a pair of 6L6s power tubes.

I would love for this amp to have a presence control.

I am not certain the difference, but I would play a Vetta (open back combo), and on "half power mode" (roughly 75 watts, but I would only use 1.2 of that) I had plenty of volume. With the Atomic and my preamp of choice both "wide-open" for output, it just could not cut it in the identical situation. Maybe it only having one speaker that made the difference, or the open back.

I will also note that "my spot" is next to the Sub bin, behind a keyboard player and a monitor (for the keys and her vox-no me). I found that placing it on an angled amp stand and not on the box where my Vetta previously resided did help some...

The sound "is all that".
What your pedals or preamp gives you is what you hear through the Atomic. Even at the highest volume settings this amp does not break up. Every note hit rings with a full dimension I have not heard before.

I have used this amp with 3 guitars
1. A Paul Reed Smith with Don Lace signature pickups
2. A Jeff Beck Fender Strat with "Hot" (ceramic) Noiseless "single coils"
3. A Steinberger Spirit with EMG-HZs (passive, but not the Selects).

More reliable than my Vetta, this is the most reliable tube amp I have ever owned. I did not have any issues with the amp for the entirety of my ownership.

Tom King, the owner of Atomic, rocks.
He even tried to help me troubleshoot an old preamp I was using with it.
The man is passionate about happy owners.

I have been a player since 1988, and in bands since 1991. Being a former manager of a music shop has given me the ability to test many guitar products out over the years.

Sadly, because of the volume issue, I have replaced the Atomic. If not for that I would still be an owner. The only other shock was (it being a single 12 in amp) the size not being much smaller than my Vetta.

Pros-the tone, the versatility of such a simple design.
Cons-the size, the weight, the limited power output.

Again, a Presence control (and the ability to make it open back?) would possibly have made it "all that".

If 50 watts will cut it, buy this amp now.

Nothing to add to the previous reviews. Very basic. I'd wish to find in it an EQ...

Stellar tone thanks to the tuned cab, with a three dimensional quality and tons of volume. But to my ears, this amp is NOT transparent nor of "no opinion" (marketing argument). Good sounding, yes. Well designed, yes. Flat response? More or less : miked close, it doesn't deliver a totally flat tone; you have to put the microphone right in the middle of the flared cab (and not directed towards the cone of your loudspeaker); still it boosts the bass range ; not to mention the tuning of the cab, very musical but present in each note played. Full range? Nope. There's a decay after 5khz, as in any guitar amp. And the 6L6's sound like... 6L6's. Consider the whole as a really good American guitar amp (F... or M... B...) with a flatter cab and without preamp.
How does it affect modelled tones? Benefits: it cancels the "fizz" - cancelling which is a proof of the statement above, about the decay beyond 5khz. Downside: it provides a dark, nasal and closed tone when you enable the cab emulation in your modeller. It sounds like an amplified modeller. Not like a guitar amp.
To be fair, I must add that it sounds way better than standard modelling amps with their solid state circuitry (which are not transparent either). Instead of a Vox AD or Line 6 Flextone, buy a modeller of these brands and plug it in the Atomic. You won't find a better sound, unless you're right to pay thousands of bucks for the ultimate rig then to spend nights and days tweaking your EQ.
But if you want a "real guitar amp" tone... keep or buy a real guitar amp: the Atomic can't erase the fizziness of digital modellers but not their inherent limits.

If simplicity = reliability, it must be very reliable. It's strongly built. I have a doubt about the plastic jack plugs...

Good. Sadly, People stop to answer if you ask several questions.

'Been playing for 27 or 28 years. Have owned several kinds of guitar amp (solid states, hybrid designs, tube amps with EL84, 6L6 and EL34, with 1X10, 1X12 and 4X12 cabs, open or closed).
I'll probably keep this one 'cause it sounds really good and darn loud. Tons of clean power. As good as the best American amps and way cheaper.
But I'll keep my Marshall too because the Atomic can't replace it, whatever be the modeller used - I've tried and am currently owning digital units from Line 6, Boss and Vox. The Atomic has more success when it comes to emulate Fender amps. Which seems normal because IT IS a kind of Fender power amp, with a tuned and closed cab containing a "modelling" loudspeaker.
I'll have to keep my acoustic amp too: playing acoustic guitars in the Atomic is not totally satisfying because there's no treble horn.

Amp was manufactured in 2007.
Its a one channel amp.
See previous postings for info.
I lead worship and we play a variety of musical styles ( rock, gospel, pop, folk.)
My main guitars are a Taylor T5 Koa, Fender Telecaster B bender, Gibson ES 335 and a Taylor 514CE acoustic.
This amp is pretty basic, extras except a volume level knob in the rear panel.
The Atomic Reactor is designed for all guitar modelers. But stomp boxes sound great as well.

"An amp without an opinion" is Atomic's marketing slogan.
It is spot on!
By far, this amp has captured the essence of guitar modelers.
I've played a Vox Tonelab SE, POD XLT and Roland GT8 thru this amp.
Each owner was shocked of how great their modelers sounded.
A Vox AC 30 sounds like a Vox, Marshall sounds like a Marshall or a Fender sounds like a Fender. I couldn't believe it at first. At the time when I placed my order, Atomic offered a 14 day trial exchange.. if you didn't like the amp, you could ship it back for a refund ( minus the shipping.) I am not sure if they are still offering this. Check their website or their myspace.
It is plenty loud. I use mine as a foldback monitor and mic it with a SM57, then thru FOH. It has a closed back, which helps the sound.

100% confident in this amp. It is a little on the heavy side. But the handles are well built.

At the time of my purchase, I dealt with the owner, Tom. That's amazing in itself. He stands behind the amp. They are very hard to find used.
They sell direct. He answers e-mails himself and even after I made the purchase. Only Taylor guitars rates higher in customer service.

I've been playing since 1969.
I am not a tech head... I like to plug in and play. But I have learned enough about guitar modeling thru some great websites.
Guitar modelers are cool, and throw in a Taylor T5, and have fun!
I play a Yamaha Motif ES8, mandolin, sing, etc. Typical worship leader situation. Discovered amp modeling with a Flextone II. Sold that, and bought a Vox Tonelab SE. Played that thru various guitar amps, monitors, keyboards amps... but never really happy with the sound. "It sounds great in my headphones, but thru an amp, sound like mush" was my complaint about my amps. The Atomic Reactor amp changed all of that. Now I can concentrate on worship leading. The Atomic handles all of the Taylor T5 pickup settings. I am playing more lead guitar in worship services (my confidence is building) Even the acoustic setting works well ( I don't miss the tweeter at all).

Basically, a back-end for the Pod series and other modelers. Pretty simple to operate; there is a master volume knob, and that's it. That's good; there are plenty of knobs on the Pod to fool with. (I use it with a Pod Pro rackmount unit.)

WOW. If you own a Pod, this is a must have. I've tried lots of other options for amplifying the Pod--through a Fender tube amp, with power amp and cab, into the effects loop of a Marshall half-stack, through wedge monitors, the Bose PAS, and lastly through Mackie SRM450 powered monitors. I really liked the Mackies but this is another ball game entirely. The Atomic brings the Pod to life--more Marshall than Marshall, more Fender than Fender. On the JCM800 setting, for example, the distortion has an extra dimension that really fills out the sound. Incredible presence and projection. Headroom for days and loud as crap (if this isn't loud enough for you, you need to start learning American Sign Language dude).

This thing also packs tons of chunk, especially given its size. Want Marshall-approved pants flap? Plug in an extension cab (I have a Line6 2x12 that works great.)

Before I had this, the Pod was just a compromise solution for me; sounded "good enough" and kept me from having to haul a half stack and a Twin to every gig. Now I've got a real amp. Hell, I wouldn't trade this rig for my old Boogie MK III rig (which sounded amazing, but resulted in many trips to the chiropracter).

Haven't had it for long but it's just fine so far (I usually bring a backup amp to gigs, just in case). It's survived a few ultra-high-volume tests with the Rectifier sim and a few choice cuts from "Vulgar Display of Power" cranked through it! (which caused the untimely death of more than a few amps I've owned.)

Tom King is great--friendly and fast answering questions. I've been buying guitars and amps for over 30 years and his customer service is the best I've experienced, even up there with the legendary Mesa Boogie.

Basic one 12 combo design. 50 watts of tube power, master volume, and effects loop. Well designed cab. Very solid for an amp built in China. This amp is as versatile as your amp modeler. I play in an 80's cover band and we cover everything from New Wave, Punk, Hair Metal and Dance. It has only one channel as it is designed to enhance your modeler. As far as additional features I wish it had, I think it does everything as promised. It really brings my PODXT to life. I have the 18 watt version of atomic reactor and love it. I just wanted a little more head room for stage volume. Don't get me wrong, the 18 will get you out over the drummer with no problem but, the 50 can take your head off if you really open it up and let it breath.

Again , the amp is really only as versatile as what you put in front of it. I've tried both the PODxt and the VOX Tone Lab. It really brings these products to life compared to anyhting else I've tried. The new 50 watt version does give you a great deal more head room than the 18 watt version and I feel like it does improve the sound of your modeler even more than the 18 watter. It seems to give a fuller richer tone than the 18 watt version. Again, the 18 watt version absolutely kills. It's just that the 50 watt is even better in my opinion. I use a variety of guitars all with humbuckers. My primary gig guitars are a Peavey Wolfgang and a Fender Stratocaster with a Duncan JB in The bridge postion. I've also played my Charvels, Fender Telelcaster and Washbun Nuno through these amps. They all sound great. Again these amps are designed to compliment the modeler and these products really do live up to the hype.

I Just got the 50 watt version so I can't offer an opinion on it's durability. I can , however, say that the 18 watt version never missed a beat in over a year of heavy giging and rehearsal. I have to admit I take care of my stuff but, this thing was knocked around a good bit and never let me down. I did change the tubes once and I do carry spares with me. Other than that, no maintence at all. I'd say anyone who gigs with out a back-up is asking for a disaster but the 18 never missed a beat.

You all have heard what a great guy Tom King is. He is ATOMIC AMPS. If you have problem, he takes care of it, if you need some information he gets it for you, if you have a question he answers it. Seems like a great guy and he's the President of the company. Even if you wanted to call and talk to him about somethying other than the amps, I think he'd probably be OK to sit and shoot the breeze with you. I called him and we talked about this years NAMM Show for quite a while. This guy knows what customer support means.

Seems like a long time but it is actually almost 30 years. I would replace it if something happeened to this amp. In fact, I am considering the 2-12 version. I personally feel that this amp is ALL it's cracked up to be. I've owned solid state amps, tube amps, modeling amps and this is the best combination (ATOMIC & PODxt) I've found. It's nice to have something that lives up to the hype.

Made in Jan 2007. I originally considered the 18 watt model, but it didn't have the features I wanted. The introduction of the 50 watt model did it for me -- 50 fan-cooled watts produced by JJ 6L6's and a nice sino 12ax7a, standby switch, effects loop, volume control, external speaker out, push-button internal speaker on/off, closed tuned ported cab with a great 12" eminence, beefy side mounted handles that make transporting a breeze. The docking port doesn't do much for me, as I use a Tonelab SE floor model, but the blank template was a snap to install. This isn't a tube tinkerer amp, as the amp section is difficult to access, but the amp design is innovative with horizontally mounted tubes that prevent heat buildup on pcbs that can occur with upside down vertical mounts. Plenty of power and presence for stage, and sounds great at low volumes for practice. A great combination with the Tonelab.

This is my new favorite amp. I list my equipment here because the trail of used equipment explains the quest for tone that lead me to the Atomic. I started out several years ago with cheap guitars and a 100W solid state 212 combo with a Marshall 412 cab. Too loud, too harsh, too piercing, too cold, too limited as everthing sounded the same (only more harsh). I got tired of hearing "turn it down" and didn't see much use in an amp that was only run at "2". Dumped all that gear and started over with a Fender American Deluxe HSS strat wit S1 switching (very versatile) and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. The amp- a Fender Deville 212. Very nice stage amp, but too much for home use. Re-tubed it with JJ 6V6's and nice preamps which helped, but the more drive remains unused and its still too much amp for practice and has limited versatility. Got the tonelab and its a great piece of gear. Many settings worked well into the power amp in section of the Deville, but the amp voicing and many amp/cab settings of the tonelab struggled with each other. Bought a Epi 5-watt valve junior and put $150 of mods into it and plugged it into an Avatar 4 ohm 212 with Red Fang/wizard. A pretty nice practice/small club amp, but it gets blurry and mushy at moderate volumes and can't keep up with the deville as a stereo rig. Then I read about FRFR rigs at stompboxes.net and that made a lot of sense to me. I had an old pair of powered Advent loudspeakers (80/80 watt biamp solid state with eq) with burnt speakers and rotted woofer cones - replaced the 12" woofers with eminence 105A's and upgraded the tweeters with new eminence wide dispersion horns and that worked well enough with the tonelab and Epi - at moderate volumes! The Advents were bright before, but really beat on the ears at even moderate levels with the new horns. Its called super tweeter syndrome on stompboxes. But the EPI / FRFR combo made a decent practice rig. I just wasn't satisfied. Enter the Atomic. This was what I had been looking for, nice warm buttery clear articulate tones at all volumes, and no struggling with amp or cab model or eq settings on the tonelab -- even the high gain models!! Every note in a chord is clear and you can tell if a string is out of tune -- no sloppy ham-handed technique will pass by this amp. It sounds good at low volumes with either the FRFR rig or the Epi in stereo out of the tonelab, the Atomic volume control allowing a nice balance between either the low watt tube amp or high watt solid state FRFR rig. The Atomic does accentuate the limits and flaws of the EPI/FRFR at moderate volumes. But put the 112-50 beside the Deville and Zowie!! What a great sound -- terrific stage presence with the 6V6 powered Deville being voiced and focused on the mids, and the Atomic filling in the holes in the frequency range with really clear and powerful but not painful sonics. I recently played in a 1000 person auditorium with the acoustics of a cave. Used the tonelab right/left outs to the Deville 212 combined with the Avatar 212 (red fang/wizard) and the Atomic 112-50 using the internal speaker AND an Avatar G410 (ramrods/rajin cajuns) in the Atomic external speaker plug. Military takeoff power with clarity, punch, bass response and stage presence that was awesome, soulful (not painful or harsh) and hard to believe. Minor tweaking of the gain and eq on the tonelab was required, but took only minutes during sound check. It was great and brought many compliments about the tone and power. Its a terrific combination and what I've been looking for either at home (my current favorite practice setup is the Epi/ Avatar 212 with the Atomic 112-50 with either the G410 external cab or the Atomic internal 12") or in the lights on stage.

Haven't had it long, but haven't been kind to it either and its held up fine. Don't expect any problems and haven't had any. Built solid, and great workmanship.

Tom King at Atomic Amps has been great. Very helpful -- even returned my call from the winter namm. If he hadn't told me he was there I wouldn't have known (but I should have guessed). Reserved my 112-50 for me until my check arrived. Answered all my pestering questions and emails. As good and helpful as Bob at Eurotubes or Dave at Avatar -- among the best!!

Classically trained (French Horn and acoustic guitar) four decades ago -- been playing electric for the past decade. Already listed the gear -- the Atomic is the diamond of the collection now and provides what I've been looking for with the tonelab. A vast arsenal of pleasing tones. A great platform for experimentation and it works and plays well with others. I've installed phasers on mine, so don't even think about taking it or you will be vaporized. I don't hate anything about it, but easier access to the tube and bias area would have been nice. I would definitely buy it again and don't regret this purchase in any way -- especially at this price. I now have that feeling that I don't have to keep looking for another amp. That part of GAS has passed.

I considered buying the 18Watt model, but I just procrastinated, and ended up waiting until the 112-50 came out. I was glad I waited. I am extremely satisfied with the 112-50. Though the 112-18 is quite nice, I think there are several criticl features not included until the 112-50 came out. The volume knob is nice, although. I think all it is is an attenuator on the input to the power amp, so really it doesn't do anything the output knob on the PODxt doesn't already do. But maybe, if you are using headphones with the POD, you could turn the amp down with it's knob, so maybe it would be handy for that.

As another review said, a headphone jack on the DS-1 would've been nice. but it would certainly be easy to add one myself. But that's why I gave it a 9 instead of a 10.

The FX loop is pretty handy. And I like that I can use it as a stereo line out for plugging into a mixer or something.

It's quite simple, which I like. There's not a lot of unnecessary extras.

I wish I could pick 11.

I've never been more impressed with an amp. A lot of that is attributed to the PODxt, but the PODxt alone is nothing compared to when it's paired up with the 112-50. The warm tone of the amp, combined with the versatility of the PODxt is just overwhelming.

If you get over any prejudices you might have against digital modellers, and objectively listen, I don't know how anyone could not be extremely satisfied with this amp's sound quality.

Seems well built. Time will tell how reliable it will be. I'd be surprised if it didn't hold up really well.

The best in the business. I've dealt with customer service from many companies, Presonus, MOTU, Line6, Mackie, Crate, Marshall, JBL, Tascam, Digidesign, and many others. Most of them were satisfactory, but Atomic's support is way above average. Part of the reason is that it's a relatively small company. But I've dealt with other small companies who didn't have the commitment to customer satisfaction that Atomic has.

I can't say enough. Just outstanding.

Some people have trouble embracing the digital age, as it affects the music world. But, innovators like Tom King not only embrace it, but take it to the next level.

Whenever the newer POD comes out, I'll be buying one. And if I need to buy a new Atomic to pair it up with, I will. If this one ever gets lost, stolen or broken, I will definitely buy another.

I use two Atomic 112-50's both in the first run of this model from 2006. I use it live and in the studio with stellar results. I use this amp to power not only a PODxt, but use it for my Kasha Rockmod preamp. It loves modelers and tube amps alike! Works great for everything from Jazz to Heavy Rock styles, all dependant on what you decide to push through it and the patches you program on the modeler.

It's a 50 watt JJ 6L6 tubed power amp housed in a single closed back ported 1x12 cab. The Eminence speaker is custom designed and is rated at 200 watts. It has a dock to load your modeler of choice in or you can get the blank template to cover the dock if your using something like a PODxt Live or a Rack mounted modeler/preamp, in which case you input the modeler/preamp via the FX loop Return jack. Also has an ext speaker out (8 ohm) and the ability to shut off or on the internal speaker. There is a Master Volume as well. Also a switch for the FX loop to run as stereo or mono. In the case of running stereo effects on only one Atomic I leve it in mono mode to sum the effects, but engage the stereo button when using two Atomics for the full effect.

For running another slaved Atomic in stereo, you just feed the right FX send to the FX Return of the second amp.

So far 50w is more than enough power. I rarely run it over 4 on the POD outout level using one Atomic and running two Atomics I've never needed to run it over 3. The amp is well built and solid. Weighs about 50 pounds.

The amp does exactly what it states it will do!

Since the is no preamp in the amp, there is no varying the sound of teh amp, without physically altering something in it's design, such as different tubes or speaker. The speaker is not specifically a flat response design. There is some coloration, but in a good way.

Clean tones are rich sounding and brilliant with loads of presence. Crunchy tones are not ice picky, but crisp and warm sounding. Very heavy tones are thick without muddying. Again all of this is based on how you program your tones feeding into the Atomic. Garbage in, garbage out. You need to take the time to dial in proper sounds and not take patches at face value. The amp seems to take on the quality of the amp model you've programmed. Some dead on and some convincely close enough, but that goes back to how well the modeler does it's job and again on how you program yoru patches in it.

The amp is very quiet. There is a fan in back running and while you can hear it at times if your close to it, it does not affect recording. I've never had an instance where it's been picked up during recording.

So far not one issue. I've played plenty of gigs without a backup. I'll also say I've owned two of the earlier Atomic Reactor 18 watt amps and had no issues with over 2 years of use on them.

If you call them, you'll get a call back even on evenings or weekends. They go out of their way to make sure you are happy with the amp. I had some questions on replacing tubes, not even a problem related issue, and got my answers on a weekend. The amp itself has a 24 month warranty. They now sell direct and offer a 15 day return policy no questions asked. Can't beat that!

Been playing decades and have used everything from Tweed Fenders to heavily modded Marshalls using Tele's, Strat's, Les Pauls, semi hollow-bodies, the whole gamut. Since I mainly use PODxt's now for many situations, I cannot live without the Atomic's. It has become an integral part of my sound. Rarely does a gig go by where another guitarist comes over and comments on the exceptional tone it projects. It just works!

There are other options out there to amplify modelers, and while some do an okay job, none really can offer what the Atomics do. Every aspect of tone is superior to other methods I've tried... Tech 21 Power Engine, keyboard amps or dedicated power amp and cabs.

One thing I really like about this amp is the simple design. It has
(2)6L6GC JJ tubes and (1) 12AX7 tube phase inverter. There is a stand by switch and a main volume/gain knob. It puts out 50 watts of very clean power. In fact the guys in my band found it to be much more powerful than the Flextone II XL that I use to play with that was 100 watts. The cabinet is very solid and well finished.

This amp is outstanding! I play through it with a Pod XT Live. The match is perfect. The warm tube sound is out of this world. I have been playing for 27 years now and this is by far the best sounding rig I have ever had. It took harshness that I found in my Flextone II XL out. I tried the XT Live through my Flextone and wanted to return the Pod. It just did not sound very good at all. When I hooked it up to the Atomic Amp it I finally found the sound I was looking for. I know have the best of both worlds! The warm tubes and the modeling system to shape my sound!

I bought this in December so I can't really say much yet about the reliability but I expect it to be very good based on the other reviews and the quality of the build an Tom King's backing of his company and products.

Tom King the President of Atomic Amps is a great guy. He had no idea of who I was when I e-mailed him. Yet in a very short time he called me up. He answered all my questions and it felt as if I was talking to an old friend. There will be no problems with support if I ever need it.

I can't say enough about this amp and the job Tom King has done developing it and bringing it to market. It is exactly what I was looking for. It is one of those few times in life where you feel like you can have your cake and eat it. If you have an amp modeler and you are looking for something to pair it up with I strongly recommend you buy one of these amps!