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How does 3RD POWER'S DirecDRIV™ tube circuitry found in the HLH HD100 differ from other manufacturers and what are the advantages?

With a 3RD POWER amplifier, the optimized DirecDRIVE™ tube preamp captures your exact performance with incredible detail and full dynamic range while allowing you to dial in the exact amount of clean headroom or tube saturation you desire – all with an unmatched quality that’s free from excessive hiss or other noises. Your signal is then fed into a proprietary tone-stack design that delivers the finishing touch, a ‘mastered’ or CD quality equalized (EQ) response – one that would require expensive, outboard EQ devices for other manufactures to match. From there, your signal is fed into a classic 1968 Marshall Plexi inspired EL34 tube output section, only with a twist: you can achieve virtually any sound you desire at any volume level eliminating the need for expensive power attenuation devices just to get your volume levels under control.

What is the difference between Tube Rectifier and Solid State Rectifier?

Many classic or vintage tube amplifiers utilize ‘tube rectification.’ This pertains to the power supply circuitry of the amplifier. It specifically has to do with the amplifier’s conversion of AC wall voltage to DC voltage that is used in the other circuitry of the amplifier. Tube rectifiers can often exhibit a sag or compression to the overall sound of the amp when the guitar performance requires maximum voltage. This can be a very desirable effect and can contribute to an amplifier’s overall ‘mojo.’ That said, it could also impair a guitar performance that requires a faster reaction time from the power supply for example, chicken picking country styles or hard rock and metal styles.

At 3RD POWER, we agree that a certain amount of tube compression is desirable and we’ve made this an important element of our proprietary circuitry. Our current products utilize a solid-state rectifier to ensure that the power supply is steady and responsive – no matter how fast or slow you want to play. Regarding sag or compression: we are frequently complimented on how our amplifiers have the perfect amount of compression yet they remain very fast and responsive when playing styles call for it. Our design goal was to make our amps sound like they're in a major recording studio with the guitar running through a vintage LA2A tube compressor gently sweetening the peaks. And again, based on feedback from our customers, we think we've NAILED IT!

What’s up with the Triangle Cabinet design and why is it better?

One could describe the performance concept of our HLH 312 cabinet by imagining for a moment taking 3 flashlights and bringing them together. At a few feet away, our eyes would perceive this as one point source of light. Now back to the 312 cabinet, inside the enclosure we have brought 3 12” speakers together and mounted them in a contiguous cluster (meaning each speaker rim touches its neighboring speaker). From our testing, it has been shown that our ears perceive this as one point source of sound.

Additionally, the triangle enclosure shape eliminates most of the parallel surfaces. As with optimum studio control room designs, minimizing parallel walls is key to reducing internal sound wave reflections (a source of interference and frequency cancelation).

So, the HLH 312 cabinet could be described as a cabinet that performs like a 36” speaker that has the identical agility and performance of a 12” speaker resulting in a fast, articulate and detailed sound but with an incredibly smooth frequency response and point source effect that’s free from the harsh ‘beaming’ sound of typical 4x12” enclosures. It truly is amazing!

Okay, so the Triangle is cool. Why then do you make a 212 rectangle speaker cabinet?

The Switchback™ 212 cabinet is actually two separate triangle speaker chambers encased within an exterior rectangular box. The Switchback™ 212 can be operated in either mono or stereo mode. Additionally, each triangle chamber has a removable (wait for it), triangle vent on the back panel. This provides outstanding versatility when playing smaller rooms or when recording by allowing you to open one vent, the other vent, or both for either closed or open back operation.

One practical application would be to open the vent closest to your drummer when you play shows with questionable monitors. With this, your drummer will have a “fighting chance” of hearing your guitar cues - thus having a much better show. This cabinet sounds incredible!