Do I need two Power Stations for stereo FX, one amp and two cabs?

I am just wondering if a single power station and a stereo power amplifier like the LXII might be a better fit? The Power Station has a mono FX loop, so for stereo setups, you’ll need to send the stereo output of your effect processor to a stereo power amp.

The LXII is quite remarkable, it’s a 1U 100W mono 50W/50W stereo tube power amp, there is some very smart engineering and patents went into this design,
https://www.fryette.com/lxii-stereo-power-amp

There is also the advice here about wet-dry-wet rigs, which is more that you want (you want a stereo rig)

But to answer your actual question…

Senario 1

  • Pros:
    • your amps “sees” that it is connected to two reactive loads
    • you have more tonal options because you can play around with the different impedance toggle switches so you amp “sees” different speakers “types”.
  • Cons:
    • Take care getting the impedance settings correct. If you have the 8 Ohm tap on the amp, then both power stations should be on the 16 Ohm setting to make the total load 8 Ohms.

Senario 2

  • Pros:
    • Yes, this will work too.
    • Single reactive load means more consistent input signal to both left and right channels, the amp “sees” one speaker “type” (yes the opposite was also a pro in senario 1, guess it depends on what you think it best).
    • No possible confusion over the impedance settings.
  • Cons:
    • You are paying for a reactive load that you do not use.
    • You really just need a valve re-amp.

More thoughts coming… let me know what you think so far…

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