In my opinion......

Basically, the acoustics of the room are different at the store, which probably has been "tuned" to give maximum brightness to amps. Whereas your home has a lot of sound absorbing and sound deadening materials about. Carpeting, furniture, a popcorn ceiling, shelves and entertainment centers, an absence of reflecting walls, etc.

Basically, what StratSounds already said, I agree.

Unless you got little Unicorns crapping in your tubes, and circuits...

 

Our perceptions are also colored by the other ME: Marketing Engineering.

 

You must have been playing with different fingers when you were at the shop.

 

"People buy on emotion, and then find facts to justify their purchase."

Its spoken in sales rooms across almost every industry.

 

+1 Angles.....

 

Different room...different sound bounce.

 

Amps and guitars sound different....







I don't.

 

QUOTE="StratAlchemist, post: 4289057, member: 7939"]That is the reason $800+ guitar pedals are sold.[/QUOTE]

Hype goes further than that. Check out the prices on Klons.

 

Simple, the tide was in when you were in the store and by the time you got home and set the thing up the tide went out

 

So are you saying that sound waves could be affected by the moon in the same way as the ocean?

 

Sounds like you got your directional guitar cable hooked up backwards! Seriously who knows? My DRRI out in the shop varies from day to day. I like to blame it on the AC power. In my case, it's more likely it's the sh***y player holding the guitar. It's even worse with acoustic guitars.

 

You're not alone...sometimes I play through one of my amps and it sounds rubbish, but I'm sure it's just me being tired or whatever. I have some really nice amps too, so I can't blame them (and like you they sounded good when I first played them and also at home at other times).

The really annoying thing is that when I practice in the spare room using headphones and a basic amp sim built into my multi-track recorder it nearly always sounds good. Or at least it's very consistent.

 

There's expectations...and reality.

Subjectivity and objectivity.

I bought an AC15 based on how it sounded in the store.

But live with the band...with my 5e3 next to it...it was a major disappointment.

 

Sure, you're right, but.....................When I sell a guitar or amp on CL, I stage the amp and or guitar geographically in the garage to get the desired acoustics. I learned that working in a Mom and Pop music store. (I was Pop.)
I have also had the experience of buying an amp and it being absolutely great in the store, but much louder at home than needed. My Fender Princeton 65R comes to mind...

 

This is a big part of it. Amps sound more harsh and sterile at home in a smaller room compared to in a big room with high ceilings. Obviously I don't know the details where you tried it first and where you were when you were less impressed, but something to keep in mind for sure.

I brought my SR to work once and it was amazing how much I was able to crank it without hurting my ears. (I work in a 60,000 concrete garage with 20' ceilings.)

 

Hmmm... I think I just need to move everything outside.

 

One time I got a pedal at GC and took my guitar to the store and plugged into a similar amp I had at home.


When I took the pedal home it sounded like crap.


It took me a while to figure it out but it was pretty much the crappy radio-shack cable I was using. I went to GC and just got the LiveWire cable as thats what they had and it sounded as I heard at the store.




With amps for example tubes may be a variable. Tubes warmth 2 hours in one day vs just 30 minutes another day may affect tone, warmer tubes 2 hours in sound different than 30 minutes with an amp, tubes getting a bit older or worn could be a factor etc etc.