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Hughes & Kettner has thrived as an amp builder for three decades, making some landmark amps along the way, from the hybrid ATS series to 1995’s 13-tube, 6-channel TriAmp Mark 3 to the zenTera modeling amp from 2000.
While Hughes & Kettner has always delivered the goods for electric players (particularly those geared toward high-gain shredding), the German company didn’t offer much to the acoustic player until the new Era 1, a small but powerful, 250-watt amp that could be a formidable contender in a tough category where natural sound is everything.
Cosmetically speaking, the Era 1 is also a departure for Hughes & Kettner. The company’s signature look these days is a clear acrylic front panel that glows blue when the amp is fired up. But the Era 1 is distinctly less flashy and comes in a modest wooden enclosure that calls to mind an old home-speaker cabinet. (It’s also available in black vinyl.)
Hughes & Kettner definitely kept downsizing trends in mind when designing the Era 1. At about 13" x 11" x 11" and just a hair over 20 pounds, it’s very compact and portable. With the help of acoustic-amp pioneer Michael Eisenmann, one of the minds behind AER amps, Hughes & Kettner managed to cram a lot of useful features into the little Era 1. They also figured out how to generate a lot of volume and headroom from the 8” speaker and 1” tweeter that make up the speaker compliment.
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