Hughes & Kettner Triamp MK 3 Review

The H&K Triamp 3 is a monster guitar amp. But can H&K revive the Triamp Mark 3 tube amp in an age of Simulators?

Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mark 3 Inside and Out Review 2026

Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mark III new low price - but is it too little too late?

Introduction and Preamble

Hughes and Kettner is one of those German companies that have been making guitar tube amplifiers for many years. I have owned a few of them too - some very good value for money, while other offerings frankly you needed a mortgage to be able to afford one. The Triamp series goes back many years - with the Triamp mark 1 released some time around 1997 in what some might call the best era for tube amps, but of course many other will differ with that point of view.

I had tried a H&K Triamp mark 1 back in the day so to speak, and although it was a 'nice looking' amplifier and rather flashy looking. It offered a lot at a price, but to me that amp was rather toppy and was not really what I was looking for at that time. The mark 2 came and went (I filmed Thomas Blug at the Music Messe playing it) and I never really checked that out myself though. But eight years ago I tried the Triamp mark 3 or III as some call it. Now then, I DID create a review video of that amplifier and a very nice amp it was That video is on my YouTube channel still. The tones could be be toppy but there was much more to that amp both in the weight (somewhere near 48 Lbs.) and it's price with a list price somewhere near to £2800 which I have to say was very high. I did eventually sell that amp as there were some issues with the control floor pedal that I did get sorted before it was sold.

So what the hell am I doing buying ANOTHER Triamp Mark 3 in 2026?

Well it appears that some time in 2025 that Hughes and Kettner decided to work with Thomann (something going on financially I think) and Thomann offered this very same brand new Triamp mark 3 for just £1450 when I bought another - as you see from above it has increased a little to £1590 but its still nearly 45% or thereabouts from its original price and these are brand new guitar amplifiers!

You will question what has changed as I did - surely it must be quality reduced, or some other issue right? Well in this inside and out review you can check categorically if this is the same as the amp I bought eight years ago and you can even go back and watch that old review. But here we're going to tear the Triamp mark 3 apart and create a complete Inside and Out review. Rock on!

Initial Overview of the Triamp Mark III

What's in the box? There's a manual, a floor controller and its cable, an amp cover (very nice) and there's even a polishing kit for the plexi front of the amp! Its all very nicely presented in a very strong box with the guitar amp in the bottom. This amp is 22Kg in weight so be careful when you pick it up - this is a 'mans' amp!

Now then the specifications are certainly more interesting than that 22Kg for sure and what this amp lacks in being light, it makes up for it all in features. Here are the specifications of the amp and note they are the same today that they always were:

• All-tube
• Power: Up to 150 W
• Six channels: 50s Californian Clean, 60s British Clean, 70s British Lead, 80s Brown Sound, 90s Californian High Gain, Modern-Day High Gain and beyond
• Three freely assignable pairs of output stage tubes
• TSC (Tube Safety Control) allows combinations with EL34, 6L6, KT66, KT77, KT88, 6550, 5881, 7581 and/or 6CA7 tubes
• Global presence, resonance and volume control
• RED BOX AE (Ambience Emulation) DI output
• Stomp boost tuned for the respective channel
• IDB (Intelligent Dual Breakpoint) Noise Gate Hard/Soft infinitely variable
• Serial and parallel switchable FX loop
• Brightness control of the front panel
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 740 x 393 x 254 mm
• Weight: 22 kg
• Includes TSM-432 MIDI board and protective cover
• Made in Germany
  

As you can see even from this initial specification list this amp has it all. The features really are those of that £2800 amp I reviewed eight years ago and what an amp it was - and is!

The value of the Triamp Mark 3

Lets start off in a simple way to help determine the value you're getting when you buy a H & K Triamp mark 3. Inside the amp there are a number of tubes or 'valves' as some call them and if you know the price of tubes today from reputable suppliers then that starts to break down the value somewhat. Tubes in the Triamp 3 include:

• 4 x 6L6GCMSTR high quality TAD tubes
• 2 x EL34 red base high quality TAD tubes
• 9 x 12AX7 high quality TAD tubes

That totals at least 15 tubes inside this amplifier and I checked the pricing of those tubes at tubeampdoctor.com and they totaled (believe it or not) a massive 500 Euros or maybe higher and that currently equates to £435.85 in April 2026. So knocking off the price of the tubes from the amp reduces the amp price to around just £1000! It's crazy prices... and what's more, look at the higher end amp simulators, check them out, check the pricing (£1200 to £2200) and you know what you won't find a single one no matter what the makers or the fan boys claim that can come close to this amp - this has the tone AND the feel which is something amp Sims lack for sure.

OK I Bought One! What Now?

Firstly good for you, I doubt you'll be disappointed. However, I want you to check something before you plug in.

Now I can't speak for the USA voltage of 110-120 volts - maybe the USA boys can send a note to tell me how theirs arrive? or even if there is a USA version? Let's assume there is, but if not, you could still use the amp with one of those 'step up' voltage converters.

But for the UK in particular when the amp arrives from Thomann, check the mains voltage settings - they will be either 230v or 240v but mine came with 230v set which is of course wrong! It's easy to fix though.

Simply switch this to 240 volts for the UK. Here's why. If you plug in the amp (in the UK) with the setting set to 220-230 volts, basically the amp will still work, but you will be overloading the internal components with higher voltage and maybe making them more subject to failure later. A switch on 240 volts is perfect for the UK. Thank @RDamps (Rubber Duck Tech) on YouTube for that great snippet of information.

Front Amplifier Controls

Many readers won't be aware that the Triamp Mark 3 is actually like having three amps in one. Think of it like this, because there are so flexible settings and a channel A or channel B for the clean channel 1, crunch channel 2 and driven channel 3 for each 'amp' making in effect SIX channels (that's how I think of them). So lets firstly take a look at the front panel so I can describe it all.

Click this image for an amp front example.

Channel 1

After looking at the whole front of the amp it now becomes a little easier to describe it all. So lets look at the Channel 1 area.

So let's describe this simply:

• Top row is 1A master, treble, middle, bass, and gain. Note channel 1A is lit up.
• Bottom row is 1B master, treble, middle, bass, gain. Channel 1B selector is not chosen so in this image channel 1A is active.

As well as that description note that the guitar input is located far right where the pointer is, and the 'stomp boost' (yes the amp has one for the input is currently turned off.

Channel 2

Again its basically the same as channel 1 so there's little to describe.

Channel 3

And again - the same controls, but you can see that this is marked Amp 3.

The Master Section

There is a lot going on here, but lets break it down - in reality its pretty simple.

• The bottom two switches on the left are on/off and standby. The red lamp means power is on.
• There is a MIDI learn button. I'll describe its use later. It's typically off!
• Next on top row is a volume control... this is for the whole amp volume.
• The Presence and the Resonance equally apply to all channels if I remember right.
• Below the Volume knob is a Noise Gate and a FX Loop. Programmable per channel!

Lastly is the important Power Amp Tube selection - and that works as follows:

• There are SIX tubes - 4 x 6L6 and 2 x EL34 tubes.  1/2 is EL34 tubes  3/4 and 5/6 are both 6L6 tubes. The tubes as you can see in the image are all selected (turned on with those lit up buttons), but you can set a combination of power tubes up PER CHANNEL. 
• 1/2 light on means 2x EL34 tubes and a 50 watt output for the given channel.
• 1/2 and 3/4 tubes turned on means 2x EL34 AND 2x 6L6 tubes selected together - giving a 100 watts output
• 3/4 alone selects 2x 6L6 tubes giving a 50 watt output
• 3/4 and 5/6 means 4x 6L6 tubes totaling 100 watts output
• Lastly 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6 is all tubes selected for a full 150 watts output

Remember you can have ANY combination of tubes per channel and those 'channels' can all be saved and recalled with the settings you chose. Of course its similar to the Mesa Boogie gear that has been doing this for years too.

Around the Back of the Amp

Well its not rocket science and I'll cover from right to left here. First things are that mains connector IEC Type and that voltage selector for the input voltage that we already covered. Bear in mind that there IS a fuse in the IEC connector. Next up are two external fuses, one 'anode' fuse and one 'heater' fuse both to protect you and the amp. Only ever fit what the amp should have in these.

Next up is the control for that bright blue front panel. Yes you CAN adjust it for the room ambience - but it can do much more and I might talk more about that or not.

There's a power amp input and a preamp out so you can send and receive other audio from the preamp and to the power amp. This is a master insert and NOT a loop!

There's a 'proper' effects loop next, with its own knob for control of the effects level. This loop can be either serial or parallel too and lastly there is a switch to drop out from +4dB to a -10dB which is more in keeping with none pro gear.

Next is a noise gate control that changes the noise gate from hard to soft. The noise gate is an exceptional one and works absolutely brilliantly.

The usual 5 pin DIN connectors for MIDI in and out are right there on the back of the amp, and the TSM-432 floor control for the amp fits the left MIDI in port.

Next up is the TSC control - this will be new for many readers. Its real name is a Tube Safety Control and it ensures the amp is always running perfectly re the power tubes. Basically if you fit a tube that's not great (more about different tubes later) if it fails, or in fact any power tubes fail the amp will be protected and the internals of this amp will automatically turn off the dodgy tubes! This can save your amp from its end with the technology in this amp. It's brilliant. By the way, if a problem appears with those power tubes LED's on the back of the amp light or not to tell you what the problem is.

Next up is the Red Box AE Emulated DI Output. Hughes and Kettner are known for the Red Box DI and here it is in an enhanced form built right in to the amp. Output can go to the desk etc. There are also a couple of switches - one to give a 'Low Cut' and one to offer a different mode (mode 2) to the emulated cab.

Lastly on the back of the amp are the speaker outputs and there are a number of outs:

• 1 x 16 Ohm out
• 1 x 8 Ohm
• 2 x 16 Ohm
• 1 x 4 Ohm

Its all easy enough and very 'Marshall like' outputs.

Summing Up Amp and I/O Controls

As you can see from the above this amplifier is a very advanced tube or valve amp but don't let that put you off. It's capable of doing virtually anything that you could do with a guitar amplifier and with all those 'channels' and settable options like the tubes, noise gates and so much more this amp has it all. There is simply no shortage of technology driving the amp just about for ANY style of guitar playing and offering up tones of the gods!

Dating YOUR Amp

Here's how to date your amp easily (No not that sort of dating) from the serial number.  The above is my serial number and it denotes the date as follows:

Note the second digits XXX-2521-XXXXXXXX  and that little section tells you that your amp (mine in this case) was made in 2025 at week 21 of the year. So this amp was made at the end of May 2025 - its really that simple.

CE and Other Approvals

Being a company that resides in Germany, and they are a major part of the EU I can tell you that the Triamp Mark 3 will be without question fully CE approved along with all those other necessary standards. Germany is 'hot on' if you are there and break the law re CE and other approvals, so rest assured that this amp will be as safe as it can get and that's always important when you are plugging in wires to the amp that could otherwise in certain circumstances with other equipment like a microphone on stage might otherwise kill you!

The Chassis Assembly

Once you remove the back cover it's all there. You will be presented with a fabulously finished chassis assembly and it looks to me like it has been powder coated in a really nice black colour. The quality of the finish is exemplary. We have all seen old guitar amps where the rust is coming through and the amp is sliding in to obscurity slowly - most brands you can name all suffer in that way, even when protection has been applied... like old Fender and Marshall amps for example, but nothing like that here its exemplary. You will also note the transformers - with highly chromed end panels - its like buying a new car :) - well something like that.

And even the 'choke' (yes it has one) features similar chromed end caps. You can also see in that picture above how they hold the tubes in place with a drop down from the top of the amp - a holder with coiled springs pressing the tubes in place... talk about over engineering - but in a good way.

If you are going to open up your Triamp mark 3 then you need to be extremely careful about this led strip I'm pointing to because it can be so easy to damage your amplifier and who knows what the cost of a replacement might be. I'm sure its no ordinary LED strip.

The Main PCB Inside

There is no doubting this amp when you flip it over it really is an awesome sight and I have to say that right off the bat that this amplifiers build quality is as good as any other amp I have ever reviewed since 1998 when I started this website and certainly everything on YouTube I created too. From those massive transformers, through the whole main PCB design and layout. That German quality is right there to see and this amp overall is a wonderful thing to see - so do click the above image to see it for yourself, but remember it's my copyright.

Looking Closer: Transformer Area

As you can see from the large image of the power supply area, that power transformer is huge, and bearing in mind the power needs of a 150 watt amp at full chat it has to be. But to confirm this PT is a 230 volt unit as marked on the label. It has no 120 volt input so you won't be changing the input to USA or other areas any time soon. And note those large quality capacitors for the smoothing etc. At the bottom of the image is the control board for the front of the amp and that connects to the main board all the way across the amp.

Main Board Centre Section

This center section of the main PCB oozes quality. Everything is in its place, component quality is excellent, there are no botches (remember the Friedman JJ Jnr I reviewed?) and if you look carefully you can see the larger resistors are actually lifted off the board. Notice those brilliant test points all over the PCB and those are not just limited to the middle part, its all across the design and wonderful to see. You will also notice a number of relays PCB mounted and thank god this amp does not suffer in the way that some Mesa Boogie amplifiers do with channel changing and their relay circuit designs. The relays are used to switch different features and channels on this highly technical amp internally. This PCB clearly is 'made on a machine' and I think its better for that.

Output Transformer Area

Again there is a further view of the main board of the amp to view and that's worth checking out, the OT can be seen with it's specifications etc. as well as the general surrounding area in the Triamp 3. There are a couple of other areas really worth taking a look as follows:

Booster Board

This is the small board used for the 'Boost' button on the front of the amp and is immediately above the guitar input socket. It can be turned on or off and stored for any channel. Some might criticize this board as it includes a small op-amp for increasing the incoming signal. It's a bit like including a switchable external pedal, but its right here in the amp :) and it can change the overall tone of any given channel... in fact if you were mad you could surmise that this is a 6 channel amp as described earlier, but x 2 for the boost on or off for any given channel! Crazy good stuff.

Other Secondary Boards

Now I'm assuming for this little section. I think these two boards are maybe the red box section of the amp? Maybe related also to switching or storage? But either way, these are two small plug in boards and if you had trouble the offender could be removed for replacement or repair.

General Thoughts So Far

Wow what an amplifier. It's rare that I get to see ANY amp made as this one is and credit to Hughes & Kettner and Thomann for getting this amp to an affordable cost. Below are a few things that rally impressed me (or not) so far.

• Front Panel lighting and controllability from rear control on the amp
• This Triamp 3 can probably produce ANY amp tone that you could ever create from any other amp
• If you put other amps on the top of this amp the handle is a real pain and you have to remove it to get the other amp on there!
• Heat from the tubes - lots of it - rises upwards and can be problematic if you put other amps on top
• It's EXACTLY the same amplifier as the one I checked out in my 2015 YouTube video - Quality remains exactly the same.
• Internal quality is perfect.
• It really IS made in Germany
• The I/O and other controls are brilliant, all on there and the controls are smooth and quality
• The control knobs are a complete pain because you CANNOT read them even 2 feet or 1/2 metre from the amp!

I could talk about other stuff but let's get on to the rest of the review.

Let's Discuss Those Amp Channels

Yes I think I should discuss the channels and all about them. There is a lot involved with the channels and far more than say some simple guitar amp but I honestly think the channels and options make the Triamp mark III a hugely versatile amp. I used to think it was just for metal etc. but in reality you can do it all. Let's look closer.

The channels actually cover SIX eras of tone:

• Amp 1 includes the 50's and the 60's era tones.
  • 1A is Californian clean and that channel uses tubes 1 and 2.  )50 watts)
  • Amp 1B is a 'chimey' 60's British combo's - think Vox and that channel uses tubes 3 and 4  (50 Watts)
• Amp 2 relates to classic 70's British stack tones etc.
  • 2A is a British stack and it uses tubes 5 and 6  (50 watts)
  • Amp 2B is an 80's 'brown sound' :) and uses tube 1 and 2 as well as tube 5 and 6 (100 watts)
• Amp 3 is really the high gain monster hidden in this amp!
  • 3A is Californian 90's high gain amp (maybe Soldano or Mesa?) and it uses tubes 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 (100 watts)
  • 3B modern day high gain and beyond! All 6 tubes active (150 watts)

Here's a thought to consider - there are overall 42 amplifiers within the Triamp III.

There is a lot to cover there but you can see first hand that this whole amp is completely configurable to whatever tone you have in your head and my guess is that, like many great guitarists, you could actually create YOUR signature tone with this amplifier. Think Santana - recognizable anywhere, think Hendrix or EVH (RIP Eddie) they are immediately recognizable by their tones.

The Tubes

As you see above the amp comes with 4 x 6L6 tubes and 2 x EL34 tubes, but there is far more to this amp than just that! In fact there are many more tubes you can install in this amp and they will just work - no biasing etc.. because the amp does all that by itself. Here are some of the supported tubes:

• KT66
• KT77
• KT88
• 6550
• 5881
• 7581
• 6CA7

As you see the whole story is so much more than what you might have thought... and it needs no real technical ability to change those power tubes out.

The Included Floor Pedal

Note that the H&K Triamp 3 does come with a brilliant foot controller floor pedal that lets you do lots on the amp at the press of a button - I'll now tell you all about that.

The TSM-432 Mark 2

Here it is, its pretty ugly, but best to ignore me, we're looking at the floor pedal :) This pedal is derived from the older FSM-432 mark 3 older design floor unit. You can tell the difference because the FSM-432 mark 3 was actually curved, where this one as you can see is almost straight with a sort of top curve if you will. Be very careful about the floor pedals. On my original amp of 2015 they sent the wrong floor pedal and it never worked properly - but it sort of worked and I put it down to a user problem. But ultimately it was determined as the wrong pedal for the amp and I did later get it exchanged for the right one. Be warned if its not a TSM-432 mark 2 then you have the wrong pedal.

So What About The Score?

There has to be a score right? Otherwise there would be no real way of judging against other scored products. The Tony score goes from zero to ten, and trust me, I have given zero scores and ten scores many times. So let's consider the Triamp mark 3.

The Tones

Now then, if you have read all of this review so far you might say - but he has not mentioned the tones once? That's not entirely true, so let's comment on those now. Basically whatever tone you want from pristine clean to the heaviest modern metal then this amp can and does do it. The tones of this amp are not in question and they don't take the overall score down at all from a 10.

The Quality

You would be hard pressed to try and reduce the score based on poor quality - just trust me this is one of the most well made amps there is - it has to be a 10 too

The Price

You know what, at the original price you would probably criticize this amplifier because the value, quite frankly I guess is harder to justify at a £2800 price tag. But the price when I bought it at around £1450 makes this also a 10 score.

The Warranty?

With Thomann now warranting this Triamp 3 for three years this offer basically makes for a 10 score too!

So is the score a 10/10?

Sadly it is not. You see, no matter how I tried to give this amp a 10 out of 10 there was always one issue or another, and I know, some of these are 'petty' to some guys, but to others are major issues. So I'll list the things that stopped it being a 10 as follows:

• Those terrible knobs on the front of the amp that you CANNOT tell how the amp is set from 2 metres - its crazy. They need something to fix that or the maker should mark them so they can be read.
• The handle on the top of the amp 'gets in the way' of putting another amp on top. That simply should not be detrimental in this way and plenty other brands have no problem.
• For me, the tube heat out the top of the amp seems excessive and I partly assume the back panel is a little restrictive of the air flow. Just an opinion.
• No fully multi-watt input switchable to handle 120v and 240v from just a switch. It could be there, but I'm convinced it is not.

Bearing in mind all the above, I downgraded the amp from a 10/10 to a 9/10 which just trust me on this makes this amp a real winner, and if the list above does not matter to you? Then read it as a 10/10 score.

Final Conclusions

This has been a substantially long review to try and do justice to the Hughes and Kettner Triamp Mark 3 and show all the features and benefits of this amp for any owner.  I recommend that you go and watch the audio section of the video review so you can actually get an idea about those tones and there are many, I just show some on there. Links below in blue.

Well what can I say other than go buy one while they are available at the price - and I did notice that the amp has increased about £100 in cost since I bought mine. Everyone chirps that tube amps 'are dead' and that the amp simulators are now king, but ask ANYONE that uses a real tube amp and they will generally confirm that the tube amps of today and yesterday still offer the best tones with that 'feel' that the simulators never seem to have.

I sincerely hope that this written review gives you a really good overview of the Triamp Mk III as it really does deserve the time it took me to try and show it all. I can't show everything but I'm sure you will gain from this completely unbiased review.

If you get chance watch the audio playing on the video review or watch the whole video review if the Triamp mark 3  There must be other things that are in the video that I missed in this written review.

Please do visit my YouTube channel tonymckenziecom here and if you get a chance PLEASE do subscribe to my channel. I have over 450 reviews on my YouTube channel!

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