Menu
Suede·Social·Issue No. 20
The Internet Has Thoughts·2026 · JUL
The Internet Has Thoughts
·Premier Guitar·Jun 24, 2026

The Internet Has Thoughts About Premier Guitar's PRS Archon Classic Review.

Premier Guitar gave the revoiced Archon a 4.8 and exactly one con. The forum called it thin off a YouTube clip, then the buyers sided with the magazine.

J
Words by
Jason Colapietro
4 min read

Source

Premier Guitar — “PRS Archon Classic Review”
“The sole focus of the Archon Classic is tone, and that it delivers in spades.”

What the internet actually said

  • “It reminds me of Fender cleans, because they are so defined and clear.”

    Thomann · m.

  • “It's an Archon with a clean channel that doesn't sound like the original clean channel, and a gain channel that doesn't sound like the original gain channel?”

    Rig-Talk · c.

  • “Sounds thin.”

    Rig-Talk · g.

The Suede Read

Premier Guitar reviewed the PRS Archon Classic in July 2025 and scored it 4.8 out of 5. The reviewer said the amp's sole focus is tone and it delivers in spades. The cons line listed exactly one complaint: not enough bells and whistles for some first-generation Archon owners. At $1,149 for a 50-watt, two-channel tube head, that is about as complete a rave as the gear press prints.

The internet's first pass was colder. A demo video landed on Rig-Talk three months before the review, and the thread was pure side-eye. One poster asked why anyone wanted an Archon where neither channel sounds like the original. Another watched the clip and filed a two-word review: sounds thin.

Then people started paying for it. On Thomann the Archon Classic sits at 4.5 stars. A five-star buyer said the amp is the best he has played, compared the cleans to a Fender, and said the lead channel runs from rock to heavy metal. A four-star German and a five-star French buyer both flagged the one thing the magazine's cons line skipped: a loud pop with no standby switch. The five-star buyer above mentioned the same pop and waved it off as harmless.

Score it straight. The skeptics were reviewing a YouTube clip. The buyers were reviewing the amp in the room. On the claim Premier Guitar actually made, that this is a tone-first amp with killer sounds on both channels, the receipts side with the press.

Spotted something the press fluffed?