NAD: Marshall DSL100HR

mbenigni

mbenigni

Rock Star
TGF Recording Artist
Messages
5,771
OK, this is my first ever Marshall and I'm actually really loving it. It's surprisingly versatile, with more gain on tap than I expected. I'm loving the tones with nothing but guitar > cable > amp. Chugs like crazy. Great features, nice clean switching, etc. Easy on the wallet (Vietnamese import). And man, if looks could kill...

41509-2eb93153b6cea5f92c56d5d4209f2f28.jpg


But nothing's ever quite that easy. I had a bitch of time actually getting ahold of the amp, and the moment I turned it on I began to suspect there was an issue. It makes a constant sine wave sound at approx. F#, a m3 below A440. It's almost imperceptible (but not imperceptible... you "can't unhear it") in standby, but it gets quite a bit louder when you flip the standby switch to low power or high power modes. At first I thought it was coming out of the cab, but it's actually coming right out of the head. The tubes are all glowing the right color, and I have a hunch that it's coming from the side where the transformer is.

I'll try to attach a recording. Does anyone have similar experiences to share or ideas on how to fix this? I really don't want to send this amp back. Everything else about it exceeds my expectations.

(Striking out here. I have a recording in m4a format. Does anyone know how I would go about attaching here? Anyway, just imagine a sine wave playing an F#, or approximately 310Hz. All. The goddamned. Time...)
 
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Vocaroo.com works for quick clips and will embed. That is odd on the humming(?) sound. DSLs are great generally speaking.
 
I dont know. That's a bummer if it's going to be a deal breaker. Hopefully a cheap fix maybe? Those are sweet amps tho.
 
i have an ada power amp that does that- see if the mountings on the power transformer have fasteners you can tighten- or see what happens when you put your hand on the bell or the laminations!
 
JiveTurkey said:
Vocaroo.com works for quick clips and will embed. That is odd on the humming(?) sound. DSLs are great generally speaking.
Click to expand...
Thanks, man. Take a listen to this, if you have a chance:

Then I sat down and noticed this:

Tolex issue.jpg


Front and center and about 2.5" across. (Not the best picture, but it looks like heat damage.) I don't know if I'm being OCD, but this seems like a pretty significant defect on a brand new amp, even if that amp was a ridiculous bargain.

Otherwise, yes, this amp kills! For the price it seems like a real sleeper. I'm pretty sure I want a DSL100HR at this point; I'm just not sure I want this one... which is a bit of a hassle and a bit of a bummer.
 
newholland said:
i have an ada power amp that does that- see if the mountings on the power transformer have fasteners you can tighten- or see what happens when you put your hand on the bell or the laminations!
Click to expand...
Thank you! I think I'm wrapping up for tonight, but I should have time to get the headshell off tomorrow. (Assuming that doesn't void MF's return policy... Will need to check on that.)
 
mbenigni said:
Thanks, man. Take a listen to this, if you have a chance:

Then I sat down and noticed this:

View attachment 41526

Front and center and about 2.5" across. (Not the best picture, but it looks like heat damage.) I don't know if I'm being OCD, but this seems like a pretty significant defect on a brand new amp, even if that amp was a ridiculous bargain.

Otherwise, yes, this amp kills! For the price it seems like a real sleeper. I'm pretty sure I want a DSL100HR at this point; I'm just not sure I want this one... which is a bit of a hassle and a bit of a bummer.
Click to expand...



A light relic’ing.

I was reading @James Freeman thread about cleaning his cab jack which eliminated a sine wave, but you said it’s coming from inside the head itself?
 
i have utmost respect for that amp- if you can get away with cranking up the green (or orange, for that matter) they sound fantastic. i recorded one a buncha years back wth a great strat player and have always loved the sounds he pulled outa that dsl!
 
newholland said:
i have utmost respect for that amp- if you can get away with cranking up the green (or orange, for that matter) they sound fantastic. i recorded one a buncha years back wth a great strat player and have always loved the sounds he pulled outa that dsl!
Click to expand...
Yeah, if it goes back it will be a request for replacement, not refund.
 
mbenigni said:
OK, this is my first ever Marshall and I'm actually really loving it. It's surprisingly versatile, with more gain on tap than I expected. I'm loving the tones with nothing but guitar > cable > amp. Chugs like crazy. Great features, nice clean switching, etc. Easy on the wallet (Vietnamese import). And man, if looks could kill...

41509-2eb93153b6cea5f92c56d5d4209f2f28.jpg


But nothing's ever quite that easy. I had a bitch of time actually getting ahold of the amp, and the moment I turned it on I began to suspect there was an issue. It makes a constant sine wave sound at approx. F#, a m3 below A440. It's almost imperceptible (but not imperceptible... you "can't unhear it") in standby, but it gets quite a bit louder when you flip the standby switch to low power or high power modes. At first I thought it was coming out of the cab, but it's actually coming right out of the head. The tubes are all glowing the right color, and I have a hunch that it's coming from the side where the transformer is.

I'll try to attach a recording. Does anyone have similar experiences to share or ideas on how to fix this? I really don't want to send this amp back. Everything else about it exceeds my expectations.

(Striking out here. I have a recording in m4a format. Does anyone know how I would go about attaching here? Anyway, just imagine a sine wave playing an F#, or approximately 310Hz. All. The goddamned. Time...)
Click to expand...
Congrats on new amp…. I have exact amp and Ive been giging with it for years…. Never let me down….

I never had any issues with it.. I crank the fuxker and boosting front end with mx-gt od.


Only thing I had to fix was power button bulb. Thats it.

Sorry to hear about your issue, hope you can get replacement.

Get 6 way foot switch and it will make things lot easier with switching.

Good luck and happy chugging.
 
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Finally listened on my monitors and it's definitely some sort of weird hum. Are you plugged straight in and that's it? No QC, no other devices sitting on top causing noise? I am not sure if that could be caused by a bad tube or if it's transformer related?

I did find this thread on the Marshall Forum

DSL 100 Hum

My DSL100 from new has always had a hum, probably 50Hz at a guess; the mains transformers are very noisy mechanically, when the stand-by is off, you can really hear the transformer hum, but with no instrument plugged in and the amp fully powered up, there is quite a hum coming from the speakers...
marshallforum.com marshallforum.com

I'll tag @GuitarBilly74 as he is the DSL braintrust, generally speaking. I had a used one and don't remember mine having that issue but there are a bazillion variables in this discussion obviously.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Finally listened on my monitors and it's definitely some sort of weird hum. Are you plugged straight in and that's it? No QC, no other devices sitting on top causing noise? I am not sure if that could be caused by a bad tube or if it's transformer related?
Click to expand...
Thanks! Nothing else plugged in; just guitar > cable > amp > cab. (And nothing on top - that stack w/ casters underneath is already worryingly top-heavy LOL.) I'm thinking transformer, simply because it's emanating from that side of the head.

JiveTurkey said:
I did find this thread on the Marshall Forum

DSL 100 Hum

My DSL100 from new has always had a hum, probably 50Hz at a guess; the mains transformers are very noisy mechanically, when the stand-by is off, you can really hear the transformer hum, but with no instrument plugged in and the amp fully powered up, there is quite a hum coming from the speakers...
marshallforum.com marshallforum.com
Click to expand...
I saw this post when I started Googling around. But he's referring to a 50 cycle hum (which I'd probably associate with an AC/ ground loop issue) coming from his speakers. This is a much higher, cleaner sound, at around 300Hz (and then maybe there's an octave, give or take, above that when it gets louder?) coming from the head.

JiveTurkey said:
I'll tag @GuitarBilly74 as he is the DSL braintrust, generally speaking. I had a used one and don't remember mine having that issue but there are a bazillion variables in this discussion obviously.
Click to expand...
I'm curious to hear any theories on this one, but at this point I'm 90% likely to just return it and ask for a replacement. This is exactly why I wanted to buy a new amp, after all. I hope they still have inventory once I start trying to get this ironed out.
 
Yeah sounds like you wanna exchange it for a different new one, unfortunately? That’s a drag, after all you went through to get it.

Agree that it’s a great sounding amp though. There was one in the rehearsal spot we used to rent that I used and I got great sounds of it pretty quick and easy. Nothing like a Marshall to bring out the rawk. :headbang:rawk
 
I have a 100HR, fun amp. Run it in 4CM with the modeler of your choice and you have easy access to both modes on each channel, and can run an EQ block in the modeler to fine tune each channel.
 
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