NAD: Marshall DSL100HR

Random observation: my Variax is absolutely killing it through this amp. I get this vague sense that running modeled guitars into modeled amps is just a little too much tech to second guess your way through. The Variax through a simple ("caveman mode") known quantity really seems to work as advertised.

(Or maybe it’s just the 4x12 in my face, masking the string noise. Or maybe I’m just honeymooning LOL.)
 
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mbenigni said:
Thanks, that's good to know! (I really need to acquaint myself with a local amp tech at some point.)
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Highly recommended..

Other scenario for digital users looking to use tube powered speaker/ cab..if you have a combo with a powersection/cab you like, but no efx loop: adding a poweramp input is afaik always an easy/affordable job.
I did it to a superchamp x2 cause I wanted to have a small “powered speaker”…I use that little fellow a lot, also as one side of a stereo rig. Digital unit in front, and you have a great sounding rig, especially combined with a bigger cab that can carry the low end a bit better then the small champ.
 
mbenigni said:
I've gone from being indifferent to Marshalls to outright greedy for Marshalls in the span of about two weeks LOL.
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HomespunEffects said:
May I suggest a:
View attachment 42309
😁
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Dont fight it, DSL100H is how all this started...

Marshall Collection sm.jpg
 
NNNAD. DSL100HR #3 just arrived...

And...

Fuck.

It has the exact same problem #2 had. Since #1 and #2 were both weird, but not in the same way, I figured they were both flukes. (Recap: #1 had a high pitched mechanical whine coming out of the power transformer. #2 had a low pitched buzz coming out of the power transformer.) #3 has the exact same low pitched buzz as #2. Could I ignore it? Sure. Would anyone hear it in a typical room at a rock show? Not at all. Is it right? Nope. Will it drive me crazy at home? Yup. Might it indicate a bigger problem waiting down the road? Who knows?

If I hadn't bought a used DSL100H in between HR #2 and HR #3, I'd be wondering if maybe this wasn't just my OCD flaring up. But with the DSL100H (as with every other tube amp I've ever owned), when the volume is down or the amp is on Standby, it's silent; you can't even tell whether it's on. By contrast, these HRs - brand new - are noisy AF.

I can't even write this off as a "by design" weakness of the HR, since #1 and #2 were vibrating at vastly different frequencies. Just seems like QA or tolerances are way out of whack on these. I'm not going to bother asking for a fourth HR. At this point I have to decide (again) whether to get my money back, or whether the amp was cheap enough to excuse the need for bench time right out of the box.

This absolutely sucks because I dig everything else about the amp. After digging a little deeper into the DSL100H the last couple of weeks, then coming back to the HR, I think I prefer the sound of the HR overall. And the MIDI and 2x MVs are great features. Ah well, so it goes...
 
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HomespunEffects said:
Send it back. I don’t think you’re meant to have a DSL100HR. You did keep the DSL100H, didn’t you?
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Yes, the 100H is a keeper.

Still wish one of thes HRs stuck the landing. There must be a ton of these amps out in the wild; I’m surprised there aren’t more people talking about this behavior.
 
mbenigni said:
Yes, the 100H is a keeper.

Still wish one of thes HRs stuck the landing. There must be a ton of these amps out in the wild; I’m surprised there aren’t more people talking about this behavior.
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Have you checked it in another room or house? Could you have a noisy outlet? Bring that sucks over here? :)
I'm near Pittsburgh, PA so start driving!
 
HomespunEffects said:
Have you checked it in another room or house? Could you have a noisy outlet? Bring that sucks over here? :)
I'm near Pittsburgh, PA so start driving!
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Pretty unlikely the power is the cause, based on my experience in this house to date, and the behavior of the 100H at the same outlet. But I’ll check it out. Just have to get my 1x12 back from a friend - I’m not lugging a 4x12 up the stairs for this LOL.
 
Here’s what Marshall has to say on the subject. (They call this “troubleshooting” LOL.) From Marshall.com:

“TROUBLESHOOTING : I CAN HEAR A HUM COMING FROM THE TRANSFORMER.​

It is common to hear the transformer hum (quiet hum) when the amplifier is sat idle, this is completely normal.”

Per Marshall, whatever their amp does is normal. OK, Marshall… Or you could, you know, do better?

Nothing To See Here GIF by South Park
 
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metropolis_4 said:
Bummer… I was actually looking at these but this thread has me spooked now.
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If you agree with Marshall that a buzzing transformer is normal and it wouldn’t bother you, everything else about the amp is awesome, including the price. I have been accused of being overly fussy more than a few times. :)
 
metropolis_4 said:
Bummer… I was actually looking at these but this thread has me spooked now.
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I should add that all my “research” this morning indicates that this noise,
- caused by magnetostriction - is common (in varying degrees) and doesn’t indicate a problem or suggest eventual failure. It’s just a question of whether any given transformer is loud enough to be annoying. Apparently you can have them potted the same way you’d pot a pickup.
 
mbenigni said:
I should add that all my “research” this morning indicates that this noise,
- caused by magnetostriction - is common (in varying degrees) and doesn’t indicate a problem or suggest eventual failure. It’s just a question of whether any given transformer is loud enough to be annoying. Apparently you can have them potted the same way you’d pot a pickup.
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Noise issues in the room can be tricky for me. Have you measured how many db it is in the room at idle?
 
metropolis_4 said:
Noise issues in the room can be tricky for me. Have you measured how many db it is in the room at idle?
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I feel the same way, even when the most practical impact is, “That’s getting on my nerves, man.” (See also: clacky footswitches LOL.)

I don’t have an SPL meter, unfortunately. What I can say is that I can (just barely) hear it from across an otherwise silent 15ft room, once my ears have identified it and I know what I’m listening for. On the other hand, once you start actually playing, it’s masked completely.

The first amp with the ~300Hz whine was much more annoying (maybe legitimately “defective”?) than these last two, which buzz at 50-60Hz. At least 50-60Hz sounds like typical “guitar stuff”.
 
On a lighter note, dear friend, fellow board member, and absolute lunatic @stonge noticed I was getting DSL- and P90-curious, so he brought me a pile of Marshall-friendly pedals, and two otherwise identical guitars - one with humbuckers and one with P90s! So whatever head(s) I wind up keeping, I have a little Marshall tone construction kit here.
Thank you thank you!:beer

1746373699385.jpeg
 
mbenigni said:
On a lighter note, dear friend, fellow board member, and absolute lunatic @stonge noticed I was getting DSL- and P90-curious, so he brought me a pile of Marshall-friendly pedals, and two otherwise identical guitars - one with humbuckers and one with P90s! So whatever head(s) I wind up keeping, I have a little Marshall tone construction kit here.
Thank you thank you!:beer

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