Thoughts on the Marshall DSL20H?? Alternatives?

  • Thread starter Thread starter napalmdeath
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I had the DSL 20 combo that they gave me for a week under my bench and it wasn't horrible but it just had such a buzzy tone to it. I suppose with a couple of mods I could have fixed that but it was only a loaner. I wasn't sad that it was gone. Again, I think a lot of the issue was with the speaker in the combo for sure.
 
jchrisf said:
I've had the 20HR and 40CR and recently got the 1HR. I think the 1HR sounds the best.. probably because you can really crank the Master higher (in .1 watt mode) than with the 20/40. It's even cheaper and smaller than the 20 and perfect for the home. In 1 watt mode it gets way too loud in the bedroom... but .1 watt is magic. It sounds huge at .1 watt. It's got more bass at bedroom volume than the others and even my 2204 at the same volumes. Euge was impressed.
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Only issue is they only have a single 16 ohm speaker input. I need 2 x 16.
 
PBGas said:
I had the DSL 20 combo that they gave me for a week under my bench and it wasn't horrible but it just had such a buzzy tone to it. I suppose with a couple of mods I could have fixed that but it was only a loaner. I wasn't sad that it was gone. Again, I think a lot of the issue was with the speaker in the combo for sure.
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I got the head - I'll being running 2 Friedman closed-back 1x12's with Creamback 65's.
 
jchrisf said:
Nice... DSLs really come to life with pedals in front and the loop takes pedals very well.
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Oh, I'll be hitting it with a whole host of boosts I have at my disposal. Wylde OD, MXR M-77, GT-OD, SD-1, Fortin TS-9, EQ's, you name it.
I have a multi-FX unit for the loop, but I've been looking at getting something new, maybe an HX FX..
 
napalmdeath said:
I've had one of those as well. I changed the speaker and tubes, and it rocked. Sounded like a good old Marshall!
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I had one as well and changed the speaker to one of those Warehouse speakers and I thought it was good. Speaker change definitely made a difference for the better.
 
dcburn said:
I had one as well and changed the speaker to one of those Warehouse speakers and I thought it was good. Speaker change definitely made a difference for the better.
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Those 70/80's were shit speakers. I put a V30 in mine, KT77's in the power section. Even got an extension cab and it rocked out.
 
napalmdeath said:
Those 70/80's were shit speakers. I put a V30 in mine, KT77's in the power section. Even got an extension cab and it rocked out.
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Totally agree on the speaker that came with it.

The Warehouse sounded good. Didn’t know anything about them, well except they were cost effective. I did a complete brake job and oil change for a buddy that let it go way too long (brakes weren’t there, as well as oil on dipstick missing) and he gave me the speaker. I was doing the work to help him so the speaker was a surprise, but the amp came to life. Can’t remember exactly, Warehouse ET-something I think.
 
Honestly I’d get a Boss Katana Artist Gen 3 and be much happier and have a better amp overall too IMO.



The Marshall is nice but a lot of nicer stuff for the same or less money.


This or a Fender/EVH 5150 lll Lunchbox too or a 5150 Iconic……



Peavey Invective mini heads look nicer too.
 
Peavey 5150 mini is a better alternative too.


Orange Dark TT and Orange Rocker 15 are better too IMO.
 
Chris6870 said:
Dsl 20 was the worst amp I ever had. Bees in a can is the only way I can describe it. I would get any of the Friedman 20 Watters over it. Actually the little Soldano mini SLO head sounds better and they are like 200 bucks.
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Well, your assessment is very close to mine, it showed up yesterday. Not only was fizz an issue, it also sounds bloated, with a very strange low end. Messing with bass and resonance seemed to yield either too flabby, or too thin. The loop is a major tone suck as well. Now, to be fair, decent tones can be had, but as soon as you add my multiFX, it sounded like a blanket went over the speakers. I farted around with an EQ, and used an SD-1. Nothing really wow'd me... Fuck this amp... I got another Friedman PT-20 V2 on the way.. This amp had white noise with the volume on zero.
 
napalmdeath said:
Well, your assessment is very close to mine, it showed up yesterday. Not only was fizz an issue, it also sounds bloated, with a very strange low end. Messing with bass and resonance seemed to yield either too flabby, or too thin. The loop is a major tone suck as well. Now, to be fair, decent tones can be had, but as soon as you add my multiFX, it sounded like a blanket went over the speakers. I farted around with an EQ, and used an SD-1. Nothing really wow'd me... Fuck this amp... I got another Friedman PT-20 V2 on the way.. This amp had white noise with the volume on zero.
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Lol, yeah it’s far from a great amp, but it does what I need sitting in front of the TV
 
The~Kid said:
Honestly I’d get a Boss Katana Artist Gen 3 and be much happier and have a better amp overall too IMO.



The Marshall is nice but a lot of nicer stuff for the same or less money.


This or a Fender/EVH 5150 lll Lunchbox too or a 5150 Iconic……



Peavey Invective mini heads look nicer too.
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EVH Iconic, 50 watt 5153 or the Boss Katana 3 Gen are all good suggestions.

I also think the Orange SC120 S/S sound pretty good as well but they do have that Orange tone in them that you have to like.
 
I just had an SV20H for two weeks, flipped it. IME, these 20w heads sound great, but are too loud for a practice amp, yet can't hang with a drummer at band practice. If your needs are somewhere in between that, then a 20w may fit the bill. I had a 2525C and sounded glorious. But I took it to an outdoor gig, had it maxed out and it was just keeping up with the band, PA, crowd, venue size, etc.

If you must have any kind of DSL and are prone to finding it sounds like a box of bees, I only ever use the green channel, buttons pressed in, volume dimed and I use the gain knob as the volume. That's where these amps shine.
 
napalmdeath said:
Well, your assessment is very close to mine, it showed up yesterday. Not only was fizz an issue, it also sounds bloated, with a very strange low end. Messing with bass and resonance seemed to yield either too flabby, or too thin. The loop is a major tone suck as well. Now, to be fair, decent tones can be had, but as soon as you add my multiFX, it sounded like a blanket went over the speakers. I farted around with an EQ, and used an SD-1. Nothing really wow'd me... Fuck this amp... I got another Friedman PT-20 V2 on the way.. This amp had white noise with the volume on zero.
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I think you should consider the Synergy 20IR... I know you've got the PT on the way but I just got the Snyergy and it is pretty awesome. A massive amount of cool modules for a fraction of the price of the unit. And the Syn20 itself has it's own clean channel and a lot of nice features.
 
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jchrisf said:
I think you should consider the Synergy 20IR... I know you've got the PT on the way but I just got the Snyergy and it is pretty awesome. A massive amount of cool modules for a fraction of the price of the unit. And the Syn20 itself has it's own clean channel and a lot of nice features.
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I looked into the 50. But, it would turn into module rabbit hole city. They sound damn good, especially the SLOII, that's probably where I would go out of the gate. And probably the Fortin Killer Kali.
 
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