NAD- Mesa Mark IIB Coliseum, Loop Modded insanity!

Digging this back up with new info.. Thoughts in no particular order-

Woah! 1977's Mark III Coli only has 4 big caps? WTH?

Since my last post I've bought & sold another IIC+, a factory SR. It was honestly the best of them. Epic liquid leads. But, the IIB Coli is still overall better. I've realized that all the C+ I've had have this mid honk that the IIB and the IIIs I've had don't have. I've also put some of The Tube Store's Preffered 6L6 in the COli which are a clone of the TAD 6l6, and some of the only new tubes rated to take 550pv. They sound great, btw. Anyway, I did a slave test here.


I've also re-acquired a III red stripe long head that sounds amazing. I did a better slave test here. I'm now officially on the hunt for a III Red Coli with the 8 cap power section.
 
Digging this back up with new info.. Thoughts in no particular order-

Woah! 1977's Mark III Coli only has 4 big caps? WTH?

Since my last post I've bought & sold another IIC+, a factory SR. It was honestly the best of them. Epic liquid leads. But, the IIB Coli is still overall better. I've realized that all the C+ I've had have this mid honk that the IIB and the IIIs I've had don't have. I've also put some of The Tube Store's Preffered 6L6 in the Coli which are a clone of the TAD 6l6, and some of the only new tubes rated to take 550pv which is what it runs. They sound great, btw. Anyway, I did a slave test here.


I've also re-acquired a III red stripe long head that sounds amazing. I did a better slave test here. I'm now officially on the hunt for a III Red Coli with the 8 cap power section.
 
Is it possible they used stacked caps of a lower voltage rating in the 8 cap version? That could explain why one has 2x the number of big caps.
 
SpiderWars":nvxrdv7x said:
Is it possible they used stacked caps of a lower voltage rating in the 8 cap version? That could explain why one has 2x the number of big caps.
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Mike B told me that the 2B Coli power section was a bit ‘meaner’ than the following 2C and Mk III Colis.

Jeremy are you saying that a 2B has less mid honk(with eq off) than the 2C or III? I found that all of them have that nasally mid thing with the eq off. The only Mark that had a difference in the mids was a III Red stripe; way more mids than a purple stripe with the same eq settings. I A/Bd both a few yrs ago.
 
I'm talking about EQ on and dialed the way we like it to sound best. If you dial each amp in for best tone & compare them, the IICs have a mid honk that the others do not. And I don't care for it- especially in the band mix. Ultimately I've decided to sell all 4 IIC+ after playing them with the band. The JP2C also had it, that & my HRG were the worst in this regard.

Once again I agree that there are solid differences amp-to-amp, for example how good that SR sounded w/o EQ and your MkIII comparo experience, and I can only speak to the ones I've owned (12 Marks), but as happy as I am with my C+ experience I'm ready to move on from them. When comparing reality in the room to dollars spent I'm a lot happier with what I have now.

I'm really curious to see more gut shots of III Colis to do a big cap count.
 
OK, I just looked at pics from earlier in this thread and those 8 caps are definitely stacked and are only rated for 300vdc or 275vdc (hard to read), hence the need to stack them. If the amp with 4 caps doesn't stack them then they would have to be rated for the full voltage (at least 500vdc). Did you see the voltage rating of the 4 big caps?
 
We can't see in Metal1977's pic of his III Coli unfortunately. However, point of reference in my III red stripe DRG there's a quad of 300v big caps. I also have a picture of a purple & two blue Simul IIIs and they all have the same.

My Coli was originally an octet of 285V and came back with an octet of 300V.

My DRG C+ came back with 3x 500v & 2x 300v. My HRG & SR were the same. Note the 500v units were physically smaller.
 
Clarity is king for me with any amp, and my experience is that the 2C/C+ is far and away the king of the Marks in that category. By a long shot. Then there’s the feel..no other amp has that feel the C+ has. Not a Wizard, SLO, vintage Marshall...nothing else. Those 2 reasons are why the C+ is one of my favorite amps.

I think all Marks have a honk going without the EQ engaged..but with it on I can get scooped metal tones for days. I don’t even bottom out my 750, I have to leave some in there or it’s too scooped for me.
 
Racerxrated":89u4zgy9 said:
Clarity is king for me with any amp, and my experience is that the 2C/C+ is far and away the king of the Marks in that category. By a long shot. Then there’s the feel..no other amp has that feel the C+ has. Not a Wizard, SLO, vintage Marshall...nothing else. Those 2 reasons are why the C+ is one of my favorite amps.

I think all Marks have a honk going without the EQ engaged..but with it on I can get scooped metal tones for days. I don’t even bottom out my 750, I have to leave some in there or it’s too scooped for me.
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Run a parametric EQ out front like Stryper etc and you'll have plenty 'o midrange !!!
 
Racer, what I've been saying for a while now is there's an inherent Mark mid frequency that's native & not possible to dial out with the GEQ. Maybe with a parametric? In most of them it's honky, in the best of them it's just a mid-mid presence. I hope once you have your Triple you'll A/B & see what I mean.

I agree that the IIC+ clarity & liquidity is the best. No argument there. If I wanted an amp to only play leads on it would be the SR I just sold, best ever. That said, I'm looking at the big picture in my comments. My KRG & red stripe that are in the stable at the moment both have less of the mid-mids than the C+ all did, and both have notably better bottom end compressiveness when palm muting, and I personally prefer it.
 
GJgo":1vo63hqm said:
Racer, what I've been saying for a while now is there's an inherent Mark mid frequency that's native & not possible to dial out with the GEQ. Maybe with a parametric? In most of them it's honky, in the best of them it's just a mid-mid presence. I hope once you have your Triple you'll A/B & see what I mean.

I agree that the IIC+ clarity & liquidity is the best. No argument there. If I wanted an amp to only play leads on it would be the SR I just sold, best ever. That said, I'm looking at the big picture in my comments. My KRG & red stripe that are in the stable at the moment both have less of the mid-mids than the C+ all did, and both have notably better bottom end compressiveness when palm muting, and I personally prefer it.
Click to expand...
:rock:
It’s all about preference, and you found your favorites. I found in a dual recto Rev G that they were way to mid focused, even with the mids off. With the GEQ on and in a V shape, scooped those mids right out and that includes all Marks from 2B to III. I never found any mid presence that you hear, with the eq on. Off it’s mid honk central, again with all of them. The triple experience I’ve had is the mids are less present than the dual but less than any Mark with the GEQ engaged.
Just my experience.
 
I agree GJgo.........my IIB with loop mod SLAYS........would never sell it.......well, maybe for the right price. :thumbsup:
 

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Nice. ZR does yours have the big 8 cap bank?

Stocking up on 6FQ7s? I am!

I've had a few guys try to buy mine, so far I'm not interested. It'd be a big number knowing what I know with all the Mark amps I've been through.
 
I think you'd have really liked my Coli before the C+ conversion. It was as tight as any C+, and more than enough gain. It's serial is K34* so it should have been right in the beginning of the 2C Coli. It's like it had the loop mod, without the loop mod. Also had the limiter, which only appeared with the 2C Coliseum and later. It had the very last 2B preamp board, RP9C. But after Mike worked his magic it was amazing as a real C+.

Thing is, when you turn it up..you guys know...its a damn religious experience. And it gets way brighter too...I'm used to that with amps when I know I'm turning it up, gotta darken it a bit but this one, I really have to dial it dark. If you guys can ever source a Mesa halfback with EV/C90 and have the ability to turn your Coli up to 2 or so, you'll hear why those amps were paired with those cabs way back. As good as V30s are, the halfback is even better.
 
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