Morgan DAG15 Questions?

[PotterPicker]

Don't know what is going on, but I've emailed Joe Morgan twice in the last 12 days and haven't heard a peep yet. So I'll throw my questions out here...

I recently traded for a DAG15 and would like to gather a few opinions:

• My amp has a ASW 70-16 ohm speaker in it. At some point I might want to try an alnico. What alnico's do you like? I assume that Celestion Blue and Gold, but what else? How bout an ASW Elegante? I'm confused by the fact that there's 1-16 ohm speaker jack and 2-8 ohm jacks. Why 2-8 ohm jacks? Is this amp best with 16 ohm speakers or would I be just as good to go with an 8?

• Somebody had NOS EL84 tubes advertised on TGP that he had bought for a Morgan amp. It wasn't a DAG15, maybe an AC 20? He said that due to some kind of wiring discrepancy with the pins on new and old EL84's that they blew his rectifier tube. Anyone here use old EL84's with this amp?. What are some of your favorite tubes?

• Does this amp come with a manual? If so, is there somewhere it can be downloaded?

So far I'm liking it a lot. The power scaling is not perfect, but I do think it is one of the more useful volume taming options I have heard...

[Crowder]

I've owned the DAG15 twice. Really good amp. Here are my thoughts:

-- I owned one with the ASW speaker and one with a Celestion Blue. The Blue is a great fit for that amp. I highly recommend it.
-- I tried a lot of tubes with my DAGs and always ended up liking it best with modern production stuff like JJ's, TAD, etc. I tried ANOS preamp tubes from time to time, but it seemed to not work well with them.
-- I've owned 5 Morgan amps and never seen a manual so I'm guessing he doesn't bother. I would encourage you to use your ears and turn the knobs to extreme settings. I grew up on Fender amps where the amp sounds better with everything near the middle of its range. Vox-style amps are way different. You will find that the mids on the amp really come out as you reduce the bass and treble knobs. I always liked the Cut all the way up, with the Bass and Treble either all the way off, or both at 50%.
-- The Scaling works great from about 40% on up. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect it to sound as good at very low levels, but it is useful.

Good luck!

[Gasp100]

Originally Posted by Crowder

I've owned the DAG15 twice. Really good amp. Here are my thoughts:

-- I owned one with the ASW speaker and one with a Celestion Blue. The Blue is a great fit for that amp. I highly recommend it.
-- I tried a lot of tubes with my DAGs and always ended up liking it best with modern production stuff like JJ's, TAD, etc. I tried ANOS preamp tubes from time to time, but it seemed to not work well with them.
-- I've owned 5 Morgan amps and never seen a manual so I'm guessing he doesn't bother. I would encourage you to use your ears and turn the knobs to extreme settings. I grew up on Fender amps where the amp sounds better with everything near the middle of its range. Vox-style amps are way different. You will find that the mids on the amp really come out as you reduce the bass and treble knobs. I always liked the Cut all the way up, with the Bass and Treble either all the way off, or both at 50%.
-- The Scaling works great from about 40% on up. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect it to sound as good at very low levels, but it is useful.

Good luck!

Five? Using any Morgan amp now?

[mjse]

Just sent you a PM...

[Crowder]

Originally Posted by Gasp100

Five? Using any Morgan amp now?

No. I am digging the Marshall sound right now. I would have kept my last DAG15 around but I don't like to have stuff just sitting around if I'm not using it.

[Gear-Junkie]

I really dig the DAG15. It has beautiful sparkling cleans and it can roar like a beast, and Joes power scaling is the best I've heard. Ceramic or Alnico is really just personal preference but if your only using a single speaker I would go with a 16 ohm. You will be using the transformer to its maximum potential, subtle but noticable difference. Two great speakers that I thought sounded amazing with this amp were the Celestion Gold and the Celestion G12M.



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[PotterPicker]

Crowder... Thanks for all of your helpful information about speakers and tubes!

Gear-Junkie... Thank you for good information to have about the transformer.

Any other thoughts about tubes and speakers would be appreciated. Have others had experience with NOS tubes, either positive or negative?

[the_guitarboy]

Originally Posted by sahill

Crowder... Thanks for all of your helpful information about speakers and tubes!

Gear-Junkie... Thank you for good information to have about the transformer.

Any other thoughts about tubes and speakers would be appreciated. Have others had experience with NOS tubes, either positive or negative?

I have Crowders old DAG15 with a Celestion Blue. He's right about the power scaling, it works great but not perfect. I usually have to run the power pretty low since i live in a basement suite, but when i do get to open it up....it's a whole new amp.

Once you reach that spot on the power scaling the DAG just comes alive and the magic happens!

I just tried some old Amperex 12ax7's in my DAG, i for sure noticed a big tone difference but since i haven't had a chance to crank it, i don't know for sure if i like it or not.