NAD 2555X

[Geeze]

Saw this on CL and made an offer. The guy - who didn't know he was supposed to tell me to F off - accepted.

This is another step in the continuing saga of learning and refining on my Marshall amp journey. I'm a bit off as I like to reproduce recorded tones live. I've worked my way through a JTM45, JCM800, JMP2204, JCM900 and a hand built 1987. All great amps, all 50 watt as I have heard many times the 50's sound 'better' - yep a very subjective call. I've been fortunate to get to blast my amp builders holy grail 2203 [wow] and now this 2555X and I believe I like the 100 watters a bit better. I like the tighter percussive response.

Got to blast the Jube thru greenies tonight [happy hour at the office] - very cool. The clean channel is amazing. More knob twisting time is needed.

I spent most of the time on the lead channel with the output and lead master at 8 and the input gain at 4. Lots of great smooth gain there [LP & Burstbuckers]. Pushing the input to 6 and lead master between 6 and 10 completely changes the gain - very cool lots to learn!

Best loop I've used on a Marshall - no muss or fuss just works. Only bitch - I hate the face plate - looks great but if I wear a black shirt I can't freaking read the knob labels.

Russ

 

[david(j)]

Posts like this make me look forward to a situation in life where a 100w Marshall makes sense again.

I won't see it for a while, but when it arrives it'll be glorious.

Congrats. I love Jubes.

 

[RayBarbeeMusic]

I'm a bit off as I like to reproduce recorded tones live.

Nothing wrong with that. The recorded tones were tweaked because the raw tones didn't sit in the mix well or hurt the listener's ears.

 

[rstites]

Congratulations on that. I've owned all those classic 100 W Marshalls at one point. They were great fun. The Jubilee was a weird beast with a very unique sound for a Marshall.

It's strange what you've heard about 50 W vs. 100 W Marshalls. I always heard the opposite, and indeed I preferred the 100 W. They have noticeably more bass and punch to them, even at the same volume. There's a bit of sweetness to the 50's that the 100's don't have. I'm not sure it makes much difference with the higher gain preamps feeding into the power sections, but it definitely does in the non-MV and early single channel MV amps.

 

[Geeze]

The Jubilee was a weird beast with a very unique sound for a Marshall.

It's a bit more refined [at least with GB's]. I'm not sure yet if it has convinced me I'm done for now or just fanned the terrible flames of GAS for one of the big Marshall clones.

Merry Christmas!

Russ

 

[Hacksaw]

Congrats on getting a 2555! Really cool you're trying all the Marshall models, so what's next! Haha.

Ya you should try some v30s with that one.

Merry Christmas!

 

[Geeze]

Really cool you're trying all the Marshall models, so what's next! Haha.

HA HA indeed! I know this is TGP but damn, dude, I've only had it 6 days. I'm still floating around in the 'THIS IS THE BEST AMP EVER - MY SEARCH IS OVER!' post acquisition bliss stage. It hasn't farted in bed, confessed to being a Packer fan or slept with my brother yet! I'm still delusional enough that I plan to keep the 1960A I built and populate it with V30's to achieve maximum eargasm.

Strangely enough I've swung over to the dark side - 100 watt Marshall amps are the next frontier - 45/100, 1959 keep whispering to me. This has been a very strange and enjoyable ride since my first tube rig [after a 15 year hiatus] 4+ years ago.

Merry Christmas!

Russ

 

[Echoplexi]

Congrats! I had a 1988 2555 in black tolex that was in gorgeous condition. Of course it's gone now like a true TGPer but it was a really cool amp.

I agree with pairing them with v30s too

 

[Geeze]

Posts like this make me look forward to a situation in life where a 100w Marshall makes sense again.

My friend, NONE of this makes sense. If we had more sense we'd invested our gear money and worked on our pickup lines... Thankfully I'm foolish enough to invest in this pursuit of tone and have found many great friends and acquired some fun skills. I plan to be that old, loud geezer motherf*cker keeping life interesting.

Russ

 

[gtrplr71]

My friend, NONE of this makes sense. If we had more sense we'd invested our gear money and worked on our pickup lines... Thankfully I'm foolish enough to invest in this pursuit of tone and have found many great friends and acquired some fun skills. I plan to be that old, loud geezer motherf*cker keeping life interesting.

Russ

I would to know the story behind the fuc* off statement in the OP.

 

[Geeze]

I would to know the story behind the fuc* off statement in the OP.

I was half hoping he would tell me to fly a kite with my offer. But he didn't.

Russ

 

[Hacksaw]

I was half hoping he would tell me to fly a kite with my offer. But he didn't.

Russ

You really need a lesson on lowballin! Just remember to start at less than half the selling price.

 

[LPMojoGL]

You really need a lesson on lowballin! Just remember to start at less than half the selling price.

So you're that guy on Craigslist.

 

[rstites]

It's a bit more refined [at least with GB's]. I'm not sure yet if it has convinced me I'm done for now or just fanned the terrible flames of GAS for one of the big Marshall clones.

I'll help your GAS along here, though it sounds like you've got a fair bit of experience with other classic Marshalls already.

The 2555 is voiced considerably darker than any of the other classic Marshalls. That's what I meant by it being unique. It's high gain, like the 2210, but goes about that gain completely differently, though both get there by diode clipping. (The horror! ) It's really it's own thing, completely different than all the other Marshalls on the preamp-side of things.

The 2555 is also pretty funky to dial in as it's really a single channel amp with two voicings, which makes dialing in an adventure in possibilities and a bit weird when trying to set it up as a 2 channel amp. The clean gain cascades into the lead channel, so you can completely change the lead channel by changing the clean gain. It's easy to get a couple of very nice sounds on the two channels at two completely different output levels. You can work with this with something in the loop to adjust levels.

With high gain, I recall it being a bit buzzy at low levels, but really smoothing out very nicely with some gain.....kinda like all classic Marshalls!

 

[Hacksaw]

So you're that guy on Craigslist.

Ha! it's a hobby.

 

[PBGas]

Enjoy the new amp! They are great!

 

[sickboy79]

Great score. Huge Jubilee fan. I have an original 2553 head. One of my favorite Marshall amps of all time for sure.