NAD. 65 Amps Marquee.

[cbfurg]

Got it in from guitar center of all places. Found it online and they had dropped the price $750!

The down side is that the amp only has 16ohm taps on it. The plus side is that after rewiring my cab, this amp sounds fantastic! I have gone down a long spiral of amps this past year and a half.

I've owned:

RSA23
RSA31
FTR37

Top Hat Emplexador
Top Hat Club Royale

Carr Rambler

Matchless Chieftain

Fuchs ODS50

This Marquee is just amazing. I played it for the first 15 minutes and it killed me. The cleans were fantastic. Balanced and sparkling. The amp stayed clean (on the left side) and took pedals remarkably well while the right side (with a click style not unlike the d13s) could produce great vintage rock tones. I played it through a closed back d13 cab with heritage greenbacks and it was jaw droppingly great. Call it the honeymoon stage but this amp is going nowhere! I can't believe 65 amps stopped making these!

 

[lang.murphy]

Congrats on getting an amp that, apparently, rocks your world. What's the tube complement in this amp? No info on the 65 Amps site...

 

[cbfurg]

Congrats on getting an amp that, apparently, rocks your world. What's the tube complement in this amp? No info on the 65 Amps site...

Sorry about the unabashed exuberance haha. It has al el84 backend. There is a click style channel for more gain not unlike d13s but it also has a tone knob. It has many of the same features as an rsa31 but seems more balanced to my ears. It doesn't have the overwhelming bass that was an issue from time to time for me and also stays cleaner longer on the non-click side which features a TMB stack. Another improvement over the rsa31 for me is the much lower noise floor. I really like d13's but all of them introduced quite a bit of noise from the click channel if that volume was up even if nothing was plugged in (Not sure what your experience is with these amps so I apologize if you are already aware of this). The marquee has virtually none compared to the rsa31.

To me, it's a dream come true. More usable clean side as well as a more usable "gain" side with less noise issues. In the time I've spent with it so far, it also takes pedals very well. I don't want to say its the perfect amp but for my applications, I would be hard-pressed to find one better! Its just a really solid, do what you need well amp IMO.

I'll try to reign in my enthusiasm a bit haha.

 

[B Vance]

Sorry about the unabashed exuberance haha. It has al el84 backend. There is a click style channel for more gain not unlike d13s but it also has a tone knob. It has many of the same features as an rsa31 but seems more balanced to my ears. It doesn't have the overwhelming bass that was an issue from time to time for me and also stays cleaner longer on the non-click side which features a TMB stack. Another improvement over the rsa31 for me is the much lower noise floor. I really like d13's but all of them introduced quite a bit of noise from the click channel if that volume was up even if nothing was plugged in (Not sure what your experience is with these amps so I apologize if you are already aware of this). The marquee has virtually none compared to the rsa31.

To me, it's a dream come true. More usable clean side as well as a more usable "gain" side with less noise issues. In the time I've spent with it so far, it also takes pedals very well. I don't want to say its the perfect amp but for my applications, I would be hard-pressed to find one better! Its just a really solid, do what you need well amp IMO.

I'll try to reign in my enthusiasm a bit haha.

Nice Furg! I've been digging on my 65 Empire for the last 6 months. They make some killer stuff.

 

[cbfurg]

Awesome dude! I sa you comment about it a couple times. I'd love to get together and compare sometime!

 

[GtrDr]

Would it kill them to put a 4/8/16 ohm selector on it?

 

[fusionbear]

I had a Marquee. It was a killer amp, but it was loud when it came into its own. No attenuator I tried could quite make it sound right at lower volumes. Not even the Phantom I used to own. But on its own, what an amp!

 

[guitare hero]

It's funny because like you, I bought a Divided by 13 FTR37 That I already have (fabulous amp for me) and I bought a Marquee too. This amp is just marvellous and I have a Royal Albert head which is incredible too, just more headroom. I play it in a 65 amps 2x12 with Alnico Gold and G12H30, the best combinaison!

Have fun!

EDIT: It's really funny, I bought the Royal Albert of Fusionbear when He sold it hahaha! A really nice guy and a cool deal!

 

[cbfurg]

Would it kill them to put a 4/8/16 ohm selector on it?

Seriously. I couldn't figure that one out to save my life...

 

[mcdyas]

This amp is great- just picked one up locally for a nice price and it sounds awesome. Imagine how it will sound when I change the 8 year old EL84s. Yes, would definitely like a ohm selector, but I'd like a 16 ohm tap on my Bella too. This is the way the amp gods made them.

 

[Pantone 333]

I can't believe you got it for $750! Great acquisition. Enjoy and use it well.