Re: NAD Genz Benz El Diablo 4xEl34 100 watt
I'll do one better! I recently acquired both the 60 watt combo (new for 600), a gflex 2x12 (new 400) AND a 100 watt head (500 with minimal time on it - guy got a 6505+ and never used it).
I liked the combo enough to justify getting the head. I guess that it was to my benefit that these things get a bad wrap?
IMO you sould take both of the doc"s advice, give it some time to get used to it. they really are great amps. the mids are so different that they take sometime for your ears to adjust to them.
you can't go in expecting it to nail the 5150 or recto sound/vibe. it is a different animal. i agree with the surgeon that it is a cross between a 5150 and a recto to some extent, but i would throw in some hot-rodded marshall too. it gets near all three while being it own thing.
Metalmaniac, the tube contour knob is your friend!
i found different sounds with it to the left( more marshall middy/thick) by adding some highs with the regular eq or the global presence. or you could turn that knob to the right( more of a scooped sound) and take away some highs to compensate.
also, as surgeon already pointed out, the mids are very important.
you can't just do the normal scoop and expect greatness. the typical 10 0 10 scoop is a 30 db difference. that is way more variance than a regular amp with passive tone stacks.
i find that i keep the mids and the bass about the same, and adjust the highs to taste. hard to go wrong that way as a starting point. i have had my amps for a month or so now and am still discovering new sounds every day. as an added bonus, once you find your eq settings (b -3, m-2,t 4 for example) you can increase them all in the same ratio (b 8, m 9, t 15) and get sort of a gain boost due to the active controls. that"s versatility!
Now, as to the difference between the head and combo,( i know you are curious!)
the head goes down to 50w by cutting 2 power tubes out, while the combo does the pentode/triode thing. i prefer the combo for lower wattage. the head has the clean channel boost. the head also doen't have any reverb circuit feedback like the combo does (reverb tank is located 2 inches from the speaker magnet) the head's separate effects loops are cool as hell too!
also, the head seems to not perform well at low volumes. to clarify, at tv volumes, it seems to be all trebly with no body whatsoever. as the volume goes up though, watch out! 3 on both the channel vol and master seem like the practical bottom limit to go the right sound.
what cab and speakers have you guys used with yours? so far i've used the gflex with the head; sounds somewhat congested? nasally? i may want to try an avatar 2x12 convertible cabinet in the future.
the combo on the other hand is nothing short of too cool! i don't know how they get so much bass out of a semi open back cabinet.
it is almost like a bass port for the lows and an openback for that mid/ high open, dispersion thing.
lastly do you guys hear a certain fuzz like sound to the compression circuit?
good luck
juan
