NAD, Marshall Origin 20.

Got my new Origin 20 today. I definitely know there's something not quite right with the used one I bought. The new one sounds a little fuller and is noticeably louder, even after I switched all my tubes over so I know it wasn't the tubes. I'll be returning the used one for sure now.

I did try it first before I swapped the tubes over. It was very dark and lifeless by comparison until I swapped out the EL34s for my 6550s and pulled the JJ from V1. I don't know why EL34s are so popular, I hate those dark/dull things.

Anyway, here's the obligatory pic of the new one with all the goodies my used one didn't come with. It is nice to have the foot switch after all, I have started using the boost sometimes and it's much better than having to pull the gain knob out to engage. I don't know if it's necessary, but I went ahead and registered it on Marshall.com.

wKTHnAy.jpg
 
DirtySteve said:
Got my new Origin 20 today. I definitely know there's something not quite right with the used one I bought. The new one sounds a little fuller and is noticeably louder, even after I switched all my tubes over so I know it wasn't the tubes. I'll be returning the used one for sure now.

I did try it first before I swapped the tubes over. It was very dark and lifeless by comparison until I swapped out the EL34s for my 6550s and pulled the JJ from V1. I don't know why EL34s are so popular, I hate those dark/dull things.

Anyway, here's the obligatory pic of the new one with all the goodies my used one didn't come with. It is nice to have the foot switch after all, I have started using the boost sometimes and it's much better than having to pull the gain knob out to engage. I don't know if it's necessary, but I went ahead and registered it on Marshall.com.

wKTHnAy.jpg
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Congratulations! I sincerely hope that you’re going to be happy with this one!
 
Thatbastarddon said:
Congratulations! I sincerely hope that you’re going to be happy with this one!
Click to expand...
I was happy with the old one except it would sound good one day and then not as good the next. I think there's something wrong with it. I don't know if I talked about it here, but it did some weird things sometimes. I feel much better having this new one. The difference in price was worth it. Now I know what I have and will know it's whole history because I'll be the only one to play it. You just never know what someone my have done to a used amp before you get it. I haven't had much luck buying used amps.
 
DirtySteve said:
Oh I see. Yeah, I just wanted to get a new one with the foot switch and warranty all. The face plate on my used one is all smudged and discolored around the knobs and I can't clean it off, it's been driving me crazy. For the difference in cost it's worth it to me to have one that I know the whole history on and any flaws will be my own doing. I'm silly that way. :blink:
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The thing about the origin is the boost doesn't work without the Marshall LED footswitch.
They made it so that a regular footswitch wouldn't work...or not correctly anyway.

Another cute feature is that the high voltage won't turn on unless there's a speaker plugged in.
Or so seems to indicate that the output transformer is safe guarded by a switch built into the speaker jack.
 
Mitch Pearrow SJMP said:
Congratulations @DirtySteve
HNAD
I love my 50 H
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I don't know about the 50H.
I haven't had the pleasure of dissecting one.
Maybe the 50H is really 50 watts, don't know yet.

What I do know is that the Origin 50 (not H) has a DSL 40 power transformer....and when I measure the output I get 32 watts RMS....seems deliberate.

I did do an Origin 50 (not H) with a high level Metro effects loop board.

IMG_3667.JPG
IMG_3669.JPG
IMG_3919.JPG
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
The thing about the origin is the boost doesn't work without the Marshall LED footswitch.
They made it so that a regular footswitch wouldn't work...or not correctly anyway.
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I run mine with a TRS adapter in the FS jack that just opens the switching jack contacts and keeps the boost (tip) and loop (ring) always on.
The boost can be turned on with the p/p gain pot when the footswitch is not used, but the loop requires something in the FS jack.
A single button latching FS should turn boost on/off, but the ring to sleeve short at the jack would leave the loop off.
Not sure why a "regular" FS wouldn't work, unless you tried one with momentary switching.
Amp Mad Scientist said:
Another cute feature is that the high voltage won't turn on unless there's a speaker plugged in.
Or so seems to indicate that the output transformer is safe guarded by a switch built into the speaker jack.
Click to expand...
The Origin20 has a built-in load resistor that engages when no speaker is plugged in for using the DI out without a speaker load.
 
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fitz said:
I run mine with a TRS adapter in the FS jack that just opens the switching jack contacts and keeps the boost (tip) and loop (ring) always on.
The boost can be turned on with the p/p gain pot when the footswitch is not used, but the loop requires something in the FS jack.
A single button latching FS should turn boost on/off, but the ring to sleeve short at the jack would leave the loop off.
Not sure why a "regular" FS wouldn't work, unless you tried one with momentary switching.

The Origin20 has a built-in load resistor that engages when no speaker is plugged in for using the DI out without a speaker load.
Click to expand...
On the original Origin 50
I think the circuit needs an LED to make it function correctly.
Just opening the contacts doesn't turn the circuit all the way on. It may make it function partially but not fully.
But what I did first was put the LED circuit inside the amplifier.IMG_3987.JPG

But then later I bypassed the FX relay entirely.

IMG_3978.JPG

But then
I decided that the effects loop was in the wrong place entirely.
That's when I put the FX loop in front of the phase inverter, instead of the stock location.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
On the original Origin 50
I think the circuit needs an LED to make it function correctly.
Just opening the contacts doesn't turn the circuit all the way on. It may make it function partially but not fully.
But what I did first was put the LED circuit inside the amplifier.View attachment 106728

But then later I bypassed the FX relay entirely.

View attachment 106729

But then
I decided that the effects loop was in the wrong place entirely.
That's when I put the FX loop in front of the phase inverter, instead of the stock location.
Click to expand...
I notice no difference on the 20 boost with the footswitch or the adapter, so I never really looked into trying to fix anything.

The loop overpowering pedals with the amp cranked to native OD is a common complaint with both the 20 & 50.
Moving it to pre-PI sounds like a solid idea. :yesway:
I had to put Nik's buffered loop in my Ceriatone because of this type of issue.

I recently sold my O50, but I've always run my Origin amps clean (Marshall clean...) with a variety of front-end drive pedals.
Loud enough to move some air, and I have no issues with loop pedal distortion.
 
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