NAD - Lab Series L9 - Help!

tachycardia23

I just got this bad boy from a local shop. This is my second tatty obsolete solid state amp, the first being the (now deposed) USA Peavey Bandit 65 to the left there.



Does anyone have a copy of the manual? I've been searching but only come up with dead links and people wanting £10 for a photocopy.

I'm not convinced the second channel is working properly....

Jimbro66

That’s a pretty beaten up old L9  They are excellent amps though. I used one for two or three years in the eighties and should never have parted with it. Great clean sounds with masses of headroom and the inbuilt compressor was excellent. Overdrive sounds maybe not so good but takes pedals well.

I doubt that I have a copy of the manual after all this time but will take a peek in my box of old brochures and things.

I believe they are not the easiest amps to service and repair but no doubt @ICBM can better advise on that.

tachycardia23

Thanks for your response Jimbro!

It really is a beaten up old boy, isn't it. I do like my gear to have had a life before me. My concern is that it's not entirely cosmetic wear. Basically the amp sounds terribly dark, I was expecting a Fender-a-like brightness but it feels muffled and very bass-heavy. Perhaps not a surprise given the 15" speaker but it's not hitting the spot for me, so to speak. Up against my Dark Terror it lacks clarity, rather noticeably. The EQ is very cool but I still can't get it to treble territory. Is this just the voicing of the amp?  

It wasn't expensive but it's a bit inconvenient to cart back to the shop or to have repaired, if that were even an economical proposition. I would sell it on but I want to make sure it's working properly first, obviously.

Jimbro66

tachycardia23 said:

Basically the amp sounds terribly dark, I was expecting a Fender-a-like brightness but it feels muffled and very bass-heavy. Perhaps not a surprise given the 15" speaker but it's not hitting the spot for me, so to speak. Up against my Dark Terror it lacks clarity, rather noticeably. The EQ is very cool but I still can't get it to treble territory. Is this just the voicing of the amp? 

That doesn't sound at all right @tachycardia23. My L9 was certainly not a dark sounding amp. Quite the contrary, it had a full rich sound with plenty of sparkle and character. The 15" speaker just gave it more 'thump' but certainly didn't make it bass-heavy. I was using an '82 Schecter Tele with single coils at that time and the L9 really suited it.

It really sounds like your L9 has a problem. In your shoes I would take it back if that's possible and look out for a better example.

ICBM

Is it the original speaker, or has someone stuck something like a PA or car audio bass driver in it?

It shouldn't be a very dark amp, the EQ is quite powerful and you can get a good range of tones with them. They're not so much difficult to work on as difficult to find some of the parts, pots in particular, which can make repairing them properly a bit of a challenge. I don't think I have a schematic unfortunately.

tachycardia23

I don't believe it is the original speaker but it is a 80s vintage Celestion G15-100. I can't look at the cone at present as the grille is nailed on...

Schematic and other docs here - http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Lab/schem.html

tachycardia23

OK, so I tried the speaker with my other amp, a dark terror, and it really changed the sound of it. Of course that's expected but it still seemed to lack the treble. 

ICBM

tachycardia23 said:

I don't believe it is the original speaker but it is a 80s vintage Celestion G15-100.

They did more than one model of these - some were definitely designed as bass/PA drivers and won't have a lot of top-end. Can you tell if it has a paper or cloth edge surround, and if the cone is smooth or has concentric ridges on it?

tachycardia23 said:

Schematic and other docs here - http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Lab/schem.html

Thanks!

tachycardia23

Looks like a cloth edge but can't really see the front of cone through the grille

tachycardia23

looks a lot like some being sold as bass speakers...

ICBM

From the back it looks like a heavy smooth cone. PA/bass driver.

If you have a meter, what impedance is it? Someone has written 16 ohm on it... it might even be a bad re-cone with the wrong kit.

tachycardia23

I don't have a multimeter, sadly. So, probably heading back to the shop then. I know myself, I'm too lazy to fix things. Thanks a lot for the info.

Jimbro66

FWIW the original speaker would have been an Electrovoice EVM15L which sounded really good and suited the L9. Used ones come up from time to time on eBay/reverb but for probably more than you paid for the whole amp. A good L9 should probably set you back about £300 at present although I've seen some silly prices being asked.

Is there any chance of checking out your L9 with a different speaker/cab temporarily? Would need to be preferably 8 ohm 100w rated.

BTW in response to your original request if you take a look at this Facebook page someone has posted views of the original owner's manual that are just about readable (least ways on my computer monitor)

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=670191919714648&id=160546784012500&anchor_composer=false

ICBM

Jimbro66 said:

FWIW the original speaker would have been an Electrovoice EVM15L which sounded really good and suited the L9.

I've seen a couple of them with Eminences too, which I think may have been original - it's likely they offered the EV as an option because they were expensive. (Fender did with the Rivera-designed series, both valve and solid-state.)

I would certainly put something like an Eminence Legend 1518 in one now, before an EV - not only a lot cheaper, but you might be able to lift the amp .

Jimbro66

ICBM said:

I would certainly put something like an Eminence Legend 1518 in one now, before an EV - not only a lot cheaper, but you might be able to lift the amp .

Ha ha! Yes, my L9 had the EVM15L and I can vouch for it being a hefty lump. Mind you, after my previous Pro 2000 it didn't seem too heavy at that time -  but I was a lot younger and fitter then

ICBM

Jimbro66 said:

Mind you, after my previous Pro 2000 it didn't seem too heavy at that time -  but I was a lot younger and fitter then

I think the Pro 2000 is the heaviest amp I know of. I've never actually weighed one, but I think probably heavier than both a Mesa Trem-o-verb and an Ampeg VT-22...

There was a Pro 501 in the shop recently that some nutter had fitted an enormous PA driver into - stupidly heavy, as well as sounding terrible! I replaced it with a 200W Fane Studio, which itself is not a light speaker but noticeably reduced the weight of the amp. I still have the old one - I don't actually know what make it is, but it's the heaviest 12" speaker I've ever come across - 22lb, 3lb heavier than an EV.

tachycardia23

Ah great, thanks for the facebook link.

I've tried it with my other cab now, an Eminence 8ohm 50W, and it sounds much better. I am tempted to keep it but I shouldn't take on a project, my track record is awful!

olafgarten

tachycardia23 said:

Ah great, thanks for the facebook link.

I've tried it with my other cab now, an Eminence 8ohm 50W, and it sounds much better. I am tempted to keep it but I shouldn't take on a project, my track record is awful!

Replacing a speaker isn't hard, just a handful of screws and a couple of cables. 

tachycardia23

Yeah, I can imagine. I've rewired guitars in the past and I used to build bikes from parts, so I'm reasonably technical and understand the principles of fixing things. That said, I don't enjoy it, it stresses me out. I would rather just have something that's plug and play. I might even go Yamaha TH or Katana now.

Jimbro66

ICBM said:

I think the Pro 2000 is the heaviest amp I know of. I've never actually weighed one, but I think probably heavier than both a Mesa Trem-o-verb and an Ampeg VT-22...

There must be a couple of generations of guitarists who now have bad backs and/or poor hearing as a result of the amp's used back then. During that period I lugged around a Pro 2000, a Fender Twin with JBLs, a Fender Dual Showman head with two 2x15 JBL cabs and, for a short while, a Trem-o-verb combo. Even the 'lighter' amps like my LAB L9, Peavy MX and Musicman HD130 still made a flight of stairs a challenge Somehow it was thought essential to do that and go home with ringing ears.........madness  

tachycardia23

Took the L9 back to the shop, the proprietor accepted it back in return for store credit (my choice) no hassles. I mentioned that I believed the speaker was not right and he indicated that it was the original and that these amps are known for their darkness. I have no opinion on that, but I know the amp wasn't right for me which he accepted. Sad, as I really wanted this to work out but good as I now can look for something I really do want.

Thanks to all who commented and helped me!