UPDATE New Marshall - 2x12 DSL40 (DSL402) (Now £399 at GuitarGuitar)

noisepolluter

Cols said:

Just got one of these last week.  Is very good.

For those of you who replaced the onboard speakers (and they do look a bit flimsy), what did you go for?

I have the 1x12 not the 2x12, but I replaced the stock speaker with a G12H75 Creamback.

I found the stock V-type ok but a bit on the scratchy side, and the bass was a bit boomy.

The Creamback has smoothed out the rasp while keeping the clarity, and the bass is much tighter and deeper. The amp’s controls now have a much wider usable sweep.

Downside is the extra weight that two H75’s would add - I still find the 1x12 manageable with a H75 but in any case it’s mostly going to be played at home.

If weight is an issue maybe try the M65 Creamback? (Never tried the Neo Creamback but I know it also has its fans on here)

Edit: at the same time as the speaker swap I also took advantage of the external bias points to quickly check the bias with a multimeter - it was set too hot from the factory, Marshall confirmed the correct factory setting should read 35mV per side +/- 1mV, mine was reading 40.1 and 41.5 respectively and this was causing increased noise at idle. Dialled it down to 35 per side and the noise floor is now barely audible.

Cols

StefB said:

If anyone missed out on these Fair Deal have them in stock again at £450 this time, although they were £436 on their eBay site last week, and they have an open box example for £379 - https://www.fairdealmusic.co.uk/products/marshall-dsl402-40w-2x12-limited-edition-combo-amplifier-open-box?variant=43874964537569&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwyeujBhA5EiwA5WD7_cdb_cEhDQwKaWb4nup_jpFF5efT4a7lKeNo0SxXst4p8pIdW12EYBoCjPkQAvD_BwE

That’s exactly where I got mine from; cheeky bastards bumping it up to £450, they sold me one for £390 last Tuesday!

StefB

Cols said:

StefB said:

If anyone missed out on these Fair Deal have them in stock again at £450 this time, although they were £436 on their eBay site last week, and they have an open box example for £379 - https://www.fairdealmusic.co.uk/products/marshall-dsl402-40w-2x12-limited-edition-combo-amplifier-open-box?variant=43874964537569&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwyeujBhA5EiwA5WD7_cdb_cEhDQwKaWb4nup_jpFF5efT4a7lKeNo0SxXst4p8pIdW12EYBoCjPkQAvD_BwE

That’s exactly where I got mine from; cheeky bastards bumping it up to £450, they sold me one for £390 last Tuesday!

£504 on their eBay page now, presumably to take account of fees, but erratic pricing logic all round. 

ICBM

noisepolluter said:

I should add my 2x12 is wired in series as stock, so I’ve got a 2x8 ohm pair for 16 ohm total. I’ve not tried them wired in parallel at 4 ohms. @ICBM I’m sure would be able to comment on how the sound might differ. 

Brighter and more ‘vibrant’ at 16, darker and tighter at 4… usually! But less important than the type of speakers, so I wouldn’t let it be the deciding factor if you’re looking for replacements.

4-ohm speakers are fairly unusual, and if they’re unbranded as well it strikes me that they’re using up old speakers, probably from something like the AVT series. That doesn’t necessarily make them bad.

StefB

PSA - Fair Deal Music have these back in stock at £399 in their Black Friday deal for anyone still with a passing interest in them - https://www.fairdealmusic.co.uk/collections/black-friday-2023/products/marshall-dsl402cr-40w-2x12-combo-amplifier

StefB

I'm thinking of puling the trigger on one of these at last.

Pricing at £399 seems like a joke, reviews are almost universally positive, and I have a pair of Celestion Neo Copperbacks I can quickly drop in to improve on the OEM drivers while maintaining the modest payload.

A few quick questions for the guys that already own them though if I may @Cols @randella @Lescaster ;

1) is the cab made of ply, rather than the MDF of the earlier (original) 1x12 version?

2) are the stock drivers soldered to the lugs or fitted with clip on/off spade connectors?

3) my Copperbacks are 16ohm, whereas the OEMs are 4ohm.  Can I still use the factory series wiring and, if so, what load will the speaker jack need moving to on the rear panel? @ICBM ;?

Thanks all.  I'm pretty much decided I'm going to get one as the price seems too good to be true, but it would be useful to have answers to the above ahead of placing an order.

ICBM

StefB said:

2) are the stock drivers soldered to the lugs or fitted with clip on/off spade connectors?

All modern Marshalls apart from the handwired reissues use push-connectors.

StefB said:

3) my Copperbacks are 16ohm, whereas the OEMs are 4ohm.  Can I still use the factory series wiring and, if so, what load will the speaker jack need moving to on the rear panel?

No. Connecting them in series would give 32 ohms, which is too high. You will need to connect them in parallel, which will require one more wire (with push-connectors, unless you want to solder it) - this will also give an 8-ohm load.

But while there's no upper limit to speaker power rating compared to the amp - contrary to a lot of popular belief - it does seems a bit of a waste to make a 500W cab for a 40W amp...

DartmoorHedgehog

StefB said:

3) my Copperbacks are 16ohm, whereas the OEMs are 4ohm.  Can I still use the factory series wiring and, if so, what load will the speaker jack need moving to on the rear panel? @ICBM ;;?
.

I can't answer the rest of your questions, but two 16 ohm speakers in series would be 32 ohms. You'd be better off putting them in parallel for 8 ohms.

StefB

ICBM said:

StefB said:

2) are the stock drivers soldered to the lugs or fitted with clip on/off spade connectors?

All modern Marshalls apart from the handwired reissues use push-connectors.

StefB said:

3) my Copperbacks are 16ohm, whereas the OEMs are 4ohm.  Can I still use the factory series wiring and, if so, what load will the speaker jack need moving to on the rear panel?

No. Connecting them in series would give 32 ohms, which is too high. You will need to connect them in parallel, which will require one more wire (with push-connectors, unless you want to solder it) - this will also give an 8-ohm load.

But while there's no upper limit to speaker power rating compared to the amp - contrary to a lot of popular belief - it does seems a bit of a waste to make a 500W cab for a 40W amp...

Thanks for the quick responses on both fronts, appreciated as ever.

I hear you on the 500w cab front, just seems a shame not to use them.  That said, my MkIV Hot Rod Deville isn't seeing much use at the moment either so harvesting the 8ohm A-types from that amp may be a better fit, although I realise they'll be more American sounding than a V-type or V30 and will bump the weight up quite a bit.

ICBM

StefB said:

I hear you on the 500w cab front, just seems a shame not to use them.

If you've got them you may as well, really - you just need another push-connector wire. How far apart are the terminals? I may have something kicking around.

Cols

Nothing to add here, except to note that I also replaced the stock drivers with 16 ohm speakers, wired them in parallel and connected to the 8 ohm output.

roberty

Insane value lol

Fingers657

They were £399 when released as a limited edition by guitar guitar back in March this year when I purchased mine.

Dave_Mc

StefB said:

1) is the cab made of ply, rather than the MDF of the earlier (original) 1x12 version?

I emailed Marshall about this earlier in the week- they said particleboard. Any idea how much worse-sounding than ply that is, anyone?

EDIT: These are currently available at GuitarGuitar too for the same price.

randella

Dave_Mc said:

StefB said:

1) is the cab made of ply, rather than the MDF of the earlier (original) 1x12 version?

I emailed Marshall about this earlier in the week- they said particleboard. Any idea how much worse-sounding than ply that is, anyone?

EDIT: These are currently available at GuitarGuitar too for the same price.

Yep. Just to back this up for @StefB - mine looks to be either chipboard or MDF. All the surfaces are either Tolexed or painted black. The black painted surfaces have the texture of chipboard. A couple of bits of batten for the rear panels are certainly chip. There's no grain which is usually the giveaway that it's ply.

The cab seems pretty neat, the Tolex job is decent.

Speakers deffo not soldered.

Yorkie

Dave_Mc said:

StefB said:

1) is the cab made of ply, rather than the MDF of the earlier (original) 1x12 version?

I emailed Marshall about this earlier in the week- they said particleboard. Any idea how much worse-sounding than ply that is, anyone?

EDIT: These are currently available at GuitarGuitar too for the same price.

I've got some anecdotal evidence I will share here: For a while, I had a Seventy/80 in my DSL40 and a 'custom' Seventy/80 in my Bandit. To my ears, the DSL40 (MDF) sounded more focused and generally better than the Bandit (ply). I swapped both speakers, and found the DSL still had the upper hand with a very similar speaker (if not identical!). Then I ran the Bandit into the DSL40 cab and, all of a sudden, the Bandit had that DSL low end.

I suspect there might be differences in terms of durability, but I believe MDF is very able to give you the sound you need. 

StefB

ICBM said:

StefB said:

I hear you on the 500w cab front, just seems a shame not to use them.

If you've got them you may as well, really - you just need another push-connector wire. How far apart are the terminals? I may have something kicking around.

I think I have a few bits in stock myself but thanks, that's very kind of you.

Dave_Mc

Yorkie said:

Dave_Mc said:

StefB said:

1) is the cab made of ply, rather than the MDF of the earlier (original) 1x12 version?

I emailed Marshall about this earlier in the week- they said particleboard. Any idea how much worse-sounding than ply that is, anyone?

EDIT: These are currently available at GuitarGuitar too for the same price.

I've got some anecdotal evidence I will share here: For a while, I had a Seventy/80 in my DSL40 and a 'custom' Seventy/80 in my Bandit. To my ears, the DSL40 (MDF) sounded more focused and generally better than the Bandit (ply). I swapped both speakers, and found the DSL still had the upper hand with a very similar speaker (if not identical!). Then I ran the Bandit into the DSL40 cab and, all of a sudden, the Bandit had that DSL low end.

I suspect there might be differences in terms of durability, but I believe MDF is very able to give you the sound you need. 

Thanks   I think my VHT Special 6 is MDF but it's a very small cab and I'm not sure how much difference it's making when it's as small as that! It does sound absolutely fine, as you said.

ICBM

Some MDF and particle-board cabinets do definitely sound good. Whether an identical cabinet in ply or pine would sound better or just different isn't easy to say without actually building one, and it's fairly rare to have both options. The Marshall 1936 is an example where the ply version definitely sounds better to most people, but that doesn't necessarily mean the same will be true for all cabs, even if it is for many.

rockmonster

This! 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-eeC1XyZxYs