Marshall experts , jcm800 2203 from 1987 , any good ??!!

riffpowers

There's a jcm800 2203 for sale not far from me for what looks lime a good price . It's from 1987, horizontal input . I don't know much about these amps , but I was told the vertical input ones were better . Anyone know if these are any good build quality / sound wise ??!!

samzadgan

I think the vertical ones were more desirable because they were handwired and when they went horizontal thats when they switched to PCB boards...

I could be talking complete bollocks, but i seen to remember that from somewhere.

But the sound is the most important thing, so if te price is good i would give it a listen.

samzadgan

I was talking bollocks...kinda...check this out:

http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/7317-jcm-800-vertical-vs-horizontal-inputs.html

ICBM

It's true that the vertical input ones are better, but these are still great amps. Brutally loud though. The MV works well in that you can get "a" sound at low volume, but it's not "the" sound, if you see what I mean!

They're stiffer and brasher-sounding than the vertical-input ones - they actually have more filtering, despite the lower number of cap cans... because they're higher voltage-rated - 500V rather than 450 - and are paralleled, so one can gives 50+50uF = 100uF, whereas the verticals use series-stacked pairs of paralleled 50+50s, which are thus only 50uF each.

(That page is correct in that the 2204 did not change - this only applies to the 2203.)

The main constructional difference is that the horizontals have PCB-mounted pots and jacks, whereas the verticals are separately chassis-mounted. The quality of the PCB pots is marginally lower and they are split-shaft rather than solid, so more prone to damage.

riffpowers

Thanks for the info !