I'm a bit worried that there's something wrong with my new-to-me MC50, but I don't have enough experience with these to know how much volume I can reasonably expect. If you run a MC50 or MC250 and a SMS CTP, how much preamp level, output padding, and amplifier volume do you need for a decent sound level?
More background:
I recently tracked down a freshly restored MC50 on eBay, which I'm using in conjunction with a SMS CTP and a pair of older Celestion/Ampeg Pro Series 10's. These are 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel for a nominal 4 ohm load; actual load as measured with my multimeter is 5.25 ohms at the jack. I'm using the MC50's 4 ohm speaker output.
The problem is that in order to get any sort of decent volume from the MC50 I need to have the SMS CTP's output padding knob cranked to around 3 o'clock, and the MC50's volume knob cranked to almost full. The CTP's level control is set to 11 o'clock or so. With the output level this hot I get a decent volume (think "loud-ish band practice level", not "play a venue" volume) but also I think there is some clipping of the input signal by the MC50. I can obviously play quieter without clipping, but I'm surprised that I can't play at this volume level.
For comparison, I have also tried the same CTP and speakers with both a Mesa 50/50 and a MV-962 (both in single channel mode), and with a similar level setting on the CTP I need much less output padding (approx. 9 o'clock) and *far* less level on the amplifiers. The CTP sounds great with those amps, but doesn't sound as good or as loud with the MC50 (or at least not as good/loud as I expected it to).
I played my iPod through this setup, and it also seems quieter that I would expect for a 50 watt amp, but this was without a preamp.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated - before I take it in to have it looked at I need to know if my expectations are reasonable or if it's working as it should.
Thanks!
More background:
I recently tracked down a freshly restored MC50 on eBay, which I'm using in conjunction with a SMS CTP and a pair of older Celestion/Ampeg Pro Series 10's. These are 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel for a nominal 4 ohm load; actual load as measured with my multimeter is 5.25 ohms at the jack. I'm using the MC50's 4 ohm speaker output.
The problem is that in order to get any sort of decent volume from the MC50 I need to have the SMS CTP's output padding knob cranked to around 3 o'clock, and the MC50's volume knob cranked to almost full. The CTP's level control is set to 11 o'clock or so. With the output level this hot I get a decent volume (think "loud-ish band practice level", not "play a venue" volume) but also I think there is some clipping of the input signal by the MC50. I can obviously play quieter without clipping, but I'm surprised that I can't play at this volume level.
For comparison, I have also tried the same CTP and speakers with both a Mesa 50/50 and a MV-962 (both in single channel mode), and with a similar level setting on the CTP I need much less output padding (approx. 9 o'clock) and *far* less level on the amplifiers. The CTP sounds great with those amps, but doesn't sound as good or as loud with the MC50 (or at least not as good/loud as I expected it to).
I played my iPod through this setup, and it also seems quieter that I would expect for a 50 watt amp, but this was without a preamp.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated - before I take it in to have it looked at I need to know if my expectations are reasonable or if it's working as it should.
Thanks!
Last edited by redeyedjim on Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
Dilettante - sounds nicer than "hack"