[Jon S.]

I got a super prompt and helpful response from The Man Himself, Pat Quilter. Here's what I learned (paraphrasing Mr. Quilter) about using the SuperBlock as a preamp:

-- The Line Out roughly corresponds to the “-10dB” consumer level with about 2V peak on full Master, which should normally drive a power amp to full scale.
-- If the Mac has an XLR input it should work well.
-- If connecting to an unbalanced input, connect tip to XLR Pin 2.
-- I can also use a mono ¼-inch cable to pick up the headphone signal, as an alternative.
-- The FR/Cab Sim switch will affect this signal so you can select the position that gives the best results to your ear.
-- Once I have this going, I can also try using the 25W output of the Superblock for comparison.
-- The Mac will probably have a tighter tone since it is a hi-fi amp with a good damping factor, compared to the “warm loose” sound of the Superblock amplifier.

Now, this is from the Mc50 manual:

-- The input sensitivity of the Mc50 is 0.5 volt for 50 watts output.
--The input impedance is 200,000 ohms.
-- There is a gain control in the input circuit to permit the use of input voltages up to 30V.
-- The input jack marked 0.5 volt input is located below the gain control.
-- Plug the shielded lead from the input source in the input jack.

In my case, one wild card is that I had the input converted to a 1/4" mono jack and I know nothing further about how exactly it was done except that it worked perfectly with my FYD BF TR preamp.

I do have one of these already on hand: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S6 ... UTF8&psc=1

Can anyone help me make sense of this all? Thanks for any and all help!

[Chocol8]

Use the cable you have to go from the Quilter XLR out to your 1/4” input on the Mc. Use the gain control on the Mc to prevent clipping.

You should only have to turn down slightly to keep a max 2V output from exceeding the 0.5 v input limit. You can turn down further to reduce volume if you want.

The quilter should be set to NOT use a cab sim since you are presumably running a real cab after the Mc.

[Jon S.]

1st of all, I apologize for putting my question here in a new thread. Believe it or not, I'd forgotten I'd already started an earlier thread about the SuperBlock. Duh!

Thanks for your response. Yes, that was my expectation, too (and Pat Quilter's, if I understood his reply to me correctly).

>> The quilter should be set to NOT use a cab sim since you are presumably running a real cab after the Mc.

Unfortunately, this is not an option as the cab sim is "forced" on whenever you plug into the XLR out. I'm gonna give it a try regardless, however, using as my fallback Mr. Quilter's advice to:

>> -- The FR/Cab Sim switch will affect this signal so you can select the position that gives the best results to your ear.

Due to intervening obligations, I won't be actually buying the unit until mid-June. I'll post a review afterwards.

Thanks again for your appreciated help.

[Chocol8]

>> The quilter should be set to NOT use a cab sim since you are presumably running a real cab after the Mc.

Unfortunately, this is not an option as the cab sim is "forced" on whenever you plug into the XLR out. I'm gonna give it a try regardless, however, using as my fallback Mr. Quilter's advice to:

>> -- The FR/Cab Sim switch will affect this signal so you can select the position that gives the best results to your ear.

Due to intervening obligations, I won't be actually buying the unit until mid-June. I'll post a review afterwards.

Thanks again for your appreciated help.

I think you are misreading the somewhat confusing materials they have published. There are three output “coloration” options. The “NORM” applies a cab sim to model some hypothetical standard 12” speaker. The “BRT” mode applies a filter meant to model a brighter speaker. Finally, the mode you want is the confusingly labeled “FRFR” mode. This is NOT a mode meant for use with a FRFR monitor, it is a full range flat response output meant to be used with an external cab sim. It really should be labeled as cab sim “OFF” but either way, that is what you want to use when feeding a real guitar cab since no simulation is needed or wanted.

[Jon S.]

Thanks for your further clarifications. I’ll just try, eventually, all 3 options and compare how they sound.