Quad preamp Ch. 1; = Mk.2C or Mk.2C+, or ???

Curious if the Quad's Ch.1 is a Mk.IIC or C+ (either, or both modes). Or, is it something a little bit different fom either?
(My understanding is Ch.2 is one of the Mk.III versions.)

Any insight from those that have been under the hoods? Thx.

Ch 1 is the mk 2c+, ch2 is a mk 3 black stripe

I wouldn't get hung up on the differences, but Channel 1 is probably as close as you can get to a 2C+. Someone on this board emailed Mike B. at Boogie & he said to pair it with a 50/50 using the send jack, and you've pretty much got it. I'm using channel 2 lead a lot these days.

Howdy,

If anyone wants to understand the differences between the Mark series amps/preamps I highly recommend you learn how to read schematics, then all will become clear. Its funny that after 25 years these questions about "which amp is closer to this amp" still come up.. but it will forever remain a mystery without a little technical knowledge.. I was in the same boat before I got my Quad.

So allow me to shed a little light on this subject.. I have experience modding my Quad preamp & MkIVb closer to C+ specs.

As stated above Channel 1 is a MK2C+ and Channel 2 is a MK3 (Blackstripe - variation) in terms of general circuit design, control layout and operation..

BUT!! Neither channel actually has the exact same component values as a C+ or a MK3.. there are a few differences in the both channel's lead circuits and some other stuff for Channel 2. So tonally speaking the Quad is very similar to the C+/Mk3 but I think both channels can be improved with a little modding.

I'll tell you this: Mesa never intended for any of the Mark series amps to sound identical, they were tone tweaking every step of the way!!


Hope that helps DM47


-Shane

If the differences are just a few small capacitors it might be nice to have a few switches mounted on the back that could toggle through minor version changes. That would be great to have a variety of Mark3 versions in one unit. As much as I love my quad I remember getting some of the best metal lead tones ever out of my Mark3 red stripe. It has been said that the red stripe was more close to the 2C+ lead circuit likely with more gain. I wish I could toggle from the no/black stripe to the red stripe lead on channel 2 lead.

dont forget that what kind of preamp tubes you use will have a prominent effect on how close and realistic you get to that tone too..experiment...lots of variation there.