advice on using the Quad in stereo

I'm putting together a fairly simple setup with the Quad as a preamp, a Lexicon MPX100 for effects, and a Marshall 9005 power amp, and then two separate cabs. I hooked it all up yesterday but couldn't get any sound out of one channel of the Quad.

Is there some trick to using it with an effects unit? I may be missing something very obvious here...

Are both master volumes on the bottom right turned up?

There could be a loose cable on the inside, or perhaps a faulty 1/2 a tube is not outputting sound. Are you running the efx in the effects loop? If so, is your efx unit returning a left and right to the quad?

Are you sure the quad is not outputting? Perhaps half of the Marshall is at fault?

thanks for the tips.

I will do some more experimenting. i had it working properly without the FX but it could be a cable issue.

had some duff cables. that planet waves patch cable kit is pretty useless. lava cables worked fine but it's way more expensive.

i'm starting to think the multi-fx is a bad idea all round. it just seems to unnecessarily complicate things. ping-pong delay would be great, and stereo chorus etc. but you end up just buggering about with it too much.

That's how I feel about my G major 2. That and how it affects my levels going through the system (namely a mark IV more than my quad).

If you feel good with a soldering iron, order some mogami 2524 and your favorite 1/4" ends. I believe it is cheaper than those make it yourself kits, if you already have soldering supplies.

yeah, i think i will go soldered next time. oddly, seems to be an easier option.

i think i've established that the Lexicon is just not suitable for what I'm trying to do. it starts clipping at very low output levels (from both the Quad outputs and the FX loop send) and even when it's in a happy place (level wise) the volume changes too much when you bypass it. the sounds of the Lexicon are nice, but not that nice, so i will probably get rid.

are there any rack multi-fx that will happily sit between preamp and poweramp? i know there are a few but it's hard to find out how they will behave (in terms of levels getting screwed up, etc.)

the digitech gsp1101 seems like it could be ok, but i don't need any of the amp/cab modelling stuff.