NAD - 68 Princeton

newi123

After too many thread on here liking them I finally succumbed and bought one - £743.51 new from Musicstore tipped the balance for me!

First outing with it last night to a local jam I help run. The drummer from my rock band was sitting in with his incredibly loud premier kit.......... thought it might struggle, but the little amp coped ok - mid size pub, loud enough stood in front of the amp and a bit through the small pa to help. I bought a Sennheiser 609 (I think) to dangle infront of the amp to give it a helping hand.

Love taking amps to jam sessions as you get to stand back and hear others play through your rig to see what it really sounds like in the room.

Overall very impressed, and playing it realised how much I`ve missed having a small fender style amp. Rig was strat into boss tuner, xotic ac+ (o`drive and boost) into DD3 (all on PT Nano) into amp, running a touch of reverb, set on 4 / 5 on the volume. With my guitar that was the limit of clean headroom and just starting to break up without being too mushy.

Successfully covered Amy Winehouse, Pink, Hendrix, ZZ top, Arctic Moneys and more (not all me playing) 

Best bit was a single trip back to the car with a 15kg amp in one hand.

So it`s never going to replace the head and 2x12 or 4x12 for the rock band, but it`s def a keeper for other bands and jams.

I now just need to dispel all thoughts of buying a 2nd one to run them in stereo......... :-(

terada

Sounds great! HNAD! I've been looking for a PRRI 65 but keep hearing great things about the 68s.

Not going to lie - I went straight to Musicstore to see if they were still at that price, now gone up to 824 - you did well!

Did you try both the 68 and the 65 before buying?

How is it for hum (in a home environment)?

fandango

Welcome to the club! Hope you really grow to appreciate what a great amp this is.

munckee

I’m a couple of weeks into my 68 love the sound of the amp especially the tremolo. @terada I couldn’t find a 65 to try but as soon as I tried the 68 I bought it on the spot. 

badlydrawnbanjo

It’s the only amp I use for any gig. Love it. I had Zilla make me a 1 x 12 matching extension cab to give it a bit more welly for bigger shows. 

redrighthand

Sounds like a 10% discount. Is there a voucher code we all need to know about?

agibbo

Try putting an Eminence Ragin Cajun in it, and in my opinion it takes it to the next level! Better in every way than the stock Celestion speaker.

crunchman

agibbo said:

Try putting an Eminence Ragin Cajun in it, and in my opinion it takes it to the next level! Better in every way than the stock Celestion speaker.

There are a lot of things that sound better than the stock Celestion.  I've got a WGS in mine.  There is a Weber 10F150 in the classifieds (not mine, no affiliation) that will probably sound superb in one of these.

newi123

terada said:

Sounds great! HNAD! I've been looking for a PRRI 65 but keep hearing great things about the 68s.

Not going to lie - I went straight to Musicstore to see if they were still at that price, now gone up to 824 - you did well!

Did you try both the 68 and the 65 before buying?

How is it for hum (in a home environment)?

I tried both the 65 and the 68 ages ago in Andertons, and in the amp booth I much preferred the 65 - but they are way more expensive! I figures I could buy the 68 (which I prefer the looks of) and then mod it to 65 spec if necessary for way less than the cost of a new 65. In fact, I don`t think I`ll do that - the 68 sounds really good.

Mine is completely hum free at home volume. 

Sounds like a 10% discount. Is there a voucher code we all need to know about?

No discount code I`m afraid - they had one showing in stock at the price I paid. Hopefully they`ll drop again!

Try putting an Eminence Ragin Cajun in it, and in my opinion it takes it to the next level! Better in every way than the stock Celestion speaker.

 I think I`ll let the celestion break in before considering a change - is the rajin cajun much more efficient? I never quite believe the efficiency rating of eminince speakers against celestions.......

p90fool

newi123 said:

terada said:

Sounds great! HNAD! I've been looking for a PRRI 65 but keep hearing great things about the 68s.

Not going to lie - I went straight to Musicstore to see if they were still at that price, now gone up to 824 - you did well!

Did you try both the 68 and the 65 before buying?

How is it for hum (in a home environment)?

I tried both the 65 and the 68 ages ago in Andertons, and in the amp booth I much preferred the 65 - but they are way more expensive! I figures I could buy the 68 (which I prefer the looks of) and then mod it to 65 spec if necessary for way less than the cost of a new 65. In fact, I don`t think I`ll do that - the 68 sounds really good.

Mine is completely hum free at home volume. 

Sounds like a 10% discount. Is there a voucher code we all need to know about?

No discount code I`m afraid - they had one showing in stock at the price I paid. Hopefully they`ll drop again!

Try putting an Eminence Ragin Cajun in it, and in my opinion it takes it to the next level! Better in every way than the stock Celestion speaker.

 I think I`ll let the celestion break in before considering a change - is the rajin cajun much more efficient? I never quite believe the efficiency rating of eminince speakers against celestions.......

I put a Ragin Cajun in mine and it's not too dissimilar to the stock Celestion when broken in, but it is way louder. 

It was the tipping point for me to be able to do any gig with it, it has noticeably more headroom. 

newi123

p90fool said:

I put a Ragin Cajun in mine and it's not too dissimilar to the stock Celestion when broken in, but it is way louder.

It was the tipping point for me to be able to do any gig with it, it has noticeably more headroom. 

Interesting - thanks

Is it a straight screw in job? The screw hole match the celestion?

badlydrawnbanjo

I did the same swap. It’s a like for like swap

newi123

Thanks

agibbo

The Eminence is way louder, and sounds clearer and more defined than the stock Celestion. 

It's also a like for like swap. Even a numpty like me had no trouble changing them over!

crunchman

agibbo said:

The Eminence is way louder, and sounds clearer and more defined than the stock Celestion. 

It's also a like for like swap. Even a numpty like me had no trouble changing them over!

It's the clearer and more defined that's the important bit than the volume.  I'd say the same with my WGS.  In comparison, the Celestion just has more mid range and less detail.  For me the extra mid range isn't in the good kind of way.  It makes it sound a bit muddy compared to the WGS.

susbemol

I use mine with a well broken-in Celestion G10 Vintage. It sounds superb - so much better than the stock speaker.

newi123

One thing I have noticed is the amp end connection on the power lead gets pretty hot as it connects right above the power valves - that caused an issue for anyone?

munckee

Re the speaker swap, if I wanted a more traditional fender speaker with less power not more does anyone have any suggestions.  I like the current speaker, it could be a tad cleaner and I believe the 68 is quite a bit louder than the 65, so would putting the jensen from the 65 in it be the best swap or is there a better quality fenderish speaker which is similarly lower powered, the alnico version possibly?

susbemol

The WGS Veteran 10 gets mentioned a lot.