Marshall DSL20 upgrade?

NelsonP

The DSL20 is amazing value for money. Youtube comparisons suggest it can see off much more expensive competitors. Is it worth seeking an upgrade, or is it a fool errand?

If an upgrade is worth it, what to?

ICBM

DSL40. The additional gain modes and separate dual master volumes make it much more flexible at any volume, especially quieter - maybe surprisingly, given that it's twice as powerful.

It still needs a better speaker though. If you're on a limited budget I would replace the one in your DSL20 first - either with a Greenback or a Neo Creamback - the Creamback if you still think you might want to trade up to the 40 so you can keep the speaker, the Greenback if you definitely aren't going to.

noisepolluter

I have the 40 and also upgraded the speaker to a Creamback H75. It saw off a JVM combo I also had at the same time. I will say that my favourite channels/modes on the 40 are the ‘middle two’ which I understand the 20 doesn’t have, and as ICBM says the dual master volume works extremely well. 

Just fitting the H75 (or speaker of your choice) in the 20 will make a huge difference. 

randella

If you're dead set on a head then the 40 is only available as a combo. Other than that, I'd say it does offer extra features that are worth having. It's really up to you whether they're of use to you.

It's basically a four-channel amp with two pairs sharing an EQ each. I think Marshall undersells that slightly with the 'mode' thing. You get the channel 1 crunch mode which is superb, and two levels of drive on the Ultra Gain channel. Also the dual masters, as ICBM says. Pony up for the four button footswitch and you've got a very flexible amp with some great sounds in it.

I have no experience of the speaker in the 40CR, mine's the 2x12" 402CR which has fairly ordinary drivers in it. I have a cab with a Neo Creamback and that sounds great. Bang it through a Captor and some decent IRs and it sounds monstrous even at man-cave volume levels.

randella

I nearly forgot. The reverb’s crap. 

Jonathangus

Bear in mind that the the DSL40 comes with a V-Type as stock.  You may find it's not to your taste, but it is at least a 'decent' speaker, as opposed to the crappy Seventy80 in the DSL20.

noisepolluter

randella said:

I nearly forgot. The reverb’s crap. 

Fortunately the fx loop works perfectly - no volume drop/treble loss/noise increase etc

randella

noisepolluter said:

randella said:

I nearly forgot. The reverb’s crap. 

Fortunately the fx loop works perfectly - no volume drop/treble loss/noise increase etc

Yep, it works flawlessly. I use a cheap Hotone modeller in the loop for time-based effects.

Jonathangus

Yeah, I tried the DSL20H once, and came away thinking they'd have been better off ignoring the reverb completely, and using the panel space for a tone control on the green channel.

ICBM

Jonathangus said:

Bear in mind that the the DSL40 comes with a V-Type as stock.  You may find it's not to your taste, but it is at least a 'decent' speaker, as opposed to the crappy Seventy80 in the DSL20.

I actually prefer the Seventy/80 - I really don’t like the excessive midrange of the V-Type at all. Neither of them is anywhere near as good as any of the Creamback models though.

NelsonP

I swapped out thr Seventy/80 for a Greenback in my DSL20CR. Much better. I also have a zilla 1 x 12 with a creamback that I think I actually prefer (rounder, less aggressive than the Greenback)

I keep thinking that the DSL is such a bargain that it ought to be easy to find an upgrade. E.g. the 2525c, a victory sheriff or Friedman Runt. But I really like the footswitchable loop as you can use it to switch multiple effects at once (e.g. eq and reverb for solo boost). And I've seen enough head-to-heads to not be convinced that any of those are really an upgrade.

Maybe I should just stick with what I have?

GavRichList

ICBM said:

Jonathangus said:

Bear in mind that the the DSL40 comes with a V-Type as stock.  You may find it's not to your taste, but it is at least a 'decent' speaker, as opposed to the crappy Seventy80 in the DSL20.

I actually prefer the Seventy/80 - I really don’t like the excessive midrange of the V-Type at all. Neither of them is anywhere near as good as any of the Creamback models though.

I have to say, years ago you advocated for me getting a neo creamback for a 112 I had for my AC30CCH (that I think @impmann has?) and to be fair, it was a very impressive speaker. Weighed the same as 7 bags of crisps too, which was a win. 

Dave_Mc

noisepolluter said:

 I will say that my favourite channels/modes on the 40 are the ‘middle two’ which I understand the 20 doesn’t have, and as ICBM says the dual master volume works extremely well.

Yeah me too. That's what I would have suspected even before I tried it, and I was correct. That's largely what put me off the 20. (I've never tried the 20- don't get me wrong, the other two channels are absolutely fine, they're not terrible or anything, but the crunch and od1 are the best two channels in the amp.)

It also remembers the master volume setting for each channel, which is pretty cool. Granted, a cynic might say that designing it so the channels were the same volume might have negated the need for that, lol. But it does mean you have total control over the volumes, or if you deliberately want one to be a different volume.

randella said:
It's basically a four-channel amp with two pairs sharing an EQ each.

I have no experience of the speaker in the 40CR, mine's the 2x12" 402CR which has fairly ordinary drivers in it.

This is probably what you mean and I'm just reading this wrongly, but just to clarify, there's only one overall EQ for all channels.

I've got the 402 too... yeah the stock speakers aren't amazing. It was a really good deal if (like me) you already had some good speakers sitting around doing nothing. It's not such a good deal if you have to run out to buy two new speakers.

randella

@Dave_Mc - yep, spot on. No idea what I was on about, typed it with my feet clearly. The amp was sat behind me at the time so I've no excuse

Dave_Mc

randella said:

@Dave_Mc - yep, spot on. No idea what I was on about, typed it with my feet clearly. The amp was sat behind me at the time so I've no excuse

LOL I went to the Marshall website just in case I was misremembering!

ICBM

The older DSL201 and 401 did have separate EQ for each channel - which with the stock speakers, was essential. When fitted with good speakers, less so .

impmann

GavRichList said:

ICBM said:

Jonathangus said:

Bear in mind that the the DSL40 comes with a V-Type as stock.  You may find it's not to your taste, but it is at least a 'decent' speaker, as opposed to the crappy Seventy80 in the DSL20.

I actually prefer the Seventy/80 - I really don’t like the excessive midrange of the V-Type at all. Neither of them is anywhere near as good as any of the Creamback models though.

I have to say, years ago you advocated for me getting a neo creamback for a 112 I had for my AC30CCH (that I think @impmann has?) and to be fair, it was a very impressive speaker. Weighed the same as 7 bags of crisps too, which was a win. 

Sadly, I don’t have that amp any more…