Location: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
State/Province: Pennsylvania
Country: United States
Postby Dave Mudgett »
Looking at the specs for the DV Mark Little Jazz, it lists Power:50WRMS@8ohm/60WRMS@4ohm, but it also lists output for external cab as 8 ohm minimum load. Just wondering if that means it can or cannot be used with a 4 ohm external speaker?
If you look at the manual, you'll see that the internal speaker is 8 Ohms and the external speaker out is for a second 8 Ohm speaker. So when the second 8 Ohm speaker is added, they are connected in parallel to give a combined nominal impedance of 4 Ohms, which is the standard minimum impedance for all of these 50/60 watt amps. They're 50 watts at 8 Ohms, 60 watts at 4 Ohms.
So you shoud NOT use a 4 Ohm external speaker. That would give you a combined nominal impedance of 2-2/3 Ohms, which could cause your power section to overheat.
When I plug my 12" EVM (closed back cab) into the Little Jazz, it sounds spectacular. Sort of like biamping because the two speakers have such different frequency responses. Also, it's considerably louder with the second speaker added.
Dave is correct. I don't use external cabs so I ordered a 4 ohm SICA to go with my DV Mark Micro 50 Jazz head so I get full benefit of the power, Great little amps, though - I would have bought the Little Jazz but it would have left me with a pile of speaker cabinets gathering dust. Now I can just mix and match. I have a 15/8, 12/8, 10/4, and the 12/4 - best of all worlds. Had an 8/8 but it was a little 'boxy' sounding and got sold.
Rittenberry/Seymour/ShoBud/MCI "Franken-steel", 2022 Brook Lyn, 2014 Martin 000-18, 2022 Ibanez GB-10 (for sale) , two homebrew Teles, Evans RE200 amp, Henriksen Bud 6 amp, understanding wife of 50 years.
While the head I have is the 50 watt Micro II, when I use it , it is with either a single 12/8 ohm or TWO single 12/8 ohm cabs making the total 4 ohms.
I do believe that speaker choice, like any amp, plays well with these amps.
DV specs these amps with a min of 4 ohms.
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
Tom Dillon wrote:How are you guys liking these amps after using them for a few months? Any problems? Liking the reverb?
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No issues for me, while I don't use it 100% of the time, ( still like the 40/50 Watt tube amps) It is my #1 backup and comes to every gig. All of my gigs are double duty and I'm more anal with the guitar tones than I am with the Steel tones. The Push Pull is very consistent with all of the solid state amps. The Telecasters, perhaps not as much.
Its still a great little amp and cuts the small to medium gigs no issues. Regarding the reverb, I'm not as anal as others may be, I'm ok with it, I've heard worse !
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
You guys have sold me on this amp. I ordered the Micro II.
For now Ill just plug it into the BW on my NV112. Like Tony said it will be a great backup amp to have.
I have a DV Micro 50 available for sale (as I've bumped up to the 250W version). Has the low-Z output to go direct to PA or recording console. Only used twice. Totally mint.
I know I'm a little late to the party, but I just got my Mark 50 ll last week as it has been sitting at a friends house in California for a couple of months. I'm really impressed with the amp. I like the tone better than my MB200, and it seams to be just as loud. [into a Huff cab with an Eminence EPS-15]] The reverb is OK but not as good as a Wet reverb or other good pedals. Got this one from MF for $219.00. [It was an "open box" in mint condition]. I'll just be using the clean channel for pedal steel, so I can't comment on the overdrive channel. If anybody is on the fence about buying one of these, you won't be disappointed. Jim Cohen has one for sale at a great price if it is still available.
Some thoughts on my experience with DV Mark products- I have the Micro 50 and the Little Jazz. I would have assumed that they were basically the same amp, with the Little Jazz (or jazz head) just lacking the overdrive section. That’s basically true, although they are voiced quite differently. Alternating each amp through the same 12” speaker, and the tone controls at 12:00, the Micro 50 is rather “Fenderish”, that is to say, a little scooped with a big low end, where the Jazz is more neutral, flatter mids, and not so much bass. It’s hard to say which I prefer, but they are different. Some may find the Micro 50 almost a little too bassy for some speaker cabinets. I also just picked up a DV “Neoclassic 112 Small” open back 12” speaker cabinet, which I really like. It has their own neodymium magnet speaker. It’s a well made, very light cabinet, 18 lbs. It’s not even broken in yet, and it sounds terrific. Loud and bright, but not harsh or “ice picky”, nice low end, but not too bassy.
You might want to check out their combo amps. The Jazz 12 would be the jazz head with the neo 12” speaker, and the “DVC Guitar Friend 12 ” would be the Micro 50 with the neo speaker. Both very lightweight amps. There is also a DVC Guitar Friend 12 II, which I assume is the Micro 50 II as a combo. Overall, I’m very pleased with the DV mark stuff I have. I wish their amp graphics were a little less cartoonish, but oh, well.
I want to add that these amps are good if you double on guitar and steel. You can plug an external preamp into the 1/8" line in in front, and have it simultaneous with the guitar input. The line in bypasses the eq section, so you can leave that set for guitar (or steel, if that's the configuration you choose). Both inputs are controlled by the same volume control, though. I use it with a Zoom MS-50G mounted on the leg of my steel, and plugged into the line in, and use the DV preamp for guitar. You could do it the other way around, of course.
