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Marshall MG100DFX vs MG250DFX - which to choose?


Andrius

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Which Marshall would you recommend me to choose: MG100DFX or MG250DFX?

 

I wonder whether it's really better to have 2x50w speakers instead of one 100w?

And since MG100 has OD1/OD2 switch, which switches vintage to modern distortion, I wonder which of these does the MG250 have? And MG100 has also a "crunch" switch on the clean channel - I wonder whether is possible to achieve that crunch with 250 (it does not have that control)...

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As far as I can see, the main difference in the power section is that the 100 is 100watts mono into one speaker, the 250 is 50 watts a side into two speakers. That basically means they're both 100 watt amps. In practice, you'd probably find them to have the same overall volume level, it's just the 250 will sound a little fuller and possibly more interesting thanks to its bigger cab and stereo effects (although stereo into two speakers right next to each other won't be hugely noticeable in many situations, and if you gig they'll probably only mic up one speaker anyway)

 

I'd buy whichever one has more of the features that you want, and not worry two much about it being 100 watts into one speaker or two 50 watts into two speakers.

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The guy is new here so lets cut him some slack.

 

The Marshall MG series is not a very well liked amp around here. While I personally don't think they sound bad, they're not that good either. In that price range there are much better options especially these days with companies like Blackstar and Jet City producing great sounding tube amps at great prices.

 

What's your budget and what kind of music do you play?

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For Marshall solid state, I would take a look at a used Marshall Mosfet Lead 100 head, Valvestate 8100, 8200 or VS100 heads as these models all sound really good for solid state. I have the Mosfet 100 and it can get a convincing AC/DC crunch and up to a vintage 1980's heavy metal gain. I've owned some JCM 800s, non master Marshalls and the Mosfet is a great value on the used market and really gets a great Marshall sound. The other Valvestate models I mentioned will have way more gain for a more modern Marshall type of sound and have 1 or 2 preamp tubes inside the amp for the 8100 & 8200. I've also heard that the earlier Valvestate series in the early 1990's sounded better than the more recent solid state designs Marshall have out currently.

 

On a personal note, I sold my big Marshall valve amps and kept the Mosfet, as it held up well against my DSL 100 and Jet City 50H, as it saved me money on costly retubes.

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When i first started my band i had an mg250dfx and the other guitarist had the mg100dfx. The 250 definitely has the edge in the tone department, the 100 seems to topple it for volume and headroom though. Personally i'd always go with the 250, the two speakers just give it a better sound.

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Oh, sorry, I forgot the right answer for HCAF: Come back when you're richer
:D

 

Over here, for the price of the 250DFX you could get anything up to a Blackstar HT40, Tiny Terror, Peavey VK, anything bugera, spend another hundred or so and you can get a 6505 combo - and this is all brand new. The MG sounds awesome when you've never compared it to anything else ever and you play by yourself. If you have a serious budget and you don't want to fork out for something decent buy whatever costs less so you don't inevitably waste as much money.

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As far as I can see, the main difference in the power section is that the 100 is 100watts mono into one speaker, the 250 is 50 watts a side into two speakers. That basically means they're both 100 watt amps. In practice, you'd probably find them to have the same overall volume level, it's just the 250 will sound a little fuller and possibly more interesting thanks to its bigger cab and stereo effects (although stereo into two speakers right next to each other won't be hugely noticeable in many situations, and if you gig they'll probably only mic up one speaker anyway)


I'd buy
neither of them, there are better options in that price range if you're prepared to go and try a few amps out in music stores. What kind of music do you play, and what sort of tones are you looking for? Do you want this amp for playing at home, band practices, gigs in pubs..
?

 

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Yup, for what you'd spend on one of those new, you could score an old VS100 or better yet, an 8100 (sometimes referred to as the 100V) which will sounds 10x better. Either of those heads can be found for under $250 in good to great condition if you just do a little searching.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Gee, I did not receive email notifications about replies to this thread... I did not buy Marshall MG. It sounded good to me the first time, just because I had almost no experience with real amplifiers, but I ended up buying a much better tube amp. Marshall is wasting its reputation with MG. I think people with little experience think: "Marshall - it must be good" and buy this trash. So that's a very big minus to Marshall, since it is now using its reputation to do money selling useless trash to the unexperienced kids.

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