NAD - Quilter Micropro Mach 2 Combo 8

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
I've been enjoying my Quilter 101 Mini, in combination with my homemade Blockdock, for years now. In the quest for something even more flexible, I've looked at getting a Mach 2 head amp or combo. The biggest issue has been the price. A new one was out of the question and even used ones are pretty pricey.

Last week I came across a Micropro Mach 2 Combo 8, with the 2-button customizable footswitch, on an Ebay auction for under $400 with about 8 hours to go. Normally, these things get bid up at the last minute, but I threw in a bid for $5 more than the current one, expecting it to be outbid at the end. Well, no one did, I got it and it arrived yesterday. Looks and sounds great! Now I just have to figure out what all these controls do. :LOL: Next up, HD extension cab I guess.


Quilter-Mach2.jpg Quilter-footswitch.jpg
 

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
I have the head and that same footswitch. My 12” HDcab arrives today. Looking forward to trying it out.

Don't know if you've seen this, but back in the days of the original Micropro, Quilter posted these recommended settings by type of music. Trying them out on the Mach 2 today.

Quilter Tone Chart.jpg
 

TwoNotesSolo

Student Of The Blues
so jealous, I'm GASing for one of those )or the 10"), but same issue as you had: haven't found one at the right price yet
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
NIce! I'd like to know what you tink of the 8" speaker. Is it just for a practice amp or could you play out with it?
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
NIce! I'd like to know what you tink of the 8" speaker. Is it just for a practice amp or could you play out with it?

Yeah, I’m curious about that, too. I wasn’t very happy with the tone of the 101 Mini Reverb through their 10” blockdock cab; I thought it sounded boxy and kind of stifled, though I expect more playing with knobs might have helped. I abandoned it when plugging into my old 12” cab was such an instant improvement. The new Quilter HD cab blows them both away to my ears.
 

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
NIce! I'd like to know what you tink of the 8" speaker. Is it just for a practice amp or could you play out with it?

It sounds great in my little practice room, but that's easy to do. I'll be taking it to our SoCal jam next Saturday to see how it handles that. There are a number of guys on the Quilter Facebook group that use it playing live. A number of them have said they have the 12" extension cab but never use it. OTOH, one of the guys that runs the blues jams in SoCal bought one and didn't like it until he added a 12" extension cab.
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
It sounds great in my little practice room, but that's easy to do. I'll be taking it to our SoCal jam next Saturday to see how it handles that. There are a number of guys on the Quilter Facebook group that use it playing live. A number of them have said they have the 12" extension cab but never use it. OTOH, one of the guys that runs the blues jams in SoCal bought one and didn't like it until he added a 12" extension cab.

I figured that it's nice and light... Unless & Until you have to add the 12" cabinet weight to the overall rig.
 

MikeR

Guitar Challenged
Staff member
I figured that it's nice and light... Unless & Until you have to add the 12" cabinet weight to the overall rig.

I don't mind having separates. My (back's) problem is with having one, heavy amp. That's why all I've bought in recent years are amp heads (Nace, 101 Mini and the 5F1 (Champ) head I'm building). My 12" cab with the neo speaker is just under 20 lbs., as is this Micropro. Alternatively, Quilter sells a kit for a little over $100 that use can use to convert the combo to a head amp. Also, they sell their 12" cab without a speaker for $400, but as you've seen, there are plenty of cabs you can buy for under $200. If I like the way it sounds with my Lil' Texas "Blockdock" speaker cab (which is open back), I'll just use that.
 
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