NAD: Mesa Boogie Mark VII head. WOW

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Unfortunate, that minor change went back to worse, near deaf. All thanks to blocked Eustachian tubes and trapped fluid in the inner ear. Last resort is to have glass tubes inserted in the ear drums. No plan on doing that just yet.
 
Hey, anyone removing their Reissue IIC+ Chassis out of the head shell, there is one thing you need to be aware of. (I did not take this picture, I borrowed it as I have not uploaded my pictures yet).

In the upper left area just below the large toggle switches (the cap just below that between the standby and GEQ switch) Look at the one capacitor with the green insulator on it. That needs to be there when you go to put the chassis back into the head shell. Since the cap is probably in series with the one next to it, the metal canister of the capacitor is connected to the -terminal, not at ground potential but half the plate voltage. If that insulator is missing, the power supply could arc or may even touch the foil on the head shell. I do not believe it makes direct contact. The insulator is more than likely required by UL for proper creepage clearance to the foil shield that makes contact with the chassis when it is installed.

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Also figured out where the hum was coming from. V1. Found that if the bass shift was pushed in, the hum was much louder and would go away when pulled out. I assume that all of the preamp tube heaters are AC sourced.
 
Here is the picture I took of the Reissue IIC+. I copied the other images to compare or to see if the wiring was done the same way. A few wires were up against pin 9 of V4 so I did move them. The lead drive wires were forced against that pin. I had already moved them. when I took the picture. That did help with some of the hum. Now it is more or less noise floor that is tolerable. I did have the face plate removed just in case the face plate would grab onto it and get bent. Made it much easier to get the chassis back in too. A bit more of a juggling act to set the chassis screws, could not do it the same way as the Mark VII or JP2C. Had to set the head shell upright and carefully get the chassis in. Total PITA but manageable. That attached heat sink makes for a good place to hold onto. I really see no purpose for it except to make it look like the original. I could see that being practical if there were some voltage regulators or power supply components that would require heat sinking. Chassis does not get hot so it is more decorative than useful. (I know, I need to clean off the stove top. I am lazy).

You can see the green insulator on the one capacitor, the one pictured here was barely in place. It fell off while carrying it to the kitchen. I stuck it back on and added a short strip of electrical tape to keep it in place.

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After finding the right combination of preamp tubes that did fix the low hum issue and improved the overall performance of the amp, I wanted to get a good feel with the Standard 412 cab. Meh. It is ok. Rolled out the modified OS Recto 412 loaded with the EVM12L Black Label speakers. Nothing epic with that either. Interesting. The Mark VII and JP2C seem to favor any cab, and the EV loaded one was tops. Just takes up too much room. I think the V212 cab performed the best with the Reissue IIC+. Perhaps some may favor the MC90/EV cabs from the 1980-1990 era. I do not have one of those. Almost thing the traditional 412 may be a good fit, I do not have one, so for me, the V212 was more ideal. That small cab does pack a punch. I used them with most amps if they fit. When it comes to the Royal or Dual Rec, it is 412 only.

Now that all of this is out of the way and finally satisfied with the amp's performance. Time to put the cover on it and set it in the storage area next to the JP2C so I can set up my two Badlanders and Mark VII again. I bought the Mark IIC+ Reissue as it seemed to be of interest. Cool. So, what comes next? I am fighting the urge to get two more V212 cabs so I can set up another stereo rig with the JP and the Ri. They do pair up so well together. Perhaps I can store the badlanders for now and run the two Mark VII with the two IIC+ amps. That may be very interesting combination. I have too much stuff. No more room. I will quote the JAWS movie, instead of a bigger boat, I need a bigger house. 🤪 This is due to some fear I may be expanding the drum set in the near future. Nah.
 

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