'THE COUNT' compares Marshall 1959HW stock output transformer to Mercury Magnetics output transformer

  • Thread starter Thread starter harddriver
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At least with these settings, I think I liked the original more. It seemed like the mids got overshadowed a bit by the extra bass with the Mercury. That said, I think with a small tweak to the settings to compensate I would prefer the mercury since I like the other changes I was hearing.
 
I definitely hear a difference between the stock one and the Mercury Magnetics. The Mercury has more clarity and definition which I prefer....less ECCCCCHHHHHHH as Eugue describes it.

Technically there shouldn't be any difference but as with all things audio sometimes hearing is believing......it's all those times where you perceive a difference that's minute and you can't quite put your finger on it but it makes a difference overall.
 
One thing everyone forgets is that transformers actually need time to break in. You have to shove some volume through them and only after a set of tubes can you get their true sound. I was told this by the late Pete (RIP) many ages ago before he passed away.

Also Mercury Magnetics has been spectacular. It’s why I continue to do business with them and why amps I’ll be building will only run Mercury Magnetics iron in them. I like their sound and their customer service for the small dudes.
 
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harddriver said:
The Mercury has more clarity and definition which I prefer
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Ditto (enough to use EVMs) , I just didn't like the change in EQ profile, which I figure you can dial out. I'd use the mercury transformer given a choice between the two and then EQ it a little differently.
 
glpg80 said:
You have to shove some volume through them and only after a set of tubes can you get their true sound. I was told this by the late Pete (RIP) many ages ago before he passed away.
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What's the part breaking in? Dielectric? Spacings? Is that from heating? Mechanical vibration?
 
I don't know that I hear enough difference to warrant the expense. You could probably hear just as much improvement by swapping tubes.

I guess if you smoked the stock transformer or were building an amp from scratch, then I could see going with the Mercury Magnetics unit.

What's the price tag on it anyway?
 
7704A said:
What's the part breaking in? Dielectric? Spacings? Is that from heating? Mechanical vibration?
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Windings are coated in enamel and the plates of the core are commonly coated too to limit eddy currents. Transformer wires still carry AC current and when there’s a lot of volume pushed it’s not uncommon for things to continue to microscopically expand and contract and settle even though externally the OT may still be cold to the touch. The ferrite cores themselves undergo repeated magnetic flux saturation which also affects their ability to efficiently store and transfer magnetic flux. Think of the analogy of how a new capacitor efficiently modulates electric flux to provide ac current but the equivalent of a transformer having its magnetic flux modulated to generate ac current. As things wear in it will change in tone and always for the better.
 
chumbucket said:
I don't know that I hear enough difference to warrant the expense. You could probably hear just as much improvement by swapping tubes.

I guess if you smoked the stock transformer or were building an amp from scratch, then I could see going with the Mercury Magnetics unit.

What's the price tag on it anyway?
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To some the difference might not be noticeable enough, but you can see Euge's reaction while he is playing he hears and feels a difference then he points out the differences he sees in the waveforms of the recorded riffs between the stock and Mercury at the end of the video.
 
harddriver said:
To some the difference might not be noticeable enough, but you can see Euge's reaction while he is playing he hears and feels a difference then he points out the differences he sees in the waveforms of the recorded riffs between the stock and Mercury at the end of the video.
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When I get a chance I want to slice up the audio and stick it into my DAW to use the blind test plug-in to see if I still hear any difference. Not seeing things makes a world of difference.
 
harddriver said:
To some the difference might not be noticeable enough, but you can see Euge's reaction while he is playing he hears and feels a difference then he points out the differences he sees in the waveforms of the recorded riffs between the stock and Mercury at the end of the video.
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Yeah, but he knew which was which and he paid for the upgrade. If it was a blind test with the same DI track ran to the amp, it might've been hard to tell.
 
Differences were very noticeable even thru an iPhone. Now which is better is subjective as hell. I honestly didn’t think either version sounded great.
 
This is really good. The difference between them is similar to my observations. He does a good job explaining what they each sound like.
 
Most often the clearest, most articulate sound comes up as nicer for many, but I honestly dig the stock sound more.
 
I have to agree with him on the customer service. The original guy Patrick was awesome but he passed away. Now it's a guy named Sergio and he is also great. And once you buy 10 transformers lifetime you get a 10% discount. Sergio actually informed me that I was eligible for it even though the first transformers I bought were probably 20 years ago.

That said I can hear a difference but I'm still not sure which one I prefer. It depends on what he was playing. Also maybe worth mentioning is that particular transformer is a specific 'upgrade' transformer for the 1959HW. How that differs from their old, original O100JM I don't know. They're both a 1.5" stack. Mercury has a bunch of slight variations. FWIW, my homebrew that to me sounds amazing (right next to real ones) has the O100JM-S which is the same as their regular O100JM but a 2" stack.
 
glpg80 said:
Windings are coated in enamel and the plates of the core are commonly coated too to limit eddy currents. Transformer wires still carry AC current and when there’s a lot of volume pushed it’s not uncommon for things to continue to microscopically expand and contract and settle even though externally the OT may still be cold to the touch. The ferrite cores themselves undergo repeated magnetic flux saturation which also affects their ability to efficiently store and transfer magnetic flux. Think of the analogy of how a new capacitor efficiently modulates electric flux to provide ac current but the equivalent of a transformer having its magnetic flux modulated to generate ac current. As things wear in it will change in tone and always for the better.
Click to expand...
Ah, so thermal stuff for the expand/contract stuff and what sounds like some cool stat mech/magnetic domains(?) stuff for the cores. Something else to add to my reading list... Why always for the better? Are the transformers designed to have specific properties after wear-in so without that you don't get the full intent of the designer? Or are they designed around the pre-worn parameters and "always better" is an empirical statement based on experience and guitar player's preferences?
 
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