Are these common issues with the Archon 50?

[Qualex]

Hello all!

Recently I purchased a store demo-model Archon 50 head off of the internet for a nice discount and I just got it last week. However, when I brought it in to the music store to test some cabinets one or two issues appeared with the head. One is that the lead channel sounded very, for lack of a better word, thin. (Though this could be due to me being inexperienced with amp heads+stacks.) Two is that the lead channel would not play unless I had the clean master volume up in addition to the lead master volume, and if I didn't have the clean eq-section volume dial turned all the way down I would be hearing a combination of the two tones at the same time. The reverse didn't occur when I had the clean channel selected.

I just need to know if these are common issues with this amp, some obscure feature I hadn't heard about, or if the amp I received was a dud and should return it to the seller. Thank you!

(PS I can't really do much in the way of troubleshooting as I don't currently have a cab to plug in to)

 

[Black Plaid]

One is that the lead channel sounded very, for lack of a better word, thin.

Hmmm ...

Two is that the lead channel would not play unless I had the clean master volume up in addition to the lead master volume, and if I didn't have the clean eq-section volume dial turned all the way down I would be hearing a combination of the two tones at the same time. The reverse didn't occur when I had the clean channel selected.

This is 100% not right. The channels are completely independent. There may be a bit of stray wire or something shorting in the amp.

If you feel up to it, take the head out of the box and take a look for anything loose/flopping about in there.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Hello all!

Recently I purchased a store demo-model Archon 50 head off of the internet for a nice discount and I just got it last week. However, when I brought it in to the music store to test some cabinets one or two issues appeared with the head. One is that the lead channel sounded very, for lack of a better word, thin. (Though this could be due to me being inexperienced with amp heads+stacks.) Two is that the lead channel would not play unless I had the clean master volume up in addition to the lead master volume, and if I didn't have the clean eq-section volume dial turned all the way down I would be hearing a combination of the two tones at the same time. The reverse didn't occur when I had the clean channel selected.

I just need to know if these are common issues with this amp, some obscure feature I hadn't heard about, or if the amp I received was a dud and should return it to the seller. Thank you!

(PS I can't really do much in the way of troubleshooting as I don't currently have a cab to plug in to)

PPS... And in case you weren't aware, don't power up the amp without being plugged into a speaker (that's asking for trouble with a tube amp)