Just ordered a LD II, now questions....

[SonicDawg]

Today I found a pretty sweet deal (or not?) on ebay for $119 ($40 shipping, but I thought the LD II now goes for over $200), and could not resist and ordered it. I am planning on using this to replace my sweet but now inadequate cmoy (OPA2227P, 9v) in a synergy with my new HD 580. New to amps and tube amps in general, what are some advices, recommendations for good use, maintenance, should I know? I have heard of many things about the LD II, such as high heat generation, microphony, and electric interference; and since I am using my computer as my source (Av710), what are my options to remedy said problems? Sorry about my many questions

[aznsensazian]

Yes the ld2 does exhibit those things to some users. I personally havent had any sonic problems. I only get the ld2 being too hot, but this is normal of tube amps. Replacing the stock tubes with 1S5 tubes should remedy the microphonic issue to some degree. I got some military 1S5 tubes from ebay and they sound really good with my ld2 as well as aleviating alot of the microphonics. If you get buzzing with your unit, try placing the ld2 away from your computer source, about 2-3 feet at least to stray away from the electrical interference. Also i would use a new power cord compared to the stock one because the latter is really flimsy and cheap. I would use a computer power cord. They work just as good. Ive had my ld2 for over 4 months now and am really happy with the sound it produces. My unit is still going strong unlike some of the other ld2 users who have experienced leaking caps and buzzing in each channel. I hope yours is not like that and that you will enjoy it as much as i do. It really is such a shame that a product like this does not get better quality control. But if you get a unit that works 100% like mine, im sure you will be one happy customer.

[SonicDawg]

Thx for your advice. how is this?http://cgi.ebay.com/7-1S5-TUBES-NOS-...QQcmdZViewItem

I am also quite reasured by the seller's one year warranty, but I do hope that I will not have to use it

[aznsensazian]

Yep, i actually got some nos ones from ebay and the link that you provided look exactly like the ones i got. You could also try some tung sols, i heard they were pretty good. Personally, i would stick with all nos tubes, you never know for sure how much other tubes have been used.

[SonicDawg]

so what exactly is IS5 tubes? is it a format, a brand? Sorry about my complete ignorance. Besides that, I can just get any IS5 tubes, as long as it fits? Also I see a lot of NOS tubes, as I understand it, they are vintage tubes, right? But why are some of them on ebay so cheap?

Sorry about my barrage of newbish questions, tube amps are completely untrodden ground for me

[aznsensazian]

1S5 tubes are a type of tube used in old portable radios during the 50s. NOS means new old stock, so they are basically brand spankin new that has been kept in storage for many years. You cannot used different tubes that has the same number of pins on the ld2 because the tube internal layout is setup differently. The 1S5 has the same pin configuration as the stock 1B2 or 1K2 tubes from the ld2 except it uses better parts and design. Thus in my setup, the 1S5 reduces microphonics to a great level and extends the spectrum from both ends to a great amount imo. Overall, the 1S5 tube just sound more natural to me than the old chinese stock tubes. I bought the 1U5 tubes from ebay thinking that they were another compliment of the 1S5 tubes and when i popped them in the ld2, they didnt work. I found out later that the 1U5 tube may look exactly like the 1S5 tube, but the 1U5 has a different internal pin layout altogether. So i wasted about 20 bucks on tubes that doesnt work on the ld2 unless i do some modding, but i wont bother with that. Check this out.
http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_1s5.html

[SonicDawg]

Wow, thanks a big lot for your clarification. Just one more thing, though. Will the LD II be shipped with the tubes plugged in? or else, do I just plug them in so long that they fit? or is there something I need to be cautious in installing tubes?

[htbyron]

I got my LDII in the same batch as aznsensazian & like his, mine is still going strong with no problems to speak of (one LED under the tube is dimmer than the other one, but it doesn't seem to affect the sound quality so I'm ignoring it. Every month or so I open it up to check for leaky caps, but I have had no problems so far. And I use mine a lot -- it runs from MP3 & WMA source files on my computer, and I use it while working at home (3-4 hours a day, usually).

It should ship with the tubes disassembled and individually wrapped to avoid breakage. It's easy to install them: Looking at the dial, the smaller tubes (with the dimples) go in front, and the bigger ones (power tubes) go behind them. Just line up the pins with the hols in the chassis & seat them gently but firmly.

Enjoy!

Tom

[SonicDawg]

Thx. I have done some searching in this forum, and looks like blown caps only happened to the old batch, and the LD II are now free (mostly) of quality issues. I do hope that mine turns out fine. I have one year warranty anyway.
Can my cans be damaged while listening to a blown amp? Thx.

[aznsensazian]

Originally Posted by SonicDawg

Can my cans be damaged while listening to a blown amp?

Yes, if your amp is blown, it could possibly send terrible discharges to your phone and possibly could damage your ears and your headphones. If you see any leaking caps dripping under your ld2, i would not use it.

[SonicDawg]

Well, just got a confirmation from the seller that the LDII is of the newest design So looks like aside from the heat issue, I shouldn't really worry much. Of course, heat can equal cap meltdown, then blown caps....