BTW, are you guys aware of the MHDT DAC group on Facebook? It was originally formed for owners of Orchids, but subsequently was opened up to anyone.

Here's a comment about upgrading TDA 1541 chips - and that is to seek out a late production chip made in Taiwan, like around 1997. From my reading on the internet, the production process on the Taiwanese line was producing chips at a very high and very consistent level of performance, equivalent...

Hi @Preface - My personal philosophy is to seek contentment in my system. You have a very highly regarded and expensive MHDT DAC. Yes you will probably hear a difference between the balanced Pagoda and the Orchid or the Orchid 69SE. Since you asked for some advice I will say a couple of...

Here's a link. Page down: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124968753242?hash=item1d18b7d85a%3Ag%3Ag1kAAOSweE5grdVv&nma=true&si=Erxo4T4ud5%252B5x%252BFYjEXFsTFXFL8%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

MHDT Labs Orchid 69SE with TDA1541 double crown chip and 6922 tube Just noticed MHDT offered one of these on ebay. Significantly more expensive than the standard Orchid. Very different appearance. It's got me really curious. Anybody here had a chance to listen to one of these or know anything...

IMHO there's little doubt that it's worth doing. Seems to me that *almost* everybody who has tried it has liked it.

Reflections on the MHDT Orchid - 15 months on... Here's what's different for me nowadays - With the shutdown, I spend a lot more time at home and many more hours than I used to listening to music. My system sounds better than ever before and I enjoy it very much Nowadays I spend a lot of time...

By any chance is this in a preamp circuit? And what brand is it? What vintage, physical description, etc? Come on, man. Let us have a little info here... :smile_phones:

Well, consider that they might need to burn in for a while. That could affect the "shouty" characteristic.

Thanks for your post! I found your post very informative because I'm very curious to hear what others think about these Psvane and Shuguang 6SN7 variants. I especially appreciated the comparison with your Bad Boys. Very interesting. So, please continue to post on this thread about these tubes...

What do you think of the jolida? Have you done any tube rolling in it?

What CD player do you have?

I think any discussion of Shuguangs needs to identify which ones you are specifically talking about. Because there is the black treasure series but which are called also CV - 181 T's and Z's also the so-called Western Electric 6SN7s, and then also the British ones and then there's also those...

Hmmm. Those things must be unobtanium. I can't even find a picture of them anywhere. I have a quad of national unions coming. What should I try next that isn't crazy expensive?

Question about 6J5s - Some of you might have read the thread over on Audiogon that says something to the effect that the best 6SN7 is actually a pair of 6J5s. Something like "In a surprise Hollywood twist of an ending it turns out that the best 6SN7 is actually a pair of 6J5 tubes..." Have any...

Holy smokes those things are expensive. Have you ever tried any of the new production Shuguang tubes that are supposed to give the Brimars a run for their money?

Thanks all for your comments. We are now looking for recommendations for appropriate headphones to match this amp. Cost is a big factor, as my brother is very thrifty. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks to jberryt05 I will soon be able to compare the standard MHDT recommended tube rolling options to the 6DJ8 I'm using. Should be fun. In the meantime, there's a neat thread over on Audiogon where the Orchid and Amber 3 are compared. It makes for some fun reading.

I am interested in your tubes. Will send a PM tomorrow.

Tube-Rolling in the Orchid I recently swapped the standard 5670 tube for an Amperex made in Holland 6DJ8. This requires the correct socket adapter (available via ebay). Even though the tube is not yet burned in I think it sounds more fully fleshed out than the stock tube. I have not yet found...

Sounds like I've set things up for a real crap shoot. 'Doh!

I recently purchased (perhaps too hastily) a Dark Voice 336SE headphone amp for my brother's upcoming birthday. Now I've learned that there might be problems with my brother's Sony MDRXB 400 headphones which have an impedance of 24 ohms. Apparently the Dark Voice works better with high impedance...

My question is specifically focused on the use of the Dual triode 6SN7 in a preamp. I don't know if that makes a difference regarding the above comments. But I wanted to make sure it was clear what application I was thinking of.

I'd like to understand how matching affects the sound & performance of dual triodes. 6SN7s are of particular interest, but I suppose it could apply to any dual triode. There are several aspects to this question - probably closely related, but maybe not: 1. If a tube is not closely matched -...