Bada PH12 vis-a-vis Meixing MC66AE and Lehmann BC - Page 35

Very cool Black Stuart and I couldn't agree more about the internal wiring being very very important (among other mods). I've been using that Mundorf silver/gold stuff (24 awg and 18awg) in all of my reference level gear in a massive mod that is still ongoing (rewired the transport with Illumati COAX for the 75 ohm outputs, REF 1 DAC analog/ACSS outs use Mundorf, Illumati COAX once again on the digital inputs, and Mundorf for the ACSS link between the DAC and Amp,Phoenix is completely rewired using 24 and 18 awg silver gold). The improvement was/is pretty impressive.

Here is a link to the DIY ACSS (CAST) cables I made using the silver/gold 24 awg wire (fully shielded with silver plated copper mesh, fully balanced geometry with 22 awg Legenberg copper gnd conductor)



The best aspect of the Mundorf alloy is the gold content stabilizes the silver so no corrosion or oxidation can occur (in theory) with the exposed bits of wire that in turn are soldered. The Teflon sheathing is pretty thick. I love the Mundorf wire's sound signature. It does not sound like typical solid silver to these ears but rather a perfect blend of silver and copper (with none of the SPC drawbacks).

Pata I hope 2010 finds you happy and employed. I know you had to sell your Bada amp, sorry to hear of that BTW.

Peete.

Does anyone in Europe (preferably UK) offer a service for modding or repairing the PH-12?

I have a blown MOSFET, but I'm tempted to get it upgraded too if that's an option. Any recommendations on upgrades to the PH-12?

This is my setup:
Trends UD10 > Keces DA-131> Bada PH-12 > HD650

Hi, Gang!

Took my "Fitz-Maxxed" PH-12 out of 9 months' storage last week (and mounted the custom heat sinks that Fitz fitted for it) to mark the auspicious arrival of the DT880/600 ohm. Now I am glad the amp did not sell--boy am I grateful it didn't sell!

The Bada and the Beyers match very well, providing a smooth, clean, detailed, dynamic and expansive listening experience. Finally, too, I think the Ven Haus TFTF caps have finally settled down. Right now, the Bada is tubed with an RCA 6SN7GT/tall bottle/black plate and two Sylvania 6SN7GTB/short bottle/green labels. This combination has always proven to be rewarding. : )

Lastly, Fitz rewired my Bada with solid core Neotech 18AWG UP-OCC copper and I couldn't be happier.

The heat sinks that Fitz custom fit for the Bada work very well.  The new resistors that Fitz mounted from the underside of the circuit board prohibited remounting the existing onboard cooling fan (which was always an embarrassing aspect of the PH-12's design).  

 

I have had the amp running for 2-3 hours and the heat dissipation is adequate enough with the heat sinks that I do not have to employ outboard cooling (with a 6-inch, Lasco desktop fan).  

 

I like the idea of letting the components warm up during operation, but without getting dangerously hot, which was a constant hazard with the stock design.

 

The Bada is tubed with an RCA 5692 and a pair of Sylvania 6SN7GTB, and drives the Beyer DT880/600 ohm headphones extremely well.

 

Thanks again, Fitz!  : )

Edited by pataburd - 5/13/10 at 6:59pm

Just re-tubed with 1x Sylvania "Bad Boy" and 2x GE 6SN7GTB, and the Bada sounds shockingly good with the K501.  Those GEs sound excellent back there!  : )

Wow Pata, I'm glad to hear you still have your Bada PH-12 MaXX (seems like providence that you were able to keep the amp) ...welcome back BTW

 

Peete.

I can't believe that used to be my amp.. You really improved on it pata.

drarthurwells so you still own a Bada, seems you were ahead of your time with the hybrid idea.  I am looking for an amp, but now there are a lot of hybrid amps and trying to find a good one for $400 or less if possible.  I saw the BADA DC amp, has anyone tried it out? All suggestions are welcome.

Hmmmm....The Musical Fidelity XCan series were all hybrids and very popular in its day, the original Xcans debuted many, many moons ago.  Also very popular with modders - many moons ago.

Edited by SP Wild - 8/12/10 at 12:02am

Hi, sounds like you've seen a few amps in your time.  Do you have any suggestions for today?  I need something for ms1i and Denon 2000.  Thanks

If you're after a hybrid - I can't speak for  the bada.  But I do own the D7000 - my criticism is that the bass sometimes can be bloated on some recordings and the treble is somewhat very peaky - only recently I have pulled the XcanV3 out of storage, in a desperate attempt to bring some valve magic to the D7000s as I couldn't get any of my full tube amps to drive them without them sounding bloated at the bass.

 

The D7000s (and by extension D2000) matched perfectly with the Xcans for those specific requirements - they were able to drive low resistance cans better than they could drive a 300ohm HD650 (they were sold as HD650 amps)...The roll of in bass and treble with this amp made me dislike them for HD650 - but somehow they were perfect to tames bass bloat and bright treble.  They are cheap on the used market.

 

My CSP2 tamed the bass on the Denon D7000. It sounds very good when I swapped tubes and the amp played them without issue. They do prefer ss amps IMO and you get the bass slam the D7000 is know for.

Hi to all,

I had completely forgotten about this gargantuan thread, being long in the tooth like Art, I thought I'd better take a look at his posting before pming him and no he has'nt popped his clogs.

 

Note to self 'never say you are finished with anything'. However, unless I can find a way to prevent oxidisation of UP-OCC solid core copper wire, I  have reached an end game with my i/cs and am now embarking on my first h/phone cable which will be a replica of the i/cs, this should be good for 600s & 650s.

 

How is this relevant to the Bada well, I no longer use any sheilding on my i/cs, which are 4 conductors inside oversized FEP tubing. I have yet to fit this because I only ordered enough FEP tubing for evaluation and am awaiting a spool of the FEP to arrive. Because I have not removed the PCB I have never had a chance to change the last of the original signal wiring from Mosfets to jack sockets, this should be interesting.

 

Yes I still have my Bada and it's with me until I pop my clogs. I still hav'nt removed the PCB to properly fit all my mods as I was uncertain if I wanted to buy replacement regs and tracking down replacements for the 2 x 56uF/400V reservoir caps. I shall be ordering the Paul Haynes regs as they beat everything that Leo (Sabre DAC 9018) put against them and managed to find some Nichicon Audio caps, these and some Mills power resistors. I shall be changing the rather crappy jack sockets and I'm good to finally fit everything properly in the Bada, remember I have never had a mosfet blow (famous last words) but I do have spares should this happen.

 

I do have my definitive valve line-up - Tung Sol RP 6f8g driver / Russian mil. spec 1578 - it is everything I could wish for but it is true to say that when you have a highly detailed a neutral amp, the differences between good sounding valves does become much less.

 

There will be a nice surprise for Art and Pataburd coming their way soon - thanks for all your help guys.