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Review of the Little-Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 20

post #286 of 438
8/19/08 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
I liked how the EF92 6CQ6 driver tubes sound in the MKII. Even though you have to put the jumpers on for EF92 mode, it is worth it. They have that famous "Mullard" sound, which works well for most types of music.
The United Electron EF92 is a good choice as well if you're thinking about rolling the EF92.
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post #287 of 438
9/2/08 at 12:36pm
i have a problem concerning the tubes, not the amp...a few weeks ago i thrown in a pair of russian 6n6p power tubes, which didn't gave me a percievable improvement in sound quality, but i always had the impression of a slightly uneven channel balance...but since it was evident only with some recordings....i didn't switch back to the stock tubes till today...and it confirmed my impression, since to my ears the stock ones are perfectly balanced...i have different driver tubes as well, 2xm8100, 4xussr 6j1, which seem to have no bias problem at all, so my experience told me that power tubes need to be a matched and tested pair, where driver tubes are more or less the same....is it correct , or i just have a bad pair of tubes ? If i am correct, i'd better buy a pair of spare power tubes from LD...which should be 100% fine....
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post #288 of 438
9/2/08 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meliboeus View Post
i have a problem concerning the tubes, not the amp...a few weeks ago i thrown in a pair of russian 6n6p power tubes, which didn't gave me a percievable improvement in sound quality, but i always had the impression of a slightly uneven channel balance...but since it was evident only with some recordings....i didn't switch back to the stock tubes till today...and it confirmed my impression, since to my ears the stock ones are perfectly balanced...i have different driver tubes as well, 2xm8100, 4xussr 6j1, which seem to have no bias problem at all, so my experience told me that power tubes need to be a matched and tested pair, where driver tubes are more or less the same....is it correct , or i just have a bad pair of tubes ? If i am correct, i'd better buy a pair of spare power tubes from LD...which should be 100% fine....
You are right, It can be a "crap shoot" for sure. I once had a box of eight 6N6PI power tubes, and all eight seemed very well matched. Others, have had them seem miles apart from each other. The only way around this is to either buy a matched set, or find someone with a tube tester, who can match them up for you. Also, some matched pairs will seem unbalanced to each other, until they have matured, about 45 hours.

You could check eBay and see if someone is selling a matched set of those. They are very nice power tubes when matured.
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post #289 of 438
9/2/08 at 1:06pm
ok , so i am not gone mad...it is a known "issue"...for now i'll use the stock ones...while i hear some improvements swapping driver tubes...i don't feel so with the power tubes...in case they go bad, i'll just buy a matched pair of chinese tubes from LD and live with my slightly unbalanced ones until i get a replacement....
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post #290 of 438
9/2/08 at 1:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meliboeus View Post
ok , so i am not gone mad...it is a known "issue"...for now i'll use the stock ones...while i hear some improvements swapping driver tubes...i don't feel so with the power tubes...in case they go bad, i'll just buy a matched pair of chinese tubes from LD and live with my slightly unbalanced ones until i get a replacement....
Well, considering the cost and what you'd get, I'd highly recommend dumping the Chinese tubes at the earliest opportunity. They aren't known for quality, and the Russian power tubes are. You could also ask around and see if anyone has a spare set of the 6N6PI's that are closer matched. This might be very cost effective too, since many bought these in groups of 8 or 10, and might be willing to let a set go for a decent price.
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post #291 of 438
9/16/08 at 2:20am
Hey. I also bought this amp and the zero dac both thanks to Penchum's awesome reviews. I have one tiny problem though, with the zero acting as DAC and pre amp, the mkii is way too sensitive even using the lowest impedance. My headphone is a hd580 (300ohms). I can never go above 10/100 on the dial for my mkii and that is at the lowest gain available (funny thing, it came defaulted to on-on, low gain). Is there anything I can do? Lower the volume in foobar? Set zero to phone mode and lower the volume there? Thanks
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post #292 of 438
10/2/08 at 9:17pm
So i just purchased this amp today. Any recommendations on some tubes for this thing?
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post #293 of 438
10/3/08 at 4:13am
you do get around,[],, well any way welcome to the club.
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post #294 of 438
10/3/08 at 1:31pm
I'm about to order some NOS RCA 6J1s from eBay for the MKII. The Beijing domestic 6N6P isn't all that bad. Gave mine roughly 200 hours of burn-in with stock tubes installed and it has come a LONG way.
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post #295 of 438
10/3/08 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunseeker888 View Post
I'm about to order some NOS RCA 6J1s from eBay for the MKII. The Beijing domestic 6N6P isn't all that bad. Gave mine roughly 200 hours of burn-in with stock tubes installed and it has come a LONG way.
RCA NOS 5654 / 6AK5 Tube Little Dot Amplifier MkII EF95 - eBay (item 270278941596 end time Oct-22-08 17:53:09 PDT)
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post #296 of 438
12/7/08 at 7:08pm
Thanks to this excellent review. Also purchased MK II today.
Can't wait to get my hands on it.
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post #297 of 438
12/17/08 at 5:27am
Thinking about buying a MkII to give as a present to a buddy of mine...
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post #298 of 438
12/19/08 at 5:12pm
i mite be getting this soon to power my HD600..my first Tube amp probably!
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post #299 of 438
12/21/08 at 10:00pm
I'm looking to get a set of Mullard M8161's, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding them (Were they all bought out? I used to see the full shield ones on ebay all the time)

However, I did find a set of "CV131/6CQ6" that are supposed to be equivalent to the M8161's. Is this true?

Mullard CV131 / 6CQ6 Little Dot Amp M8161 CV4015 EF92 - eBay (item 270315164359 end time Jan-07-09 20:57:58 PST)
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post #300 of 438
12/21/08 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Project22a View Post
I'm looking to get a set of Mullard M8161's, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding them (Were they all bought out? I used to see the full shield ones on ebay all the time)

However, I did find a set of "CV131/6CQ6" that are supposed to be equivalent to the M8161's. Is this true?

Mullard CV131 / 6CQ6 Little Dot Amp M8161 CV4015 EF92 - eBay (item 270315164359 end time Jan-07-09 20:57:58 PST)

From that auctions description...

"..... These tubes are the civilian-branded equivalent of the popular Mullard M8161 tubes and were both manufactured in the same Mullard factory using the same design."
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