Review of the Little-Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 29

It is more of a luck of the draw if you are not using using a matched pair. It is a bit more important at the first stage that the tubes be matched close together. While I do not always use matched tubes I will still look for matched pairs when reasonable. Many manufactures of tube equipment do not always use matched sets of tubes as a standard option.

I see, so matched tubes are rather important.

I'm still in the search for the right pair of Mullard Drivers for my Little Dot.  I came across these, but the seller could only tell me that they said HK1 R4H3 on the tubes.  Are these a different version of the ones I should use for the Little Dot?  From what I've seen of this review, the ones I should be looking for say 6CQ6.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-VINTAGE-MULLARD-EF92-VALVES-BOXED-UNUSED-/350469137775?pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item519996a56f#ht_500wt_923

Well things are looking pretty grim for matched pairs of EF92s that aren't priced high, so I might dive into the world of EF95 Mullards.  What are some of the fundamental differences between EF92 and EF95 Mullards in the way they sound?  I was looking at this pair, and I think they're the M8100s, right?  Seemed like they were pretty good according to posts in the thread.

http://cgi.ebay.com/EF95-6AK5-Mullard-Tube-Matched-Pairs-20-prs-avail-/120694912947?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item1c19fa37b3#ht_1946wt_782

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMRaven 

Well things are looking pretty grim for matched pairs of EF92s that aren't priced high, so I might dive into the world of EF95 Mullards.  What are some of the fundamental differences between EF92 and EF95 Mullards in the way they sound?  I was looking at this pair, and I think they're the M8100s, right?  Seemed like they were pretty good according to posts in the thread.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/EF95-6AK5-Mullard-Tube-Matched-Pairs-20-prs-avail-/120694912947?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item1c19fa37b3#ht_1946wt_782

For me the EF95's appeal isn't long lasting. They are big on bass and seem to be very sensitive. The EF92's are more sensible.. they don't heat up as much and deliver everything in a more laid back fashion. Fun vs sensibility ha ha  Have you tried EF91's? they are the best of both worlds for me.

No, I havn't considered EF91 yet, but I'm open to suggestions!  What I want most out of the driver tubes would perhaps be more bass-midrange and less treble for my DT990s.  The more bass the merrier I feel, but not any type of mid-bass bloat, I'm looking most for bass extension, because it seems as though the stock tubes have a bass roll-off starting at around 40hz, and I rather not have to use iTune's horrible EQ to EQ that low, low bass up at the cost of clarity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMRaven 

No, I havn't considered EF91 yet, but I'm open to suggestions!  What I want most out of the driver tubes would perhaps be more bass-midrange and less treble for my DT990s.  The more bass the merrier I feel, but not any type of mid-bass bloat, I'm looking most for bass extension, because it seems as though the stock tubes have a bass roll-off starting at around 40hz, and I rather not have to use iTune's horrible EQ to EQ that low, low bass up at the cost of clarity.

Well I listen to a lot of Jazz and the mids are very important for me, I think the 91's offer extension but nothing is prominent. So for me thats a good thing. I would say that they are worth a try, I prefer them over the more smooth 92's.

What exactly model of ef91 do you recommend?

Also, anybody else have any experience with the bass extension of EF95 vs EF92 or EF91 model mullard tubes? Or any other tubes from different companies in those families?

I just found this little auction on ebay, it looks like EF92 Mullards, but the characters on the front say EF92 instead of 6CQ6, is this a major difference?

It doesn't say that the tubes are matched pair per say, but the numbers all seem to be similar.  Is this a good look?

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-x-Mullard-EF92-CV131-9D6-Valves-Tubes-Tested-/180679460314?pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item2a1155c5da#ht_1938wt_1026

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMRaven 

What exactly model of ef91 do you recommend?

 

Also, anybody else have any experience with the bass extension of EF95 vs EF92 or EF91 model mullard tubes? Or any other tubes from different companies in those families?

Sorry for late reply, I use 2 lots of Mullard EF91 one lot is old and has a blueish stripe round and the other lot has white writing on but they sound the same to my ears. CV4014 they seem to be readily avaiible on Ebay uk 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CV4014-EF91-6AM6-MULLARD-TUBE-VALVES-NEW-1PC-/280235122384?pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item413f509ed0

Ok!  I'll keep those in mind.  Will probably end up jumping on them since they're so far the only ones recommended to me.

For me I will just enjoy the stock tubes when my amp come in. Then I will try the CV4010 and 6H30PI tube combination which I already have on hand. 

Guys, today I've officially pulled the trigger on the Little Dot MK II.

It will be for my bedroom since my main system is now in the living room.

My iMac will feed the music through a honest Beresford TC-7510 DAC to my AKG K601.

I've seen some very nice bargains on russian tubes (all made in Voshdok between 1970 and 1980), probably I'm going to get some.

Can't wait ^^

Hi everyone, it's my first post on the forum, but i've been digging it quite a lot.
Well now about the little dot MKII, I've been looking for pictures of the inside of the v2, but haven't found any one. So I decided to open mine and made some pictures of the inside. I'd like to change some capacitors with higher quality caps, but the thing is that I don't know wich caps I can replace, or better said wich woud be usefull to replace? (like the output or input caps)
Here are the pics:










Thanks

Getting ready to buy the MKii hope its going to be worth it.

So I own the I+ already and was wondering how much warmer in tone would this amp be than the I+ is? I'm looking for the warm, smooth stereotypical tube sound without sacrificing much detail