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Review of the Little-Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 7

post #91 of 433
1/24/08 at 7:30pm

can't....resist....ordering....

You people all suck. You have forced me to buy one.



I've wanted to try a tube amp for so long, and have been watching reviews of Little Dots for almost as long. The glowing (literally!) reviews here have put me over the edge.

Should be a nice upgrade from my PA2V2, right?
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post #92 of 433
1/24/08 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Should be a nice upgrade from my PA2V2, right?
hell yeah, you're comparing apple and watermelon.
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post #93 of 433
1/24/08 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigStig View Post
You people all suck. You have forced me to buy one.



I've wanted to try a tube amp for so long, and have been watching reviews of Little Dots for almost as long. The glowing (literally!) reviews here have put me over the edge.

Should be a nice upgrade from my PA2V2, right?
A month from now, you'll be going, "PA2 what?"
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post #94 of 433
1/25/08 at 1:44am
I've noticed after 36 hours, the whole amp seems to be running cooler. Before I could feel the heat radiating from it. My mouse is right next to it, and i don't feel the heat as much from it now.

Also today after 48+ hour breakin, the bass has tamed quite abit, and also it seems to be quieter. IIRC, early on before I was listening to it 30~40 on the knob and was plenty loud. But now it seems that I need to be 50+ to be near the same loudness.
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post #95 of 433
1/25/08 at 1:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joshatdot View Post
I've noticed after 36 hours, the whole amp seems to be running cooler. Before I could feel the heat radiating from it. My mouse is right next to it, and i don't feel the heat as much from it now.

Also today after 48+ hour breakin, the bass has tamed quite abit, and also it seems to be quieter. IIRC, early on before I was listening to it 30~40 on the knob and was plenty loud. But now it seems that I need to be 50+ to be near the same loudness.
Hope mine doesn't stop radiating heat. It'd be very useful on cold days to warm your hands up by hovering them over the tubes...

Oh also, I just noticed that on the circuit board thing it says 'Little Dot MK I/II' on it.. Does this mean the MK II has the same circuit design as the MK I?
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post #96 of 433
1/25/08 at 2:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fraseyboy View Post
Hope mine doesn't stop radiating heat. It'd be very useful on cold days to warm your hands up by hovering them over the tubes...

Oh also, I just noticed that on the circuit board thing it says 'Little Dot MK I/II' on it.. Does this mean the MK II has the same circuit design as the MK I?
Nope. I think it was a printing mistake when the circuit board was designed. The MK1's board is like 1" x 2".
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post #97 of 433
1/25/08 at 3:18am
Yes!

The sibilance is finally gone...

Still need to roll some tubes to get that warm lush sound thou...

Think i am around the 90 hour mark.

The glossy finish on this thing is hypnotizing!
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post #98 of 433
1/25/08 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by doubletaps View Post
Yes!

The sibilance is finally gone...

Still need to roll some tubes to get that warm lush sound thou...

Think i am around the 90 hour mark.

The glossy finish on this thing is hypnotizing!
Looks like your nearing the end of the "maturing" phase. It is so great when everything seems to come together at that point!
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post #99 of 433
1/25/08 at 10:12pm
My SPL meter arrived today and in case anyone's interested, with the Little Dot MK II on gain 10 going to the HD580's with the stock cable I found that when the volume level is on about 12 it peaks at around 85 DB C weighted so listening at that level for around 8 hours would cause hearing damage. I was quite surprised at that as it seems VERY loud to me and I would never listen that high.

I just noticed that my MK II seems to be making a very high pitched noise every now and then... I suspect people of the older generation would not be able to hear it (like the sound that a CRT TV makes) but I can hear it loud and clear and it's fairly annoying... I think it might be coming from the power supply thing sticking out of the top. Anyone else getting this?
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post #100 of 433
1/25/08 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fraseyboy View Post
My SPL meter arrived today and in case anyone's interested, with the Little Dot MK II on gain 10 going to the HD580's with the stock cable I found that when the volume level is on about 12 it peaks at around 85 DB C weighted so listening at that level for around 8 hours would cause hearing damage. I was quite surprised at that as it seems VERY loud to me and I would never listen that high.

I just noticed that my MK II seems to be making a very high pitched noise every now and then... I suspect people of the older generation would not be able to hear it (like the sound that a CRT TV makes) but I can hear it loud and clear and it's fairly annoying... I think it might be coming from the power supply thing sticking out of the top. Anyone else getting this?
Thanks for the SPL test. Very interesting! No wonder I like listening around the 9-10 o'clock area! The super high pitched noise is most likely the tubes, if it comes and goes. You can switch tubes left for right or just leave it be. It will disappear with time, unless a tube is "bad", which would be very rare.
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post #101 of 433
1/25/08 at 10:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
Thanks for the SPL test. Very interesting! No wonder I like listening around the 9-10 o'clock area! The super high pitched noise is most likely the tubes, if it comes and goes. You can switch tubes left for right or just leave it be. It will disappear with time, unless a tube is "bad", which would be very rare.
Ah good. I think it's mostly gone now.

Another question though, is it safe to have my MK II turned on without anything plugged in? I read somewhere that some tube amps are meant to have a 'load' connected and its unsafe to have them running without one... Is this true for the MK II? I'm paranoid I might break it somehow
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post #102 of 433
1/26/08 at 3:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fraseyboy View Post
Ah good. I think it's mostly gone now.

Another question though, is it safe to have my MK II turned on without anything plugged in? I read somewhere that some tube amps are meant to have a 'load' connected and its unsafe to have them running without one... Is this true for the MK II? I'm paranoid I might break it somehow
Now I know you really do love your MKII! My understanding of this "must have a load" is when a source is being input to the amp. However, I can't imagine a scenario where it would be on, with no input and no output. A Night-Light? Room Heater? I would follow the simple use rules for all audio. Hook everything up, turn down the volume, turn the unit on. When done, turn it off. Doing this will eliminate any chance of something bad happening.
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post #103 of 433
1/26/08 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
Now I know you really do love your MKII! My understanding of this "must have a load" is when a source is being input to the amp. However, I can't imagine a scenario where it would be on, with no input and no output. A Night-Light? Room Heater? I would follow the simple use rules for all audio. Hook everything up, turn down the volume, turn the unit on. When done, turn it off. Doing this will eliminate any chance of something bad happening.
But I was just thinking about if I do a direct comparison to my GV6 I would swap the headphones from one amp to the other so my 580's wouldn't be connected to the MKII for a short while at a time while i compare it to the GV6... Is this safe?
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post #104 of 433
1/26/08 at 4:17am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fraseyboy View Post
But I was just thinking about if I do a direct comparison to my GV6 I would swap the headphones from one amp to the other so my 580's wouldn't be connected to the MKII for a short while at a time while i compare it to the GV6... Is this safe?
As long as the volume is at zero, you'll be just fine. I've had to do this with reviews quite often and it doesn't hurt anything. Have fun!!
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post #105 of 433
1/27/08 at 5:33am
Did I burn in/break in my MKII tooo much?

IIRC, I don't hear as much bass/sub bass before I did the burn in.
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