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Millet portable tube amp - ringing noise cured- now a true portable

post #1 of 17
2/9/09 at 3:43am
Thread Starter 
I read somewhere that the tubes in the Millett would ring when you moved.

I bought one.. it was true.. if you moved a lot with it - it would ring.
I opened it up and saw the tubes were not really glued well onto the double stick tape. They sorta hung in space a bit...and could jiggle if you bumped it... like swinging a bit on the circuit board.

So....

I thought.. what makes speakers couple well to speaker stands???? and stops vibration.....???

Blue Tack..

So I got some "fun taK" (made by DAP) likely the same thing...

I took that little sheet of waxed paper that it comes with and made a ball of FUN TAK

Then I folded the wax paper over on it.. And crammed that on top of the little tubes. It can't stick because of the wax paper but the wax paper made it slippery enough to slide back into its casing without moving.. and still maintaining gentle but constant pressure on the tube to keep it from vibrating.

Voila... ZERO ringing...NONE NADA ZILCH.. the perfect tube amp...


----Appplause.....-


Very happy now.
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post #2 of 17
2/9/09 at 6:38am
WOW! this makes me want to reconsider getting a Millet. thanks
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post #3 of 17
2/9/09 at 8:24pm
Thread Starter 
I think it is a wonderful amplifier...One of the audio devices I feel truly makes a difference.

Yes like all tubes there are euphonic distortions... but tubes get so many things correct and add so much more realism than they detract.

I like them so much I am buying two so I always have a spare.

So nice not to hear any ringing at all. The microphonics are gone.
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post #4 of 17
2/9/09 at 10:40pm
Thanks for the tweak.

I love my MP too.

I wonder if using felt might work as well. i.e. sticking a piece of felt to the top of the case where the tubes are situated.
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post #5 of 17
2/9/09 at 11:01pm
I hope that product can withstand the heat generated by the tube. Did you check the specs? Otherwise you could end up goo all over the board. Just some food for thought.
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post #6 of 17
2/10/09 at 3:23am
Good point, Miguel. Maybe we can try that or something similar with my amp. i wonder is someone should write or call Todd about this, maybe they can build something like that into future production.
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post #7 of 17
2/10/09 at 5:05am
Thread Starter 

not all tubes are hot

According to TTVJ the tubes don't get even slightly warm...after all... they were hearing aid tubes..and you wouldn't want to burn someone's ear.

I am sure felt would work too- but I thought that this putty even wrapped in wax paper would custom mold around the tube and help to secure it better.
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post #8 of 17
2/10/09 at 9:31am
My TTVJ Millet portable's tubes do not get hot at all. Barely warm. I'll have to try the blue tack mod as well. I don't use it on the move (far too big), but the ringing noise when touching it, and plugging and unpluging gets annoying.

-Ed
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post #9 of 17
2/10/09 at 9:43am
The material specifications of Blu-Tack can be found here:

MUSICDIRECT - BLU TACK

It states that Blu-Tack only softens slightly above 100 deg C, so using it might be alright.

A fellow head-fier suggested using Plumber's Telfon tape as a dampening device which may be a cleaner tweak.
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post #10 of 17
2/10/09 at 5:48pm
HI All,

Blue Tak and fun tak and poster putty all will work and are safe to use in the amp. The tubes do not get hot and there should be no long term problems using the putty. I have tried it and it works pretty well. As a matter of fact we will install it on all future amps sold.

The TTVJ Millett is in limited supply. We have less than 100 left and once they are gone there will be no more. The tubes are very hard to find and we have exhausted our sources. I can get 20 more tubes but that would only mean 9 or 10 more amps.

So, if you want one now is a great time to get in on the last batch of them ever to be made.
TTVJ – Home of High End Audio Home featuring TTVJ and Apex High Fi Audio products! Providing great products, service, and pricing to our customers
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post #11 of 17
2/10/09 at 8:14pm
That is such a great, powerful amp and the tube-tak mod is a fantastic idea!
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post #12 of 17
2/10/09 at 8:42pm
Other materials that might be employed are silicone and sorbothane. Both have high temp stability.

One could create their own silicone bumpons from a tube of plumbing/roofing silicone.

Or cut bumpons from sheets of sorbothane.

Sorbothane

The problem with Blutack is that it has mineral oil in it's composition which leaches out over time leaving an oil stain - which may or may not pose a problem in the long run.
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post #13 of 17
2/11/09 at 10:19pm
Anyone have a picture of what this mod looks like. I'd like to do it, but I can't quite picture where to apply the BluTak or silicone. Thanks.
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post #14 of 17
2/28/09 at 6:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by triode12 View Post
Other materials that might be employed are silicone and sorbothane. Both have high temp stability.

One could create their own silicone bumpons from a tube of plumbing/roofing silicone.

Or cut bumpons from sheets of sorbothane.

Sorbothane

The problem with Blutack is that it has mineral oil in it's composition which leaches out over time leaving an oil stain - which may or may not pose a problem in the long run.
The oil thing is why I left it wrapped in the wax paper.

I suppose if you wanted a better seal you could always hot glue the tubes down- or use a clamp and a tiny bit of shoe goo or silicone.

sorbothane is pretty inert.

The best likely would be d30...


http://www.d3o.com/

but the fun tak works, is cheap and easy to remold or remove if needed.
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post #15 of 17
2/28/09 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by vorlon1 View Post
Anyone have a picture of what this mod looks like. I'd like to do it, but I can't quite picture where to apply the BluTak or silicone. Thanks.
You make a blob of bluetak wrap the wax paper around it and then snug that piece it between both the tubes and the outer casing... the wax paper is slippery enough so it lets the circuit board glide back in and it won't shift on the tubes since you press lightly to make an impression so it stays snug to the tubes while sliding on the flat outer casing.

Todd save a Millet for me..I need another.
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