New info: Musical Paradise MP-301 MK2

Proud owner of the MKII!!! Using Tung Sol Cyro EL34 and just received the Red metal GE 5653.
 
So far I have tries the Shuguang EL34s, Russian 6n3cEs, of course stock and now the Tong Sol and 5653 red metal.
 
At this point the stock preamp tubes sound better, however, I assume many hours remain in burning in the 5653 metal tubes.
 
No hum with any tubes rolled with speakers or cans.....Sennheiser Pro HD-280.
 
Any comments?
 
Thanks,
 
Rob

Quote:

woodsart said:

Proud owner of the MKII!!! Using Tung Sol Cyro EL34 and just received the Red metal GE 5653.
 
So far I have tries the Shuguang EL34s, Russian 6n3cEs, of course stock and now the Tong Sol and 5653 red metal.
 
At this point the stock preamp tubes sound better, however, I assume many hours remain in burning in the 5653 metal tubes.
 
NO hum with the Sennheiser Pro HD-280 cans or Dennis Murphy DIY CAOW1 speakers.
 
Any comments?
 
Thanks,
 
Rob

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The fact is that the 6SJ7 is a finicky tube for audio. The Darkvoice 337, which also uses the 6SJ7 for driver tubes, had similar problems. It is a good sounding tube, but getting a totally quiet pair can be a real challenge.

Hello everyone! Like WoodsArt I am new to HeadFi and just purchased the MK2 amp! I can agree that this amp is finicky with tubes or the transformer needs better isolation? I unfortunately got some bad power tubes and noticed them redplating badly after the 3rd day of use! I did explain to Gary I would be using these with speakers 80% of the time. I am driving a pair of GR-Research N3 TL floorstanders which this amp drives wonderfully at more then tolerable levels. I also use a pair of SLS 6.5 monitors, both speakers operate at 8 ohms and Thankfuly, do not exhibit any hum whatsoever!
I was hearing an unacceptable hum with my headphones and I had to turn my volume up at least 25% to drown out the hum. After replacing the bad power tubes and driver tubes with RCA CRC 5693, this reduced the hum to very faint levels and I no longer hear hum during subtle music.
My headphones are The Speaker Company HD Pro7, they are old and I have no idea what ohms or sensitivity they are? I only purchased them for late nights so I wouldn't wake up the kids! I am sure these can't compete with many of the Audiophile cans recommended on HeadFi. I am looking for a good brand $200.00 that will match well with this amp, if anyone has some recommendations I am open minded.
I did think about the Sen HD 280 Pro like Rob above but Gary directed me to higher impedance types. I think with this amp, it's the luck of the draw concerning the bothersome hum with Headphones?


Overall I am very impressed with the MK2. The sound quality is excellent and this amp exhibits plenty of detail. It is on the warm side and definitely has a tubey sound signature, but this is a good thing. Installing the RCA 5693 and Tung Sol EL34 surely tilted it to the neutral or bright side! At this amps price point and the sound quality it exhibits I would have to say it's near the top for any high fidelity audio component best buy. This also allows anyone who was interested in quality tube amplification to try it, who otherwise couldn't afford it!

600 ohm Beyerdynamic cans match well with this amp.  DT770s can sometimes be found for ~$200.

I've had surprisingly good success with AKG K701 paired with the original MP-301. At a meet I attended, the MK2 (stock tubes, I believe) sounded even better with the same phones. Terrific soundstage and good detail. Might not be my first choice for rock or electronic but very good with jazz and acoustic music. K701, too, can be found used for under $200. 

Greeni---I noticed the temperature change also, much better now, zero hum, much lower temp- its still warm warm but not as scary hot as it was at first. I was totally afraid to listen to it with headphones at first because I thought if I fell asleep and the CD ended and the amp sat there idling I might have a problem so I didn't use it more than a couple hours a day the first week, then a little more as it broke in and sounded better, the hum started to fade and the temp started to drop. 
 I totally agree with the above post saying "its like buying a new car and having to try different tires"....the  hum thing in my opinion was a huge miss, how did he not hear that, it was not faint it was loud _LOUD HUM...now its gone and it seemed to all relate tp break-in but it was a definite problem. I was extremely lucky and received the amp as a gift from a friend on the web and I am so very grateful, I also got an email from a reviewer who asked me if I could put him in touch with Gary so he could review the amp so that should be coming out sometime soon......I forget the name of the web mag....I'll find out and let you guys know so you can be on the lookout...........bottom line- patience paid off big time for me!!!
  The amps sound is fantastic and that"s all that counts!!!
EDIT--I forgot to add I'm using it with HiFiMan HE-5LE Orthodynamic Headphones and it sounds great....One happy old dude here~

Thank You for the Headphone suggestions! Ed you know I would love to have those Orthos, those are nice! I was looking at the Beyer DT 770s, 880s and 990s as well as the AKG! Tough choice as I know all these brands are great! AKG supposedly have very good mids and the Beyers have a little more range at the extremes, but only from  what I read which could mean anything? I do Like the amp and sound quality is decent however some issues with Gary as the power tubes were bad and I am still waiting for a long time to send me the EL34, but it has taken so long I have ordered several pairs of tubes including JJ KT77 which sound great and Rob was good enough to give me a pair of extra Tung Sol EL34B. All tubes and amp run cooler then expected and even the transformer gets to 50C max with the KT77 the tube itself is 118C after 3 hours! I also noticed that all my tubes labels are backwards because of the way the guide pin slot on tube socket is positoned? Its sounds great but theres a little more then sound and features and the way a component looks is somewhat important! I dont know Gary's service and willingness to correct things were non existant and this is what  bothered me a little! However He could probably do much better if he worked on those issues! Im not entirely sure I want to deal with him anylonger, his price is good and sound quality is good but other then that your own your own and thats not to reassuring especially if your going to spend a lot of money! I was cautious and emailed him a few times before purchasing this amp! He assure me he had a demo unit that he inspected himself and was working excellent. Immediately after getting the amp and 2 days later the power tubes had severe red plating and they were defective. The amp didnt sound as good after this which Gary argued otherwise? I replaced the power tubes with the ones Woodsart gave me and the amp sounded like the day I got it and a bit better! I had to take all these actions myself as I havent had any help from Gary other then he sent the EL34 tubes to replace the defective stock tubes, which has taken almost a month. I also had severe hum with headphones, but replacing the Driver tubes to the RCA Reds helped quite a bit! I was also thinking that perhaps the stock driver tubes were defective as well, but who knows?  at one point Gary told me to be patient and suggested I use the amp for speakers only? At that point I was irrate as he shouldnt have advertised a headphone amp to begin with! I just couldnt believe what I was hearing! Luckily the amp is cheap and sounds great with speakers or I would have filed a dispute with the credit card company and returned his amp the cheapest way possible!

Dang zerogravity1.......can I buy a paragraph break?  
 
That post was hard to read.

As you so eloquently stated Ed, its the sound quality that matters most! I do agree its fantastic for the cost and worth the troubles! Im just nit picking more then anything I suppose, but the MK2 is far better then the more costly Chinese amplifiers that sound much worse and need to be reworked after a short while! I thought about purchasing and Audioromy FU29 amplifier for a few hundred more, but so little is known about those and the MK2 sounds superb with the N3 speakers! I would like to see the Pre amp section redesigned so that a better selection of tubes can be use as it seems the Stock driver tubes are extremely limited! Maybe I have it all wrong with Gary and he didnt understand me or me him?  I read his customer service was supposed to be excellent!

Just ranting while multi-tasking , sorry! I do feel much better though! Yes you can Half price! Lol

Has anyone had the RCA 5693 driver tubes long enough, to notice if they warm up sonically? I would imagine for a 10,000 hour tube, break in will be a lengthy process. I do love these driver tubes, they are very clean and detailed sounding.

Zero--I agree with everything you said, if mine was not a gift and I wasn't patient by nature I'd have flipped and sort of did if you read some of my early posts.....Its a headphone site, that bothered me also when he told me that i was like Whatttt!!!!!!!

Quote:

eclein said:

Zero--I agree with everything you said, if mine was not a gift and I wasn't patient by nature I'd have flipped and sort of did if you read some of my early posts.....Its a headphone site, that bothered me also when he told me that i was like Whatttt!!!!!!!

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Mine is headed back. I tried 2 and both had the same hum issue. I even brought it to a friends house (to eliminate the grounding in my house as the cause) and it still hummed there. Maybe burning in the tubes for another 5 months would have helped but my patience ran out. Too bad, it sounded very nice and looked great. It did run hot which was another concern, esp when used in the summer.
 
For now I'm using the Lepai Tripath 2020A+ (Pretty good sound for $36 shipped). No more hum or excessive heat. Will do serious research and will probably get a replacement tube amp come winter. 

Just purchased some JJ E34L tubes and will be burning them in. Hopefully all goes well.