[MIKELAP]

Quote:

 
Are you asking about the sockets that allow you to use 6AU6 and 6485 tubes? If so, these sockets connect pins 2 and 7, and if used with EF91 and EF92 tubes, they would connect grid #2 to the cathode, which is acceptable. However, it may well be that they will sound different....
 
I believe that some members of this forum are working with the socket vendor to obtain a socket which will connect pins 5 and 7, which is what the jumpers do. If so, these might be better for EF91 and EF92 tubes, and they would also allow you to use triodes.

Yes, wow thats great because i find they sound good as it is but better is always better keep us posted thanks .

 

[gibosi]

Quote:

If i remember the v1 can take 408A tubes which is the 20v version of the 6AK5, might have something to do with it.

 
I know that the LD 1+ can use 408A tubes, but I don't think it is possible to use these tubes with any LD III or LD IV.....

 

[mab1376]

I can see on some old reviews that people we're using 408A tubes
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/266751/review-of-little-dot-mkivse
 
 
Quote:

UPDATE 6 DAYS LATER...

Well, the MKIVse is turning out to be a far better unit than I could ever hope for. Everything seems past any kind of break-in period and I have about 300 hours on it. Last week, I ordered a setup of tubes (Phillips Jan 5687WB) to take the place of the Mullards. I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING! These tubes sound better right out of the box than the Mullards did after 200 hours break-in. I ran them for @ 50hours and they improved even more. I turned right around and ordered another set for spares! So completely High-Fidelity these new tubes are, I'm done tube rolling power tubes from now on. I have some GE 408A's, WE 408A's and Sylvania 408A's coming, so it will only be driver tube rolling from now on. I have never heard a tube like those Phillips 5687WB's before! They are top dog on my list now! Extremely Highly Recommended even at the higher cost.

 
 
Quote:

Driver Tubes
408A W Elect = Best definition and punch through out. Very full spectrum
408A G Elect = Less over all definition, punch still on bass end of spectrum
408A Sylvania = Almost identical to G Elect
408A G Elect 5 star = Almost identical to W Elect, slight improvement in vocals

 
All for an MK IV review

 

[john57]

Still do not understand how you can use a tube with a 20v heater requirement in equipment that has 6.3v for the heaters.

 

[mab1376]

that's what I'm saying...
 
Old versions had slightly different specs.

 

[gibosi]

Quote:

Still do not understand how you can use a tube with a 20v heater requirement in equipment that has 6.3v for the heaters.

 
Mab1376, thanks for posting this. It was news to me!
 
This review is from November, 2007. At that time, it was possible to run 408A tubes in the LD IVse. Moreover, it was also possible to use E182CC power tubes. Today, only the LD 1+ can run 408A tubes. This amp has a jumper to switch between 20v and 6.3v. And if anyone is interested in purchasing some 408As, I have a bunch of them.

 

[hypnos1]

Quote:

Hi zedmeco, That is indeed very disappointing. Make sure your jumpers sit right and your pins are clean and burn them in as Gibosi suggested. I am not using a V1.0 LD MKIII, maybe that makes a difference.
 
I received the Siemens EK90 (6BE6 type) tubes today and I am burning them in as we speak. So far, I am quite impressed - very transparent and detailed with great imaging, a bit brighter than the TS 6BE6, which could be a positive feature for some. Final conclusions will have to wait until they are fully burned in and this has to wait a little as I have probably the next two weeks not much time for tubes. Actually, I would like to add that the QED Reference Audio 1 cable I use is quite a nice one for the LD as it sounds very three dimensional and transparent (punchy bass, extended treble as well).

 
Hi A11,
 
Glad your initial impressions of the Siemens are favourable - I found the real magic appeared at about 30hrs burn-in. A (nice) little extra came when I finally placed the oak 'cones' under my Audiolab and LD, and (don't laugh!) replaced all relevant power lead fuses with some fancy AMR ones, which seemed a reasonable price compared to most others...
Result - even more clarity, detail, 'space' and the (not very technical?) word - clean...And I'm fairly sure it wasn't placebo effect!
 
Look forward to your later findings...

 

[Acapella11]

Quote:

Hi A11,
 
Glad your initial impressions of the Siemens are favourable - I found the real magic appeared at about 30hrs burn-in. A (nice) little extra came when I finally placed the oak 'cones' under my Audiolab and LD, and (don't laugh!) replaced all relevant power lead fuses with some fancy AMR ones, which seemed a reasonable price compared to most others...
Result - even more clarity, detail, 'space' and the (not very technical?) word - clean...And I'm fairly sure it wasn't placebo effect!
 
Look forward to your later findings...

 

Hey hypnos1, so you also got an M-DAC? =) What filter are you usually using? With what kind of cable do you connect them? I am absolutely not laughing. Thanks for the tip. Might be that I do that as well at one point. I was totally not into cables until later, I realized their meaning.

After further listening, and 24 h burn in (EF95), the EK90 still sounds brighter, opener, "sparklier" than the TS 6BE6, which sounds politer and gentler. The EK90 stays "clean" and does not distort. The "more" in space you hear is probably from the brighter presentation, which transports more space information and makes the tube sound wetter as well. I really look forward to compare this tube with the Amperex 6BY6 and, taking the EK90 as a good example, there might be some more gems hidden in heptode land.

 

[MIKELAP]

uote:

 

Hey hypnos1, so you also got an M-DAC? =) What filter are you usually using? With what kind of cable do you connect them? I am absolutely not laughing. Thanks for the tip. Might be that I do that as well at one point. I was totally not into cables until later, I realized their meaning.

After further listening, and 24 h burn in (EF95), the EK90 still sounds brighter, opener, "sparklier" than the TS 6BE6, which sounds politer and gentler. The EK90 stays "clean" and does not distort. The "more" in space you hear is probably from the brighter presentation, which transports more space information and makes the tube sound wetter as well. I really look forward to compare this tube with the Amperex 6BY6 and, taking the EK90 as a good example, there might be some more gems hidden in heptode land.

Hey guys be careful about that cable talk on here dont want to have to bring in an exorcist. And by the way just ordered a 4 foot Cardas cable for my hd800 other ones were to long 

 

[Acapella11]

Quote:

Hey guys be careful about that cable talk on here dont want to have to bring in an exorcist. And by the way just ordered a 4 foot Cardas cable for my hd800 other ones were to long 

Lol, OK, get them in =)
 
For copper cables in different qualities (including UP-OCC), lengths and suitable for different headphones or RCA/XLR-cables, you could also check out http://www.charlestoncablecompany.com/ if you need any more.
 
Congrats to the Cardas cables

 

[Audiofanboy]

Still working on finding the best double-diode triodes. I got some Telefunken 6AV6/EBC91 in the mail a few days ago, and proceeded to test them. Strangely enough, these sound quite close to the Lorenz EBC91 I reviewed, which the same airiness and sultriness I found in the Lorenz. German sound? I don't know about that... But even if I had been looking for that "trait", I can't deny that they sound close in terms of objective qualities. Anyway, very nice tubes, I'd hate to have to pick a fav' between the Tele and the Lorenz!
 
As per usual, here's a few pics of those last two tube types I got. I changed methods to take those pictures, so no more pictures of tubes on my window sill lol.
 
First, the Telefunken, both with the "diamond" on the base, date coded in the 70s and made in the -genuine Tele- Ulm factory. Strictly identical but slightly different markings though same logo, I think they were made a few years apart too, but they sound and look exactly the same anyway, so who cares?
 

 
The Tele boxes, again, strictly identical.
 

 
The Lorenz EBC91 I was talking about last week. These are very well built as well, with a side mounted D-getter and side flash; notice how solid and clean the internals look. No idea about dates, I'd say 50s, but I haven't found information on Lorenz date codes yet.
 

 

 
I'll probably be putting up an ad in the trade section pretty soon -when I have both the time and motivation to- with a whole bunch of tubes for sale; basically many tube types I had bought in double, triple, or unreasonable amounts in hopes of finding the best. Stuff like CV4015, 4 or 5 different types of CV4014 and CV131, two types of Mullard CV850, a pair or two of Mullard EF94, a couple Voshods 6zh1p-ev, some American pentodes (GE 6485, 8136, 6CB6A...) and the probably even more I've accumulated. Anyone interested by anything in particular before I start takings pics to actually make the ad?

 

[hypnos1]

 
Quote:

 

Hey hypnos1, so you also got an M-DAC? =) What filter are you usually using? With what kind of cable do you connect them? I am absolutely not laughing. Thanks for the tip. Might be that I do that as well at one point. I was totally not into cables until later, I realized their meaning.

After further listening, and 24 h burn in (EF95), the EK90 still sounds brighter, opener, "sparklier" than the TS 6BE6, which sounds politer and gentler. The EK90 stays "clean" and does not distort. The "more" in space you hear is probably from the brighter presentation, which transports more space information and makes the tube sound wetter as well. I really look forward to compare this tube with the Amperex 6BY6 and, taking the EK90 as a good example, there might be some more gems hidden in heptode land.

 
Hi A11,
I get what you explained re the effects of a brighter presentation - the HD650s  seem to like this quality. I certainly do! Something else I seemed to notice after my 'tweaking' - shortcomings in a recording revealed themselves more...previously, with tracks that I thought were ALL equal, suddenly some are 'more equal than others', to paraphrase George Orwell!!
 
Have got the Audiolab 8200cd on Optimal Transient XD, which seems to be the flavour of choice. To be honest I haven't done much comparing...
 
Now then, re cables.. boy, you've got me going. (Sorry mikelap, you'll have to divert your eyes!). But I'll try to be brief...
I know so much nonsense surrounds this subject, but I do believe we need to try and find some mid-ground between nonsensical and stock. Before I knew better, I splashed out on some pure silver interconnects from Artisan Silver - thankfully at a sale price. And lovely they are too.(Bought mainly because of the sound that came from my speakers  after being able to get some pure silver  cables off ebay, for a steal). Then I discovered someone selling 8-stranded pure silver braided cable (a la Kimber, but much cheaper), and decided to make up my own headphone cable, using (Cardas equivalent, but cheaper once again) silver- plated RCAs. I just LOVE silver! And am so happy with the result...
As for mains leads, I found some nice ones from mains-cables-r-us - own make; nice German Lapp cable; silver-plated wattgate/MK plugs - at a far more reasonable price than Russ Andrews' offerings. Did I mention the (older style) Tacima mains conditioner/filter?....
OK , OK -  enough already.
My main point being actually that the results we get from our different tubes are surely inextricably linked with all the numerous elements  in the chain, from mains outlet to the wire in our headphones - so many variables!!
 
Edit. Notice the deliberate mistake?... Silly me - RCAs on headphone cable? Got meself mixed up with the other interconnect I made. Of course I should have said Neutrik plug!...

 

[MIKELAP]

Quote:

 
Hi A11,
I get what you explained re the effects of a brighter presentation - the HD650s  seem to like this quality. I certainly do! Something else I seemed to notice after my 'tweaking' - shortcomings in a recording revealed themselves more...previously, with tracks that I thought were ALL equal, suddenly some are 'more equal than others', to paraphrase George Orwell!!
 
Have got the Audiolab 8200cd on Optimal Transient XD, which seems to be the flavour of choice. To be honest I haven't done much comparing...
 
Now then, re cables.. boy, you've got me going. (Sorry mikelap, you'll have to divert your eyes!). But I'll try to be brief...
I know so much nonsense surrounds this subject, but I do believe we need to try and find some mid-ground between nonsensical and stock. Before I knew better, I splashed out on some pure silver interconnects from Artisan Silver - thankfully at a sale price. And lovely they are too.(Bought mainly because of the sound that came from my speakers  after being able to get some pure silver  cables off ebay, for a steal). Then I discovered someone selling 8-stranded pure silver braided cable (a la Kimber, but much cheaper), and decided to make up my own headphone cable, using (Cardas equivalent, but cheaper once again) silver- plated RCAs. I just LOVE silver! And am so happy with the result...
As for mains leads, I found some nice ones from mains-cables-r-us - own make; nice German Lapp cable; silver-plated wattgate/MK plugs - at a far more reasonable price than Russ Andrews' offerings. Did I mention the (older style) Tacima mains conditioner/filter?....
OK , OK -  enough already.
My main point being actually that the results we get from our different tubes are surely inextricably linked with all the numerous elements  in the chain, from mains outlet to the wire in our headphones - so many variables!!

 
Couldnt waist a good picture i had lying around . But anyways   REPENT !!!!!   

              

 

[MIKELAP]

 
Regarding cables as you might off guested i was just fooling around a tiny bit with my last post all in good fun i must add but i can remember in the 70's when i got my first good sound system speaker cables were making there appearance or starting to be more popular so i had heard and decide to buy some instead of using the traditionnal lamp wire  i dont remember the brand but it was a well known company well i must say that as soon as i put a record on turn the pot or smoke it not what came first there was a difference mostly if i remember correctly in the bass department there was a better bass because of the new cable i was happy because the ultimate goal is always to get the best sound possible and thats where my next picture comes in .   

 

[gibosi]

Sometimes things are not what they seem....
 
I too received some Telefunken 6AV6 in nice Telefunken boxes. However, my tubes do not have the diamond on the base. Worse, they are not even made by Telefunken, but by Mazda France. In fact, they are identical to the Philips 6AV6 Audiofanboy and I received recently. And as you might recall, he was not impressed with these tubes (See his post 1489, page 100).
 

 
I also received some Amperex/Bugle Boy 6AV6. However, imagine my surprise when I discovered that these are simply rebranded RCA black plate 6AV6!!
 

 
So... in the European 6AV6 world, tubes are often not what they seem....
 
Be careful out there! lol