[doukhobar]

Hi there Taboo III owners, I am now in the fold! I have my very own Taboo mkIII (well, new to me) which I bought from the third owner, it is in excellent condition with the figured bass and stock caps. 
 
I have been running the Sennheiser HD600 and an AudioTechnica ATH-AD2000 both of which I know the sound fairly well to understand how this amp plays. I also started rolling the signal tube and rectifier, perhaps a little too quickly. 
 
With the rolled tubes, I have been noticing some static in the headphones. This occurs no matter what volume level, without moving the pot. It occurs with either source - both my tuner and DAC get the same static. The static is louder on the AD2000, because I believe they are more sensitive phones. Also, that phone seems to get more static when I move the cord around. 
 
The static sound comes and goes - it never overwhelms the music, but when the statis is present, it is noticeable without the music playing and the volume turned up at all. It seems that after a few hours the static goes almost completely away. I switched my recitfier back to stock, and the static was still there for 1-2 hour then left completly. I have not tried cleaning out the headphone jacks, which I am using single ended currently, as the static seemed to be tired to the headphones movement. This is my first real headphone amp, and I am trying to get into the HP game, but this is annoying! 
 
Any suggestions? I heard sometimes it takes awhile for the rectifier tubes to warms up, and not to listen until 30 minutes after warm up. The rectifier is a 1950's Marconia U50 (5Y3) I was using, but swapped back to the Chinese 5U4G. Static has gone after an hour with the Chinese tube. 

 

[Argo Duck]

Bad tubes are always a possibility.

Another thought: was the amp returned to and re-certified by Decware? This would eliminate faults that may have developed and transfer the lifetime warranty to you...

Edit: I typically listen within 2 minutes of switching on, to excellent sound. IME 30 minutes is not necessary.

 

[raybone0566]

You may also be picking up electromagnetic static from another component. I had to move my amp because it would pick up static from my dac.

 

[longbowbbs]

Bad tubes are always a possibility.

Another thought: was the amp returned to and re-certified by Decware? This would eliminate faults that may have developed and transfer the lifetime warranty to you...

Edit: I typically listen within 2 minutes of switching on, to excellent sound. IME 30 minutes is not necessary.

Sending it in the Decware for a re-certification was my first thought also Andre. These amps are generally very reliable but nice to get the warranty and a clean bill of health.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ really nice to see you still around these parts Eric

Great suggestion above re EMF too

 

[longbowbbs]

I still am a big fan of Decware even if I moved on. Steve builds great sounding gear!

 

[doukhobar]

  Sending it in the Decware for a re-certification was my first thought also Andre. These amps are generally very reliable but nice to get the warranty and a clean bill of health.

Hi there Longbowbbs and Argo Duck,
 
Thank you kindly for the suggestions. Right now I am trying lots of Deoxit. I only have D5 spray on hand, on loaded some onto an extra 1/4" adapter and pushed it in and out of both SE jacks about 6-8 times. Seems to be doing better now. Even the more sensitive AT headphones have greatly reduced static. 
 
Before my current listening session, I also swapped in a different NOS rectifier - a Brimar 5R4GY with cleaned pins. Put some deoxit on there as well and let dry before switching on amp. This seems to be making it better, but the slight static is not completely eliminated. 
 
OK, I found that spinning the 1/4" jack into a different position seemed to kill the buzz. That indicated to me that the static is probably coming from this interface. Now I've given the deoxit another round and it the static is clse to being eliminated. Any further ideas? I have some D100 deoxit on order with the pin applicator and the bristly applicator brush coming tomorrow and will try that too. 
 
I agree with the EMI possibility. I believe it is exasperated by two factors: (1) I am using long single ended cables - there must be close to 20 ft of headphone cable coming out of the amp. I do ocassionally notice the static change when I move the headphone cables. (2) My audio setup is about 6 feet from my wireless router. It's been this way for about 1+ year and never gave me any trouble with my speakers. However, headphone listening is apparently more sensitive. I will look into getting the router moved perhaps in the near future. 
 
Regarding the Decware warranty transfer, do you know if it's possible to do even if the warranty wasn't transferred to the last person you bought it from? For example, I do not believe my seller had the warranty transferred to him, as he did not mention transferring it to me. Also, I do not really feel like shipping it anywhere. But I will if I can't fix this myself. 

 

[longbowbbs]

I would call them, give them the unit's serial number and let them know the history as well as your current static challenges. If a unit has had a few owners I know I would send it in for my own piece of mind. The lifetime warranty, if available, is a useful tool as well. There are capacitors that will wear out at some point. Might as well see if you can get covered. No harm checking.

 

[doukhobar]

That's a really good idea. I was thinking that if I was going to go to the trouble of send it in, I would look into having the current stock caps upgraded to the Type II beeswax as well as adding a wood base. So I may put it off for a few weeks if it turns out this warranty transfer is possible so I can do the upgrades simultaneously as the check up. Any thoughts on the upgraded caps?
 
Got a big hint that it is dirty jacks: after putting deoxit in both of them and lots of wiggling, one jack has the static reduced about 98%. The other jack has static redced about 90% with it suddenly popping up here and there. 
 
How about hum? I also feel like I get a slight transformer hum at 60Hz inthe background, especially with the sensitive headphones. Should I lower the gain?
 
I will say, listening to NPR on my Sansui TU-666 tuner is amazing. I am hearing the announcer turn her pages during announcements between pieces. 
 
I am also curious if adding the low/high gain switch after purchase is an option. I think having a low gain option for my more sensitive hp would be nice w/o having to lower the gain knobs whenever I switch. Does this have any other advantages? I have a feeling some hp sound better with the low gain opposed to the high gain signal. Do you know anyone who has this option installed? I have 3 headphones (all dynamic) in my stable currently and will probably add a planar this year finally: AKG K501, AudioTechnica AD2000 and HD650. I am looking at adding a ZMF Omni...

 

[longbowbbs]

Any upgrades would be worth discussing with Steve. He will not try to sell you just for a quick buck. He really knows his amps and will give good council. I would recommend the Beeswax caps though. Sweet.
 
I found the amp to be excellent with dynamic. The HD-800's and HD650's both were great with it. The Taboo MK III was built as a Planar amp and the original voicing was done with the LCD-2's. I heard the final prototype Taboo MK III with Steve's LCD-2's when I visited the factory. Ordered mine on the spot!
 
As to any other option I will defer recommendation as I do not know what can be retrofitted. You will need to ask Steve. A gain option is always useful on an amp. More flexibility of optimally pairing with more headphones.

 

[doukhobar]

Thank you so much Longbowbbs!
 
I sort of feel like I reviving a dead thread here, but that is how long it took me to buy my own Taboo III! So, I am happy. 
 
Thanks for the encouragement about dynamic headphones. Before buying the Taboo I was considering a CSP for a headphone amp, as they were supposedly 'better' with dynamic phones, and I did not yet own any planar (actually I still don't, but am shopping now). So far I am glad with my decision, as the more I read Frank's initial review of the Taboo, he seemed to really enjoy it with the HD800, which is a HP I would like to own one day. 
 
Regarding the static, I think I've crushed it. Just for others in the future in case you stumble across this thread, I had a feeling my static was being caused by the single ended headphone jacks, because the D5 deoxit sprayed in combination with feeding a 1/4" plug in and out repeatedly seemed to lessen it significantly. However, with my sensitive AD2000 phones, the static was still there, and would come back randomly fairly loudly. Pretty frustrating!
 
My solution was to buy D100 (full strength) deoxit with a think application needle, here is the exact product: CAIG Laboratories D100L-25C D-Series Needle Dispenser/ 100% Solution
http://www.markertek.com/product/d100l-25c/caig-laboratories-d100l-25c-d-series-needle-dispenser-100-solution-25-ml
 
and dripped a few drops in the single ended vertical jacks then scrubbed the insides with this CAIG cleaning bristle brush:
http://www.markertek.com/product/d100l-25c/caig-laboratories-d100l-25c-d-series-needle-dispenser-100-solution-25-ml
 
The static seems to be gone. Thank you CAIG! Not only that, I think the overall sound quality has improved nicely. Even greater sense of clarity and dimensionalality. Note: I also cleaned all my tube pins with the D100 at the same time. 

 

[doukhobar]

Regarding planars, has anyone used the Ether or Ether C with this amp?
How about the ZMF Omni?

 

[whirlwind]

I have a ZMF Omni and was considering this amp at one time also.
 
Nice to see some activity here again.
 
These are wonderful looking amps and a lifetime warranty is a real plus.

 

[zach915m]

I have a ZMF Omni and was considering this amp at one time also.

Nice to see some activity here again.

These are wonderful looking amps and a lifetime warranty is a real plus.

My decware amps are the only amps I own that I know I will never sell. They are that good, and knowing Steve and the dedication he puts into his business makes me feel good about using them everything I switch on my taboo and csp. Only negative is I buy too many tubes for them knowing the amp isn't going anywhere.

Oh - yes the taboo is great with the Omni! Hearing the taboo once was enough to make me order one immediately.

 

[longbowbbs]

 

I have a ZMF Omni and was considering this amp at one time also.

Nice to see some activity here again.

These are wonderful looking amps and a lifetime warranty is a real plus.

My decware amps are the only amps I own that I know I will never sell. They are that good, and knowing Steve and the dedication he puts into his business makes me feel good about using them everything I switch on my taboo and csp. Only negative is I buy too many tubes for them knowing the amp isn't going anywhere.

Oh - yes the taboo is great with the Omni! Hearing the taboo once was enough to make me order one immediately.

Now there is a first person endorsement!