[L0rdGwyn]

Sweet! Look forward to your impressions.

I like Kiwames. Now that Rikens are no longer made and the remaining stocks are drying up and becoming stupidly priced, the Kiwames are a worthy replacement.

Agreed, it will be sad when Rikens are gone. Kiwame's (or KOA Spear) are very good. Stay away from Takman, they are garbage.

 

[UntilThen]

Red Dwarf is now flying through the western skies. Hopefully touchdown will be before the weekend. Will report back more when it arrives.

Here are a few interesting features:

- Custom Sowter transformers with 22/88/198/352 impedance settings.
- There is a constant current source/ anode resistor switch. The driver tubes can be either fed through the CCS (flat, super low distortion loadline), or through Kiwame anode resistors (more angled loadline, more harmonic distortion)
- The dynamic bias on the amp is really neat; it starts the amp somewhere around -70 on the grid which allows the cathode to develop a good space charge before the power tubes start conducting anything - a soft start for the anode current. The bias current switch can be toggled when the amp is on, and it takes around a minute for it to adjust between the two settings. So you can try the two current settings for sound (for power tubes that can take the two settings) without having to turn off the amp

FedEx or DHL? I'm waiting for the unboxing.

 

[tubebuyer2020]

...Kiwame's (or KOA Spear) are very good...

Is there a good source for them? Mouser doesn't stock many values.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Is there a good source for them? Mouser doesn't stock many values.

Not sure where you're located @tubebuyer2020 , but Hificollective in the UK and Parts Connexion in Canada both stock Kiwame. There are other online shops as well (e.g., DIY Hifi Supply, Acoustic-Dimension).

 

[tubebuyer2020]

Not sure where you're located @tubebuyer2020 , but Hificollective in the UK and Parts Connexion in Canada both stock Kiwame. There are other online shops as well (e.g., DIY Hifi Supply, Acoustic-Dimension).

Thank you for taking a moment to list all of them. Yes, I have been buying some from Hifi Collective. Unfortunately, all of these places are capitalising on the dwindling supply to various degrees of greediness. No hate, though! It's a fair game and I would do the same. There was a time apparently a few years ago when these could have been bought at 10 cent per item. At least these still are not tube sort of prices .

 

[bcowen]

Thank you for taking a moment to list all of them. Yes, I have been buying some from Hifi Collective. Unfortunately, all of these places are capitalising on the dwindling supply to various degrees of greediness. No hate, though! It's a fair game and I would do the same. There was a time apparently a few years ago when these could have been bought at 10 cent per item. At least these still are not tube sort of prices .

Yeah I know what you mean. I saw an Ebay listing not too long ago for 1k, 1/2 watt Rikens for $50 each. LOL! The Rikens were (comparatively) expensive even when being produced at around $2 a pop IIRC, but the only time I've spent long green on resistors was some cast graphite Duelands and I'm reasonably confident I'll never do that again.

 

[whirlwind]

Red Dwarf is now flying through the western skies. Hopefully touchdown will be before the weekend. Will report back more when it arrives.

Here are a few interesting features:

- Custom Sowter transformers with 22/88/198/352 impedance settings.
- There is a constant current source/ anode resistor switch. The driver tubes can be either fed through the CCS (flat, super low distortion loadline), or through Kiwame anode resistors (more angled loadline, more harmonic distortion)
- The dynamic bias on the amp is really neat; it starts the amp somewhere around -70 on the grid which allows the cathode to develop a good space charge before the power tubes start conducting anything - a soft start for the anode current. The bias current switch can be toggled when the amp is on, and it takes around a minute for it to adjust between the two settings. So you can try the two current settings for sound (for power tubes that can take the two settings) without having to turn off the amp

constant current source/ anode resistor switch....very cool. Can't wait to hear your impressions with this feature.

 

[leftside]

I’ve been listening for a couple of hours now with the LCD4. Things that spring to mind are hard-hitting, clarity and detail. Loving it so far. It might be a long night…

Only tried the CCS setting so far, but have changed the impedance to all 4 settings for the LCD4. The LCD4 loses control of the bass on lower impedance settings. It’s quite noticeable. Just goes to show how important it is to match your headphones with the correct amp.

 

[leftside]

Also gets cat approval. Wife hasn’t seen it yet, but even if she doesn’t like it, she’s been out voted 2-1.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I’ve been listening for a couple of hours now with the LCD4. Things that spring to mind are hard-hitting, clarity and detail. Loving it so far. It might be a long night…

Only tried the CCS setting so far, but have changed the impedance to all 4 settings for the LCD4. The LCD4 loses control of the bass on lower impedance settings. It’s quite noticeable. Just goes to show how important it is to match your headphones with the correct amp.

Looks excellent, congrats to both you and @A2029 !

 

[leftside]

I managed to catch the copper color better in the previous photo, but here is a front shot. The copper color is definitely deeper and more radiant than in this photo.

 

[Xcalibur255]

It looks stunning! Congrats! Those are the best kind of long nights.

 

[UntilThen]

Looks compact and matching with your dac colour. Good choice of EL34 metal base to start off with.

Congrats !

 

[raindownthunda]

I’ve been listening for a couple of hours now with the LCD4. Things that spring to mind are hard-hitting, clarity and detail. Loving it so far. It might be a long night…

Only tried the CCS setting so far, but have changed the impedance to all 4 settings for the LCD4. The LCD4 loses control of the bass on lower impedance settings. It’s quite noticeable. Just goes to show how important it is to match your headphones with the correct amp.

The copper chassis is stunning. Very cool looking amp. Well done, Mischa. Congrats and enjoy!

 

[cdanguyen08]

I managed to catch the copper color better in the previous photo, but here is a front shot. The copper color is definitely deeper and more radiant than in this photo.

Beautiful shot of a beautiful amp and dac. My dream dac! One day!