UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2015
- Posts
- 26,632
- Likes
- 38,176
LCD-X is very good on the Studio Six. Here I have LCD-X, LCD-3f, ZMF Verite and HiFiman Arya plug into the S6.
ALO Audio Studio Six Reviews and Impressions Thread
- Thread starter shigzeo
- Start date
LCD-X is very good on the Studio Six. Here I have LCD-X, LCD-3f, ZMF Verite and HiFiman Arya plug into the S6.
meomap
Headphoneus Supremus
Hi Longbowbbs,
Does USAF-596 tube require a special adapter?
How does it sound vs other 5AR4 brands like Mullard, Gold Lion Genelax, and PrimaLuna?
I know 596 is expensive, but I want to know if it's ok to upgrade or not.
Thank you.
The USAF-596 does require an adapter. 2359Glenn made them for me. I have not communicated with him for a long time.(6 years or more) I do not know if he is still working on electronics these days.
Rectifiers are a bit less impactful on sonic quality. I was using a few others but ultimately, I liked what I heard from the 596 and it is a cool looking tube too so That is what I am using for now.
Good luck.
Eric
Rectifiers are a bit less impactful on sonic quality. I was using a few others but ultimately, I liked what I heard from the 596 and it is a cool looking tube too so That is what I am using for now.
Good luck.
Eric
meomap
Headphoneus Supremus
Hi TomSix,
I have a question again.
My unit was turned off about a week to save energy.
I powered back on and about roughly 30 sec I noticed the ORANGE LED stopped lighting.
Checked fuses and noticed both are bad.
Replaced a new Rectifier tube.
Replaced two new 1.25 A, 250 V fuses but the LED is not on and tubes did not light up.
New fuses are the same spec as previous but do not have clear glass that you can see the filament inside. These new fuses are like paper wrapped just got it from Fry's. I measured Ohm ok at 0.2 Ohm each fuse. I took out the rest of tubes and lightly shake them to see if any broken filament inside but no, only the first Rectifier tube has broken filament inside.
Installed them back, Installed fuses, power on and still not on.
What might be the problem this time?
The last time it happened with the same symptom even with new, same, clear glass fuses installed and no power at that time. Sent to ALO and they could not find anything wrong...
Watched YouTube with reference to Currywong channel, and noticed his unit was turned off most of the time and recently did a new video with his friends listening to high end hp for inputs.
Never see him or anybody in this thread complaining about this kind of symptom....
FYI, other units with tubes plugged into the AQ Nigra3000 Power Distribution are fine after power it up....
Appreciate it if you could give any insight to my unit. Sounds like my unit does not like to be off?
Thank you,
TomSix
ALO Audio Studio Six deisgner
Hello Meomap,
I am sorry to hear of the difficulties with your Studio-Six.
I have a few questions for you, to help clarify what might be happening with your unit.
(1) I understand the orange pilot lamp (which is a neon lamp) is not lighting. But does the amplifier operate normally otherwise? If so, then the replaceable neon lamp itself may be bad ( but this would be an unusual/ rare failure)
(2) If in fact the unit is fully inoperative: do the tube filaments glow and/or the VR gas regulator tubes glow?
(3) Did you check the original removed fuses with a mulitmeter to see if they are blown? If you measure an infinite resistance or a very high resistance then the fuses are blown.
If the fuses are blown, then it is likely that one of the tubes in the unit has failed. The 5AR4 rectifier, or one of the the 6V6 output tubes are the ones most likely to fail. The 6SN7 may have failed but this is less likely, and the two gas regulator tubes only rarely fail.
It is quite rare for a Studio-Six to develop a fault or blow fuses for any reason other than occasional tube failures.
If the Studio-Six still blows fuses with tubes installed that are known to be good, or if the unit does not blow fuses but also does not operate, then the unit should be professionally diagnosed and serviced.
Please, do clarify the nature of your difficulties as mentioned above.
Do not hesitate to contact Ken Ball at ALO should you need any replacement tubes, or if you should need to ship the unit to ALO for diagnosis and repair. I have every confidence ALO will be able to assist you.
I am sorry to hear of the difficulties with your Studio-Six.
I have a few questions for you, to help clarify what might be happening with your unit.
(1) I understand the orange pilot lamp (which is a neon lamp) is not lighting. But does the amplifier operate normally otherwise? If so, then the replaceable neon lamp itself may be bad ( but this would be an unusual/ rare failure)
(2) If in fact the unit is fully inoperative: do the tube filaments glow and/or the VR gas regulator tubes glow?
(3) Did you check the original removed fuses with a mulitmeter to see if they are blown? If you measure an infinite resistance or a very high resistance then the fuses are blown.
If the fuses are blown, then it is likely that one of the tubes in the unit has failed. The 5AR4 rectifier, or one of the the 6V6 output tubes are the ones most likely to fail. The 6SN7 may have failed but this is less likely, and the two gas regulator tubes only rarely fail.
It is quite rare for a Studio-Six to develop a fault or blow fuses for any reason other than occasional tube failures.
If the Studio-Six still blows fuses with tubes installed that are known to be good, or if the unit does not blow fuses but also does not operate, then the unit should be professionally diagnosed and serviced.
Please, do clarify the nature of your difficulties as mentioned above.
Do not hesitate to contact Ken Ball at ALO should you need any replacement tubes, or if you should need to ship the unit to ALO for diagnosis and repair. I have every confidence ALO will be able to assist you.
Last edited:
meomap
Headphoneus Supremus
Hi TomSix,
Thank you for details respond.
Here are the details I observed before my unit is back to normal operation...
FRY'S fuses...1.25A, 250V but paper wrapped only, not clear glass like normal... Unit did not lit.
Installed 1A, 250V glass fuses use from another tube amp & dac.That night I tested power on and saw only 3 tubes to the left are lit.
OB2 tubes, rectifier , and orange LED did not lit.
Today, I found some 1.25A, 250V glass fuses, installed them, power on then all tubes lit up along with orange lamp on.
Power off/on couple times and see no problem with rectifier tube.
At this time. I think my unit is back to normal....
My question is why is it so much differences between 1A vs 1.25 A fuses in order to work properly?
TomSix
ALO Audio Studio Six deisgner
Hello Meomap,
The described behavior of your amp does not seem to necessarily be related to your fuses. As long as you stay with the ALO recommended type and specification of fuse for the ST-6, then you should not have any problems there.
It is *possible* you may yet have an *intermittent* failure happening with either one of the tubes in your ST-6, or perhaps elsewhere in the amplifier circuit.
As mentioned previously, failures of anything other than occasional vacuum tube failures are very rare with the ST-6.
If a failure occurs again, please pay particular attention to see if one of your tubes is faulty, and if either or both of your fuses in the unit have blown.
Whatever the case, under all circumstances do not deviate from using fuses of the type and ratings recommended by ALO for use in the ST-6 . This very important for safety and equipment protection reasons.
If you continue to have difficulty, and vacuum tube failure is not found to be at fault, then I suggest you talk to ALO about arranging for factory diagnosis and repair.
Hopefully we can smoothly get you through this difficulty you have been experiencing with your Studio-Six.
I regret your inconvenience
--Thomas
Last edited:
anybody have any experience changing the transformer? or asking alo audio changing it? I have a 220v ss6 and thinking about moving to 110v area.
TomSix
ALO Audio Studio Six deisgner
Yes, the Studio-Six can be factory-modified for 110V mains operation. The Studio-Six utilizes a multi-tap power supply transformer which can be wired for several AC mains voltages from 100V to 240V.
Mains voltage is set at the factory by making the appropriate jumper wire connections on an internal AC input selector PCB.
Shipping your unit to/from ALO for a mains input voltage change could be expensive. I'm not sure what ALO would charge presently for such modification work, but imagine it would be quite reasonable. However, the shipping to/from Hong Kong should be the majority of the expense.
Unfortunately, it would be dangerous to attempt user-modification of the Studio-Six input voltage setting, and so that is strongly advised against.
A possible solution which would likely be easier and more affordable:
I'd suggest contacting a local high-end audio shop that is familiar with vintage vacuum-tube audio gear, and see if they offer a new, modern 110V input to 220V output mains 'isolation transformer'. Be sure to obtain a quality isolation transformer with proper grounded input and output connections.
With such an isolation transformer placed between a 110VAC mains outlet and your 220VAC wired Studio-Six, then no internal wiring changes or fuse-rating changes to your Studio-Six would be necessary.
I hope this is helpful
Last edited:
thanksTom. guess an easier way is to sell it here and get a 110v later.
anyone here in hong kong and interested in the amazing amp, you can pm me
anyone here in hong kong and interested in the amazing amp, you can pm me
Njychen
Head-Fier
I want to thank everyone for sharing info on this amp.
Now that I have read through the entire thread, I just have 1 question: silver or black?
Now that I have read through the entire thread, I just have 1 question: silver or black?
Users who are viewing this thread
