[VeniVidiVale]

What tubes did your Little Dot come with? My Little Dot MkIII had with stock RCA black plate 5654 (6AK5) tubes instead of the GE tubes that seem to be the typical stock tube. 
 
And for the tube gods of HeadFi: Is that a good or a bad thing?

 

[VeniVidiVale]

bump

 

[Arcee]

Same here, I just picked up a Little Dot MKIII at Mingo in Hong Kong and it also has different tubes, the tubes have "JRC" printed on them, and "U.S.A. 5654" and "34F" somewhere. Seems to me these are RCA's, too.
 
Being new to tubes, are these RCA's a good thing or would I have been better off with the GE tubes others seem to get delivered with their new LD's?
 
Just so you know what MKIII I got - I peered through the holes underneath to see "Version 4.0" printed on the board inside.
 
A shop quite close to my office is selling Mullard CV4010's and GE Jan 5654W's for a good price, would these be upgrades or downgrades versus the RCA's that my MKIII got delivered with? I read good stuff about the CV4010's, should I go get a pair of those?

 

[VeniVidiVale]

According to reviews on the tube rolling thread, the RCAs with black  plates are supposed to be quite good. I did swap them out for Mullard M8100s (CV4010s) and they were a great match for the amp - warm lush midrange, tight dense strong bass, vibrant highs without sibilance. I'm going to run the Mullards for a while

 

[Arcee]

How do I know my tubes are the black plated RCA's? Yes, inside there seem to be black plates, but on the outside, no mentioning of RCA, only JRC and 5654 and 34F. Are these the black-plated RCA's indeed?
 
Anyhow, if you also feel swapping them out for the Mullard M8100s I will seriously consider getting those too then.

 

[VeniVidiVale]

Yep the plate color is black. JRC = RCA. Once the tubes burn in, try swapping them out for the Mullards and decide for yourself if the sound changes, I think Mullards + LD3 = great combination!

 

[Arcee]

Thanks for the tip! I will indeed first continue burning in the Black-plated RCA's then, and consider the Mullard's for later. The Mullard's don't seem too difficult to get your hands on anyhow, and I am already starting to enjoy the RCA's for now.

Any tips where to get the Mullard's in Hong Kong? I went to the wiwitubes shop in Central; they have them in stock. But... their price seemed good until I understood the price was per piece and not per pair. That makes their price for two Mullard's half of what I paid for the MKIII...

 

[Arcee]

Just got these for a good price in Hong Kong, found the seller through eBay. All the tubes say is Mullard EF95, Made in Great Britain. Then a code, 592, which means it is the CV4010 I believe. Then it says R3H4 but the 3 is written backwards.



Are these the famous CV4010/M8100 Mullard's that seem to match the Little Dot MKIII so well? Can't wait to try them out, but I won't be home before the weekend.

 

[VeniVidiVale]

looks like mullards enjoy them!

 

[Arcee]

OMG I think I am catching the tube rolling virus. Even straight out of the box, wow. Only 4 hours of burn-in on them now. What a mids, and what a nice treble, and wider sound stage. Oh no I do not regret this! And I thought the RCA black plates already sounded nice!

 

[VeniVidiVale]

the sound gets better over the first 50 or so hours of burn in

 

[Arcee]

I can confirm that, now after some 45 hours of burn in... oh my... I just love those Mullard's!
And I found another small store in Hong Kong this week that had the Electro Harmonix 6H30Pi Gold in stock... Who said Power tubes don't make a difference... oh my... It doesn't stop getting better! The 6H30Pi's aren't even burnt in much yet, only some 6 hours now. But it's already a great upgrade on the 6H6Pi's, especially in deeper, more controlled bass. And then I thought the HD600 wasn't the best at bass, but the sound is for me just about perfect now with really good bass. Definitively caught the tube rolling virus...