[UntilThen]

Tonight's listening session.

 

[MJS242]

Do you still own the LF339? The last couple of days, I've been singing the praise of Elekit 8200 but the LF339i is right up there in it's own way. I just can't get enough of Figaro lovely warmth, bass weight and sparkly top end.

A friend who is not familiar with tube amps but very familiar with high end ss amps, came over and when he had listened to the He1000se out of LF399i, he wanted to buy my unit straight away.

I will not sell this new LF339i in black. It will stay with me forever, no matter what other tube amps I get. That's how much I love the tone and the looks.

I still own a custom LF339 (6C5/L63 version) and I recently ordered the 339i from mass drop.







At this point, I've owned all iterations of the amp and have tons of adapters.

EF80 to 6SJ7
EF86 to 6SJ7
EF86 to 6C5
6SN7 to 6C5
76 to 6C5



Also a lot of tubes:



Even some especially rare ones like these Genalex Z729 (EF86)



Each of these come with piece of paper with hand written test values.

I haven't been around much mainly because of free time. The elekit amps have always been on my radar as I like doing kits. Previously I've done the bottlehead crack and the transcendent sound masterpiece amps.

 

[Galapac]

Another thing most people probably don't realize is that you can run 6336 tubes in this amp (it's able to dissipate the heat according to @xmdkq). Here's a picture of him doing it while building my amp a few years ago:

I would caution against this as I wouldn't want to see others amps die on them. I have these tubes but have decided to not use them as I would not want to shorten the life of my amp and there are plenty of other tubes to use. Plus those 6336 tubes are on fire when they are used. You could cook food real fast on them.

From @tintinsnowydog:
These draw 5 amps of current vs. the 2.5 amps of 6AS7 equivalents. It runs ok but is taxing on the transformer. Using it for too long could shorten the lifespan of the transformers and components. You can use it for short periods of time, just watch for overheating by touching the left and right black plastic covers.

From @xmdkq:
I have tested that I can work for a few hours and observe the temperature of the power transformer.

 

[MJS242]

I would caution against this as I wouldn't want to see others amps die on them. I have these tubes but have decided to not use them as I would not want to shorten the life of my amp and there are plenty of other tubes to use. Plus those 6336 tubes are on fire when they are used. You could cook food real fast on them.

From @tintinsnowydog:
These draw 5 amps of current vs. the 2.5 amps of 6AS7 equivalents. It runs ok but is taxing on the transformer. Using it for too long could shorten the lifespan of the transformers and components. You can use it for short periods of time, just watch for overheating by touching the left and right black plastic covers.

From @xmdkq:
I have tested that I can work for a few hours and observe the temperature of the power transformer.

Thanks @Galapac for providing that information summary regarding 6336 tubes. I edited my post so that it doesn't confuse anyone.

 

[SHIMACM]

Is there LF339i (new version) with 6j5 / l63 inlet tubes?

I'm thinking of pairing it with T1, which inlet tubes do you recommend?

 

[UntilThen]

Very impressive @MJS242. I remember @Liu Junyuan telling me about your knowledge and passion for La Figaro 339. I knew all along but that your absence is due to other matters taking over and like everyone else, we eventually slide off from a thread. I myself have done that from Elise, Euforia and the GOTL thread. God knows how many posts I have in those.

I use Cetron 6336B tubes in my previous Glenn OTL amp because that custom amp can take up to a total of 13 volts. A pair of 6336 is 10v - that leaves 3 more volts for the drivers which is more than sufficient. Oh I could use 6 x 6BL7 / 6BX7 - that is the highlight of that amp. Sextet of those tubes produce a very unique and forceful amp. I was an early adopter after Glenn pop into my own Feliks Audio thread and started talking to me - eventually he told that he can build me an OTL amp that can take one 6sn7 and or 2 x c3g drivers and for power tubes either 6 x 6bx7gt or 2 / 4 6as7 / 6060 or 2 x 6336. That's how versatile that GOTL is. After I got it and started talking on Glenn thread, others became interested and that's how the queue for GOTL grew and grew until it became a very long wait before you can even get a GOTL. But that's a sidetrack from what I want to say here. Which is that 6336 is a special tube with a special requirement. A pair use 10v. Single is 5v. I know this 3 years ago. When I saw in this thread Yuking suggesting that it's possible to use 6336 for a short while in LF339 - while I can agree that you can use it for a few minutes, I see really no benefit for doing so because 6336 does not sound better than 5998 as some have claim or close to it. Not even close is what I can say.

I'm very impressed that you have every iterations of LF339 and the number of tubes, particularly drivers that you have amassed. I'm glad that you have ordered the latest 339i from MassDrop because having heard previous versions, I hear the new version as being smoother and more refined. In 3 days times I'll be able to put those 2 amps side by side for a direct comparison.

 

[UntilThen]

Is there LF339i (new version) with 6j5 / l63 inlet tubes?

No. You need to order a custom LF339i if you want a 6j5 /l63 as drivers input by default.

 

[UntilThen]

The elekit amps have always been on my radar as I like doing kits. Previously I've done the bottlehead crack and the transcendent sound masterpiece amps.

I forgot to comment on this. After 3 days of living with Elekit 8200 and occasionally powering up LF339i to compare, I can tell you that if I have no other tube amps but these 2 then I'm fully satisfied. I strongly urged you to buy the 8200SX kits with the better caps and other upgrades and build one for yourself. There's also a more pricey 300b version - 8600R. What impress me is this DIY amp has very good parts for it's cost and the final built amp is very quiet with no hiss or hum. That is so remarkable. Finally the sound of 12au7 and various kt88, el34, 6l6gc, kt77, kt66, 6550, 5881, Cossor 807, el12 spez is mind boggling. It's also a very capable stereo amp. In UL mode it's 8w and triode mode it's 4w. I drive my tower speakers capable of 150w with TU-8200 in ultralinear mode to pretty loud levels but it did not have the body and weight of a muscular integrated amp like my Redgum Rgi120enr.

Yes by all means get a Elekit 8200r and see how interesting it is with LF339i side by side. The best of engineering design from Japan and China imo.

I sold off my Sansui au alpha 907mr last night because a channel imbalance develops and a friend came over and wanted to buy it badly despite that. He will get it serviced as I say goodbye to my stint with an era of Sansui vintage amps. The best experience I have had in this head-fi journey. I use them with headphones as much as with speakers. From here on I have my sights on a new Primaluna EV100 tube amp or a McIntosh MC275.

 

[hp4fun]

Wondering why headphone out cannot be used as a preamp? I did an experiment tonight at the cost of a headphone

I wanted to compare the 339i preamp out vs the headphone out + 3.5mm to RCA adapter. I have turned the volume to zero, and when I powered everything, I heard a tiny clicking sound from both drivers of a hifiman hp.

Both drivers were blown, end of the story.

I guess is the headphone out has too much power so the noise floor is too high. Even at zero volume, it kills the drivers easily.

 

[Bruc3]

Wondering why headphone out cannot be used as a preamp? I did an experiment tonight at the cost of a headphone

Sorry, slightly confused.

So you had a hifiman headphone plugged into the 339i preamp rca (via an adapter) and it blew the drivers?

 

[hp4fun]

Sorry, slightly confused.

So you had a hifiman headphone plugged into the 339i preamp rca (via an adapter) and it blew the drivers?

Oh, yeah. that's a missing piece.

I power the HE6 by the speaker amp through speaker tap. So it was

dac -> 339i -> speaker amp -> he6

I was trying to see the diff between 339i's headphone out and preamp out.

In the past I know the headphone out in a stereo preamp is not that powerful. So I thought I could give it a try. I was WRONG!

 

[Bruc3]

dac -> 339i -> speaker amp -> he6

You blew your Hifiman HE6? Ouch....

Isn't the LF339i pre-amp a variable out? Surprised it would have blown it with volume on 0 and no music playing.

I got a huge scare last time when I thought I blew my HD800S when I heard popping sounds with it connected to the LF339 while powering up.

 

[hp4fun]

You blew your Hifiman HE6? Ouch....

Isn't the LF339i pre-amp a variable out? Surprised it would have blown it with volume on 0 and no music playing.

I got a huge scare last time when I thought I blew my HD800S when I heard popping sounds with it connected to the LF339 while powering up.

Just to clarify, the pre-amp out did not blow anything. The Headphone out + 3.5 to RCA adapter blew the drivers.....

 

[telecaster]

Oh, yeah. that's a missing piece.

I power the HE6 by the speaker amp through speaker tap. So it was

dac -> 339i -> speaker amp -> he6

I was trying to see the diff between 339i's headphone out and preamp out.

In the past I know the headphone out in a stereo preamp is not that powerful. So I thought I could give it a try. I was WRONG!

What is the amp?
If volume of the 339 was at zero, there cannot possibly sound coming out of the outputs.
Power amps are know to have loud pop noise on startup, can be DC voltage. Especially vintage amps with in need of service capacitors. And that kills headphones for sure.

 

[hp4fun]

What is the amp?
If volume of the 339 was at zero, there cannot possibly sound coming out of the outputs.
Power amps are know to have loud pop noise on startup, can be DC voltage. Especially vintage amps with in need of service capacitors. And that kills headphones for sure.

Adcom 545. There was no pop noise. Just one tiny click sound like the clock ticking. It just died peacefully.

For some reasons and maybe others can confirm too. In the past when I use my 339i as a pre-amp out using the line out, there is a noticeable noise floor that does not change when I turn the knob (even when it is zero).