[wkndWarrior]

I also had a much loved MKivSE when I put a tungsol in that one I never looked back, so maybe I can help as I've tried a few tubes to get the sound I want from the Mkvi+. First for that warm snug sound the 6AS7G RCA's for power tubes as someone has said. Then if you still want a warm sound, it becomes a problem if you also put in, say RCA 6SN7's because it could be too mellow.... so you have to mix and match, warm power tubes and clearer drivers, or clear power tubes and warm drivers. I put in the Tungsol 6SL7's and have more or less stayed ever since, after a bit of experimentation, well a lot actually!



Agreed! The Bendix are some of the best you can buy, and very well constructed with a nice very open detailed smooth sound, but the RCA's are still very good if you can't get hold of the Bendixes.



SonicTrance should be able to tell you about that, he has a nice gold one.... but he didn't tell me where he got it from!

Thanks!

 

[baronbeehive]

Just in passing, the MKVI+ has changed some of the internals, resistors/caps types, I believe it now has wimas for coupling caps for example, since it first came out and I was interested in how this affected the sound, but I doubt if there is any way of knowing.

Good to know people are still enjoying this amp, I'm about 10 years on with mine and its going nowhere! I find it a bit disappointing that little is known about it outside the forums, I don't believe there has been any reviews of it lately for example, since it was publicised a lot on headfi a while ago.

 

[3ggerhappy]

Just found out my little dot mk viii has channel imbalance just realize this when I use it as a pre on my speaker setup. Volume pot issue I think, problem is the volume does not equalize when I turn the volume up. Now Can anyone point me(link if posible) for a compatible replacement for the pot? stepped attenuator if posible? Please advise to those with the know how

 

[xenithon]

Hi all. I have four quick questions for those that have owned / used the MKVIII SE:
- how long would you suggest for burn-in of the amp from new?
- each time you turn it on, how long would you typically say it took to warm up until it started sounding its best?
- when you turn it on, how long does it take your amp to "stabilize" whereby the meters are on and showing the right reading?
- do you plug your headphones in before switching on (so there is a load) or only after (in case there is a DC dump)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[baronbeehive]

Hi all. I have four quick questions for those that have owned / used the MKVIII SE:
- how long would you suggest for burn-in of the amp from new?
- each time you turn it on, how long would you typically say it took to warm up until it started sounding its best?
- when you turn it on, how long does it take your amp to "stabilize" whereby the meters are on and showing the right reading?
- do you plug your headphones in before switching on (so there is a load) or only after (in case there is a DC dump)?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Xenithon

There's not many bods around here any more so I will answer you, although I have a MKVi not MKViii:

I would burn the amp in for around 100hours, or thereabouts, longer is not necessary and you should start to hear the bass tighten up and the treble smooth down, and the soundstage open up quite early on.
I can't remember without re-reading the entire thread but someone said that it was best after around 15 or 20 minutes if I remember right, I haven't noticed myself
The meters should stabilize after around 2 minutes is normal to give the heaters time to warm up the tubes, they will overshoot initially then stabilize when they autobias
No need to worry about plugging your headphones in, there is a dummy load so you can leave them out until after you switch on.

Sorry you had to wait but I hope you get to enjoy your amp now!

 

[Maxx134]

Truthfully the MK6 is the only commercial tube amp that has both power and is balanced!..

I don't see nothing nothing else out there ,
and nobody wants to go near this amp because it has the dam cheap image ,
and it's all the company's fault for making cheap stuff !!

they should have promoted better.
They do not have any promotion,
and people have thinking it's not good, and they are in some respect correct,
Because it needs to be and must be modded to scale up..
Only modded can it climb to higher end game heights.

But there is nothing better than a modded MK6 out there for the price ...
There is no tube amps powerful enough that are both OTL and OCL AND BALANCED ..
You MUST go DIY to get better..
OR be ready to spend well over $2k..

l it is a damn shame that people don't realize there really isn't nothing commercially better out there below $2k then a modded MK6...
You just gotta go used $2k market or DIY.

I see tube speaker amps with more power,
but they have the wrong impedance,
and most have garbage choice of driver stage design and choice of tubes just for power..

Headphone amps need a greater level of Clarity as they have to be more transparent, nuanced and holographic.

Most speaker amps do not have this quality and rely on room placement for soundstage...
So far I believe it is the choice of error correction that can mask these nuances (in both signal and phase) and end up masking with a fake black noise floor.. But thats my guess.

The speaker amps out there have many compromises like paralleled tubes and crappy driver stages and
crappy coupling of stages and use of rectifier tubes instead of accepting the better SS rectifier devices out now...

Why add more variables with a rectifier tube?
I owned the woo wa7 and heard the effects on amps and DACs using rectifier tubes..
We don't need that.

Alot is done to appease consumer ignorance, like choice of tubes and style.

I have observed way too many expensive amps relying on crappy coupling caps and purist designs without SS help.
*Rant over*

No matter what tube amp you buy today it WILL be compromised...

 

[xenithon]

Hi Xenithon

There's not many bods around here any more so I will answer you, although I have a MKVi not MKViii:

I would burn the amp in for around 100hours, or thereabouts, longer is not necessary and you should start to hear the bass tighten up and the treble smooth down, and the soundstage open up quite early on.
I can't remember without re-reading the entire thread but someone said that it was best after around 15 or 20 minutes if I remember right, I haven't noticed myself
The meters should stabilize after around 2 minutes is normal to give the heaters time to warm up the tubes, they will overshoot initially then stabilize when they autobias
No need to worry about plugging your headphones in, there is a dummy load so you can leave them out until after you switch on.

Sorry you had to wait but I hope you get to enjoy your amp now!

Many thanks for the excellent info - it is very much appreciated!

 

[baronbeehive]

Truthfully the MK6 is the only commercial tube amp that has both power and is balanced!..

I don't see nothing nothing else out there ,
and nobody wants to go near this amp because it has the dam cheap image ,
and it's all the company's fault for making cheap stuff !!

they should have promoted better.
...........

If it wasn't for people on head-fi there would be no knowledge at all of this excellent Chinese company, customer relations is quite good so I can't understand why they can't find out how to market themselves better!

......

I see tube speaker amps with more power,
but they have the wrong impedance,
and most have garbage choice of driver stage design and choice of tubes just for power..

Headphone amps need a greater level of Clarity as they have to be more transparent, nuanced and holographic.

.....

*Rant over*

I enjoyed the rant lol!

Yes there are some great Chinese, and Japanese speaker amps out there but I would not think they would be as great for headphone use as well. I was looking for one that did both and couldn't find one so I'm happy with my choice of serarate ones for each.

 

[bloodhawk]

Got my Little Dot VI+ today. And boy even with the stock tubes (Thomson JAN 6080WA + OTK 6H9C) this amps sounds so much better than the Crack. (Single Ended)

So i before i start tube rolling tomorrow, i thought id try some weird things with the HD800S...

- Single Ended NFB 11.28 RCA out to the VI+'s RCA in - Sound nice.. good amount of low end. Very close to the low end of the Crack (heavily modded - https://imgur.com/a/dxhUq and running a 5998 + Tungsram E80CC).

- Single Ended NFB 11.28 RCA out to the VI+'s RCA in - Output to HD800S balanced cable (https://imgur.com/a/dzrCq - made one on my own) - Sounds nice, maybe a bit more separation, but the low end is pretty much gone.

- Single Ended NFB 11.28 RCA out to XLR in's on the VI+ using RCA to XLR 3 Pin cables. (separate cable L & R - used this one : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M6A73GA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) - OH BOI!! Low end is back, and the separation improved even more!

- Balanced out from the Schiit Gungnir to CLR in's on the VI+ - Literally sounds the same as the one above (RCA to XLR inputs). Im sure with better tubes ill see more of a difference (maybe?)

End of the day im super happy with this amp, and going to stick with my NFB 11.28 and instead spend that saved cash on upgrading the VI+'s internals!

Time to tear down the crack and re assemble it inside a 10"x10" chassis, with the switches easily accessible!

Another thing i should have mentioned, VI+ vs. WA22 with the upgraded tubes, Jesus Christ WA 22 feels so badly overpriced. Good thing i held out and went for this baby.

 

[Maxx134]

this amps sounds so much better than the *****. (

Another thing i should have mentioned, VI+ vs ****

I am NOT naming names.
I heard them and a lot more.

I love tube amps.
There is alot of really nice amps out there, but all need work to me.
Absolutely Nothing out there that I would trade my MK8 for, except the wa33.
Even then not willingly.

This amp makes good use of complete balanced design,
to its main and very noticeable advantage.

Yet I remember stock it was not at top, just a really nice upper mid grade type performance.

Do yourself favor and work on its weaknesses in the mod thread.

It Will climb very very high.
Other than that, a total DIY amp of superior design would be needed to go higher.
OR big money on tube amp trying lol.

 

[bloodhawk]

I am NOT naming names.
I heard them and a lot more.

I love tube amps.
There is alot of really nice amps out there, but all need work to me.
Absolutely Nothing out there that I would trade my MK8 for, except the wa33.
Even then not willingly.

This amp makes good use of complete balanced design,
to its main and very noticeable advantage.

Yet I remember stock it was not at top, just a really nice upper mid grade type performance.

Do yourself favor and work on its weaknesses in the mod thread.

It Will climb very very high.
Other than that, a total DIY amp of superior design would be needed to go higher.
OR big money on tube amp trying lol.

Oh yeah totally agreed. Already ordered some Audyn True Copper caps (0.68 uF 630V) (Not really a fan of Mundorf Supreme SGO's for what they cost). Will do the caps first over the weekend, next will be the resistors and the bias switch along with replacing the wiring with silver coated single core 600V wire.

Got a bunch of 5998's, RCA 6AS7G's, Tungsol 6080's and a few Winged C 6H13C's. Along with some really nice Sylvania Bad Boys. So im pretty covered on the tube end of things

Will post in the mod thread soon.

 

[xenithon]

Quick question for MkVIII owners. Can you only roll in 12AT7's in the preamp tube section, or would others in the family work too (such as the 12AU7 or 12AX7)? The manual does not say much other than saying the likes of the ECC802s / ECC803s work but those are silly expensive!

 

[bloodhawk]

Im loving the TS 5998 + 6H13C + TS 5998 + 6H13C with RCA 6SN7 GTB combo for now. Next ill be trying the Bad boys and the CV181-TII's with the same power tubes.

Been trying to find the GEC 6080 / TungSol 6AS7G for reasonable prices, but its been almost impossible.

 

[SonicTrance]

@bloodhawk
When you're mixing tubes that bias very differently, like the 5998 and 6H13C, what's the bias at the output tubes? What are the meters reading?

 

[bloodhawk]

@bloodhawk
When you're mixing tubes that bias very differently, like the 5998 and 6H13C, what's the bias at the output tubes? What are the meters reading?

Both are at about a bit over 55.
If I only use 5998's x 4 , then bias drops to 30-35.