[greenkiwi]

What does he mod?  Just general improvements throughout?

 

[aphroti]

yes mods are based on the original amp. By sword_yang's idea the design of mk8 is already very good so the mods are focused on the "building material" of the amp. 
I'll ask the detail of the mods but they are: change of tubes, caps and wires......just change much better material. (the original is not build this way is to the consideration of the cost).
And the improvements are mainly on the details of the music....

 

[greenkiwi]

Cool. Thanks. Would be interesting to find out. I might be tempted to open mine up and upgrade some items.

 

[Andykong]

I have a Little Dog Mk6, old non "+" version, and I am using it to pair with Denon D7000, Alpha Dog and HD700, really happy with the setup so far.



I am still using the stock tube, and is planning to do some tube rolling in the near future, this is my first balanced tube amplifier, so I have some questions before I move on with that.

(1) In my past experience with push pull SE amp., changing the driver tube actually produce more change/improvement then rolling the power tube, especially on tonal balance. Can I assume the same on Mk6 as well?

(2) Will I get any real benefit on Matched-Quad over two matched pair for the power tube?

(3) If I were to go for two matched pairs, I assume that will be one matched pair for two tubes in the left, and another matched pair for the tubes in the right?

Many thanks in advanced.

 

[greenkiwi]

Static and popping...
 
I'm getting static in the left ear periodically, every 10-30 seconds.
 
I also got one loud POP in might right ear.
 
Any thoughts about what could be causing this?

 

[levinhatz]

  Static and popping...
 
I'm getting static in the left ear periodically, every 10-30 seconds.
 
I also got one loud POP in might right ear.
 
Any thoughts about what could be causing this?

 
Possibly a loose connection in one of your cables. Try unplugging and plugging everything back in, particularly XLRs.

 

[greenkiwi]

Tried that. Nothing loose.

The static doesn't sound like loose sort of static.

And the pop was more like a bug zapper pop, though louder.

 

[Maxvla]

Tube going bad, perhaps.

 

[Andykong]

One of the problem with Little Dot Mk VI is the fan noise, I assume that is something that a lot of users will try to tackle with. I have replaced the fan tonight and I'll try to share my experience.

This is the original fan installed in the bottom of Mk6:



And I have replaced them with GELID Silent 8, an entry level computer DIY cooling fan that is widely available in Hong Kong computer arcade.




Air Flow (CFM): 20.72
Bearing: Hydro Dynamic Bearing
Connector: 3 Pin Molex
Current (A): 0.08
Dimensions (mm): 80 x 80 x 25
Fan Speed (RPM): 1600
Noise Level (dBA): 18

I spend about uS$10 for two fans and the screws to mount it onto the bottom plate of Mk6. The original fan is 20mm thick only, you'll need a new set of screws if you go for 25mm (thick) fans like me. The result is indeed amazing, I can't hear the fan noise unless I put my head up close to about 1 ft from the machine. I strongly recommend MK6 owners to roll up their sleeves and get this done. I am sure there are similar products around your computer supplies, look for products that measured at 20db or below if possible.

I have a few questions that I want to check out with other users who have done this before:

(1) The fans are connected to two 3-pin connectors on the main Mk6 board, it is marked clearly so if you look carefully, you won't miss it. The problem is the connector does not come with a housing like those in the PC mother board, as a result, you can plug it in with either side of the connectors, the attached photo will illustrated that, there is an arrow mark on the board but I am not sure what that means. Right now, I have go for the direction as shown on the left of the photo, if you are fluent in computer DIY, please tell us if the arrow mark has indicated a particular direction to plug in the connector



(2) The original fan used by Little Dot is a 80x80x20 fan with ball bearing. Ball bearing fan are good for reliability, but bad for the inevitable noise as there are little steel "balls" inside the drive shaft. 20mm is not a popular standard in 80cm computer cooling fan market, I have checked the space and confirmed that 25mm will fit as well. However after I install the fan and try to fit the bottom plate back to the machine, I noticed that one of the fan is touching the component ( the bigger capacitor?) on the main board (marked red on the photo)








Does you run into same problem? I can install all the screw alright, but seems a bit odd when I can feel the fan is definitely touching the capacitor.

(3) Just in case, the fans should be set to draw air from outside towards the main board, right?

 

[baronbeehive]

I am still using the stock tube, and is planning to do some tube rolling in the near future, this is my first balanced tube amplifier, so I have some questions before I move on with that.

(1) In my past experience with push pull SE amp., changing the driver tube actually produce more change/improvement then rolling the power tube, especially on tonal balance. Can I assume the same on Mk6 as well?

(2) Will I get any real benefit on Matched-Quad over two matched pair for the power tube?

(3) If I were to go for two matched pairs, I assume that will be one matched pair for two tubes in the left, and another matched pair for the tubes in the right?

Many thanks in advanced.

 
Changing the driver tubes will give more improvement than changing power tubes as you said. Re: the answers to your other 2 questions check out the link as this comes up regularly.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/522099/little-dot-mk-vi-little-dot-mk-viii-se-owners-unite/915

 

[reiserFS]

Did they ever fix the horrible power button? I remember mine breaking down after only two months and getting stuck.

 

[greenkiwi]

  Did they ever fix the horrible power button? I remember mine breaking down after only two months and getting stuck.

Don't know... but mine had this issue too.  Purchased a pair of them and soldered them in... all better... for now.  They were quite cheap, so it wasn't too big a deal.

 

[Silverstan]

Just received my LD MK VIII SE to pair with my HD 800. Upgraded from LD MK III paired with HD650. really put a big smile on my face when i listen to it.
Also ordered LD DAC III to paired with MK VIII SE. Overall is a huge step on upgrade for my desktop system. I'm happy with it.

 

[Cheesebaron]

I recently bought a used Little Dot MK VI+, which I am using with a pair of JVC DX1000. Sounds really great, but only when listening through the balanced output. Yeah, I get the famous humm noise through the SE output.
 
I am driving it through an Audio-gd 10.32 through the balanced outputs through some Van Den Hul cables that it came with.
 
The tubes I am using now are the Tung Sol 6SL7GT, black base, coated glass and black plate along with some Sylvana winged-C 6H13C, so far I am very pleased with it and how it sounds. I also got some other Tung Sol tubes, also 6SL7GT with brown bottom and glass coated black and a pair with clear glass and black base. Haven't tried the other tubes yet.
I've been reading a bit through the thread and I saw that you can use 6F8G tubes in the amp with some adapters, how do they stack up against the tubes I have now?
 
I've also tried cracking it open to see what is inside, and I am considering replacing those fans, with some Noctua fans I have laying around anyways, they are a lot quieter. One thing I noticed though, that there are a couple of those blue variable resistors inside. What are those for. As far as I know this amp has auto-bias, or am I wrong?
 
Some pictures: 
 

 
 
 

 

[john57]

  I've also tried cracking it open to see what is inside, and I am considering replacing those fans, with some Noctua fans I have laying around anyways, they are a lot quieter. One thing I noticed though, that there are a couple of those blue variable resistors inside. What are those for. As far as I know this amp has auto-bias, or am I wrong?

Those are pots to adjust the DC offset for the DC servo control. The only time you need to touch them is when you are replacing parts for the DC servo.