[baronbeehive]

I see, Atleast the current imbalance is fixable.
The dial’s LED is dimmer than the left, can’t fix that unless I solder it off and add my own backlight on it right?

Is your unit new?

The dials have their own LED built in. One of the wires leading to it has a resistor inside the wire which sets the light voltage so the only way you could fix it would be to check each wire to each dial to see if one of the resistors is faulty and replace it which would be tricky. I think this is the likely cause of the backlight problem.

Did you swap over the tubes?

Sorry to hear of the issues you guys are experiencing. My MKVI is 12 years old now and has no issues. Over on the Supermods thread we have carried out a lot of upgrades to the internal components, including uprating the resistors to a higher wattage and the unit is still going strong and running without a hitch. This is despite several problems along the way.

It does appear that QC is not up to scratch which is a pity. My early unit appears to be much better quality and even had the best Dale resistors installed!

LD no longer has their own website, so I suspect that the operation is not running so smoothly nowadays.

I feel the amp is worth staying with because after all the upgrades it is truly at end game level. Even the stock amp is very good, but the upgrades were the icing on the cake.

 

[Yaska729]

Is your unit new?

The dials have their own LED built in. One of the wires leading to it has a resistor inside the wire which sets the light voltage so the only way you could fix it would be to check each wire to each dial to see if one of the resistors is faulty and replace it which would be tricky. I think this is the likely cause of the backlight problem.

Did you swap over the tubes?

Sorry to hear of the issues you guys are experiencing. My MKVI is 12 years old now and has no issues. Over on the Supermods thread we have carried out a lot of upgrades to the internal components, including uprating the resistors to a higher wattage and the unit is still going strong and running without a hitch. This is despite several problems along the way.

It does appear that QC is not up to scratch which is a pity. My early unit appears to be much better quality and even had the best Dale resistors installed!

LD no longer has their own website, so I suspect that the operation is not running so smoothly nowadays.

I feel the amp is worth staying with because after all the upgrades it is truly at end game level. Even the stock amp is very good, but the upgrades were the icing on the cake.

I also never ran into the the problems like you guys did on the MK 8. Gotta let Mr. Yang know that the QC is dropping the ball haha.

Quick correction though, not only the old website is running. They also have the Facebook fan page and another official website that list their products on there.

 

[baronbeehive]

I also never ran into the the problems like you guys did on the MK 8. Gotta let Mr. Yang know that the QC is dropping the ball haha.

Yes absolutely, it's not cricket.. as we say in UK lol!

Quick correction though, not only the old website is running. They also have the Facebook fan page and another official website that list their products on there.

Wow you're right, good to see the website back again.

 

[Nooborghini]

Is your unit new?

The dials have their own LED built in. One of the wires leading to it has a resistor inside the wire which sets the light voltage so the only way you could fix it would be to check each wire to each dial to see if one of the resistors is faulty and replace it which would be tricky. I think this is the likely cause of the backlight problem.

Did you swap over the tubes?

Sorry to hear of the issues you guys are experiencing. My MKVI is 12 years old now and has no issues. Over on the Supermods thread we have carried out a lot of upgrades to the internal components, including uprating the resistors to a higher wattage and the unit is still going strong and running without a hitch. This is despite several problems along the way.

It does appear that QC is not up to scratch which is a pity. My early unit appears to be much better quality and even had the best Dale resistors installed!

LD no longer has their own website, so I suspect that the operation is not running so smoothly nowadays.

I feel the amp is worth staying with because after all the upgrades it is truly at end game level. Even the stock amp is very good, but the upgrades were the icing on the cake.

Yeah it is brand new, I am talking to APOS about it currently.
The LED back light is definitely defective. I am not keen on opening this up currently to tinker it around as I realllllllllllllllllly do not want to do this, esp when I had this amp for almost a week now.

I really do enjoy looking at the tube, reason why I got this one is cause it just looks great in the dark. The backlight really does bug me since I am looking at it ALL the time.

Replacing the pre-amp tubes with my other random pair I had lying around definitely fixed the current imbalance. I guess the tube was bad. No microphonics on it however, interestingly enough.

It is a pity that APOS needs to pay for LD's QC. I hear so many good things about LD but recent products are just letting me down. I ordered the MKII+ from Drop w/ 4010 upgraded tubes and they came microphonic. REALLY disappointed and Drop customer service told me essentially sucks to suck since shipped to Canada.

I am pretty keen on keeping this thing, I really don't want to upgrade to the WA22 when it is roughly $2500 USD which ends up probably $3000 CAD for an amp for my HD800 or HD820 seems kind of absurd when my LD MKVIII can potentially do better or just as well.

c'est la vie~

 

[AngryTank]

Yeah it is brand new, I am talking to APOS about it currently.
The LED back light is definitely defective. I am not keen on opening this up currently to tinker it around as I realllllllllllllllllly do not want to do this, esp when I had this amp for almost a week now.

I really do enjoy looking at the tube, reason why I got this one is cause it just looks great in the dark. The backlight really does bug me since I am looking at it ALL the time.

Replacing the pre-amp tubes with my other random pair I had lying around definitely fixed the current imbalance. I guess the tube was bad. No microphonics on it however, interestingly enough.

It is a pity that APOS needs to pay for LD's QC. I hear so many good things about LD but recent products are just letting me down. I ordered the MKII+ from Drop w/ 4010 upgraded tubes and they came microphonic. REALLY disappointed and Drop customer service told me essentially sucks to suck since shipped to Canada.

I am pretty keen on keeping this thing, I really don't want to upgrade to the WA22 when it is roughly $2500 USD which ends up probably $3000 CAD for an amp for my HD800 or HD820 seems kind of absurd when my LD MKVIII can potentially do better or just as well.

c'est la vie~

What power tubes would you recommend for replacement? I am literally in the same position, I just recieved my replacement yesterday and already having the channel imbalance happening again.

 

[baronbeehive]

It is a pity that APOS needs to pay for LD's QC. I hear so many good things about LD but recent products are just letting me down. I ordered the MKII+ from Drop w/ 4010 upgraded tubes and they came microphonic. REALLY disappointed and Drop customer service told me essentially sucks to suck since shipped to Canada.

I am pretty keen on keeping this thing, I really don't want to upgrade to the WA22 when it is roughly $2500 USD which ends up probably $3000 CAD for an amp for my HD800 or HD820 seems kind of absurd when my LD MKVIII can potentially do better or just as well.

c'est la vie~

Yeah! This is shocking, I can only repeat to stick with it, sort the issues with APOS and you shouldn't have any further problems. This was unheard of a while ago on this thread. I don't know if David from the LD website is answering emails nowadays but you could try that too, he is usually helpful, but as you say your problems are with APOS.

I get that you don't appreciate looking at that LED neither would I!

If all else fails maybe an electronics engineer could fix the wire to the dial.

The amp is better than the WA22 anyway IMO.

 

[baronbeehive]

What power tubes would you recommend for replacement? I am literally in the same position, I just recieved my replacement yesterday and already having the channel imbalance happening again.

I hope that is just a tube problem. Before he answers, I don't know what you're using, but I will just add that I'm still using RCA 6AS7G's and they sound great... and are cheap so you could try this and move on up later when you're sure about the amp.

 

[Maxx134]

I would look to return the unit because if you bought new, it should be 100% perfect, and not need any fixing yourself, unless it's tubes, but if you already opened the unit, it would be to late, unless you put back as stock.
Look into whichever is cheaper.
Maybe cheaper to have local repairman fix, than to ship unit.
I myself never experienced a dim light on right side. It would turn on after, but get same brightness.
That involves the power supply.

 

[Maxx134]

Meter light is not the light fault.
It would indicate a PSU or bias circuit problem.

Also,
Make sure you have good working tubes.
Many many old tubes wether NOS or Newer remake, they can ALL HAVE BAD tubes.
Make sure your tubes are good by switching sides to compare...

It's easy to think it's the amp, when it's the tubes(!).

 

[AngryTank]

I would look to return the unit because if you bought new, it should be 100% perfect, and not need any fixing yourself, unless it's tubes, but if you already opened the unit, it would be to late, unless you put back as stock.
Look into whichever is cheaper.
Maybe cheaper to have local repairman fix, than to ship unit.
I myself never experienced a dim light on right side. It would turn on after, but get same brightness.
That involves the power supply.

If he purchased via Apos, he can get a replacement free of charge, They did it with mine, and everything works but I. Think one of my preamp tubes is not right.

 

[Nooborghini]

If he purchased via Apos, he can get a replacement free of charge, They did it with mine, and everything works but I. Think one of my preamp tubes is not right.

The issue is that we have to ship from US to CAD. Well from China to CAD. So there is roughly $100 of USD customs fee and that wouldn't be cost effective for both parties.

We came to a conclusion of offering partial refund for the issue, really sad APOS has to pay for LD's mistakes. Just truly sad. Apos though, great company to work with.
They've been so accommodating and consistent with their communication.

I almost bought it from Shenzhen but they way they responded was disgusting. They promise a price match but then say, "No sorry, that is too much of discount, I will give you 5%."

 

[AngryTank]

The issue is that we have to ship from US to CAD. Well from China to CAD. So there is roughly $100 of USD customs fee and that wouldn't be cost effective for both parties.

We came to a conclusion of offering partial refund for the issue, really sad APOS has to pay for LD's mistakes. Just truly sad. Apos though, great company to work with.
They've been so accommodating and consistent with their communication.

I almost bought it from Shenzhen but they way they responded was disgusting. They promise a price match but then say, "No sorry, that is too much of discount, I will give you 5%."

Yea I know what you mean, they currently have my DX7 Pro which broke after accidentally turning the volume to Max. I sent that in at the start of September and it’s already been 2 months. They just received the unit last week, and should be ready to ship back this week. I really do Love Apos for their customer Service, and yea it sucks they have to take the hit for LD mistake.

 

[baronbeehive]

Following several bad experiences by members on this forum I have emailed Little Dot about this. I will let you know if anything positive results from that.

 

[Nooborghini]

What power tubes would you recommend for replacement? I am literally in the same position, I just recieved my replacement yesterday and already having the channel imbalance happening again.

Sorry I didn't see this one.
My friend from work recommended https://www.thetubestore.com/genalex-gold-lion-ecc81-b739?quantity=1&additional_options=3 vs the
MULLARD 12AT7WA / CV4024

Waiting currently if I should replace them or not

I don't know if I should bother with https://upscaleaudio.com/products/russian-6h30pi-gold-pin?variant=21830513221

ARC vs PLATINUM vs GOLD, no idea what that's about.

 

[Maxx134]

For the driver stage, I would only look into NOS tubes.
The new ones no matter which, look good but they like to have higher or optimal bias to work clearly...

The NOS tubes are clear at any bias, and this amp has a NOTORIOUSLY LOW BIAS POINT, to the point of being NOT IN THE LINEAR RANGE.
Very low biased!
Also because of this, you can try MANY 12pin dual triode tubes..not just 12at7.
Same applies for the MK6 amp. You can try many similar 6pin dual triode types.

I don't know if I should bother with https://upscaleaudio.com/products/russian-6h30pi-gold-pin?variant=21830513221

ARC vs PLATINUM vs GOLD, no idea what that's about

The gold pin have a thicker sound and need slight more break in.
The Russian "Sovtek" version has a more linear signature, closer to the fabled expensive ones (6n30p-dr at $250 each!)..

The best is to mix both the "Sovtek", and the "gold lion" on each channel side.

Put the Sovtek on the left socket, and the gold lion on the right socket, of the left channel..
Then do the same for the right channel, so both channels have one of each tube.


The reason is that left tube acts as the sonically prominent tube, Is that it is pushing the positive(+half) of the signal.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but regardless, that is the socket(left) which sets the sound for that channel.

You must use the clearest, fastest, least thick tube for that socket, or else a thicker tube would color the sound more..
With this set-up, you combine the best traits of both tubes.
You get the speed, clarity, and the bass thickness all combined.

Remember to ONLY mix tube brands, NOT tube model numbers!
All four power tubes must of same model number!

I am assuming the same phenomena occurs with the MK6 amp as well, yet while you can mix tube brands, you cannot mix tube model numbers, and the MK6 has alot more choices in output tubes so just remember they must all be of same model number type.


Also don't bother paying high prices with special tube websites, when you can find so many deals from private owners on eBay or forums.
Most tubes that are still available these days have little to no usage because of the smaller market.
Don't believe the fairly tale that you need to buy from any place special.
Some of the rarest and best deals can be had on eBay.