[MIKELAP]

  This is my first real tube amp so no idea what cleaning the pints of the tubes would entail.   The crackling noise is usually in both channels, and remains even after half hour of the amp being on.  I did notice the crackling noise getting louder when I move the tone arm of my turntable to a record, so perhaps there is interference with other components of my system.   But I will try switching the tubes first and see how that goes.  Thanks for your comments.

For sure you gotta keep cordless phone and things like that away from amp try pluging the amp in another room and see if same thing occurs .For the pins i use a fine sandpaper put it around the pin and go up and down until there clean

 

[LaCuffia]

So I disconnected the amp from the phono preamp and just had the headphones connected and it still made a crackling noise - even with the volume turned all the way down. The driver tube pins seem a little dirty though. Is it the tubes or something inherently wrong with the amp? I really like the amp otherwise but would like to echange it if is defective.

 

[MIKELAP]

So I disconnected the amp from the phono preamp and just had the headphones connected and it still made a crackling noise - even with the volume turned all the way down. The driver tube pins seem a little dirty though. Is it the tubes or something inherently wrong with the amp? I really like the amp otherwise but would like to echange it if is defective.

Did you try plugging it in  a wall socket  in another room to see if you still here the crackling noise ?

 

[LaCuffia]

Amp must be okay then since plugged in another room with just headphones it's silent. Has to be what we stated earlier - interference with other equipment or grounding issue.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[MIKELAP]

Amp must be okay then since plugged in another room with just headphones it's silent. Has to be what we stated earlier - interference with other equipment or grounding issue.

Thanks again for your input.

Glad to help .I had that interference problem with my wireless phone, removed it problem gone 

 

[BetterLate]

You might try ac line filter on amp power cordif it is not interference. I use HumX by Ebtech which costs about fifty bucks on Amazon. It eliminated a hum I was getting from my source laptop

 

[LaCuffia]

Despite the issues I've had, which are fairly minor and are not bothersome when the music is playing, I am so impressed with this Little Dot MKiii with my Audioquest Nighthawk. I am coming from an JDS O2 amp so this is another level. Looking forward to logging some hours on the stock tubes to see how things blossom (I've only had the amp a few days) but also excited about the tube rolling options for later. I know nothing about tubes so it's been very cool and interesting to read through this thread.

 

[MIKELAP]

Despite the issues I've had, which are fairly minor and are not bothersome when the music is playing, I am so impressed with this Little Dot MKiii with my Audioquest Nighthawk. I am coming from an JDS O2 amp so this is another level. Looking forward to logging some hours on the stock tubes to see how things blossom (I've only had the amp a few days) but also excited about the tube rolling options for later. I know nothing about tubes so it's been very cool and interesting to read through this thread.

I suggest the tube rolling guide thread this is where all the infos youll need is and start by the end, better tubes we tried are there. Page 77 has most of the tubes we tried .Power tube reviews on page 201 post 3007 http://www.head-fi.org/t/563884/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide/10455#post_13026470

 

[LaCuffia]

I bought some Tung Sol 6AK5W tubes and they sound amazing. So much better than the stock right out of the box. The bass in particular is deep and powerful but not bloated.

Guess I got the tube rolling bug sooner than expected...

 

[richdytch]

I bought some Tung Sol 6AK5W tubes and they sound amazing. So much better than the stock right out of the box. The bass in particular is deep and powerful but not bloated.

Guess I got the tube rolling bug sooner than expected...

Those are some beautiful tubes. I had a 1944 pair and they were the business.

 

[s0ny]

I'm using my Little Dot MKIII with Mullard M8161 EF92 tubes as a pre-amp. My amp is an integrated one, thus using it's own pre-amp, but Having the LD MKIII between the CD player and amp does improve the sound a lot. Especially instrument separation and the typical tube sound. I wish I could disable the integrated amp's solid state pre-amp

 

[i luvmusic 2]

 You can insert the MKIII in between the PRE IN/OUT or you can insert it between TAPE LOOP which is i have in my system good thing about between the tape loop you can disable it if you want to.Mine is PIONEER SA-7700,TECHNICS SL-1700(Ortofon 2M red/Shure m97xe),SANSUI SPX-6900. 

 

[wink]

I can only seem to roll my tubes the length of my table before they fall off the edge and break on the floor......   

 

[MIKELAP]

I'm using my Little Dot MKIII with Mullard M8161 EF92 tubes as a pre-amp. My amp is an integrated one, thus using it's own pre-amp, but Having the LD MKIII between the CD player and amp does improve the sound a lot. Especially instrument separation and the typical tube sound. I wish I could disable the integrated amp's solid state pre-amp

Is your integrated amp DC COUPLED ? I know for a fact that the mk3 doesnt have a protection circuit if used as preamp with DC COUPLED amps .For example several years ago i wanted to use my Littledot MK3 as preamp with my 70's Pioneer SX750 and i was told not to ,  DC surge could have potentially catastrophic effects since LD is an OTL amp                                                                                          

 

[MIKELAP]

  I can only seem to roll my tubes the length of my table before they fall off the edge and break on the floor......   

Broke them most of the time while handling them before taking a picture to post on the LD thread good thing it didnt happen to often and thank god for this guy, who brought  in fresh replacements lol.