[KMASCII]

I've never heard any sibilance from the Little Dot MKIII. I do listen with the HD650's, which are pretty tough to hear sibilance with anyway. lol. I simply heard excessive balance towards the treble area, brightness if you will. But no sibilance. Right now I use Russian 6H6n for the power tubes. They're good and do quite nicely.
 
You know, I also have a pair of Electro Harmonix 6H30Pi-EH. The Electro Harmonix power tubes do bring a lot of weight and force to the music. And they do run hot... damn hot actually. But nice sound for a power tube though. I must say there's plenty of space between the pedal and the floor with these power tubes. I've been meaning to try these paired with the 403B's.

 

[Impulsive]

then i am just wondering why are you running 6H6n if you have better tubes waiting to be plugged in?
Glad to hear that 6H30P-I are doing better, it only confirmed my thoughts.
I will definitely try them...but damn they are expensive.

 

[britt2001b]

 
 
 
Quote:

Hi Brit 2001b,
 
I just ordered a pair of the 8161s (EF92). Could you explain to me the difference between small shield and large shield?
 
It is true that tube rolling can make you a little crazy. The best situation is when you find tubes that make you forget about analyzing the highs and the lows and the mid range, and you just enjoy the music. But maybe a different highly recommended set of tubes will make you enjoy the music more.....

Hello Mordy,
 
I'm sorry, I do not know the difference. I'm only referencing from earlier posts from this thread. It seem's the large shields are more sought after. I only discovered this after I ordered the 8161's. Here's a quote from post #1112 :
 
"Mullard has a somewhat convoluted history having had not a few owners over the years and it's not surprising that tubes from different eras manufactured at different plants would sound significantly different. In the case of the M8161 I think the classic large-shield version sounds like a proper Mullard with its warm and almost seductive sound while the other versions tend to sound colder and harsher.

 - DoA"
 
Of course, the grass is always greener. But for now, I think I will take your advice, relax a bit, enjoy the music, and when curiosity gets the best of me I'll give the large shields a try.
 
 
 
 

 

[TMRaven]

Got my Mullard CV4010s (ef95, m8100) driver tubes today.  Currently burning them in a bit.  So far I don't notice any difference between them and the stock chinese tubes that came with my MK2.

 

[britt2001b]

Quote:

Got my Mullard CV4010s (ef95, m8100) driver tubes today.  Currently burning them in a bit.  So far I don't notice any difference between them and the stock chinese tubes that came with my MK2.

Give 'em about 50 hours or so.

 

[KMASCII]

 
Quote:

then i am just wondering why are you running 6H6n if you have better tubes waiting to be plugged in?
Glad to hear that 6H30P-I are doing better, it only confirmed my thoughts.
I will definitely try them...but damn they are expensive.

The heat they produce made me nervous is all. And they lay forgotten in a drawer. Plus the 6H6n are a certainly a good tube. Seeing as you have 600ohm Beyers the Electro Harmonix would probably be worth price. I don't recall paying a lot for them bout three years ago though. They're a very tall tube compared to the 6H6n's, plus they've got a lot of glow compared to the 6H6n's too. Hence the heat I guess. Listening to them now, and I forgot how strong they are. Like I remembered, more force to the music. Maybe effortless is a good description.

 

[Impulsive]

thanks for sumarizing it
I might really try EH but i have been thinking about russian 6H30P-I
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/MATCHED-PAIR-6N30P-DR-6H30-Pi-SUPER-TUBES-UNUSED-TESTED-/160595423705?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item25643bb1d9
 
 
What do you think?
Is there any difference comparing them to EH ?
Regarding heat, well, when i turned my amp for the first time and i just put my hand above tubes after about hour, wow what a heat was spreading.
But I do not care at all for this heat, i never let amp turned on when i leave the house and while i am here, i take care.
But i am tempted by the sound signature they provide, as you said.
 
BTW
 
Is there really big difference between 6H30P-I produced before 1990 and after 1990?
because that's what seller says.
 
Because these 6H30P DR costs more than my amp, jesus christ.
check it out
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/2x-MATCHED-6N30P-DR-6N30P-NIB-80s-TUBE-E182CC-6H30P-/300567932583?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item45fb3eaea7

 

[KMASCII]

I was thinking about why I neglected the 6H30Pi-EH, and in addition to the heat concern it was because I had thought that I didn't like their sound... but I was very wrong there. A power tube can only deliver the signal that the driver tube passes to them. And at the time I was struggling to balance the treble to my preference by rolling driver tubes. Now that I'm listening to the 6H30Pi-EH with my new favourite driver tubes, the 6H30Pi sound much, much more appealing. Understanding this, it dawns on me now that another word I would use to describe the 6H30Pi-EH is transparent. I can see that they are a very capable and responsive power tube. I suspect it's because the tube produces enough power that you can't hear a weakness in the presentation.
 
In terms of the tubes you've referred to I don't know. I don't know what the DR designation means as opposed to the HR's that I have. Maybe there is some power difference? All I know is that my expectation now for what a good power tube is should include that it sound transparent. I'll try to post a photo of my tubes so that you might see if there are differences in construction. It might be a thought to track down a spec sheet on these tubes to see any other differences too.

 

[Impulsive]

DR addition means that it has improved prolonged lifetime.
but that makes that insane price?
I dont think so...
 
Waiting for your photos
 
Also, nice explanation and conclusion
So you returned to 6H30P-I after all. It makes sense

 

[KMASCII]

Now that I understand better how a good power tube improves the presentation, yeah I'm sticking with the 6H30Pi's. Those are some crazy prices on eBay though. Although still a fair chunk of change at $33.95 usd per tube, they are cheaper here. But I'm sure that there are still slightly cheaper places to get them out there. I can't recall where I'd gotten mine but it wasn't eBay. Don't know if this place is still operating but $21.89 per tube is a heck of a lot cheaper. A lot of variation in pricing out there.

 

[Impulsive]

thanks for cheaper sources for tubes.
i still wait for david zhezhe to reply to my email, because my amp is back from 2007 and i think i read somewhere here, that only PCB rev. 2.0 supports 6H30 family.
I am not sure about my PCB rev. and while i tried to dismantle it yesterday, i couldnt pull out PCB, i didnt want to break something so i let it be.
Anyone have idea how to figure out PCB rev. without disassembling amp and pulling PCB out?

 

[john57]

how to figure out PCB rev. 
 
http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1044&p=4061&hilit=6H30+resistor+change&sid=141c9c732997b0d90183064052ae359f#p4061 
 
 

 

[jdog826]

Hello fellow mkIII owners
i got one of these units about a month ago. i'm currently using dt990/600 along with an ipod 5g. so far i'm liking the sound but would like to try out some different tubes. can someone suggest some tubes that will bring out the vocal a little more. vocals to me sound kind of thin or hallow. how about some tubes that will add more punch to the bass? i think i might be a basshead LOL. being new to the world of headphone amps i don't really know what the difference is between the small tubes and the larger ones. would i be able to change all four tubes to create a sound that has punchier bass and add some body to the vocals? any suggestions welcome. thanks in advance.

 

[Impulsive]

thanks.
First time i was unsuccessful, but now equiped with flashlight i was successful.
But sad news, it's rev. 1.0
so i am kinda ..scr.....ed.
I do not feel like doing that resistor mod, i am not that skilled.

 

[AlexRoma]

jdog826, I had these headphones previously.  Now I own DT880 600ohm..
 
I also have 3 pairs of russian groove 6J1P-EV's, 2 pairs of Mullard M8100 CV4010 and the stock GE's (all these are small tubes).
 
Russian 6J1P-EV tubes burst bass (3-4 db) and treble (1~2 db) too (no more treble burst after 100 hours ), not welcome add-in at all, especially for beyerdynamic house. Russian tubes made my MKIII almost undistinguished with AudioGD NFB11 dac-amp... 
 
edited : After 3 weeks ( now these tubes have 100+ burn-in) , russians sound much better, much warmer then before. Looks like Highs have rolled off around 3db.. Now there is difference compared to pure SS amps.  I am sorry for the previous post. I was confident, 50 hours were enough for burn in and the'll be no more change in the sound. I was wrong...
 
M8100 Mullard's cost only 20$, sound much better than GE's and also bring you extra 1~2 db midrange. These are quite neutral and lush. I find stock GE the most midrange oriented tubes of the group, but they are less transparent and extended on both sides, because of lower quality materials I suppose. They even look cheaper and smaller in the size.
 
And buy the way, don't expect LittleDot MKIII making beyerdynamics warm and lush headphones. Not the case with MKIII. It's a neutral sounding tube-amp.