[SunWarrior]

First my take on Little Dot shipping.

I ordered the MK V on January 2, about 2:00pm eastern time. Received it today, a bit less than five days later, at about Noon eastern time. Amazing!!

Packed well, and also includes RCA cables and power cord. Didn't need the interconnects, but that they were included impressed me.

Haven't really listened to much yet, using my new 100-hour-burned-in K701s, so audio impressions to come.

Dave, who has ordered thousands of items online over the years and even items worth thousands of dollars and even items from Europe and Australia but this is the first item bought directly from China.

 

[TKvC-SainT]

Hi all, new in this forum (just signed up ^^), although I´ve been looking at some really good stuff here, and it has helped my wallet get much thinner over these months, have spent (according to calculations I just made) about 1000 dollars the last 3 - 4 months on headphones and an amp.

Which brings me to my question/thougts. I have had a Little Dot Mk4 for like 2 months, and in the last days I really started to appreciate it so much, music just hadn´t sounded that good before, and then yesterday it suddenly broke down on me, I mean on my birthday and all, to say the least I´m really bummed and sad that I can´t enjoy that luscious sound that I had just a couple of days ago. Well just seems to be my luck, anyhow I just mailed David at Little Dot so hopingly I will have an answer tomorrow when I wake up, seeing as It´s really late over here and really should be heading to bed rather than writing off here.

Now to my question part for you guys, like I said I enjoyed the Mk4 tremendously these last days, but I´m starting to wonder if it´s just a safer choice to go for a Mk5 which is SS, and probably more realiable and just needs to be powered on to work, and basicly runs forever without any tinkering. But then again I fear I won´t get the real smooth sound with the Mk5 that the Mk4 put out right in the end. Just for the record I have AKG K701 which are my main 'phones, and probably will get a pair of AT ATH-ESW9 for portable use mostly but also for use at home when I feel like having a different take on how things should sound, and I mostly listen to different kinds of Metal, but also other stuff like Tori Amos, Norah Jones, Infected Mushroom and other kinds of Rock.

So will the Mk5 do a good job with those 'phones and also that kind of music, as I feel I would rather have a simpler amp, which the Mk5 would be seeing as it´s a SS.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKvC-SainT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi all, new in this forum (just signed up ^^), although I´ve been looking at some really good stuff here, and it has helped my wallet get much thinner over these months, have spent (according to calculations I just made) about 1000 dollars the last 3 - 4 months on headphones and an amp. Which brings me to my question/thougts. I have had a Little Dot Mk4 for like 2 months, and in the last days I really started to appreciate it so much, music just hadn´t sounded that good before, and then yesterday it suddenly broke down on me, I mean on my birthday and all, to say the least I´m really bummed and sad that I can´t enjoy that luscious sound that I had just a couple of days ago. Well just seems to be my luck, anyhow I just mailed David at Little Dot so hopingly I will have an answer tomorrow when I wake up, seeing as It´s really late over here and really should be heading to bed rather than writing off here. Now to my question part for you guys, like I said I enjoyed the Mk4 tremendously these last days, but I´m starting to wonder if it´s just a safer choice to go for a Mk5 which is SS, and probably more realiable and just needs to be powered on to work, and basicly runs forever without any tinkering. But then again I fear I won´t get the real smooth sound with the Mk5 that the Mk4 put out right in the end. Just for the record I have AKG K701 which are my main 'phones, and probably will get a pair of AT ATH-ESW9 for portable use mostly but also for use at home when I feel like having a different take on how things should sound, and I mostly listen to different kinds of Metal, but also other stuff like Tori Amos, Norah Jones, Infected Mushroom and other kinds of Rock. So will the Mk5 do a good job with those 'phones and also that kind of music, as I feel I would rather have a simpler amp, which the Mk5 would be seeing as it´s a SS.

Well, first off, let's focus on where you are right now. The MKIV was just maturing and you were enjoying it tremendously. Your phones were just getting more mature as well. I think I would wait and see what DavidZ says to check first, work with him to resolve the "not working" problem. A fuse could be your problem right now and we wouldn't even know it.

Don't get me wrong, the MKV is just now being swung into the spot light, but it will never have that "lush" sound you have heard from the MKIV. The MKV will always sound different, not better. I have both, and love both for what they bring to music, but the MKV will never be a "tube" amp.

Sorry you had a bummer thing happen on your birthday. Happy Birthday anyway!!

Fear not. Little-Dot has the best Customer Service and DavidZ can be trusted to get things corrected as fast as humanly possible. Good stuff, that Little-Dot team!!

 

[iozz]

Anyone has compared the MKV to other SS amps ? I wonder how it pairs with Grados and Alessandros...

 

[TKvC-SainT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, first off, let's focus on where you are right now. The MKIV was just maturing and you were enjoying it tremendously. Your phones were just getting more mature as well. I think I would wait and see what DavidZ says to check first, work with him to resolve the "not working" problem. A fuse could be your problem right now and we wouldn't even know it. Don't get me wrong, the MKV is just now being swung into the spot light, but it will never have that "lush" sound you have heard from the MKIV. The MKV will always sound different, not better. I have both, and love both for what they bring to music, but the MKV will never be a "tube" amp. Sorry you had a bummer thing happen on your birthday. Happy Birthday anyway!! Fear not. Little-Dot has the best Customer Service and DavidZ can be trusted to get things corrected as fast as humanly possible. Good stuff, that Little-Dot team!!

Thanks for a real good answer there Penchum. Nice to hear from someone who has both amps.

What got me thinking about the Mk5 is partly the reliability part and also that ppl here on Head-Fi said that the Mk5 works great with the K701's (maybe even in this thread, I don´t remember).

So I´ll see what David thinks. Though I do think I will need to send it back to China. And if that´s the case I´m tempted to try out a Mk5 instead of the Mk4. Though I will miss the nice glowing of the tubes

*edit* Just got an answer from David at Little Dot, he tells me to send it back so I can have it replaced. Just mailed to ask if it could be possible to try out the Mk5 instead, although I havn´t decided to go for that yet, will have to do some serious thinking if he says it´s okay to switch it.

*edit2* Just got an answer again from David (dang is fast at answering my many questions), and it will be okay to switch the Mk4 to a Mk5 instead, so now I will have to sit down and think real hard about what I would like better.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKvC-SainT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for a real good answer there Penchum. Nice to hear from someone who has both amps. What got me thinking about the Mk5 is partly the reliability part and also that ppl here on Head-Fi said that the Mk5 works great with the K701's (maybe even in this thread, I don´t remember). So I´ll see what David thinks. Though I do think I will need to send it back to China. And if that´s the case I´m tempted to try out a Mk5 instead of the Mk4. Though I will miss the nice glowing of the tubes *edit* Just got an answer from David at Little Dot, he tells me to send it back so I can have it replaced. Just mailed to ask if it could be possible to try out the Mk5 instead, although I havn´t decided to go for that yet, will have to do some serious thinking if he says it´s okay to switch it. *edit2* Just got an answer again from David (dang is fast at answering my many questions), and it will be okay to switch the Mk4 to a Mk5 instead, so now I will have to sit down and think real hard about what I would like better.

Those guys are just so great to their customers! Wow!

 

[TKvC-SainT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those guys are just so great to their customers! Wow!

You ain´t kidding!

Have heard about their great customer service here before, but I do think It´s quite exceptional.

Back to the decition part, I feel that right now I´m leaning towards going for the Mk5. Seeing as the reliability will be quite much better, with no tinkering required at all. And the other part that got me interested is the synergy effect ppl here at Head-Fi are talking about with the AKG K701's.

 

[gdl357]

Great build.

 

[TKvC-SainT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdl357 /img/forum/go_quote.gif When I listened to mine for a whole 5 minutes, I found that the amp sounded underpowered. I really expected more juice/loudness from an amp with this type of PSU. I found myself from 4/5 to 5/5 of the volume with my DT770Pro/80. Maybe my Ipod wasn't a good source, I don't know, but it did sound great but just weak. Anyways, I received an unexpected $700 x-mas bonus this weak. I could easily re-purchase the amp, but i'm not interested in it after hearing it. I really think the RSA HR-2 at $875 would be a better buy for me. I am looking for someting a little more powerfull. I doubt the Ipod was the culprit. Great build though.

Sounds really weird, as I remeber to have read somewhere that it puts out 2W of power, using all that with a pair of 'phones would probably make you deaf.

In my experience DAPs don´t deliver great output power when plugged in to eq such as recievers or stereo amps. So I would think the iPod was the reason for the low power.

 

[gdl357]

Well I regret not trying it out on my HK CD player...The more I read, the more I come across posts stating that an iMod or iPod Line out is not as strong as a CD source, for example, so maybe this amp is very loud to begin with after all.

Now that I think about it, I might re-order another one and save me $600.00!!! I will wait to see if anymore info or reviews are going to appear.

OR, just go with a MK IV SE and call it quits for amp hunting this year...



These are the correct published specs.

Power Output:
187 mW @ 300 ohm
250 mW @ 120 ohm
500 mW @ 32 ohm
Recommended Load Impedance: 32 ohm~600 ohm

Its opposite a tube amp. The more the Impedance, the less watts you get.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKvC-SainT /img/forum/go_quote.gif You ain´t kidding! Have heard about their great customer service here before, but I do think It´s quite exceptional. Back to the decition part, I feel that right now I´m leaning towards going for the Mk5. Seeing as the reliability will be quite much better, with no tinkering required at all. And the other part that got me interested is the synergy effect ppl here at Head-Fi are talking about with the AKG K701's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdl357 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I regret not trying it out on my HK CD player...The more I read, the more I come across posts stating that an iMod or iPod Line out is not as strong as a CD source, for example, so maybe this amp is very loud to begin with after all. Now that I think about it, I might re-order another one and save me $600.00!!! I will wait to see if anymore info or reviews are going to appear. OR, just go with a MK IV SE and call it quits for amp hunting this year... These are the correct published specs. Power Output: 187 mW @ 300 ohm 250 mW @ 120 ohm 500 mW @ 32 ohm Recommended Load Impedance: 32 ohm~600 ohm Its opposite a tube amp. The more the Impedance, the less watts you get.

It is great to see you guys being open minded and thinking. You would be shocked at how many wouldn't even take the time!

Using the MKV, with my Creative Vision (headphone jack out), it is weak. With the Visions "Line-Out", it is ok. With my Zune80, it is ok. So, yes, the source's output can make a difference. Good call! I am sure at the end of the day, neither of you would be unhappy with the MKIVse or the MKV. Once they stop making the MKIVse, I'm not sure anyone will be able to get an OTL Tube headphone amp at that price point ever again. So if you are inclined, now would be the time. If the MKV is more your cup of tea, go for it. The source issues you will want to fix eventually anyway, so everything will happen in logical steps.

You both sound like your on the right track. Let us know what you decide, so we can chew our nails waiting with you.

gdl357: as side thought. You could email DavidZ and see if he would cut you a deal for both units and still have plenty left over for music!

 

[gdl357]

It's been 2 days, I no longer see MK IV on ebay. I have a feeling they sold out.

I still haven't decided. I am going to wait for my DT990 to come in so I can at least hear them and then decide what type of amp to get. Tube or solid state.

Right now, it looks like the RSA HR-2 will be the one as it is haunting me in my dreams.

 

[TKvC-SainT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdl357 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's been 2 days, I no longer see MK IV on ebay. I have a feeling they sold out. I still haven't decided. I am going to wait for my DT990 to come in so I can at least hear them and then decide what type of amp to get. Tube or solid state. Right now, it looks like the RSA HR-2 will be the one as it is haunting me in my dreams.

Link for ya

Little Dot MK IV Headphone Tube Amplifier/Pre-Amp - eBay (item 200190792702 end time Jan-16-08 13:32:29 PST)

Also had a major bummer today, went to the local DHL office, and the shipping would cost ~US$585 back to Little Dot. So now I´ll have to check with the regular Post to see what take for sending it to China.

I do think I´m leaning more towards the MkV at the moment. I´ll have to sit down and think it through though since I know that I´ll atleast miss the cozy glow of the tubes

 

[gdl357]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKvC-SainT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Link for ya Little Dot MK IV Headphone Tube Amplifier/Pre-Amp - eBay (item 200190792702 end time Jan-16-08 13:32:29 PST)

Thx. I just noticed they had relisted at about 5:00 today.

What a coincidence, 30 minutes after I make my post.

David, are you reading this LOL

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKvC-SainT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Link for ya Little Dot MK IV Headphone Tube Amplifier/Pre-Amp - eBay (item 200190792702 end time Jan-16-08 13:32:29 PST) Also had a major bummer today, went to the local DHL office, and the shipping would cost ~US$585 back to Little Dot. So now I´ll have to check with the regular Post to see what take for sending it to China. I do think I´m leaning more towards the MkV at the moment. I´ll have to sit down and think it through though since I know that I´ll atleast miss the cozy glow of the tubes

Good Land!! Are they nuts or something!!