[juzmister]

Hm...Who is up for some tube rolling? Nice bunch of tubes to play with

 

[JimP]

Alright, mine's here - it arrived sooner than expected and caught me off guard without any balanced XLR interconnects in the house. Went down to local hifi shops but the price for the XLR ICs were exorbitant (I don't want to be cheap, but this LDVI rig was meant to be a simple/fun side project). But I found a Tommy Lee Music Store (which is kind of like Guitar Center in US) and picked up some cheapo cables to connect 840c to LDVI. Will post some comments later, after the amp settles in (and maybe I order some better XLR cables) and after I get back from a scheduled trip.

Just a couple of quick observations:
--packing is simple but very good, eg tube complement were well packed in custom fitting styro, as well as amp
--fit and finish of amp is excellent, tubes sit firmly in well spaced sockets, you can be up and running in 5 minutes of opening box.
--amp has zero hum/hiss sonically, this was my biggest concern
--BUT it has considerable mechanical fan noise as posted previously. (will have to do a PKJames fan mod -- no way one could put up with this longterm)
--the other concern was heat, it runs warm (with fans) but my Almarro runs hotter. (but as the fan circulates warm air, I can see how this could raise the ambient room temp in small space over extended listen)
--sound is very promising with my DT880-600 and HD650, but I need to cook this in and do some extended listening.

That's it for now.

 

[JimP]

and in action...

 

[juzmister]

It is a greap amp

Was just wondering if you could tell any difference using the pre-amp outs compared to the headphone out on the front?

 

[JimP]

Juz, unfortunately all my headphones (HD650/HD580/DT880-600) are terminated with 4-pin XLR (use to run them like my K1000 (gone) with a 4-pin to speaker cable adaptor to run off Almarro amp). So I cannot directly compare.

It's only been a couple hours, but sonically I think LD has a winner here. Right now, the DT880-600 are sounding righteous with extension at both ends. These are not your momma's beyers anymore. High's are silky and detailed (no brightness/sibilance), mid's are full and lush, and there's real, taut bass. I've had less time with HD650 but those become bass thumpers (maybe a bit too much for me). After cycling through all the audiophile certified jazz/classical/rock CDs blah blah, now I'm just head-bobbing to Side 2 of Sandinista! (often dismissed/ignored, but I think it's genius, especially the reggae-influenced and the whacked-out instrumentals) - this is good stuff!

 

[JimP]

I'm much preferring HD580 over HD650...Honestly I do most of my listening these days through speakers, having been awed and then burning out (if that makes sense) on PS1, L3000, K1000 systems, etc. Not saying my modest LDVI balanced system is in that league, but it's certainly reinvigorating. Even if this is just a gateway drug to better stuff (I don't intend to go further anymore with heaphones), LD's delivered a home-run. OK, maybe a triple, the fan noise is still annoying as hell. I'll shut up for now before being accused of new-toy/FOTM syndrome.

 

[penguindude]

Holy, a few days of not checking the amp forum and the LD MK6 now has fans?! :O

Hopefully LD will get the heat issue resolved and not have to include those not-so-good-looking parts. Looking forward to sound impressions.

 

[juzmister]

Hm maybe I'll have to pick up a pair of 580s to try

 

[sword_yang]

The fan speed control resistance to change from 75 ohm to 100 ohm, fan noise can be significantly decreased, the follow-up of products has improved.

 

[ncmando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinvisionm /img/forum/go_quote.gif wow. those fans are looking cool

x21 Just needs an air-ride suspension, and time to hop.

 

[juzmister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sword_yang /img/forum/go_quote.gif The fan speed control resistance to change from 75 ohm to 100 ohm, fan noise can be significantly decreased, the follow-up of products has improved.

Cool...Didn't you guys hear the noise before you sent these out?

 

[sword_yang]

If conditions change, we can provide 100-ohm resistors, if no conditions, please contact with our dealers.

 

[cafe zeenuts]

Woot, my is on the way should get it early next week.

 

[JimP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkjames /img/forum/go_quote.gif I decided to replace the fan, which is essentially 2 80mm 12VDC pc case fan. The only problem here is the fan supply voltage is 24V (not exactly, I got 21v) instead of 12V. Which means the 2 fans have to be modded in they way that they work in series.... Anyway, I replaced the fan with ANTEC TriCool, and the result is very delightful.

OK as I'm back from my trip, I would like to try to replace the fans. Could PKJames or others be kind enough to provide an idiot's (me) version of how to do this mod?

Besides ANTEC, any other brands that are ultra quiet? I suspect others may appreciate this info.

BTW, the LDVI + HD580 is a real winner.

 

[DaMnEd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimP /img/forum/go_quote.gif Besides ANTEC, any other brands that are ultra quiet? I suspect others may appreciate this info.

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