[Scutey]

  So despite having owned my little Dot mk III for about 5 year now, I never got into tube rolling.  I decided that needs to change.  I'm starting out looking for some relatively inexpensive tubes to try out, and I started with a matched pair of Voshkod 6ZH1P-EVs that I found for $16 on ebay.  It'll be interesting seeing what sort of difference they make.

​If you have just had the stock tubes in then you will notice a difference with the Voskhod, they are quite a fast tube, rather cool/dry sounding with good detail and slam, if you don't want to spend too much another very good tube is the EI 6HM5, slightly warmer than the Voskhod, has very good clarity/detail, good extended highs tight bass and detailed mids, they are at least as cheap, if not cheaper. Here's a link to these tubes.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261943723655?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[Scars Unseen]

 
​If you have just had the stock tubes in then you will notice a difference with the Voskhod, they are quite a fast tube, rather cool/dry sounding with good detail and slam, if you don't want to spend too much another very good tube is the EI 6HM5, slightly warmer than the Voskhod, has very good clarity/detail, good extended highs tight bass and detailed mids, they are at least as cheap, if not cheaper. Here's a link to these tubes.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261943723655?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I'll take that advice, thanks.  I figure I'll slowly build up a collection to try out and see what I like.  

 

[Policar]

Why does the little dot mkii sound considerably better when turned off and fed through the "output" RCA jacks (disabling the potentiometer) than turned on and fed through the "input" RCA jacks? Will replacing the tubes fix this?
 
Overall... I am not a fan of this amp out of box but I was curious to try it. Weirdly it sounds pretty good hooked up wrong.

 

[TrollDragon]

  Why does the little dot mkii sound considerably better when turned off and fed through the "output" RCA jacks (disabling the potentiometer) than turned on and fed through the "input" RCA jacks? Will replacing the tubes fix this?
 
Overall... I am not a fan of this amp out of box but I was curious to try it. Weirdly it sounds pretty good hooked up wrong.

The RCA line out jacks are directly connected to the headphone out jack on the board. You are not disabling the volume control connecting it up that way, you are bypassing the amplifier.

If it is loud enough that way, then what are you using as a source and what headphones?

 

[Policar]

  The RCA line out jacks are directly connected to the headphone out jack on the board. You are not disabling the volume control connecting it up that way, you are bypassing the amplifier.

If it is loud enough that way, then what are you using as a source and what headphones?

It's barely loud enough but still sounds good. I'm using a gamma2 DAC and HD650s with everything at maximum volume, and running the tube am as a pre-amp into my ESP950s, which have their own amp.
 
That makes sense, though. So far, the only amp that sounds better than the gamma2 with the HD650s is the bottlehead crack with speedball but I'm going to try some Mullard tubes now. That makes sense, though. The stock tubes sound congested, muddy bass, sibilant treble. 

 

[MIKELAP]

If anybody is interested in purchasing  LITTLEDOT COMPATIBLE tubes i have some for sale on the FOR SALE FORUM here's the link .6HM5,8100,6AK5,6AU6 with adapters ects. Thank you                                                                                                                       http://www.head-fi.org/t/840068/tubes-compatible-with-littledot-1-mk2-mk3-mk4-mk4se-for-sale

 

[OctavianH]

Happy Easter everybody,
 
If you need some Light I recommend you better tubes
 

 

[Policar]

I've got some Mullard tubes on the way, should I also replace the power tubes? I would like to reclaim my Crack (which sounds great btw) for my HD650s. :/ The stock sound is very disappointing to me but I'll wait to try out the new tubes.

 

[OctavianH]

I have no idea how the Crack sounds, but I say you should replace your power tubes with 6N6P-IR or 6N6P.

 

[Policar]

  I have no idea how the Crack sounds, but I say you should replace your power tubes with 6N6P-IR or 6N6P.

What kind of difference will that make in sound? 
 
I'm sure this as a pre-amp for my ESP950s btw, but also for dynamic headphones as an amp from time to time.

 

[OctavianH]

I do not remember clearly how the stock tubes sounded because I changed them in the first days. But what can I say is that there is a big improvement on clarity/detail if you upgrade both driver and power tubes. For me, the perfect sound was quite neutral. But everything depends on the rest of your line. All I say is that you should upgrade both driver and power tubes, since the Chinese stock ones sound quite crappy. I cannot say very much about HD650 since I sold my pair, for me they sounded too bassy and the "Sennheiser veil" was too pronounced. Being a fan of neutral/clear/fast sound I always enjoyed the Beyerdynamic Testla headphones and for my setup the best power tubes are 6N6P-IR. 6N6P are somehow warmer, with more bass.

 

[Policar]

  I do not remember clearly how the stock tubes sounded because I changed them in the first days. But what can I say is that there is a big improvement on clarity/detail if you upgrade both driver and power tubes. For me, the perfect sound was quite neutral. But everything depends on the rest of your line. All I say is that you should upgrade both driver and power tubes, since the Chinese stock ones sound quite crappy. I cannot say very much about HD650 since I sold my pair, for me they sounded too bassy and the "Sennheiser veil" was too pronounced. Being a fan of neutral/clear/fast sound I always enjoyed the Beyerdynamic Testla headphones and for my setup the best power tubes are 6N6P-IR. 6N6P are somehow warmer, with more bass.

Thanks, that's helpful. The Crack for whatever reason lifts a lot of the veil, while I have not used any other amp that does. It's kind of amazing, the HD650s sound good all of a sudden instead of good through five layers of felt. But still a little felty. I preferred my DT1350s (apparently quite similar to a mini-T1 in sound character if not sound quality) until I added that amp and they are still my go-to for work etc.

But I want to use this as a pre-amp for my ESP950 electrostatic headphones since they benefit from some smoothing out, too, and some warm bass. The stock tubes sound awful to me, worse than nothing. Tinny, congested, no bass. I will try the Mullards and 6N6P? Those work together well? Where should I order the 6N6P from? (I already have the Mullards, just haven't installed them yet.)

 

[OctavianH]

HD650 are good headphones, but not for what I listen. I listen to rock/metal which is fast and complicated. HD650 sounded great on soundtracks or Depeche Mode, but for rock they are far below T1s. And T1s are quite great on tube amps. If you prefer more detail and clarity I say you should go for 6N6P-IR as power tubes and Mullard 8161 (EF92) as drivers (do not forget to change jumpers). If you prefer more aggressive/fast sound on mids, for rock, the best are Voskhod 6J1P-EV.

 

[Policar]

I'm not crazy about the HD650s either but I do think they get less veiled with th right amp, and the Little dot has not improved them. I just want to use this as a pre-amp for my elecrtostats, though
 
I bought these
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122440660580?ul_noapp=true
 
Is that the wrong one? It looked like it would be EF95 compatible. 
 
Anyhow, which tubes should I get? I can still return them.

 

[Scutey]

JPosted by Policar /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I'm not crazy about the HD650s either but I do think they get less veiled with th right amp, and the Little dot has not improved them. I just want to use this as a pre-amp for my elecrtostats, though
 
I bought these
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122440660580?ul_noapp=true
 
Is that the wrong one? It looked like it would be EF95 compatible. 
 
Anyhow, which tubes should I get? I can still return them.

Policar,
 
I had those as stock tubes with my MK III, i'm fairly sure they are French RTC tubes NOT Mullard, they are ok but not as good as Mullard, if you want Mullard the ones to go for are the mill spec versions, the M8100 (EF95), or the M8161 (EF92), and as for the power tubes Octavian is right, the 6N6P and 6N6P-IR are a definite improvement over the stock, as to which is better as always it's very subjective, the 6N6P is slightly warmer with stronger bass, the 6N6P-IR is cooler slightly better clarity/detail and a tad less bass.  Here is a link to some Mullard M8100 to give you an idea.
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M8100-CV4010-EF95-MULLARD-BLACK-PLATE-8140-NOS-E-MATCHED-PAIR-VALVE-TUBE-A16-/371599617046?
hash=item5685102c16:gy4AAOSw7KJXDpk