[papy]

Thank you for the responses and the additional info/links.I think i will go through the whole thread again in the next few weeks, now that i have that little bit of use on the MKII and the added general understanding.
 
I'll give a trial order on tube-stores for a pair of 6n6p-I and a pair of 6n6p-IR to start with, and a hanfdul of Voskhod. That will keep me entertained for a while. I'll take the plunge on the 6H30PI at another time.
 

 Chinese 6N6 --> Russian 6N6P?

 

That's what I have done. 

 

[bharat2580]

Chinese 6N6 --> Russian 6N6P?

mine had russian as far as i remember 

 

[GnuB]

And so it begins.  I am a little late to the party and the thread but rolled in my first tubes today (EH 6H30Pi) and have several drivers and power tubes on order based on recommendations and reviews.
 
I have had headphones and amps for several years, and while enjoyable, never thought anything was extraordinary until receiving the MK III.  I listened daily at work to my Corda Move with either ER4P's or Triple Fi 10's and there were a few "Wow" moments but mostly were just average to my ears.  Same at home with the Aune and DT880 / Senn 580's. I am experiencing my music with new ears with the MK III, revisiting my favorite tracks.  I am looking forward to investigating new dimensions with the tubes that are coming.  However, it is all about the enjoyment of the music and how the equipment can enhance the experience and not about endless experimentation for me.   I fell into that trap once before.  I once had a fairly sophisticated stereo setup with tube pre amp and amp and one night a friend of mine and I were comparatively listening to the same album played on the same model of turntable with the same model cartridge with different tone-arms thinking we seriously heard a difference.  While that foolishness may have been interesting from an experimental point of view, it had very little impact on the listening pleasure of the music itself.  So, I will not succumb to FOMO disease (Fear Of Missing Out).  At some point, soon I hope, that I will achieve the right combination of tubes in the MK III and be done, forever satisfied.  
 
Sure, I believe that...  Really... 

 

[papy]

I have just purchased a brand new pair of the (now "old") HD800. If you have used or are using the HD800 with the MKII, which types of driver tubes have given you the most rewarding results please ? thank you.

 

[northendjazz]

A Question for those using a mkiii or mkiv as a preamp, does the gain setting effect output as a preamp?  I just set the mkiv volume to normal level for my dt880's and adjusted the volume on the new Beresford Capella and all is fine infact rather good.

 

[TrollDragon]

  A Question for those using a mkiii or mkiv as a preamp, does the gain setting effect output as a preamp?  I just set the mkiv volume to normal level for my dt880's and adjusted the volume on the new Beresford Capella and all is fine infact rather good.

Yes it does, the Line Out and Headphone jack have the exact same internal connection on the Little Dot MK III & IV. 

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

My Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV has "07-81" marking... Don't know if it was for Cold War rockets or not. I'm rather unimpressed with it. Nothing special at all

 

[Opeth1966]

Joined last week after lurking about for a year or so. I have been running a little dot 3 with stock tubes Sennheiser Momentum 1·0 and a Quad Cd99p with transport upgrade and have just started my tube rolling adventures.
To be honest i was quite happy with the set up and was thinking of headphone upgrade.
However after reading the copious threads here I thought why not buy some tubes and see how that goes.
So spent £50 in total £21 for a matched pair of EF95 Mullard and £29·95 on 2x 6n6p Novosibirsk 2x 6j1p-ev Voskhod rockets both matched pairs. From 2 different dealers on ebay which I researched from the advice given here.
The mullard turned up the very next day in original boxes and shield stamped.
So out come the stock tubes in go the Mullards. Still have stock power tubes in.
Click the switch and off we go.
The tracks I listened to test were Opeth Ghost of perdition. Patti Rothberg Flicker and Ian Brown F.E.A.R.
Well straight from the off the harsh brightness of the stock tubes has dissappeared completely and vocals across the board are improved with female vocals sublime. Even the hard vocals on the Opeth track which sounded indecipherable in places have been smoothed out. There is a warmth and openness which just was not there. Rim shots and bass drum kicks are superb. This has got to be the best value for money upgrade ever £21!!
I've been running them for a week now and they just get better. Soundstage is good on all tracks. However the do seem a bit laid back for the Opeth track but are superb on the Patti Rothberg. The Ian Brown track bubbles along.
The acoustic and harmonic parts of the Opeth track are open and warm the middle section with the chugging guitars made my hairs stand on end.
All in all a great investment. The other tubes turned up a day later but are still in the box. I'll be trying the power tubes with the Mullards next an I'll post my findings.
Overall this felt like a vety decent upgrade.However as I listen mainly to metal there just seemed to be something lacking. But for folk female vocal these are superb.
At the end of the day my listening experience has been transformed and that's what it's all about. All I've got to do now is find the right headphone as good as the momentum are they are better suited to mobile use and they do become uncomfortable after a couple of albums listening a problem I believe they have resolved with the 2·0·
Hope this has been of use to someone if so let me know.
Next post next week.
Happy listening.

 

[Johnnysound]

  And so it begins.  I am a little late to the party and the thread but rolled in my first tubes today (EH 6H30Pi) and have several drivers and power tubes on order based on recommendations and reviews.
 
I have had headphones and amps for several years, and while enjoyable, never thought anything was extraordinary until receiving the MK III.  I listened daily at work to my Corda Move with either ER4P's or Triple Fi 10's and there were a few "Wow" moments but mostly were just average to my ears.  Same at home with the Aune and DT880 / Senn 580's. I am experiencing my music with new ears with the MK III, revisiting my favorite tracks.  I am looking forward to investigating new dimensions with the tubes that are coming.  However, it is all about the enjoyment of the music and how the equipment can enhance the experience and not about endless experimentation for me.   I fell into that trap once before.  I once had a fairly sophisticated stereo setup with tube pre amp and amp and one night a friend of mine and I were comparatively listening to the same album played on the same model of turntable with the same model cartridge with different tone-arms thinking we seriously heard a difference.  While that foolishness may have been interesting from an experimental point of view, it had very little impact on the listening pleasure of the music itself.  So, I will not succumb to FOMO disease (Fear Of Missing Out).  At some point, soon I hope, that I will achieve the right combination of tubes in the MK III and be done, forever satisfied.  
 
Sure, I believe that...  Really... 

Hi Gnub,  I started with the MKIII some 3 years ago and went all the way up to "ultimate" mods following the advice of the truly experts here in this thread.  Trust them, they will show you the way to a great ride, believe me.  I like your post, because I felt exactly the same when I listened to this little amp for the first time. And as good as it was  with headphones, its performance  as a preamp,  in its standard form  driving a serious and quite good setup, just throw me off base.  My reference ss preamp was perhaps more detailed and had stronger bass,  but  was kind of lifeless against the musical and enjoyable MKIII.  And this was in standard form,   tube mods will transform the MKIII into another thing, it is designed to be modded,  accepts a lot of variants,  and it can reach extraordinary sound quality. And I mean really  high quality.   IMHO, for the price will beat anything out there.  
 
 But I do not want to go ahead of things, for the moment the standard drivers have to go out first.    The Yugo 6HM5 are great F95 drop in replacements, but I liked the Voshkods a lot also. Great sounding.   However, my personal one was the Tung-Sol 6485, an EF92   type (requires changing internal pins)  with a lively, clear, punchy and dynamic sound I enjoyed a lot.  All this with the standard russian power tubes which I consider  excellent... 

 

[GnuB]

... (snip) ...
 But I do not want to go ahead of things, for the moment the standard drivers have to go out first.    The Yugo 6HM5 are great F95 drop in replacements, but I liked the Voshkods a lot also. Great sounding.   However, my personal one was the Tung-Sol 6485, an EF92   type (requires changing internal pins)  with a lively, clear, punchy and dynamic sound I enjoyed a lot.  All this with the standard russian power tubes which I consider  excellent... 

 
Thanks for the encouragement.  I have the 6HM5 / 6N6P-IR combination in use now and am getting to know them but the initial impressions are very positive and the best I have tried so far (soundstage, detail and transparency).  The plan is to live with each combination for a while rather than swap-swap-swap. It takes time for me to recognize real improvements (non-placebo) but can quickly recognize downgrades.  I will keep an eye out for a deal on a pair of the Tung-Sol 6485 tubes and give them a try.  In the meanwhile, I am buying cd's of music that I used to have on vinyl and some new releases from favorite musicians.  It is a fun ride.

 

[GnuB]

This Tube Table: http://www.head-fi.org/t/563884/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide/8760#post_11155053
 
Shows the 6N23P in both the Power and Driver positions with no adapter required.  It is a 9 pin tube so it should require an adapter in the driver position if it would work at all.  Is there an adapter for it and what would be the expected result of it as a driver?
 
This tube works in the Aune T1 which I am buying from another Head-fier.  I am trying to anticipate a good combination of tubes in the Aune as the DAC and the MK III as the amp. 

 

[gibosi]

  This Tube Table: http://www.head-fi.org/t/563884/little-dot-tube-amps-vacuum-tube-rolling-guide/8760#post_11155053
 
Shows the 6N23P in both the Power and Driver positions with no adapter required.  It is a 9 pin tube so it should require an adapter in the driver position if it would work at all.  Is there an adapter for it and what would be the expected result of it as a driver?
 
This tube works in the Aune T1 which I am buying from another Head-fier.  I am trying to anticipate a good combination of tubes in the Aune as the DAC and the MK III as the amp. 

 
The "adapter" to use the 6N23P or other 9-pin dual triodes as drivers in the LD typically consists of an external 9-pin breadboard socket and two 7-pin test sockets. It is quite crude and ugly, but it works fine. And if one wants to run tubes drawing more than 0.45A and/or 12V tubes, an external heater power supply can be added.
 

 

[Opeth1966]

Hello again as promised just a bit of an update for anyone who is intersted.Following on from my last post. I had just put the Mullard EF95 into my little dot 3 and was running with standard power tubes and i have to say i am well pleased with the results. As the tubes settled in the sound became more open and smooth as i tried them with various female vocalists. Fiona Apple/Beth Orton/ P.J.Harvey/Beth Gibbons/Catherine Feeny all sounding excellent. Beth Gibbons Rusting Man sounding particularly haunting in parts and i found that these tubes were particularly suited to softer passages of music { this is only my opinion} Also the acoustic and piano parts of various Opeth tracks becoming more atmospheric the piano passage at the end of Leper Affinity absolutely sublime i never knew silence could sound so good. So all in all a great upgrade.
So now to the stock power tubes come out  and in go the Russian 6n6p Novosibirsk. 
I have to say  that the initial impact was not what i expected which was probably over expectation from the driver tube change and im struggeling to hear any vast difference there are subtle changes but nothing drastic. However after the recommended burn in of around 20-30 hours from the tube supplier its a different story.
The whole sound has been tightened up and the same 3 test  tracks take on another life the smooth openness of the Mullard tubes has taken on another level soundstage is great and the bass is smooth its as though the music has been given room to breath. My only criticism is that for  me there is still that lack of punch that im looking for in the midrange on heavier tracks especially guitar but its still a whole lot better than the standard stock tubes. Highs are also great.
I then put on Made in Japan  the remixed edition from last year and im blown away i listened to the 3rd night  strange kind of woman/lazy/space truckin and i may as well have been there in 1972 there is a passage in space trucking where  you can hear 2  japanese guys having a conversation incredible. To me its a perfect representation of what went on over those 3 nights. I have every release of this album that there is to have and have compared them all. 
All in all im really pleased with the upgrades and im going to run these for another week. I have to say im looking forward to changeing the Mullard tubes for the voskhod rockets to see what  they can bring.
My next dilemma is what to do about my headphones momentum 1.0 i just feel that  they need to go back out on the street for mobile listening. Im still not sure what to go for and by that i mean i listen to music in the living room where the wife  watches tv and im looking to go for open back headphones that im told leak sound so its not just about my listening pleasure but also trying not to get on the wives nerves. Anyone know where i can test some AKG/Sennhiser/Grados for sound quality and leakage Im in Caterham Surrey. UK
As always this is only my humble opinion based on my ears. But if anyone out there is thinking of upgrading equipment try upgrading your tubes for me pound for pound its been the best upgrade ive done and there is lots of great advice on this site and i have to say its been an eye opener or should i say ear.
Happy listening. Hope this has been of use to someone. Next post in a week or so to see how the russian rockets fair.

 

[bjj51]

I just ordered these from eBay:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/251818022323

These are the 6n6p ir tubes that people like right? I just realized the auction didn't have the ir suffix and now I'm worried..

 

[Opeth1966]

Yeah theses are the tubes everybody seem to recommend. I've just upgraded to these. (See my last post). But as always with any of this stuff listen to your ears it's all subjective. Happy listening.