MAD Ear+ Purist HD thread.
Dec 27, 2007 at 10:08 AM Post #136 of 1,382
The tube bias on the MAD Ear is done automatically and it will accommodate the 12AX7 with no problems. As the 5751 is lower gain than the 12AX7, you will find that the volume will be louder than that of the 5751 at the same setting. I have found the Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 to be my favourite in the new current issue tubes and the Sovtek 12AX7LPS compressed the soundstage a bit.

Sorry, I'm not able to provide you with a soft copy of the manual, but have you tried emailing the good Dr Lloyd who I have always found very helpful ?
 
Dec 28, 2007 at 4:26 AM Post #137 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by LoweArt /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The tube bias on the MAD Ear is done automatically and it will accommodate the 12AX7 with no problems. ..... I have found the Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 to be my favourite in the new current issue.....

<About a soft copy of the manual> Have you tried emailing the good Dr Lloyd who I have always found very helpful ?



Thanks so very much for your information and suggestions. The EH and Ei 12AX7 are both on my "to try" list. It's a relief to know that I don't need to perform a manual bias to try them. I'll email Dr Lloyd about a URL to a .pdf for the manual. Thanks again, very kind and helpful of you.
 
Dec 28, 2007 at 10:59 AM Post #138 of 1,382
Happy to help a fellow MAD owner or anyone else for that matter.

I just looked in my filing and found the construction/user manual that Dr Lloyd provided me with when I purchased my first MAD kit going back almost 4yrs ago.

It is really more of a construction/schematic and troubleshooting manual than a user manual. There is a couple of paragraphs towards the end that mentions the various tubes you can use for V1 ( front tube ), those being 5751, 12AX7, ECC83 & 7025.

Yes, one of the handy features about the MAD is the auto biasing of the tubes. I guess many "shudder" at the mentioning of manual biasing because it sounds difficult, which it's not. I had a KT88 push-pull integrated valve amp that I also built myself that I adjusted the bias once every 12 months. Just a multimeter, screwdriver and knowing the correct voltage that the tubes need to be set at.

Enjoy your tube rolling with the 12AX7 and the welcome to the MAD club !

MADEarPuristCsml.jpg
 
Dec 31, 2007 at 1:29 AM Post #139 of 1,382
I've got Ear + HD-200 #5 on order . . !!!
cool.gif


Can't wait to see them there "Magic Eye" tubes do their stuff . .

Happy New Year one and all

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jan 5, 2008 at 2:28 PM Post #141 of 1,382
Well done.

But sorry for your wallet!
wink.gif
 
Jan 5, 2008 at 4:28 PM Post #142 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by scott_d_m /img/forum/go_quote.gif
After searching these forums for my fisrt amp, I am very pleased to announce that I"ve just closed a deal on a used era+ hd2 this morning. I can't wait to give it a go.


I thought they discontinued that model?
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 3:33 AM Post #145 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by scott_d_m /img/forum/go_quote.gif
After searching these forums for my fisrt amp, I am very pleased to announce that I"ve just closed a deal on a used era+ hd2 this morning. I can't wait to give it a go.


Congrats! You will almost certainly love it, especially if you are a Grado/Alessandro user. I bought my MAD amp used as well & am enjoying every minute of it.
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 1:26 PM Post #146 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by BigAmish /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Congrats! You will almost certainly love it, especially if you are a Grado/Alessandro user. I bought my MAD amp used as well & am enjoying every minute of it.


Thanks BigAmish. I'm looking forward to seeing how my MS-1's sound through this amp.
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 3:59 PM Post #147 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by scott_d_m /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks BigAmish. I'm looking forward to seeing how my MS-1's sound through this amp.


My MS-1s sounded phenomenal through my MAD amp & were my primary cans used with it before I picked up my RS-1s. In fact, I would say that the improvement in sound upgrading from a terrible home theater amp using MS-1s was significantly greater than going from MS-1s to RS-1s through the MAD amp. Don't get me wrong, my RS-1s are the bees-knees (so to speak), but the law of diminishing returns rears its ugly head when you get into that headphone price range. That is probably testament to how good the MS-1s are for the $$$.

By the way, any idea as to the age & the brand of tubes that are being supplied with your amp? Tubes that have been heavily used may sound a little veiled or microphonic. I ran into that issue with my used amp & a little budget-minded tube rolling has made lovely improvements. My personal favorite 'budget' NOS tube is the Sylvania JAN gray plate 5751 (~$15-20 shipped). Others like RCA and/or GE 5751s. Black plate 5751s seem to be universally preferred by just about everyone but are *very* expensive. Too rich for my blood anyhow!

Sorry for the unsolicited information ramble! Be sure to give us your impressions when you are able to give the amp a good listen.
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 8:51 PM Post #148 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by sbulack /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks so very much for your information and suggestions. The EH and Ei 12AX7 are both on my "to try" list. It's a relief to know that I don't need to perform a manual bias to try them. I'll email Dr Lloyd about a URL to a .pdf for the manual. Thanks again, very kind and helpful of you.


When you swap from the 5751 to an 12AX7/7025 you will get more volume. This because the 5751 has about 70% of the gain provided by a 12AX7/7025. Good luck.
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 10:32 PM Post #149 of 1,382
Quote:

Originally Posted by BigAmish /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My MS-1s sounded phenomenal through my MAD amp & were my primary cans used with it before I picked up my RS-1s. In fact, I would say that the improvement in sound upgrading from a terrible home theater amp using MS-1s was significantly greater than going from MS-1s to RS-1s through the MAD amp. Don't get me wrong, my RS-1s are the bees-knees (so to speak), but the law of diminishing returns rears its ugly head when you get into that headphone price range. That is probably testament to how good the MS-1s are for the $$$.

By the way, any idea as to the age & the brand of tubes that are being supplied with your amp? Tubes that have been heavily used may sound a little veiled or microphonic. I ran into that issue with my used amp & a little budget-minded tube rolling has made lovely improvements. My personal favorite 'budget' NOS tube is the Sylvania JAN gray plate 5751 (~$15-20 shipped). Others like RCA and/or GE 5751s. Black plate 5751s seem to be universally preferred by just about everyone but are *very* expensive. Too rich for my blood anyhow!

Sorry for the unsolicited information ramble! Be sure to give us your impressions when you are able to give the amp a good listen.




The unsolicited information is very much welcome anytime my friend.

It's good to hear that MS-1's sound great with this amp. Part of the reason for buying this in the first place was because of great synergy it had with grado's and the fact that I definately want to later on upgrade to RS-2's. The sole reason for RS-2's is simply because I don't think it's worth the extra money for the RS-1's unless I find a good deal on used ones, but that's just my personal opinion.

The amp itself is a year old with the original tubes. I think after I recieve the amp and have a good listen to it for a while I will then go ahead and buy some new tubes. Thankyou for the advice on the tubes by the way, I will definately put that into consideration for future tube replacement.

Now all I have to do is sit and wait for it to arrive.

Cheers!
 
Jan 14, 2008 at 7:41 PM Post #150 of 1,382
Well, I recieved my hd2 today and I must say I'm very impressed with the sound of this little beauty. However, the right channel seems to be a slight bit louder than the left which after a while can be very fatiguing on the right ear. I've checked my cables several times to make sure they were hooked up correctly and everything looks fine. Anyone else have this problem, and if you did what did you do to have it corrected.
 

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