[runeight]

@joeike - Rock on dude, send us a PM if you get stuck or got any questions but there's plenty of info over in the T50 mod thread. Good luck!

@runeight - Thanks Runeight, she's a beauty of an amp. Really lovin' the lively sound and authority this thing puts out! What's your thoughts on tube rolling with the MCTH, keep stock EH and call it a day?

There have been quite a few comments on tube rolling on this and the MD thread. In general, the amp isn't going to change character much with tube rolling, although it will some. Many of comments have been that people rolled tubes and decided that the stock EH was the best sound. But others definitely heard improvements or changes that brought the sound closer to their tastes.

The main issue is to make sure that you have enough hours on the amp and tube for it to show its real SQ.

 

[dudlew]

Just received this little fellow. I am burning it in, but I am not at my main setup, so its running straight from the laptop headphone out for the time being. So far, I am enjoying it. Cant compare to the Burson yet as I am not next to it. It is powerful and my cans are pretty efficient, so not pushing past 10 on the volume knob when I am listening. Right now this is just burn in and its approaching 24 hours. Put it on yesterday at about 130 pm.

Lets see what happens..


dudlew

 

[joeike]

Just received this little fellow. I am burning it in, but I am not at my main setup, so its running straight from the laptop headphone out for the time being. So far, I am enjoying it. Cant compare to the Burson yet as I am not next to it. It is powerful and my cans are pretty efficient, so not pushing past 10 on the volume knob when I am listening. Right now this is just burn in and its approaching 24 hours. Put it on yesterday at about 130 pm.

Lets see what happens..


dudlew

Yeah good luck with that I've been burning mine in for a few days now just about a week I guess a few hours each night with and without the headphones surprised how I still have to turn the volume up to about 12 to get some good volume out but I do have the fostex txos and they're not very efficient. When I switch over to the AKG 553 they do sound a little brighter compared to the fostex cans but there Studio cans so that's the way they're supposed to be but loving the sound out of both enjoy.

 

[Stabby]

Is there a better alternative for power supply without building one of your own?

 

[volly]

@Stabby - I've ordered one off Ebay (custom job) a few weeks back, still waiting for it to arrive. If you're interested PM me for more details.

The stock one isn't bad but it isn't exactly great either! But for the price I guess sacrifices had to be made. When I received my unit I had to get a travel adapter so it sits janky as heck in my power board, it triggers my OCD every time I look at it!

But damn does this amp sing, really very nice, all my headphones from my rotation has had a turn and it just does a great even stellar job. Interesting thing I find that I can run my IEM's through it too without much displeasure.

 

[Odin412]

I purchased my Cavalli Tube Hybrid (CTH) after CanJam SoCal and wanted to share my impressions. First, the CTH needs burn-in. Out of the box the treble sounds rough and grainy. The user guide recommends 100 hours of burn in and I agree with that. After 100 hours the treble becomes significantly smoother and a lot more pleasant to my ears.

Let’s discuss the negatives first: In order to hit the $250 price point (which makes the amp a great value) Massdrop had to use some lower-cost components. The case looks good to my eyes and seems to be well made, but compared to my original Cavalli Liquid Carbon the power switch feels cheap with a less satisfying ‘click’, the headphone jacks don’t work as smoothly and the volume control is not as silky and buttery. Of course, the Liquid Carbon is more than twice as expensive so it’s not a fair comparison. However, Schiit Audio amps in the same price range seem to have better component quality IMHO.

Now, the sound. This is a great sounding amp! Not just for the price, it’s great sounding period. It has the trademark liquid Cavalli midrange, the treble is very smooth after burn-in and the bass is deep and solid. Is it as good as my Liquid Carbon? No, the LC has a fuller tone, cleaner treble and an overall slightly warmer sound to my ears, but the CTH sounds really good with a range of headphones. (I’ve tried the MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open, the Sennheiser HD 650 and ZMF Omni so far.) At the asking price the CTH is a great amp and a great value.

 

[alchemist23]

Just a heads up. I’ve put mine for sale on eBay. Uk only.

 

[volly]

MCTH + Alessandro MS2's. These hardly get any head time but with this combo, just WOW...beautiful!

 

[alchemist23]

Just a heads up. I’ve put mine for sale on eBay. Uk only.

change of plan. Starting to sound really good!

 

[volly]

How long have you had if for @alchemist23?

 

[alchemist23]

How long have you had if for @alchemist23?

About a month

 

[jrhill]

This was a question - Is there a better alternative for power supply without building one of your own?

I think you'll have to wait for some of the guys to actually try out some ready-built commercially available power supply and read the feedback.

I'm setting up a Super Teddyregs and the AMB Sigma 11 regulator and will play around with the output caps with these, and will have something more to say about the results later on- to build something like this as a commercial unit, it'd probably be well over the U$250 mark - something based on a Salas shunt reg (a possible later project) would probably be more expensive than this but there's a lot of very good circuits for power supplies available - the trick is to find what actually gives the 'best' sound for you, or a system similar to yours.

 

[joeike]

@Stabby - I've ordered one off Ebay (custom job) a few weeks back, still waiting for it to arrive. If you're interested PM me for more details.

The stock one isn't bad but it isn't exactly great either! But for the price I guess sacrifices had to be made. When I received my unit I had to get a travel adapter so it sits janky as heck in my power board, it triggers my OCD every time I look at it!

But damn does this amp sing, really very nice, all my headphones from my rotation has had a turn and it just does a great even stellar job. Interesting thing I find that I can run my IEM's through it too without much displeasure.

When trying my fiio F9 IEM I'm getting very faint pulsating noise. I'm going to swap out the cable to the other unbalanced cable that came with it to see if the problem goes away.

 

[volly]

@joeike - It's probably the amp, on super-sensitive iem's I'll pick up noise floor easily on this amp. The Fiio is 28ohm?

 

[joeike]

@joeike - It's probably the amp, on super-sensitive iem's I'll pick up noise floor easily on this amp. The Fiio is 28ohm?

Yeah I think so can't find anything on web but they sound great with a portable amp and my phone so that's all that really matters for now thanks for the inquiry.