carlo
Founder of 5 in heavy rotation
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2001
- Posts
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most owners with the DT are probably drooling over the new ASL products and plan to dump theirs, so this is more than likely a waste of time
but whatever, i've got time.
I did the non-negative feedback thing, dig it quite a bit for it's better clarity and seperation and all that's been said here before. however, as a caution to those who are considering trying it, i was using unshielded interconnects and got a huge hum after the mod. switching to shielded ics solved that problem.
for isolation and damping i started by placing the Head on a cement slab spray painted with dynashield spray, didn't hear a difference. tried BDR #3 cones between the two for about a week, removed them and thought i heard less extension, but it's too subtle to call. same with vibrapods. i also experimented with diy rollerblocks but the Head slipped around way too much to warrant the tweak.
i'm cutting and pasting from another post of mine with power cords: in regards to the mg head dt, i've used four aftermarket cords, the tek-line pc12w (silver, $450), pc5w ($250), empirical audio magnum 22 ($400), and a diy cord using wattagate 330 termination. while i heard a major improvement in dynamics with the above cords compared to stock, the differences between the four are non-existent to my ears.
interconnect swaps so far have been between kimber's pbj w/ wbt0147, tara labs air 3 and reference generation 2, synergistic sterling alpha (silver over copper), jps ultraconductor 2, and empirical audio. both the tara labs and jps are my favorites for their improved clarity and harmonic richness without emphasis on any part of the signal chain. i prefer the jps for it's price/performance ratio (you can buy these everywhere used as well) and because the air 3, while subtly but audibly superior in terms of high frequency extension and sweetness, resides in the main system.
the tubes i had on hand and their affect in my system are listed below:
el84s
Ei Yugo: frequency extension to both extremes, slightly recessed midrange, excellent seperation. i prefer this tube mated with the amprex or mullard listed below.
JJ Tesla: a little more upfront in the midrange, a touch of sweetness, slightly slow bass. i think the tube rolls off the top a bit, but with the no-neg fb mod (which does make the head sound brighter to my ears) it's a nice match. i think this tube has a tendency to blend instruments together, fine for some music but annoying on others.
Sovtek (stock): i blew one out so can't really compare, but i can say that i prefer either tube above by a large margin.
input
amprex 12ax7a orange globe, holland: rolls off the top and bottom, upfront and groovy midrange, smears on complicated passages. with a simple guitar and vocal or a nice sax solo it's magic.
mullard 12au7a, great brittan: my reference tube. excellent tone with good dynamics and instrument seperation, not as up front as other tubes but with a touch of sweetness. great decay and attack for a tube of this family.
jan phillips 5814a: lots of perceived top end, but sounds super harsh to my ears. midrange sounds a touch sloppy, bass is tight, don't really use it.
national 12ax7a, chinese: as above with a slightly more linear balance.
jan phillips 5751: wanted to dip into the family due to nick's recommendations... good tube, maybe the quietest of the bunch, good seperation. overall maybe my second favorite tube, but gives up tone and decay to the mullard. it's stong bass and upfront upper midrange does a lot for the hd580s to my ears.
rca 12au7: pretty good bass is about all i remember. turned microphonic on me in a hurry.
anyway, all tweaks in my system are usually done for a week then removed, compared, and notes taken. headphones used were sennheiser hd580s and the njoe tjoeb 4000 was the primary source, rega planar 3 (phillips vintage receiver as phono stage, sumiko oyster) and arcam alpha 9 the rest of the time.
best,
carlo.
I did the non-negative feedback thing, dig it quite a bit for it's better clarity and seperation and all that's been said here before. however, as a caution to those who are considering trying it, i was using unshielded interconnects and got a huge hum after the mod. switching to shielded ics solved that problem.
for isolation and damping i started by placing the Head on a cement slab spray painted with dynashield spray, didn't hear a difference. tried BDR #3 cones between the two for about a week, removed them and thought i heard less extension, but it's too subtle to call. same with vibrapods. i also experimented with diy rollerblocks but the Head slipped around way too much to warrant the tweak.
i'm cutting and pasting from another post of mine with power cords: in regards to the mg head dt, i've used four aftermarket cords, the tek-line pc12w (silver, $450), pc5w ($250), empirical audio magnum 22 ($400), and a diy cord using wattagate 330 termination. while i heard a major improvement in dynamics with the above cords compared to stock, the differences between the four are non-existent to my ears.
interconnect swaps so far have been between kimber's pbj w/ wbt0147, tara labs air 3 and reference generation 2, synergistic sterling alpha (silver over copper), jps ultraconductor 2, and empirical audio. both the tara labs and jps are my favorites for their improved clarity and harmonic richness without emphasis on any part of the signal chain. i prefer the jps for it's price/performance ratio (you can buy these everywhere used as well) and because the air 3, while subtly but audibly superior in terms of high frequency extension and sweetness, resides in the main system.
the tubes i had on hand and their affect in my system are listed below:
el84s
Ei Yugo: frequency extension to both extremes, slightly recessed midrange, excellent seperation. i prefer this tube mated with the amprex or mullard listed below.
JJ Tesla: a little more upfront in the midrange, a touch of sweetness, slightly slow bass. i think the tube rolls off the top a bit, but with the no-neg fb mod (which does make the head sound brighter to my ears) it's a nice match. i think this tube has a tendency to blend instruments together, fine for some music but annoying on others.
Sovtek (stock): i blew one out so can't really compare, but i can say that i prefer either tube above by a large margin.
input
amprex 12ax7a orange globe, holland: rolls off the top and bottom, upfront and groovy midrange, smears on complicated passages. with a simple guitar and vocal or a nice sax solo it's magic.
mullard 12au7a, great brittan: my reference tube. excellent tone with good dynamics and instrument seperation, not as up front as other tubes but with a touch of sweetness. great decay and attack for a tube of this family.
jan phillips 5814a: lots of perceived top end, but sounds super harsh to my ears. midrange sounds a touch sloppy, bass is tight, don't really use it.
national 12ax7a, chinese: as above with a slightly more linear balance.
jan phillips 5751: wanted to dip into the family due to nick's recommendations... good tube, maybe the quietest of the bunch, good seperation. overall maybe my second favorite tube, but gives up tone and decay to the mullard. it's stong bass and upfront upper midrange does a lot for the hd580s to my ears.
rca 12au7: pretty good bass is about all i remember. turned microphonic on me in a hurry.
anyway, all tweaks in my system are usually done for a week then removed, compared, and notes taken. headphones used were sennheiser hd580s and the njoe tjoeb 4000 was the primary source, rega planar 3 (phillips vintage receiver as phono stage, sumiko oyster) and arcam alpha 9 the rest of the time.
best,
carlo.