[chadbang]

Well, I've been playing with my Millett Hybrid Max for about 2 weeks and, in general, I've been enjoying it. But I was curious about the "boutique" versions of this amp. So I visited the excellent beezar.com website - home to all Millett Hybrid. I chose, per Thomas recommendation for a great sounding cap - the boutique build number 3.
 
[size=medium]Can't Miss MAX Build #3[/size]
CA2: Nichicon Muse ES, 1000uf 16V
CA7: Nichicon Muse ES, 470uf 35V
CA8: Vitamin Q's, 0.18uf (0.22uf) 100V
CA9: Wima (and elsewhere) 
2SC3421/2SA1358 BJT Diamond Buffer
 
 
Now, I've never soldered a capacitor in my life, so this was a very hairy bet on my part. Last night I spend four hour desoldering (not easy with a decrepid old soldering iron) six caps and install the new one listed above. About twenty minutes from completion I  sat there sweating "What if this thing refuses to fire up. This things is going to be totally dead, I know it." Then came the moment of truth. Voila, it lit up. Music from both channels! I couldn't believe it!
 
I left the amp on overnight and I took it to work today to listen. OMG!!!!! I cannot tell you how vital it is if you own one of these to do this boutique modification. This amp has just improved tenfold. Any graininess and harshness is gone. It warmer and more robust sounding. Now this is the tube sound I was hoping for.My HD650 have come alive, showing their best at naturalness with this new warm, yet detailed sound. This is what high end sound is about now! If you have one of these amp, you have my hardiest recommendation to do a boutique version of it. It takes it a huge step to a whole new level. Fantastic!!!

 

[jdkJake]

Good to see you are getting so much enjoyment out of your amp as well as your willingness to take the extra step and experiment.
 
So, I have to ask, what was in it before? What did you replace?
 
Always a good idea to establish a basis for reference.

 

[tomb]

I second that request from jdkJake.

 
Also, while you're celebrating your soldering skills (congratulations!), you might try installing 1.15K resistors for RA8-L/R and 11.5K resistors for RA9-L/R.  We've found that resistor combination to be a much more ideal CCS current for the Millett-type tubes than the older recommendation of 1K and 10K at RA8 and RA9.  We picked the 1K and 10K originally because those were common ratings and thought that the difference wasn't enough to warrant the odd-rating resistors.  Since then, I've tried a number of combinations and the tubes really do sound much better using the 1.15K and 11.5K combination (1.13K and 11.3K are ideal and have been listed on the BOM since day 1, but those are very scarce ratings, while the 1.15K and 11.5K are not.)
 
If you're looking for tweaks, this really does make a difference, IMHO - so much so that the 1.15K and 11.5K resistors are standard equipment for MiniMAX kits, which uses the same tube circuit as the original Millett MAX, Millett Hybrid, etc.

 

[chadbang]

How would those new resistors affect the sound, tomb? Airy, darker, brighter?
Quote:

I second that request from jdkJake.

 
Also, while you're celebrating your soldering skills (congratulations!), you might try installing 1.15K resistors for RA8-L/R and 11.5K resistors for RA9-L/R.  We've found that resistor combination to be a much more ideal CCS current for the Millett-type tubes than the older recommendation of 1K and 10K at RA8 and RA9.  We picked the 1K and 10K originally because those were common ratings and thought that the difference wasn't enough to warrant the odd-rating resistors.  Since then, I've tried a number of combinations and the tubes really do sound much better using the 1.15K and 11.5K combination (1.13K and 11.3K are ideal and have been listed on the BOM since day 1, but those are very scarce ratings, while the 1.15K and 11.5K are not.)
 
If you're looking for tweaks, this really does make a difference, IMHO - so much so that the 1.15K and 11.5K resistors are standard equipment for MiniMAX kits, which uses the same tube circuit as the original Millett MAX, Millett Hybrid, etc.

 

 

[tomb]

Quote:

How would those new resistors affect the sound, tomb? Airy, darker, brighter?
 

Less distortion
 
 

 

[chadbang]

Well, I took out some little Nichicon black and gray (blueish) caps. Same values, I think, but just little guys. And, of course, I took out some Wilmas to put the the Sprague. Boy, those were tough to wrestle out. That's when I really started getting worried. I did not build this Millett, I purchased it third hand, and Im pretty sure it had the most basic components called for. I had put some pics up earlier. Another good improvement with this change was that there was a slight channel imbalance, with the right channel being just a "hair" weak. Just enough that I was never quite sure it it was completely balanced. Well, I was right, it was a tad weak. Now the channels are balanced.
 
Thanks, tomb. I will make that swap!