More choices ...when will it end! Pacific Valve Ming DA MC 84C07

[burgunder]

I bought one of these amps for a good price from a fellow headfier  some time before christmas, and I like it very much with my K340's. Clarity, extension both bass and treble and and transient control/attack is better than the EF2 I used before.
 
I have rolled in a NOS pair of japanese made EL84's but I'm looking for some other input tubes, I will most likely settle for a pair of 5751 to have a little more movement of the pot, ATM I'm at 8-9 o'clock most of the time, but it will depend upon which deal I can find.
 
Are there any of the currently produced tubes, that are recommended or should I just settle for NOS tubes?

 

[Skylab]

For power tubes, the Genelex EL84 are supposed to be good.  I'm not aware of a well regarded current production 12AX7, though, and you can easily get GE 5751's, which are quite nice, for $50/pair.

 

[BmWr75]

Genalex Gold Lion B759/ECC83/12AX7 reissues are also available now.  They just came out last year.  I've not heard a pair though.  Check with Jim McShane if you are interested.
 
Do run the Genalex EL84s in my Ming Da MC 84C07, they sound fine to me.

 

[burgunder]

Thx a lot for the suggestions, It's good to know that there are some new alternatives, unfortunenately they Genalex 12ax7 are even more expensive than the NOS GE 5751, so most likely I will go with those, I allready have a pair of NOS japanse made Westinghouse El84s in place and they improved the sound, so first I will change the input tubes and then perhaps try the Genalex El84's which are priced more reasonably at 60 $ a pair.
 
I did BTW forget to mention, that I have zero hum even with the volume all the way up on both my K340 and K400(I dont use these much though).

 

[sphinxvc]

There's an option to buy with tube upgrades now on Pacific Valve - anyone have any experience w/ these tubes?  Are they recommended?
 
 
Ming Da MC 84C07 Tube upgrade. Includes  2X 
Mullard EL84 Tubes, 2 X Sovtek 12AX7LPS 
tubes.

 

[BmWr75]

Quote:

There's an option to buy with tube upgrades now on Pacific Valve - anyone have any experience w/ these tubes?  Are they recommended?
 
 
Ming Da MC 84C07 Tube upgrade. Includes  2X 
Mullard EL84 Tubes, 2 X Sovtek 12AX7LPS 
tubes.

 
You can buy the Mullards and Sovteks for about $30 a pair at Tube Depot (I've bought from them and am happy).  That is $60 for the upgraded tube set.  Save yourself $50 and get the amp with stock tubes, then buy the same upgraded tubes from a tube seller.  
 
 

 

[Skylab]

Those are new production/reissue "Mullard" tubes, which are made in Russia.  They are fine, but neither those nor the Sovteks are as good as most vintage tubes, IMO.

 

[BmWr75]

Skylab is correct.  But, I'm sure Mullard reissue EL-84s is what Pacific Valve is offering in their upgrade.......has to be, it is too hard to find NOS Mullard EL-84s.  Was just giving the P-V upgrade cost versus other tube seller prices as a comparison.
 
You can find organ-pull EL84s and 12AX7s on eBay all the time for reasonable prices.  If they came from a Baldwin organ, will most likely be made by Sylvania, just saw a Sylvania EL84 pair on eBay for $40 BIN price.

 

[moodyrn]

I agree, you can find better deals on ebay. But be careful, often times you may not get what's in the description. But there is paypal for that. The green lable baldwin 12ax7 are sylvanias. The white lables are suppose to be raytheons. I would just get it stock and tube roll on my own. I also think that the mullards are reissue. No way will you find nos for that price anyway.
 

 

[sphinxvc]

Thanks for the info all.  Saved me some money.  I'm trying to patiently wait for one of Ming Da's or the Woo 6 to hit the FS forum but I can't tell how much longer I'll last.  I reached the check-out page on the Woo 6 last night and then this morning, almost pulled the trigger on the Ming Da w/ upgraded tubes.  

  

 

[burgunder]

For the record I better add that I rolled in some GE 5751 NOS tubes and they sound better than the stock tubes. Better bass and midrange has been the result.

 

[gerlin]

I just joined the MingDa MC84-C07 club (I think it is a pretty small club).

I received my amp earlier this week from Pacific Valve. It took just under 4 weeks to my door, though it seemed like forever.

I was a little surprised to see that the previously gold knobs and tube trim are a "gun metal" color on mine so I thought I would post a picture.  I am happy with the look, it is a little more subdued than the gold..

I am not sure about the look of the blue/green 6HUH (especially at night with the lights down).  For now I have cut a small piece of lighting gel (heat resistant plastic colored film used on stage spot lights) and just set it in front of the tube.  It gives a more uniform orange look to the amp. I think I like it better this way.  I read you can just take the tube out, though then there is a big hole in the middle.

I have an old pair of HD600s that I bough back in the late 1990s.  I am looking at getting a pair of BT880/990s to try something completely different.  I just can't make my mind up on which to get. I know in either case it will be the 600 ohm version.  I have read (way to much) about the perceived high treble especially with the 990s and that this "issue" is more pronounced with certain amps.  Am I correct in assuming that the MingDa will do as good as any amp can in smoothing this out?

More importantly, I want to thank everyone who has participated in this thread over the years, the information provided here is the reason I bought this very nice amp.
 
 
 

 

[Rockyhill]

Has anyone done an A/B comparison of this and the Musical Paradise MP301 MK2? With Speakers?

 

[BrianKT]

Greetings to you all! I've read this forum as well as the LittleDot MKIVse appreciation thread and for now I'm torn. I own Grado 325i's and Sennheiser HD595's. It will be the Senn's that get most of the work with either this or the Little Dot. Every time I read about the LD I think I've made up my mind and then I read about the Ming Da (based on Skylab's rec) and I waffle. Can anybody out there set me straight? Or possibly a Woo to confuse me further? Help!!!! Please????

 

[burgunder]

I think you will get hum with the Ming-DA and the mentioned cans, mine hums with my 50 Ohms Fostex T50rp(but not with the 120 ohms AKG K400) and it has a lot of gain, so it's mostly for high impedance cans.