Noob question about Mg head dt/otl mkIII

[Geise]

Sorry if this may seem stupid and annoying, but I'm an audio noob...I have been told that the jacks on my mg head otl have different output types, one being otl, and the other being transformer. Well, the jacks aren't labeled, so I read through the short little manual that came with the amp, and found no information whatsoever as to which jack is which. I then searched not only this forum, but headwize and the web, and still did not find any info on which jack is which

(people who mentioned the jacks in other posts at all seemed to know which jack is which, as if it were a labeled feature on their mg heads, but never mentioned which is which) I tried both jacks with my hd600, and they both sound the same to me on either mode using the switch

Can someone please tell me which jack does what? I'm quite suprised this isn't mentioned anywhere in the manual seeing that it's a fairly major feature (there is a circuitry scematic on the last page, but I can't make heads or tails of it

).

 

[Sovkiller]

The old model has labels, I don't know if this one, any pic of it?????

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Geise, in your previous thread about what tubes to use, somebody provided this link: http://www.nickdangerous.com/misc/mghead/index.htm
There are some pictures there that show the jacks, with the left one labeled "HEADPHONE" (presumably the OT jack), and the right one labeled "OTL". Do those pictures match what your amp looks like?

(I don't know anything about the MG Head myself, I just happened to remember the pictures in that link.)

 

[Geise]

It's this, except that the 'cage' is nickel metal, and on the amp it reads 'mg head otl mark II' (don't know why mine's a mark II amp with a mark III power supply...) Also the lights on mine are blue, not red like in this picture.

Update>This is my exact amp..but..mine says mark II, unlike this one

 

[Tim D]

I think the latest model has the OTL switch as opposed to seperate jacks.

All in all there is a vast under-representation and lack of information on the revised models of the updated MG Heads (or updated Mad units) for that matter, so search isn't going to bring up much except an abundance of information on first production models.

So in a way, you would be doing us all a favor by in fact posting any info/review/impressions on the latest models. Heh, no pressure though. They (the originals) were so widely popular, but it just goes to show how the fotm syndrome works. Amps need to be entirely new with an entirely new name and entrance to get much regard lately.

 

[Sovkiller]

I was reading in some old threads now, and it seems that according to Joe Lau you could use both jacks at the same time on this new model, as both are the same, and the switch only flips to change from OTL to DT in both jacks at the same time, opposed to the old model which has one jack for each output, and the switch that was for the feedback but just on DT mode....hope this helps to clarify that mess....BTW they had changed a lot the MGHead, not it is capable of driving also lowZ cans.....

 

[Geise]

There, I found my amp (sorta) and updated my last post.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Flatline Geise, in your previous thread about what tubes to use, somebody provided this link: http://www.nickdangerous.com/misc/mghead/index.htm There are some pictures there that show the jacks, with the left one labeled "HEADPHONE" (presumably the OT jack), and the right one labeled "OTL". Do those pictures match what your amp looks like? (I don't know anything about the MG Head myself, I just happened to remember the pictures in that link.)

Nope those pics are for the old original model, not evne the one I had....the new seems to be different....

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The pictures on the NickDangerous site show a switch marked "OTL" and "Trans". It looks like your picture shows the same switch. So I'm guessing that only one of the two jacks works at a given moment, depending which position the switch is in. Have you tried both jacks? If only one works at a time, then that would be the one corresponding to the current switch position...

EDIT: Oops, just noticed you said they both work in both positions. In that case, sounds like Sovkiller's info makes more sense, about the switch affecting both jacks at once. Interesting that you don't hear a difference, though -- I had understood that the presence of an OT makes a substantial difference in the sound signature.

 

[Geise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie Flatline The pictures on the NickDangerous site show a switch marked "OTL" and "Trans". It looks like your picture shows the same switch. So I'm guessing that only one of the two jacks works at a given moment, depending which position the switch is in. Have you tried both jacks? If only one works at a time, then that would be the one corresponding to the current switch position...

Both jacks work at the same time on both switch modes. I can't see the reason for having two identical jacks though...and the fact that my amp says mark II while the power supply says mark III really bothers me...

 

[Tim D]

AFAIK the only difference between MKII and MKIII was that the MKIII had a better power supply, especially cosmetically where as the MKII used a large regulated walwart.

I believe the original model had integrated power supply, but there were various revisions and tweaks to the original model itself, including even the OTL switch I believe.

MKII puts the powersupply out in the form of a walwart, MKIII puts it out in its own casing. MKII did not last very long before MKIII took its place, so you could have easily just gotten an MKII faceplate if it is true that most of the changes are in powersupply.

Where did you get yours from?

 

[Geise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim D Where did you get yours from?

Audio Advisor.

 

[Orpheus]

Quote:

Both jacks work at the same time on both switch modes. I can't see the reason for having two identical jacks though...

many amps have 2 outputs that are identical (like the grace 901.) some people like using 2 headphones at the same time--maybe for when friends are over.
Quote:

and the fact that my amp says mark II while the power supply says mark III really bothers me...

welcome to ASL products. all their stuff is made half-ass'ed (i've owned 4!!! ASL amps... all of them had problems. their quality control sucks hell.) shouldn't worry about it too much--Audio Advisor is a reputable company. if they say they didn't make a mistake, then they didn't.

 

[Geise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orpheus welcome to ASL products. all their stuff is made half-ass'ed (i've owned 4!!! ASL amps... all of them had problems. their quality control sucks hell.) shouldn't worry about it too much--Audio Advisor is a reputable company. if they say they didn't make a mistake, then they didn't.

Hehe, that's quite funny as my amp not only has an incorrect faceplate, but both jacks are slightly crooked, and one of the pins on the round power cable was bent a little

I'm sure glad it sounds nice though

*Oh, and about that extra 1/4 jack, is there any type of plug that I can put in that to keep the dust out? I could just keep a phono adapter in it, but that looks ugly...

 

[Orpheus]

well, be thankful your faceplate is not noticeable crooked, and your feet are even. oh, and be thankful the RCA jacks aren't so loose that you could break the connection inside when you try to take off your cables. Oh!--and also be thankful that your volume pot doesn't suck so bad that at low volumes one channel sounds 2x as loud as the other.... OH OH OH--and be thankful that there isn't so much hum that that low-level notes are lost in the noise. OH OH OH OH OH--and be thankful that your amp doesn't make a screaming noise for the first 1 minute, after which it dissappears (this one was really strange.)

(yes, all of the above and more wear found on my amps.)

...cross your fingers.