Repair or Replace Little Dot II+?

[Randman]

I have a Little Dot II+ that I bought new back in the early 2000's.  It has maybe 1000 hours on it.  I have listened to it mostly with HD 580's.  I bought this amp back then because of what I had learned about it here on this forum.  I have been extremely pleased with it; with the HD 580's I always thought that it sounded fantastic, particularly for what this setup cost.
 
In the last couple of hundred hours I have started having three problems with it, two I think are minor, the third may be a bit more serious.  I don't think that they are related, but that is an assumption on my part.
 
1.  The power switch quit working, so I have been plugging the cord in and out to turn the unit on and off.  I think I could replace this switch, if I keep the unit.
 
2.  There is a loose connection on the RCA inputs; keeping the cords at a correct angle prevents the sound from cutting out on that channel.  Like the power switch, I think I could fix this too if I were to keep the unit.
 
3.  This is the real problem.  Upon power up, there is often an arc flash in one of the tubes accompanied by by a very loud pop in the headphones, even when the amp volume is set to zero.  The flash occurs in the left rear tube, one of the large tubes, I believe that this is referred to as a power tube.  I had read at one point that it was better for the amp to have headphones plugged into them upon power up, so I always do.  The pop that comes through them though can't be good for the headphones.
 
While I had not been too concerned about damaging the HD 580's, I now have a set of HE-400's on order from Moon Audio, and I don't want this amp to damage those more expensive headphones.  One way or another, I think I need to eliminate this problem.
 
So I am faced with a repair or replace issue.  I think I can pretty easily fix items one and two.  For item three, I did some searches here thinking that it would be easy to buy new power tubes, but it appears that is not going to be as simple as I initially thought.  I also don't know for sure that I can fix these problems, and I would hate to throw time and money at this and still have the problem.
 
I only spent around $175.00 including shipping when I bought the amp, and I have definitely got my money's worth out of it.  I really like it too, but I'm not opposed to replacing it.  If I did that, I would do some more research, but at first glance here, I might buy something such as a Schiit Audio Valhalla, at $350.00, it would be right within my budget.  I like a warmer, less analytical sound, which is why I'm guessing I should stick with a tube amp, but I'm not locked into that decision.
 
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. 

 

[Spareribs]

Hmmm interesting. I too purchased the Little Dot 2+ as well back in 2006 and it had the same arcing "pop" problem too upon turning on the amp. I also had left or right channels cut out but if I wiggled the preamp tubes, it would be fine. The amp also burns really hot, too hot actually. I eventually gave it away to a friend and he highly enjoys the amp despite the problems. Once the amp is on and things are adjusted, the amp behaves and sounds great.
 
Personally, I stopped using the Little Dot after a few months and moved on to a better amp. That being said, I loved the Little Dot and it was a fun amp. It's a great starter amp and I do believe any headphone lover should eventually move on to a better amp.
 
If I were you, I would perhaps get a more current Little Dot amp that's a higher model. They are not expensive and seem to behave better. For me, I moved on to other brands but you should be fine if you stick to the Little Dot company. The Little Dot 2+ is discontinued and probably because of those problems. I'm thinking the company worked out the major bugs.
 
However, if the amp can be repaired and you can fix it and you like the sound, stick with it. But there are better amps out there. But the Little Dot is a nice amp.
 
Lastly, while I haven't heard the Schiit Valhalla, based on lots of good reviews, I'm thinking it will sound better than the Little Dot.

 

[jono454]

UPGRADDEEEEE!!!
 
Hahha kidding but everyone always has the need to upgrade even though they really don't. 
 
I started off with the FiiO E9 and i thought that would be enough for my SR60s and K702. However i was wrong and decided to splurge a little more on the E17 to go with my E9. I thought at that point i would be happy forever but i was clearly wrong as i soon ended up buying a Hifiman EF-5 which was a substantial upgrade from my E9. Not happy enough with my combo i ended up getting a Bifrost which cost me a chunk of my wallet. I hope my journey ends here but i highly doubt that.

 

[elwappo99]

Try switching the rear tube. If it occurs on the other spot, it could be the tube is dying. With the hours you've put on it, it sounds about right. 

 

[Mr.Tom]

I'd find someone to mod it. New higher grade caps, nice volume pot and change out any other cheap parts. May be the best $150. you'll spend

 

[goodvibes]

LOL. Before you go overboard, there's a few things to do. Swap tubes from right to left and see if the problem follows the tube. Tubes wear out and are prone to leaking over time. Sounds like yours may be losing the vacuum. Sockets also oxidize so just pulling them every few months wont hurt. The back RCA connection may be the center portion of the jack getting loose. It's usually a U shapes bit of metal that pinches the RCA pin. You may be able to work it tighter again with a strong pin or very thin screwdriver. However, before you play with that, make sure it's not a bad cable which would be more common. The switch is likely done but you're lucky it broke in the on position.

 

[Randman]

Thanks to all for their advice.  I switched the tubes left to right and now I am not having the arcing problem.  I received the HE-400's and thought that they sounded pretty good on the Little Dot II+.  In parallel, I emailed Jason Stoddard at Schiit and he recommended either the Asgard or the Lyr, not the Valhalla, for the HE-400.  I ended up buying an Asgard off of eBay.  It sounds better than the Little Dot II+.  I may fix the power switch on it and keep it and buy a pair of HD650's also.  I may get a Lyr also to see how it sounds.  Thanks again to those who posted here to help me out.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Thanks to all for their advice.  I switched the tubes left to right and now I am not having the arcing problem.  I received the HE-400's and thought that they sounded pretty good on the Little Dot II+.  In parallel, I emailed Jason Stoddard at Schiit and he recommended either the Asgard or the Lyr, not the Valhalla, for the HE-400.  I ended up buying an Asgard off of eBay.  It sounds better than the Little Dot II+.  I may fix the power switch on it and keep it and buy a pair of HD650's also.  I may get a Lyr also to see how it sounds.  Thanks again to those who posted here to help me out.

 
Sounds like you're having a good time then Happy listening!