[closdubois]

Penchum,
You have been helpful to me before on headfi.org. , informing me about the Zero with Lawrence's upgrades and then advising when I experienced some power failure issues with the Zero.

Anyway, if I could ask you for some additional advice, I want to buy a LD MK IVse but don't know that I can connect it in the system I want to use it in. Currently, I have my cd player connected to an Onix/Melody SP3 integrated tube amp. Since the Little Dot only has analogue inputs I'm wondering if I can go from my cd player to the Little Dot and then out of the Little Dot and into the integrated amp? Or will this damage the int. amp?

Thanks for your time and expertise,

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seba /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can improve the sound greatly by swapping those M8100's for GE Five Star, Amperex 5654 or 6Zh1P-EV tubes. I would rate Amperex's and those russian tubes above the GE's.

I think the Amperex is warmer than the GE 5 Stars and the 6ZH1P-EV's which is good if you listen to music where bass is important like rock and hip hop. Sometimes I feel like the 6ZH1P-EV is a bit too analytical with Grados.

 

[HK_sends]

Hey Penchum! Its been a while.
So is my MK IV SE still a good choice of full size amps? Or is there anything to upstage it?

Still in stock tubes,
-HK sends

 

[SilverShadow]

Penchum,
Thanks for an exellent review!

This review is actually the thing that made me choose the MKIV(normal, not SE) over the other amps I was considering as my first amp. After ~100 hours of burn-in it sure seems very good for the price. I just picked up AKG K701s from a local hi-fi shop a few hours ago. Based on a couple of hours of listening this rig, it sounds like it has much to offer after the K701s get their necessary ~300 hours of burn-in.

One thing in the review caught my attention, though. You were using a Zero DAC for most the review, right? That's pretty much in the same league with my E-MU (see sig). Neither of them are considered exactly high-end... I'm very happy with my rig as it is, but if I choose to become even happier with it in the future,

I might consider uprading my DAC.

So, if choose to get a new DAC sometime in the (very distant) future, would a better DAC like for example, Stello DA100 go to waste with the MKIV? Where is the point where the MKIV itself would become a bottleneck in the system?

Hmm... Just got a new amp and 'phones and asking guestions about a DAC upgrade already.... I'm starting to see the forum slogan in a whole new light.

Anyway, thanks everyone, for contributing to the discussion and helping us noobs enjoy music at its best!

 

[MatthewK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hombretranquilo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read to owners who have their AKG K701 with the Little Dot IV gain settings to minimum, while others have fixed it a 10 ... David (from Little Dot) has recommended me to put the gain as low as possible so that my listening level was between "10 and 14 hours" at the potenciometer. Well, if I put the gain to a minimum (as it comes from factory), my level of listening to my 701 is located on the 12 o'clock of the potentiometer ... but several users talk that a higher gain give more "punch" to the sound

When I received my MK IV SE I immediately set the gain to 3 (lowest setting) because I wanted the highest quality sound possible. I didn't mind having to turn the volume knob quite a distance to get acceptable volume to my HD650's. However, I was disappointed with the bass performance. Bass that my MK V could easily handle was getting really distorted and flabby.

After a while it really started to get to me. I wanted better bass performance. So I contacted David about the issue. As always he responded very quickly. It only took two messages for him to figure out the issue. The gain needed to be set to 10 for my HD650's. I was always under the impression that it was just for volume, but apparently it can have a huge impact on things like bass.

So I set the gain to 10, turned everything on including my Aphex 204 for bass enhancement, and ... whoa! HUMONGOUS DIFFERENCE! No more distortion, very powerful bass, and the mids and highs sounded better too. This was just my experience, so of course YMMV with different 'phones.

 

[jontti]

So is there a big diffrence betwen the MK IV SE and the regular MK IV? I'm new to this and I don't have an amp ( I don't even have the phones yet (AKG 701)) yet but I'm considering the MK III/IV/IV SE. So do you think it is worth paying the +100$ for the SE?

 

[SilverShadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jontti /img/forum/go_quote.gif So is there a big diffrence betwen the MK IV SE and the regular MK IV? I'm new to this and I don't have an amp ( I don't even have the phones yet (AKG 701)) yet but I'm considering the MK III/IV/IV SE. So do you think it is worth paying the +100$ for the SE?

I'd advice you to consider the fact that the biggest difference between SE and non-SE are the tubes, and since both amps use the same tube families, you could tube roll the non-SE with the SE stock tubes anytime and have the exactly same sound as the SE.

Okay, the SE version does come with longer warrancy (2 years) and premium connectors. If these differences matter, go for the SE. If not, go for the non-SE and use the extra cash to buy some tubes.

I would have gotten the SE myself if I had had the money.

Heh, I feel kinda stupid answering a fellow Finn in English, but it'd probably be a bit impolite to use a language 99,9% of the people reading this thread wouldn't understand. And besides, I have no idea if your mother tonque is Finnish or Swedish.

Edit: I just realized you have your home city visible in your profile - in Finnish.

 

[Seba]

Let's make this a Finnish conversation in English...

I had the MKIV SE for almost a year and was very happy with it. The general consensus over here thinks that the best bang-for-the-buck Little Dot is the MKIII.

Oh, and if you buy a Little Dot amp, I have good tubes I could sell you because I don't have a tube amp anymore.

 

[SilverShadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seba /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, and if you buy a Little Dot amp, I have good tubes I could sell you because I don't have a tube amp anymore.

Seba, what tubes do you have? It's probably pointless for me to start tube rolling before I burn in my K701s for at least 300 hours but after that I could definitely think of getting some new tubes.

I know this post was primarily intended for jontti, but I can't help taking the opportunity.

jontti, it seems like you'd better PM Seba and snatch the best tubes before I make up my mind about wheter to save my money to buy a new DAC in the future, or to buy new tubes

)

Edit: When I wrote my first post to jontti I was going to advice jontti to forget the MKIII but I forgot the whole thing then. IMHO, K701s deserve a good amp and would probably go to waste using 'the second-best alternative' like the MKIII. Seems like our opinions differ here, Seba.

 

[jontti]

I don't think I'll buy any tubes soon, I won't put any more money into this system for now, maybe in a couple of months i will start doing some changes

 

[Seba]

PM sent to both of you.

I was first considering MKIII but then lunacy striked and decided to go for the best, MKIV SE. It's up to your own budget what you want to buy.

 

[nigeljames]

Is nobody concerned about the reliability of these amps?
So many people on these threads have had problems with reliability with Little Dot amps (although a fair few are tube related and not the amp itself) that I seriously hesitate purchasing one myself. I have a GS Solo and have no problems with reliability and do not expect any. I am interested in a tube amp but the Little Dots seem far to unreliable to me given the posts on this site. Are all tube amps at around this price prone to failiure?

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigeljames /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is nobody concerned about the reliability of these amps? So many people on these threads have had problems with reliability with Little Dot amps (although a fair few are tube related and not the amp itself) that I seriously hesitate purchasing one myself. I have a GS Solo and have no problems with reliability and do not expect any. I am interested in a tube amp but the Little Dots seem far to unreliable to me given the posts on this site. Are all tube amps at around this price prone to failiure?

Not sure where you're getting this information from. I would check to see if the people making these claims actually own or had owned an LD in the past. Most of the time it seems to me those claims are made by people as a way to push their own favorite brand of amps. That said, as someone who follows LD threads, as far as I can remember I've actually never heard of a reliability complaint of the new Mk series of amps other than the occasional tube hiss, which are always resolved quickly by LD.

To be fair, LD did put out one product that had a systemic problem with flashing tubes (LD II+), but that product was discontinued a long time ago and there's in fact been THREE generations of new LD amps since the LD II+. Refer to this thread (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/lis...t-amps-355789/) for more details on the flash problem.

- DoA

 

[Trapper32]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigeljames /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is nobody concerned about the reliability of these amps? So many people on these threads have had problems with reliability with Little Dot amps (although a fair few are tube related and not the amp itself) that I seriously hesitate purchasing one myself. I have a GS Solo and have no problems with reliability and do not expect any. I am interested in a tube amp but the Little Dots seem far to unreliable to me given the posts on this site. Are all tube amps at around this price prone to failiure?

Are you sure you're talking about Little Dot and not the Zero?? If indeed you're talking about Little Dot, what exactly are the reliability problems you've read about... From what I've read and experienced, Little Dot has one of the best customer relations around...

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not sure where you're getting this information from. I would check to see if the people making these claims actually own or had owned an LD in the past. Most of the time it seems to me those claims are made by people as a way to push their own favorite brand of amps. That said, as someone who follows LD threads, as far as I can remember I've actually never heard of a reliability complaint of the new Mk series of amps other than the occasional tube hiss, which are always resolved quickly by LD. To be fair, LD did put out one product that had a systemic problem with flashing tubes (LD II+), but that product was discontinued a long time ago and there's in fact been THREE generations of new LD amps since the LD II+. Refer to this thread (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/lis...t-amps-355789/) for more details on the flash problem. - DoA

My info does come from this site and other reviews of LD amps. If you read the various threads on this site alone I think you will see quite a few people who have or have had LD amps have had problems with reliability. Even if you discount tube related issues its still to many for my liking especially when the amps have to shipped back to China at the owners expense to be fixed. I have no concerns that the LD customer service is not top class but I would prefer poor customer service that I would never need to use! I remember one post, can't remember what site it was on, where his amp (MkIII or MkIV) had a part that burnt out. He took the back off to find the part and then sent pictures to LD who replied that either the wrong part was used or he had been given an older motherboard design that they no longer use! He was then told he could have it repaired easily himself or send it to LD to have the motherboard replaced but would have to pay postage both ways!! Maybe LD should give a 2 year warrenty as standard. I wanted to buy a tube amp to complement my SS amp and after looking at the reviews I was set to buy a MkIV but the more I looked the more this problems reared their heads. If they were made in UK I probably would of gone ahead anyway but made in China means more problems if anything does go wrong.