[MatthewK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigeljames /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is nobody concerned about the reliability of these amps? ...

I used to own the Little Dot MK V and now I own the Little Dot MK IV SE. I've had no hardware related issues at all with either one. Customer service is absolutely top notch, I can't think of any other company that matches my experiences with Little Dot's customer service (David). He always answers very promptly and accurately.

 

[atomiccow]

At nigeljames:

Sounds just like my problem which I posted here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/any...iii-iv-375469/
and here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/adv...37/index3.html

I agree entirely with you that unused bad customer service is better than used good customer service lol. I must have exchanged 20 or 30 emails with David when I had this problem. Sure he replied me promptly, almost instantly, but in the end his answer did not change: try to fix it yourself or ship it to us with no shipping compensation. The same for my previous DOA Darkvoice Figaro. I exchanged many promptly replied emails with Jasmine but in the end her answer was also the same: ship it back to us for refund with no shipping compensation.

A lot of people rave about the great Littledot and Darkvoice service because they are 'nice.' I agree that they are nice to talk to (as in polite) but in the end they must follow the business model of the companies they work for, neither of which I think care for he reliability of their products.

At Dept_of_Alchemy:

Look on the Little-Tube forum. Theres plenty enough problem posts there lol. Also, as I recall, a bunch of LD MK IVs were recalled due to volume drop issues which resulted from some resistors degrading after a period of time, posted here:
Viewing a thread - Little Dot MK IV SE Owners: Volume drop issues
I believe this shows a lack of proper testing after changes are made to the design of their amps.

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomiccow /img/forum/go_quote.gif At nigeljames: Sounds just like my problem which I posted here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/any...iii-iv-375469/ and here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/adv...37/index3.html I agree entirely with you that unused bad customer service is better than used good customer service lol. I must have exchanged 20 or 30 emails with David when I had this problem. Sure he replied me promptly, almost instantly, but in the end his answer did not change: try to fix it yourself or ship it to us with no shipping compensation. The same for my previous DOA Darkvoice Figaro. I exchanged many promptly replied emails with Jasmine but in the end her answer was also the same: ship it back to us for refund with no shipping compensation. A lot of people rave about the great Littledot and Darkvoice service because they are 'nice.' I agree that they are nice to talk to (as in polite) but in the end they must follow the business model of the companies they work for, neither of which I think care for he reliability of their products. At Dept_of_Alchemy: Look on the Little-Tube forum. Theres plenty enough problem posts there lol. Also, as I recall, a bunch of LD MK IVs were recalled due to volume drop issues which resulted from some resistors degrading after a period of time, posted here: Viewing a thread - Little Dot MK IV SE Owners: Volume drop issues I believe this shows a lack of proper testing after changes are made to the design of their amps.

Exactly makes you wonder what they actually do at the 24-48 hour QC stage. Maybe they just power them up and hope they don't explode!!
Its a shame as they sound like good amps (when working). As I said before they should increase the warrenty to 2 years (excluding tubes) but they probably do not have enough confidence in their own amps to do that. It looks like if I decide to buy a tube amp I will need to examine the WooAudio amps instead.

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatthewK /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to own the Little Dot MK V and now I own the Little Dot MK IV SE. I've had no hardware related issues at all with either one. Customer service is absolutely top notch, I can't think of any other company that matches my experiences with Little Dot's customer service (David). He always answers very promptly and accurately.

I am pleased that you have had only good experiences with LD amps but I think if you view a number of treads on this site alone you will see an abnormal number of reliability issues raise their heads. I would be grateful for your opinions of the Mk V and Mk IV sound wise. I have a GS Solo and HD650 with Equinox cable and K701 headphones and I am looking for an alternative amp( not a replacement, I love my Solo) and thought I would give a tube amp a try, never heard one before and like the tube tolling options. However I do listen to Rock/Metal primarily and wonder how a tube amp would go with this compared to a SS amp. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Nigel and Cow......


The problem with this thinking is...if this amp was made in the UK it would cost 3-5 times what is does coming from China....so in reality are you really saving anything by buying locally made stuff ? I can say without a doubt you'll not get a tube amp built like this in UK for 400US...no way.

The beauty with tube amps is they are relatively easy to repair, the LD stuff is very straight forward with quality pcbs and good parts 90 % of the time. Unforeseen lots of bad parts get through when you are buying them by the 1000's which I bet they are. It's a matter of the supplier not making sure the parts they sell to the builder being up to snuff. This happens all over the world to all makers of amps, and other gadgets and is not confined to just Chinese made gear. If you check your warranty with most brand name gear they require you pay for the shipping to their service department with no refund of that cost...that is standard practice. You are confusing retailer policy with manufacturer policy. LD sell factory direct and pass the savings onto the customer.

Peete.

 

[atomiccow]

At Pricklely Peete:

Chinese made products and Chinese designed products are two different things. I don't think LD's low reliability is a result of them being made in China, its a result of them being designed and built by a company that is run in China. As I've posted before, the ethical standards the Chinese run their corporations on is different from those of American, British, Japanese, etc companies.

Quote:

The beauty with tube amps is they are relatively easy to repair, the LD stuff is very straight forward with quality pcbs and good parts 90 % of the time. Unforeseen lots of bad parts get through when you are buying them by the 1000's which I bet they are. It's a matter of the supplier not making sure the parts they sell to the builder being up to snuff.

If 10% of all electronic components were defective, we would have a big problem.. lol. What would happen if 10% of all resistors made were bad? Given that most electronics contain hundreds of resistors and that resistors aren't individually checked before being used, our electronics would be falling apart left and right. Its not a fault of the components manufacturing but how these components are used in the amp design. They fail due to being used under conditions they are not rated for.

Well either that or you're implying LD uses especially low quality components that really do have a 10% chance of being defective.

Quote:

You are confusing retailer policy with manufacturer policy. LD sell factory direct and pass the savings onto the customer.

I am not confusing the two. I'm saying many people here probably note LD's great service due to interactions between them and David, who is a plenty nice guy to talk to, but might not reflect the views of his company. I only wish whoever is in charge of LD's quality control be as caring for their customers as David is. A good man retailing a bad product is still retailing a bad product. People shouldn't confuse great customer service with a great quality product.

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nigel and Cow...... The problem with this thinking is...if this amp was made in the UK it would cost 3-5 times what is does coming from China....so in reality are you really saving anything by buying locally made stuff ? I can say without a doubt you'll not get a tube amp built like this in UK for 400US...no way. The beauty with tube amps is they are relatively easy to repair, the LD stuff is very straight forward with quality pcbs and good parts 90 % of the time. Unforeseen lots of bad parts get through when you are buying them by the 1000's which I bet they are. It's a matter of the supplier not making sure the parts they sell to the builder being up to snuff. This happens all over the world to all makers of amps, and other gadgets and is not confined to just Chinese made gear. If you check your warranty with most brand name gear they require you pay for the shipping to their service department with no refund of that cost...that is standard practice. You are confusing retailer policy with manufacturer policy. LD sell factory direct and pass the savings onto the customer. Peete.

Maybe the parts they are buying in the first place are not of a good enough quality. European companies buy parts in the thousands as well with fewer quality or reliability issues. I don't doubt that a european products are generally more expensive than those from the far east so you have to ask yourself why. Cheaper parts, cheaper labour and lower quality of that labour are the 3 main reasons for this. If these companies payed wages similar to european wages and bought the same parts at the same prices they would have to charge a similar amount for the goods. This all brings me back to the simple fact that generally Chinese electronincs are made to a lower standard and with cheaper parts but at a much lower price. You say that LD stuff is simple and easy to repair well that maybe so but as a consumer I would want to use it and not have to repair it! (even if I knew how to) or send it to be repaired thousands of miles away at my expense.

 

[baronbeehive]

Hi, this is my first post as a newbee and I wanted some advice about tubes. The sound of the mk iv se is fantastic but with my audio technica ath ad2000's I would like a little more detail to go with they tuby sound. Penchum in his review mentioned the 5687 WB Phillips and the 5687 WB Tong-Sol as being detailed and dynamic but with my latest version of the little dot what equivalents are there. I hope this post would help other later little dot owners as well

 

[SilverShadow]

Oh, we were talking about power tubes here.

Should have read more carefully... Nevermind then.

 

[shotmaker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by baronbeehive /img/forum/go_quote.gif Penchum in his review mentioned the 5687 WB Phillips and the 5687 WB Tong-Sol as being detailed and dynamic but with my latest version of the little dot what equivalents are there. I hope this post would help other later little dot owners as well

If your MKIVse came with the 6H30PI power tube you cannot use the 5687 type of tube. However, if it came with the Mullard E182cc, then you can use the 5687, 7119, 7044, 6n6p, 6900 tubes. As for equivalents of the 6H30PI, I have no idea, mine came with the E182cc.

 

[baronbeehive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shotmaker /img/forum/go_quote.gif If your MKIVse came with the 6H30PI power tube you cannot use the 5687 type of tube. However, if it came with the Mullard E182cc, then you can use the 5687, 7119, 7044, 6n6p, 6900 tubes. As for equivalents of the 6H30PI, I have no idea, mine came with the E182cc.

Yes mine is the recent 6H30PI variant and I'm looking for a 5687 equivalent to bring out slightly more detail and dynamic range, fingers crossed this se thread is the place to look!

 

[shotmaker]

Since you cannot use the 5687 and its equivalent in your amp, I recommend you to check for driver tubes that are more detailed, like the National 403B, the LM Ericsson 403B and the Tung-sol 6AK5.

 

[cswann1]

I think shotmaker is right. Driver tube rolling should be the place to start. I don't remember who said it (probably Penchum) that the driver/power tube impact on overall sound is 85%/15%.

 

[Vandal]

Penchum; how does the LD MK IV SE do with lower impedance cans? Because I'm considering a tube amp but it has to do well with both the HD 650 and my SR225/A900 combo which are much lower impedance. Have you done any such testing? Know anyone who has?

Does the gain switch really help shuffling between high/low impedance cans?

 

[kds5000]

Hi everyone.

This is also my first post in Head-fi. I've been enjoying my stock LD MK IV SE for 2 months now and can no longer resist the itch to start tube-rolling. My SE is the version with CV4010 (Mullard M8100) driver tubes and 6H30PI power tubes, and it's a little frustrating for me because the tube-rolling database on this thread is mainly for the other SE version. I wonder if someone here can start with Penchum's tube recommendations and suggest the equivalent for my SE version? I'm sure other tube-rolling newbies here with the 6H30PI SE will appreciate this as well.

More specifically, I would like a recommendation to bring the mids forward in my SE. As smooth and sultry as my SE sounds, the one thing that bothers me is that the mids (especially female vocals) seem to be a couple of paces behind the instruments. In this respect, the much more forward vocal presentation of my Heed CanAmp is preferred. Can anyone here help with a tube recommendation that will suit my specific needs? Please remember that I have the 6H30PI version and wouldn't know the equivalent if you recommend tubes for the other version.

Thanks for your time and look forward to your help.