Review of Little-Dot MKIVse

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nismohks /img/forum/go_quote.gif did anyone else's mkivse came with tubes which had oxidised contact legs? i took my tubes out and found that the legs was not the usual shiny gold colour, but more of an oxidised yellow brown colour. it is not rusted, but you can see where it has made contact with the actual connections within the connector by shiny gold being revealed. how can i clean this? should i jsut hit it with some fine grade sand paper?

It is common for the pins to get "funky" during shipping, depending upon the humidity and other changes. Use Deoxit or a tuner/electronics cleaner and an old tooth brush. Brush very lightly with the cleaner and they will clean up very nicely.

 

[nismohks]

i have no idea what deoxit is nor do i know of any tuner/electronics cleaner.

deoxit is not sold here in australia i think. are there any alternatives?

also, does the "funkiness" influence sound quality?

what i did realise is that the tube placement and seating is absolutely critical so that there is no hiss or static through the headphones.

even the slightest shift will cause the static noises. is it safe to assume that these may be caused by this oxidisation?

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nismohks /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have no idea what deoxit is nor do i know of any tuner/electronics cleaner. deoxit is not sold here in australia i think. are there any alternatives? also, does the "funkiness" influence sound quality? what i did realise is that the tube placement and seating is absolutely critical so that there is no hiss or static through the headphones. even the slightest shift will cause the static noises. is it safe to assume that these may be caused by this oxidisation?

Yes, the sensitivity you are experiencing is due to the oxidation on the pins. Once they are cleaned, this problem is gone totally.

I'm sure they sell Deoxit in Australia (others from there have commented on this) but "almost" any tuner cleaner or electronics cleaner will do. Most electronics supply companies sell these products and some repair shops do as well.

 

[nismohks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, the sensitivity you are experiencing is due to the oxidation on the pins. Once they are cleaned, this problem is gone totally. I'm sure they sell Deoxit in Australia (others from there have commented on this) but "almost" any tuner cleaner or electronics cleaner will do. Most electronics supply companies sell these products and some repair shops do as well.

so is this sensitivity a common problem? it is REALLY ANNOYING.

i will try and hunt for these tuner cleaner or electonics cleaner products at a local electronics store. you reckon methylated spirits would work?

 

[vvanrij]

How about Cola penchum?

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nismohks /img/forum/go_quote.gif so is this sensitivity a common problem? it is REALLY ANNOYING. i will try and hunt for these tuner cleaner or electonics cleaner products at a local electronics store. you reckon methylated spirits would work?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about Cola penchum?

Hehehe!

I wouldn't recommend using anything that might leave a residue behind. Anything that remains would end up in the socket, which wouldn't be easy to clean. In a pinch, you could use a softer wire brush, like one of those copper wire brushes and get most of it off that way. Just go easy on the pins and you should be OK, if you did this only once or twice.

The idea is to get them clean without inducing any wear on the pins.

 

[vvanrij]

Ok another weird thing. I did a strange test, connected my MKIVse to my NAD receiver. Then played some Pirates OST, and did some side-by-side comparisons of:

-PC -> Zero -> MKIVse -> K701
-PC -> Zero -> MKIVse -> NAD -> K701

and... it actually sounds better with the extra step (NAD), just a little fuller and more musical in general. Could someone with a decent amp/receiver also try this, it almost seems to me that the output of the mkivse is better than the headphone out... or something, maybe the NAD just smoothes things out, anyway, I love what I'm hearing !!

 

[nismohks]

i picked up some DeoxIT and ProGold at a local electronics store.

i'll post back on my results later !

also i made a different thread on tube cleaning too! : http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/how...ntacts-342349/

 

[Hopstretch]

Bummer, I'm starting to randomly lose the left channel on my MkIVse. Sometimes when I switch on, sometimes after it's been in use for a while. Just as randomly comes back. Connections test out fine, so it seems likely to be an internal issue. Any thoughts?

 

[nspindel]

Email David...

 

[gi330i]

I've had similar issues with crackling and hissing with my MKIVse. I found that one of my M8100 driver tubes was causing the crackling and it persisted despite cleaning the pins. David from LD was able to help me determine this by having me swap the tubes' positions in the amp and see if the crackling then became present in the other channel (which it did). I thought the issue was solved. I then placed a different set of driver tubes in and found that the crackling/hissing was still present but not as loud. I remembered David mentioned previously that I might try to swap the positions of the power tubes as well. When I swapped the positions of the power tubes, lo and behold, the crackling became noticeable in the other channel (persisted despite also cleaning the pins with Deoxit). I then decided to replace the M8100 driver tubes as they were when I first noted the crackling and found that there was the previously noted loud crackling in the other channel and the newly found lower level crackling in the other channel. David advised me that it appears I have both a bad driver and power tube. He then offered to replace my tubes. Unfortunately, they are out of the 6h30PI power tubes.

With bad power tubes I have also read that it may begin to cut out the signal to the channel it is "powering". So you might try to swap the positions of the power tube and listen if the opposite channel now begins to lose its signal, it may be that you just have a power tube issue.

 

[Hopstretch]

Thanks. David also suggested it was probably a power tube issue and, having cleaned, switched and reseated them, so far it seems that's it.

Probably worth noting again how good LD's support is. Don't think I've ever had to wait more than an hour or so for an answer to an email. Real pleasure to deal with. Kudos!

 

[senns&nonsense]

Can someone confirm that the SE that incorporated 408A tubes used 7119 / E182CC tubes in the power slots?

And are there any other designations (5687?) that will work as power tubes? I believe 6H30Pl are not compatible.

Thanks.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by senns&nonsense /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can someone confirm that the SE that incorporated 408A tubes used 7119 / E182CC tubes in the power slots? And are there any other designations (5687?) that will work as power tubes? I believe 6H30Pl are not compatible. Thanks.

Hi!

Yes, the version that has the 408a drivers and E182CC power tubes, can't use the 6H30 family. But, look around for E182CC, 5687, 7119 and 7044 power tubes. There are MANY excellent sounding tubes using these numbers.
Here is a short list of the ones I found when I had my first MKIVse:

Amperex 7119
Arcturus 7044
Arcturus 5687
GE 5687 Mil-Spec (1943)
GE 5687 5-Star
Mullard E182CC
Philips JAN 5687-WB
Tong-Sol JTL-5687 (1941)

Have a good one!!

 

[di_andrei]

I'm considering a Mark IVse and I'm curious whether anyone is using it with Audio Technica AD900's (open). Most people in this thread seem to use them with Senn 650's and to my limited knowledge, the impedance is very different between the two headsets, and to a lesser extent the frequency response too.

Would my experience be significantly different?