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RE: What are your thoughts on the Little Dot amps?

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In Reply to: RE: What are your thoughts on the Little Dot amps? posted by jimbill on September 04, 2011 at 22:23:52

I used to have the LD 2+ and currently have the MK3. Both are good for the money. The MK3 is actually great for the money. Especially if you try some better tubes in it. I also like that the MK3 can be used as a preamp.
I've compared it to my Rotel preamp and it beat it. Probably not too tough a task but still impressive considering the Rotel cost about 3 times as much.
I also had a chance to hear the MK3 in a very expensive system. The components were all Electrocompaniet. Did some listening with those and then with the MK3 as the preamp. Was amazing how well it held up in that system.
The Electrocompaniet was better but not by a huge margin as I had expected. The bass was better and more taut with the Electrocompaniet. Also, the MK3 was missing the last bit of the treble high end. Very impressive considering the Electrocompaniet preamp costs about 15 times the cost of the MK3!

.
Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub

Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160

Edits: 09/06/11 09/06/11 09/06/11

Follow Ups:

RE: What are your thoughts on the Little Dot amps? - samman11 13:38:20 09/07/11 (6)
What tubes do you recommend with the Dot 3. I have the HD 650 headphones using the standard tubes that came with the Dot MKIII. And where can said tubes be purchased? Thank you.
- RE: What are your thoughts on the Little Dot amps? - golgi 14:40:36 09/07/11 (5)
  I've not tried as many different tubes as others. The ones I've tried are Mullard EF92, Tung Sol 5654, GE EF95, Amperex EF92 (actually manufactured by Mullard), and Amperex Bugle Boy EF91 (made in Holland). Out of these, the Amperex Bugle Boy EF91 are by far my favorite tubes. These are not easy to find and it took many months of searching online to find them. I was lucky to get them on ebay for around $12 for the pair.
  Even though the Amperex sound great, I'm also curious to try the Voskhod 6zh1p-ev tubes. These have been discussed a lot on a different headphone forum with several members saying they are a great value and one of their favorites.
  At any rate, the MKIII (even stock tubes) with Sennheiser 580/600/650's is a good combination that is relatively reasonable in cost.
  .
  Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub
  
  Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
  Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160
  
  Edits: 09/07/11 09/07/11 09/10/11
  - Alternate tubes. - jimbill 08:25:24 09/08/11 (4)
    I know nothing about tubes. Do you have to do anything to the amp when switching tubes? Or do you just plug them in?
    - RE: Alternate tubes. - Frank I 14:58:19 09/08/11 (0)
      Tube swapping is easy. they have a manual and provide jumpers for some tubes that you can just pop in to the inside part of the amp but there are so many tubes variants that you can just pull out the tube and reinsert a new tube without touching anything. The Mullard CV4010 are a nice tube for Little Dot amps and can be purchased cheap.. There are some great Little Dot threads on Headfi.org that you should read and ask some questions there but it very highly recommended.
    - RE: Alternate tubes. - golgi 08:38:19 09/08/11 (2)
      There is a minor tweak you must do when switching tubes. Depending on the year your MKIII was made, you will either have jumpers or dip switches that must be changed according to the tube you want to use. It's really quick and easy to do and doesn't require opening the amp. You can access these from the cut outs on the bottom of the amp.
      Check this page for the guide- http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=b7982c59f100efcf68cb8192aa1fb86b
      
      .
      Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub
      
      Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
      Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160
      
      Edits: 09/08/11
      - RE: Alternate tubes. - jimbill 11:08:57 09/08/11 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Alternate tubes. posted by golgi on September 08, 2011 at 08:38:19
        
        I have the I+ and it requires opening the chassis. The guide only mentions a couple other tubes that are compatable. Would different tubes make that noticable of a difference?
        
        RE: Alternate tubes. - golgi 12:51:00 09/08/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Alternate tubes. posted by jimbill on September 08, 2011 at 11:08:57
        
        I don't have any experience with the I+. But with the MKIII the differences between tubes is very noticeable.
        
        .
        Main system- Rotel RCD950, Rotel RC1070, Rotel RB981, Magnepan 10QR, Martin Logan Dynamo sub
        
        Headphone system- Little Dot MKIII, Sennhesier HD 580,
        Cambridge Audio 640P phono, Technics SL1210 MK2, Denon DL160

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