Sedond, I did contact them and the update for the preamp sounds ok. They remove the FET's from the circuit. Brant mentioned that he does not have parts for the photentiometer and did not mention a new one. He said that I would be better off updating the MAT-180 then the Maestro. He said I should just jumper out the balance and get a stepped volume control, but this eliminates my remote, that I love. |
hi narrod, czech out the fone number & email address - they answer, respond, & want yer biz... ;~) regards, doug |
Unless they've risen from the dead, Melos has been out of
business for months. |
i believe the sha-gold & the maestro have the same circuit, but m.a.r. offers a circuit mod. personally, i'm waitin' for the new photentiometer wolume pot before i send 'em my preamp - i tink this will be a great mod. if ya don't wanna call 'em, try email at: melosaudio@aol.com |
Do you think the circuit is the same for the Maestro and the sha-gold except the caps upgrade? I know they have a update for the MAT-180 but the preamp is more reasonable to upgrade and I think I want to try the preamp first. The Maestro volume and balance pots have some gear play that makes them seem cheep. The do not react quickly with the remote because of the gear lash. I love the sound from the products even better now with the Audio Note DAC 1.1x in the system. |
mi3491, fone # was listed in my 1st post, here it is again: 702.248.6745. ask for brant (if he doesn't answer the fone!). the maestro updated the caps from the sha-gold, so i understand; it also replaced the pho-tentiometer for a more reliable conwentional pot. since brant bought the company, they've come out w/a few other mods for all the melos product - one of them removes some mosfets & re-circuits the wiring thru the tubes. they can also do mods on the mat-180 amp. |
I have a Maestro, I have opened up the cover and found horrible solder joins (which I re-flowed) chandged to amperex 7308 gold pin and noticed the unit does not have the photentiometer. I talked to this Melos update company 5 months ago (I lost their number since then) and they said it was hard to get the photentiometer parts. What is the update you speak about and can you list their number? I use the Melos MAT-180 as an amp. It works very well with the Maestro preamp. |
jbaxley, no, the latest melos audio restorations does not yet have a webpage, but they said it would be soon. i suggest ya call 'em up to get the info... re: service nitemares, try audioreview for unbelievably bad experiences! it almost made me shy away from 'em, but 3 separate dealers' comments about the sound quality - 2 of them who knowingly may have lost potential sales cuz of it - made me take the chance. it also helped knowing that there was a gnu owner. the 1st owner was in nj, the second in nevada, the present owner is also in nevada. my experience w/the present owner has been reasonable-enuff. he completed a full music-director upgrade that was only partially done by the previous company (unbeknownst to the previous owner of the preamp), & gave me a reduced-rate price. |
Is there a website that describes Melos upgrades or gives current service info? melos.com is still non-functional. Btw, anyone who's interested in this topic might want to search "melos" on the tube asylum page -- I remember reading some posts last September/October about Melos service nightmares from people who said they had negative experiences in dealing with Arizona. I have no personal experience, but I remember the posts because I own an MA-333. I'd be interested to see posts from people with first hand experience. |
audibleguy, i believe melos audio restorations *does* have upgrades for the sha-gold - i tink i even saw them adwertizing one f/s a few months back. i can make no performance comments about the mods, tho - no experience. i *do* know that the sha-gold is a fantastic preamp - it's why i bought the music-director w/o ever having heard it. again, i'd recommend contacting brant nordlund, the new owner, directly. |
I have a question, I own the Melos SHA-Gold B and the Melos Gold Phono Stage. Does Melos have upgrades to these components as I am very pleased with their performance now. Are the upgrades worth it? Do they still use the remote control to mute the SHA-Gold? |
streetman, seriously, i *do* recommend the electrocompaniet amps, but, i have heard good tings about the mccormack electronics as well. if ya wanna go that route, i suggest looking at sam tellig's recent s'phile article ('00 dec?), where he compares the mccormack, the belles, & the musical fidelity amps. (he'd recently reviewed the m-f amp in a prior issue). but, i *do* know that the electrocompaniet amps work awful nice w/the melos pre... ;~) also, please give an update when ya get those newform speakers - i'm *really* interested in 'em... thanks, doug |
re: the melos, ewe can ask brant, but i'd bet it's the photentiometer wolume/balance control - it's actuated by a tiny little lite-bulb - the brightness controls the wolume. if ya pull the cover, ewe can prolly see it! :>) according to brant, c-j at one time wanted to buy melos yust for the photentiometer technology. re: amps, i humbly suggest my electrocompaniet aw100 that's currently f/s... & i'm only asking $800... ;~) the only reason i'm selling is cuz it's not bridgeable, & i am going to run a pair of electro amps in bridged-mono fashion. it's currently driving the woofers of my monitors, w/an aw75 driving the tweets. no desire to change amp brands here - at least not until i can aford a pair of the mondo melos tubed mono-blocs... :>) |
Sedond, mine is one of the early models without a remote. I dont know what that fotentiometer is! I'm kind of new to this and only know basics. P.s I'm also ordering a pair of newforms. Can't wait to hear them! I'm in the process of buying an amp for the melos. Was looking at the Mccormack dna 125 for $1300. Opinions? You seem very knowledgible and I appreciate the advice. |
if ewe have the fotentiometer, & it's workin' fine, i'd keep it as-is, & wait 'til melos finishes their gnu fotentiometer they're working on. then send it for everything at once. the capacitor updates are prolly worth it, but the alps wolume pot is a step backwards, imo. they also have a circuit mod that i will do to my music-director (which is yust the updated ma33), but, i'm waitin' for the gnu fotentiometer... call brant for all the details... 702.248.6745 |
