MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?
Several months ago,
based
in part on Terry Londons' recommendation, I purchased the MHDT
Orchid
dac with the WE tube upgrade. To give a system context,
speakers are
Audio Note AN/J LX, preamp is the STP SE/Stage 2, amp is a
First Watt
SIT 3. I use an Oppo BDP105 as a kind of server, with an
external
hard drive connected to it. I have purchased interconnects,
special
jumper cables, and a usb cable from Grannyring (Bill Dion). I
have
found his products to be exceptional value, and my experience
in
dealing Bill and communicating with him has been absolutely
the best
experience I have had in my over forty years of being into
this
hobby. So when I had the chance to have him modify my Orchid,
I
jumped at it. He replaced key resistors with Vishay Zfoils and
Audio
Note Tantalum non magnetics, and certain caps were replaced
with Vcap
Odams, and Vcap CuTFs. I just received the dac from Bill
yesterday. I believe it already had over 50 hours of burn in
time,
and I have been running it since receiving it as I am aware
that
these caps and resistors take some time to fully break in. But
in
listening today, I am a very happy camper. The sound stage has
expanded, the noise floor reduced (eerily so), bass is deeper
and
better defined......it feels like one is that much closer to
the
musicians, the singers, the music, the emotions evoked. So
much of what makes for better
sound appears to be a kind of getting rid of what gets in the
way. I
can only assume that is at least in part what these upgraded
components have done. There are two descriptors that kept
coming to
mind in trying to describe what I have been hearing with these
upgrades: 'refined' and 'natural'. I have not heard the
Lampizator Amber 3 so I cannot comment on a comparison.
|
The Siemen tube sounds like it could be a great alternative, given the write up on Brent Jessee's website. I've tended toward the midrange of nos Mullard tubes in my previously owned tube preamp. But either way, if a 6DJ8 variant brings my Grannyrings' modded Orchid dac up to yet another level, holy cow! |
rx8man You may be much more technically savvy than me, but I just looked up the specs on a 6SN7 tube and compared them to the 396A tube. Whereas the specs for a 6DJ8 appear to be pretty equivalent, unless I am reading things incorrectly (which could very well be the case!), the specs for the 6SN7 appear to be quite different. Maybe no damage to the dac would happen, but I wonder how those differences in specs will impact the sound. |
I didn't realize you got the A OK from Jiun! Thanks. I did notice in the specs that the gain from the 6SN7 tube is lower than the 396A; maybe not quite enough to be noticeable, and, maybe as a buffer, gain is not an issue anyway. Will be interesting to hear what your findings are. This is indeed one helluva great sounding dac with grannyrings mods and the SR Orange fuse. Yes, I admit it, I am a grannyring 'fan boy'. |
rx8man My Mullard 6DJ8 variant is still on the way to try out in my grannyring modded Orchid, but your experience with the CV-181-Z is certainly intriguing. I can't imagine though leaving the dac uncovered, and I have no idea as to how I would go about enlarging the hole for the larger tube. Have you given any thought as to how you would do that, and make a neat job of it? Would be nice if MHDT labs offered a lid with a larger tube opening, but I don't know if they would go for that. |
On the Amazon website for the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z tube linked to above, in answer to someones' question about the grade of this tube, the seller responded: "The brand have three grade , General Grade,Treasure Grade(better grade) and Natural Sound(best grade), respectively. This is Treasure Grade." The CV181-T tube, like the one The Tube Store sells, is called Natural Sound. So, one would assume that this is the 'best grade' of this tube going by what the seller on Amazon stated....however that designation translates to in actual use. https://www.thetubestore.com/shuguang-natural-sound-cv181-t?quantity=1&custcol_boxed_set_option=2 |
rx8man Interesting. Will that disc fit without displacing the top cover lid of the dac? Bill (grannyring)....that's one of the things I admire about you. You incessantly keep an open mind, and are not afraid to tell it like you hear it. I don't have anywhere near the experience you or some others on this forum have (although I have been at it since the mid '70s), but I was thinking similarly....that jeez, this is best I have ever heard my music played - ever! Even from way back when I owned a very nice Linn Sondek set up. |
I finally received my NOS Mullard ECC189/CV5331 (6DJ8 variant) a couple days ago. Without any burn in on the tube, I was loving what I was hearing. With a couple days of running the tube 24/7, things are sounding glorious. I had no interest in making any changes to my grannyring modded Orchid dac (with SR Orange fuse and Western Electric tube), but after reading rx8mans' posts and others on another blog who had tried a 6DJ8 variant tube, my inquisitiveness got the better of me. So I ordered the adapter and the Mullard tube, and now my Western Electric tube is in storage. I have to say - and I know it is a cliched statement - but listening to tracks I know very well is as though hearing them anew.
Liquid, smooth, inviting, lifelike,
effortless, revealing of subtleties are all just some descriptors that come to mind. No need to modify the top plate; the Mullard sticks its' little head out of the top. I have no idea how this tube would sound in an unmodified Orchid dac; as I had written in a pm to Bill (grannyring), it is my suspicion that his mods allow changes such as these tube types to really reveal what they are capable of, with the reduced noise floor of the dac. Actually, that is something that continues to amaze.....how 'quiet' the dac is, in the sense that the music emerges from a kind of sonic void. Like a silent/stillness from which the sounds emerge. Beautifully addictive. |
