MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?

I reported on the thread that over time it sounded forced and a tad bright. That tube also pulls more current than the other tubes folks are trying and I think it is pushing the limits of the small tranny. I would not use it. It pulls more current than a standard 6sn7 tube as an FYI.

That tube also pulls more current than the other tubes.


The cv181 has a heater current of .95 amps and the 6sn7 is .6 amps. Quite a few transformers were being destroyed when that tube was being sold as a 6sn7 alternate.

Good evening everyone, first post on Audiogon. 

After following this thread with great interest, I finally picked up an Orchid and have done several of the upgrades mentioned by Grannyring (and others). I am enjoying the whole process of upgrading and hearing the changes and improvement so much so that I finally decided to post on this forum to say a big "THANK YOU" to all who have contributed. 

The Orchid is a great DAC and it is easy(ish) to work on.
 
Changes done so far: 
R38, R52, R36, R54 Vishay Z foils  0,60W 100 Ohm
R34, R58 -- Caddock MK232 0.75W 390K
R37, R53 - Audio Note Tantalum 1W 4.7 K
Jantzan Superior Z - 2.2uf 
Duelund CAST-PIO-Sn/Cu   0.01uF 630Vdc
Various tubes - current favourite - Philips Miniwatt E188CC (7308) SQ with adapter.

Upcoming changes:
Ordered the V-Caps (arrived today) looking forward to hearing the diffierence
R3, R4 - Ordered a set of Caddock MK23 and Amtrans AMRG Carbon Film 0.75W to try out. 
Possibly upgrade fuse to???

Really enjoying the sound now. I would be happy to live with the Orchid the way is now but I like to tinker and ask "what if I ..."

Great stuff. Great fun 

Any other upgrade/change sugguestions are welcomed.

@paulski How did the upgrades work out for you?

The fuse does matter for sure.  The Vcap Odams with a. .01uf Vcap Cutf gives the best sound as I learned in my years of upgrading these units. I have also found a mix of the Vishay nude ZFoils and Audio Note non-magnetic tantalum resistors to be wonderful.