Modwright PH 9.0x upgrades?


Hi all!

Happy owner of the Modwright PH 9.0x here and was looking into some of the upgrades that recently came available. I was wondering if anyone had any input on the following:

1. The ’T’ upgrade to the power supply to make it tube rectified;

2. The upgraded umbilical cable "PH9.0/X/T Reference Umbilical"

I’ve already swapped out the tubes & power cable (can see details on my virtual system if curious) on it and saw some nice improvements. Wondering if anyone has any input on whether or not it would be worth another ~$1000 to get these upgrades.

 

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I sent my 9.0X back to Dan for both the T upgrade and his umbilical, and it was a major improvement. Sweeter top end, fleshier midrange, and no loss or flabbiness of bass. The T power supply has a hole in the cover so you can roll any 5AR4 family rectifier, including ones in the ST bottles.

If you're planning on keeping the 9.0X, the upgrade is worth every penny. 

@armstrod Thanks for the info! Just the feedback I was looking for. Glad to hear it is worth it. I was expecting the T upgrade to be a lot more than $500, so I was really surprised to see that when taking a peek.

Did you just have to send the power supply to him, or did he need the entire thing? I'd assume just the power supply.

Did you get the T upgrade and umbilical upgrade at the same time? Did you test them separately when you got them back? I'm assuming the T upgrade will have the biggest impact on the sound with the cable just taking it that little extra step further. Just trying to gauge if I really should do both at the same time, or just order the cable later.

I only had to send him the power supply. I got both upgrades at the same time and never bothered to test them separately, so not sure of the relative impact, but I would agree it’s likely the T upgrade is more impactful. I have to say, once you see the difference between the upgrade umbilical and the original, even if it makes no sonic difference at all it will give you way more confidence in the connection. It’s just a much beefier, better constructed and terminated cable. I’m not a big subscriber to cable juju, but the original umbilical was just cheap, not really fitting of the quality of the preamp or the power supply.

There's another Modwright tube rolling thread where others comment on the T upgrade.

I did both at once so can't really comment.

The others did report an improvement and the ability to roll the rectifier made a difference.

My old ears couldn't hear any big difference in the rectifier, but could be my system.

@armstrod Thanks! Perfect. I agree re: the stock umbilical. It's not really fitting of a piece of gear at this price point. IMO the upgraded one should just be the standard for something like this, but alas.

@theflattire thanks for your insight! I tested a few rectifiers on my SET amp and saw pretty big changes in sound quality overall, so I would be surprised if I didn't hear any difference with doing it with the pre-amp. However, it may be less of a difference between tube types versus the non-upgraded power supply & the tube rectified in general. I guess I will find out!