Little Dot MkVI balanced tube amp?

[n_maher]

Crappy,

The problem is that the fans aren't fed from the same power supply as the B+ and to make everything contingent upon the fans starting up would probably mean rewiring the whole amp, which isn't even an option with the pcb. Or if it is an option it's one hell of a coincidence.

What might be more appropriate is to have some sort of thermal fuse on the AC inlet, but I'm not sure they much such a device that would be sensitive enough yet not too sensitive.

Bottom line, if it were my amp I'd take the occasional casual glance inside the chassis to see how the caps were fairing at a minimum.

[tkam]

7236's should be fine they have pretty much identical specs as the 6080 and 5998. They might have a different amplification factor though.

I actually kinda the look of this amp, but yeah I have to question how they ever thought they could get away with just passive cooling in a case that small. There's a lot of watts that need dissipated in that thing.

[Torpedo]

On tube gear, I'd be more concerned for the vibration coming from the fans than for the noise. I don't think I'd ever buy a tube amp needing fans for cooling. Seems like a very compromised solution to me. The cheap way to fix a serious design flaw on the chassis and board

I hope it sounds heavenly

Rgrds

[Dusty Chalk]

if both were started at the same time, the processor would be too cold to even start functioning.

Is that true? I didn't think there is a 'too cold to start functioning', short of being so cold that any moisture in the vicinity instantly crystallizes and indirectly causes problems that way. Or too large a temperature gradient too fast, which might crack something.

Which, admittedly, -50C would be. But I don't think the processor itself would have a problem with it.

Is that what the overclockers are saying? I'll wander over there and look around, I'm curious what the reasoning is.

[JimP]

Okay, but how's the amp?

hehe that made me LOL

[JimP]

Joke aside - what happens when one of the invariably shitty computer fans fails and the temps skyrocket? I wonder if there are any thermal protection devices outside of the 2, $3 fans?

I absolutely agree - you can just tell this thing would be a sizzler w/o the fans. This is one you don't leave unattended, like leave the house or go to sleep. Had it going 4-5 hrs straight yesterday, and - again with the fans - the overall heat was acceptable to me.

[philodox]

Very cool, with some vibration control and better [and bigger maybe] fans it should be an excellent budget balanced amp.

[crappyjones123]

Is that true? I didn't think there is a 'too cold to start functioning', short of being so cold that any moisture in the vicinity instantly crystallizes and indirectly causes problems that way. Or too large a temperature gradient too fast, which might crack something.

Which, admittedly, -50C would be. But I don't think the processor itself would have a problem with it.

Is that what the overclockers are saying? I'll wander over there and look around, I'm curious what the reasoning is.

there actually is a temperature for each separate processor at which the soi (for old amd chippies, upto the fx series at least) wont do crap. they may have changed things with the new processors that are coming out but in the golden days of overclocking where you had to do everything manually in bios and not use some shitty app in windows to tune your rig, starting temps were just one of the many problems faced by overclockers. i had a 3 second delay on my phase unit with my fx 57, it had to boot at ~-37C and then cool down or it wont boot at all. in terms of condensation, thats a whole another monster to deal with. mass amounts of neoprene and dialectic grease become your best friends for the duration you own or operate a phase cooler/ a/c chiller. condensation proofing a motherboard takes as much time as building a chiller, many would say.

that takes care of the condensation blowing up components part. as far as cracking due to extreme temperatures goes, phase units always have a giant copper head (direct die) that is applied directly to the processor instead of a air cooled heatsink. that usually takes away any and all heat and doesnt affect the rest of the board much. yes, the chipset temps are also very low but not low enough to cause any problems as long as your case is relatively stable.

stay away from eocf if you can. i gave up my mod there a long time ago when i finally quick overclocking. its a worse time sink and a black hole for your wallet than headphones/amps/what have you. many might disagree or perhaps i just dont have the money to spend any more so it doesnt seem like a black hole for my money. having said that, any hobby where you push the limits of what is taken to be acceptable will come at a cost. what is to be gained by a world record bench mark...perhaps a bigger epenis but then again, what is to be gained by a 100k speaker rig? ill stop now before my argument gets misconstrued as something else. some nice people over at eocf though. learnt everything i know about hardware from those guys.

[Hopstretch]

Heat issues, pfffft. Moar tubes! Moar power!

[n_maher]

stupid locking neutrik

[Voltron]

stupid locking neutrik

I hate those things too, but you can disable them, can't you? Mikhail usually pulls out the locking mechanism on his XLRs because those are an unnecessary pain in the ass too.

[Fing]

I like how it looks (both inside and outside, with the exception to those stupid fans) but I'm glad I'm not really in the market for something like this right now.

My previous experience with an amp from that part of the world was the Doge 6021, so I tend to view any products from there with some caution.

I hope the sound quality makes up for it. I'd recommend replacing the fans with Nexus ones (known for very low noise and reliability). Maybe even enlarge the holes and fit 120mm ones.

[n_maher]

I hate those things too, but you can disable them, can't you?

Yes, you can, but if you're going to go to the trouble of disabling the locking mechanism why use the stupid jack to begin with?

Mikhail usually pulls out the locking mechanism on his XLRs because those are an unnecessary pain in the ass too.

I'm of two minds about that regarding XLRs since they don't always seem to have the same inherent clamping force that most RCA connections do and I don't plug and unplug IC's nearly as often as headphones.

[Voltron]

I only meant if you liked an amp that used the stupid things you could correct it. Still

As for the XLRs, I have never had any issues with them coming loose or whatever. And to use this thread for a completely unrelated question, how difficult would it be to convert, say, an SDS-XLR, with a single 2x3-pin XLR HP jack into 2 separate 4-pin XLR HP jacks? Sorry for the off-topic-ness, but I have wondered this many times.

[JBLoudG20]

I'm of two minds about that regarding XLRs since they don't always seem to have the same inherent clamping force that most RCA connections do and I don't plug and unplug IC's nearly as often as headphones.

What about headphone XLR's?

[n_maher]

What about headphone XLR's?

I'd disable it on headphone XLRs, just like I did on the Menace.

[n_maher]

As for the XLRs, I have never had any issues with them coming loose or whatever. And to use this thread for a completely unrelated question, how difficult would it be to convert, say, an SDS-XLR, with a single 2x3-pin XLR HP jack into 2 separate 4-pin XLR HP jacks? Sorry for the off-topic-ness, but I have wondered this many times.

Shouldn't be that difficult since the case size is the same for all varieties of Neutrik XLRs. It'd just be a matter of some additional wiring. That is unless Mikhail has started using PCB mounted XLRs, which would be news to me and would probably make it impossible.

[Voltron]

Mine are disabled on the SDS, although I think it is active on the Beta.

Shouldn't be that difficult since the case size is the same for all varieties of Neutrik XLRs. It'd just be a matter of some additional wiring. That is unless Mikhail has started using PCB mounted XLRs, which would be news to me and would probably make it impossible.

Cool. My SDS has no PCBs in it from the pics I have seen.

[n_maher]

Cool. My SDS has no PCBs in it from the pics I have seen.

I'd honestly be shocked if it did, my understanding (what little I have) is that all of the SDS's are PTP wired. I think it's only the lower echelon amps that use pcbs.

[Voltron]

I'd honestly be shocked if it did, my understanding (what little I have) is that all of the SDS's are PTP wired. I think it's only the lower echelon amps that use pcbs.

We are further and further down the road of off-topic, but Mikhail has THE COOLEST pcb I have ever seen for the SDS-XLR. It is shaped like a record and is about 11" in diameter with a center hole and all. It is extremely thick and heavy and cool. I wish I had a damn picture of it. The lower echelon now all have pcbs, I think.

[JimP]

so I tend to view any products from there with some caution

no disrespect, but that's a pretty sweeping generalization? thanks for the fan recommendation though.

[Fing]

Yes it is, which is why I'm glad there are interior shots of the Little Dot.

If you owned a Doge 6210 you'd understand.

The 'wire' was insulated in (flaking) paper.

The amp had a severe channel imbalance.

No sound would come out from some of the values on the headphone impedence switch.

It was soldered by a hamfisted monkey (which is being harsh to the primate) - I'm surprised the thing didn't just go up in smoke.

I let someone have it for 1/10 the price because I was going to throw it away otherwise, and felt bad charging for any more. After ample warning about how bad it was.

No audio product I've ever owned from anywhere else approaches this level of bad.

[Hopstretch]

Yeah, I once dated this one American girl years ago who was a real bitch to me, man, so now whenever I meet any American girls anywhere I punch them right in the goddamn face!

[Fing]

We all have our prejudices

[JimP]

Swapped the stock fans for Zaward ones - result is seriously schweeet. OK this fan business is pretty ghetto, but the overall result of running balanced system is addictive, the LDVI is getting the most use these days (I'm on a DIY roll now, soldered some spades on my speaker wires as well tonight - tomorrow I think I'll build me a friggin Beta22)