NOSValves Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 Randy, I'm sure his Mark III mod would work on a Mark II it just seems strange that he would say that ! Since his big push is for Mark III's . I truely think the Mark II and III are almost Identical and if anything the Mark III has the stronger transformers since its designed for 6550/KT-88 from get street. Maybe Mark Deneen would have a Opinion here and clear this up. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 Who's Mark Deneen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Mark Deneen is Mdeneen on this forum and known to be the forum EE . He is my Mentor when I get confused his phone rings LOL !! Without Mark I would be lost ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale W Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Craig : I thought we were going to buy up all the old / used mark III's before we start telling everyone how great they sound and what mods to do. lol I can't believe how much the price has risen on E-bay for even a stock mark III. Think maybe i'll list mine for some outragous price just to see who's willing to pay $$$$$$$$$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Dale, You do that and I will charge you triple on your next set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Tom, What exactly have you done to this amp and what have you not done ? Get those junk tubes out of there !! Either get Svetlana or JJ Telsa KT-88's for current productions. You do even want to know what NOS 6550/KT-88 go for !! What did you use for driver and phase splitters in the front end board brand and type ? What rectifier tubes ? Craig This guy has good deals on Svetlanas barter him down ! www.conusaudio.com JJ Telsa's are hard to find but from the latest review at VTV named them the best current production and very close to NOS the Svetlanas came in right up there also !! I believe www.tubesandmore.comn has the JJ telsa . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 Craig, I changed out all wire, resistors, elect. caps, SdS PS mod, Triode front board. Basically everthing. I installed the extra bias pot, I have to wire it and two days ago I wired it in Triode mode. The driver and phase splitter tubes are NOS RCA. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Well its possible the lack of bass response at low volumes could be your preamp ? Or the output tubes or a wiring error. Hard to tell ! Have you checked all the voltage points throughout the amps ? Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 No I haven't checked the voltage points, I think I'll do that, but I'm pretty sure all is good in that regard. I ran the same preamp with the Paramours and got great bass response. What about matching the input impedence on Marks with the Preamp, I wondered if this could be a issue also. But I have been leaning toward the tube variable. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Yea but with the paramours your pushing the preamp volume up way more than with a 30 watt amp !! I have your paramours and they do not make great bass at all ! Not trying to put your amps down but if the paramours sounded better in the bass region something is definitly wrong with your Mark III's or your ears Craig Sorry I just couldn't help that last remark !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 craig, the curcio comment about MkIIs was third hand hearsay so perhaps it was the best stock sounding or perhaps he never said that BUT...we ALL know that the MkIV was the best sounding out of the box!...holy smoly to the MkIII! lol, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Oh yea the MarkIV is another story for sure !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 Bias is drifting for at least an hour before the amps stablize? You started a rebuild on a set of amps not knowing the condition of the tubes? You didn't have them tested? How can you expect to test the amps if you don't know condition of the tubes? You haven't checked all of the voltage points. Now I don't know jack about working on amps, but I know enough to know that no one should be making SWAG's regarding any problem until you have at least done this. You also strapped the amps in triode -- but never had them running correctly with the original design. I would leave the damn things unplugged until you either get new tubes, or get the ones you have tested. I think you need to start over and re-check every step. Check all of your voltage points, and all of your soldering with a multimeter. It's probably not a bad idea to check the rest of soldering as well -- after all, what do you really know about the history of these amps? You also need to check your phasing. When I had the AE-3 DJH, it was designed with one less stage going to the outputs, and to get proper phasing, plus and minus had to be reversed at the amps binding posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 Craig, Thats how crappy the bass WAS on the Marks. I did the dual bias mod all is good now. I should have known this was a problem becouse the power tube to the left of both amps was glowing brighter and the center of the plate was even glowing along with the bias not being stable. Nice natural sounding bass now, and I can't turn it up, its late, but it sounds the way a well balanced system should sound. Even the phono stage sounds better. I can't wait to crank up the volume tommorow. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 Dean, Bias is drifting for at least an hour before the amps stablize? I thought this was peculiar when I originally got them. I contacted the previous owner of the amps, who claims to repair amps professionaly, assured me it was normal. I just didn't buy it. You started a rebuild on a set of amps not knowing the condition of the tubes? You didn't have them tested? How can you expect to test the amps if you don't know condition of the tubes? The tubes were new, as per conversation with previous owner, and they appeared to be by there physical condition. You also strapped the amps in triode -- but never had them running correctly with the original design. I thought I had them running correctly as I don't know the sonic characteristic of these amps. I think someone else might think they sounded great, but to me there was something missing in the low end when I compared to my other amps. I new something was defenitely wrong when I strapped it in triode. It amplified the problem. I would leave the damn things unplugged until you either get new tubes, or get the ones you have tested. I think you need to start over and re-check every step. Check all of your voltage points, and all of your soldering with a multimeter. It's probably not a bad idea to check the rest of soldering as well -- after all, what do you really know about the history of these amps? I didn't have any doubts the tubes were good, just thought a sh!tty generic brand. I used magnet wire for my hook up wire, I checked every solder joint I created with a multimeter, becouse its easy to not end up with a joint with this type of wire. I didn't check all the voltage points becouse I followed the original manual step by step, and it has some test point to check when yout done without the amp running, then it directs you to plug it in and turn it on and check and monitor bias and thats what I did. I completely dissasembled, cleaned & stripped everthing and built it from the chassis up, all the solder joints are mine and have all been checked. I really appreciate your concern Dean, and taking the time to post but all is good now! It sound great. Thankx Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 Craig, I have your paramours and they do not make great bass at all ! Not trying to put your amps down but if the paramours sounded better in the bass region something is definitly wrong with your Mark III's or your ears Your not puting my amps down, it's who ever designed them that your putting down. I'm not affended I just built them per instructions. What preamp did you use with the paramours, becouse they do put out a nice bass at reasonable volumes. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Tom, I use the same preamp I use with all my amps HH Scott 130. With my 104db Lascala speakers they can play decently at about 1 watt steady I listened to them totally uninspired for 2 weeks. This weekend I put my Scott 208 35 watt power amp back in my system and just smiled !! Nice balance sound top to bottom from 75Db to 110Db now that is a amp !! 3 Watt set may make some people smile but not me ! I'm sure that Moondogs or a Set amp from the likes of Jean would be on a different page but still would never satisfy me. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 That's great Tom, and I'm glad things are smoothing out. I was just getting visions of smoke and fire. Let's see: Biampable RF-3's Dynaco MK III's Paramours Hmmm -- I know what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Dean, Biampable RF-3's Dynaco MK III's Paramours Yes, the thought has crossed my mind. Not to get ahead of myself yet, but in the mids the Paramours don't have much over the Marks, especially in triode Mode. Don't get me wrong the clarity & liquidity is there, but not by a margin that it is missed. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Craig, Thats fair enough, I wanted a honest review. As I posted to Dean they have something good going in the mids, but the trade off to me is not valid in ley of more wattage with headroom to boot. I think I'll give the biamping a try, Oh no not another ordeal of cable & speaker wire rolling, maybe I'll reconsider. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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