HCT 100 tuber

lightman1
lightman1 Posts: 10,789
edited June 2009 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Looking at modding the HCT Fat Man I-pod thingy amp to a tube pre buffer.
i.e. bypassing the amplifiers and running low level straight out to a power amp.
I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, so lay it on me.
Thanks
Russ
Post edited by lightman1 on
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited May 2009
    Come over. It's easy.
    Later ****.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited May 2009
    ben62670 wrote: »
    Come over. It's easy.
    Later ****.
    Enlighten me, O wise sauce-head guru of the tractor wheelies!
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,194
    edited May 2009
    Here:

    http://gainphile.blogspot.com/2007/11/dared-mp-5-impression-and-modification.html

    and here:

    http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/stmicroelectronics/1478.pdf

    Let us know how it turns out. I have (2) of these and I want to make one into a pre.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited May 2009
    It is an easy mod and I like to use Canare L-4E6S to run my signals in electronics. The double-twisted design is nice, but using any signal wire that is shielded, especially past transformers and such, really help keep the noise down.
    Jake
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited May 2009
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Here:

    http://gainphile.blogspot.com/2007/11/dared-mp-5-impression-and-modification.html

    and here:

    http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/stmicroelectronics/1478.pdf

    Let us know how it turns out. I have (2) of these and I want to make one into a pre.

    H9
    I'm on it! Thanks H9.
    I'll get it done this weekend and give it a spin.

    Russ
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited May 2009
    zingo wrote: »
    It is an easy mod and I like to use Canare L-4E6S to run my signals in electronics. The double-twisted design is nice, but using any signal wire that is shielded, especially past transformers and such, really help keep the noise down.

    Noted. Thanks Zingerdinger
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited May 2009
    No problem lighterbiter.
    Jake
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited June 2009
    Well I must say I'm fairly impressed with the little bypass surgery I did on the 100. Nothing blew up and it still works. All in all not a bad presentation of sound from the little feller. Our illustrious tube freak of the week, George Daniel, steered me in the right direction to upgrading the tubes in it. Gonna try out the Amperex 7119 tubes and see if they can bring out any more details.
    A Question. Will this help with the output gain to the amp? I have to turn it up to almost 3/4 on the knob to really start getting some nice volume from it. The Cats-Eye tube in the back is maxed.
    Tried it out with a Denon POA-1500 and a Carver m-200t amp running a set of 2Bs. (thanks Eric)
    The Denon had whompus low-end and mids and rolled smoothly in to the highs. Detailed but not so much that it was sterile.
    The Carver was too....forward...bright...
    Just thinking a little more low level output from the HCT might tame some of this.
    My thoughts...and welcome y'alls.
    Thanks,
    Russ
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited June 2009
    Pics or it didn't happen.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited June 2009
    ben62670 wrote: »
    Pics or it didn't happen.
    It happened, fo sho! Just don't have a camera around here. Pics later, putz.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,194
    edited June 2009
    lightman1 wrote: »
    Well I must say I'm fairly impressed with the little bypass surgery I did on the 100. Nothing blew up and it still works. All in all not a bad presentation of sound from the little feller. Our illustrious tube freak of the week, George Daniel, steered me in the right direction to upgrading the tubes in it. Gonna try out the Amperex 7119 tubes and see if they can bring out any more details.
    A Question. Will this help with the output gain to the amp? I have to turn it up to almost 3/4 on the knob to really start getting some nice volume from it. The Cats-Eye tube in the back is maxed.
    Tried it out with a Denon POA-1500 and a Carver m-200t amp running a set of 2Bs. (thanks Eric)
    The Denon had whompus low-end and mids and rolled smoothly in to the highs. Detailed but not so much that it was sterile.
    The Carver was too....forward...bright...
    Just thinking a little more low level output from the HCT might tame some of this.
    My thoughts...and welcome y'alls.
    Thanks,
    Russ

    I certainly respect Georges opinion but be careful what tubes you use. I;ve done some research and European ECC85's work, 6AQ8's work and Russian 6N1p's work. The 6N1P's have the highest gain with the Chinese tube being 2nd and the ECC85 being a close third.

    I have Siemens Falcon logo (ECC85), Blackburn RCA's (same as Mullards)(6AQ8) German RFT's (ECC85) and several early 70's Russian military tubes(6N1P-EV)

    For vocals and tone the RCA's and Siemens sound great w/a great holographic soundstage. All around rock and jazz, the RFT's sound good and the Russian tubes are excellent for thicker bass and rock oriented music. The Russian tube is a great tube it just lacks the depth and sound stage of the European tubes.

    A friend has 60's era Telefunken (ECC85) in his and loves them.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited June 2009
    Thanks H. Taking notes and getting my feet wet in this tube thing y'all keep talking about.
    Do you have a pair of the ECC85's available for sale? Trade? Try?
    Thanks again, H
    Russ
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited June 2009
    Congrats on the successful mod. Anything else planned for that little amp, or are you just going to roll tubes for a while?
    Jake
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,789
    edited June 2009
    Just gonna try some tubes for now. Maybe get into the guts later. Have to study the layout on the board.
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