Karma - Monoprice Fabulousness!
Comments
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Comments:
- This one seems to be working flawlessly out of the box. What's this, number four?
- The general heft, fit and finish isn't bad at all for a ninety-nine dollar product.
- The amber illumination (pilot light and meter light) is both apt and kind of scary at the same time.
- Whatever is being done with them -- the tubes are run hard enough that the EL84s umm, 6P15s get pretty hot. Not EICO HF81 EL84 hot, but too hot to touch. The small signal tubes (6N1, whatever that is) run cool.
- The amp does have an interesting bouquet. Slightly stale, musty, resinous and chemical, all rolled into one. It smells exactly like my grandparents' house in Glen Burnie, MD did -- ca. 1965. My grandfather was a dedicated smoker of very cheap cigars (El Productos -- my father called 'em "El Ropos") and the house bore mute testimony to it for many, many years.
- The cassoulette
of the amp isn't objectionable at all. I cannot smell it except right up by the tubes -- and my nose is pretty sensitive. - No flammulation, no funny noises, microphonics, etc.
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Run Forrest run!!
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I cannot tell with certainty from teh interwebs, but it seems like a 6922 might be close enough to whatever a 6N1 is to drop in. It would be nice to see some consensus on the point
but I might just have to chuck a coupla cannon fodder 6922s in there and see what happens...
not tonight though.
Having played (no kidding) a bunch of Talking Heads 'greatest hits', I've moved on to the Wailin Jennys. They're Wailin' nicely enough.
I might work up the nerve to try the amp on some real loudspeakers... again, not tonight.
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Careful with your nicer speakers, look out for those turn on/off transients.
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Yes Doc but there are some differencesmhardy6647 wrote: »I cannot tell with certainty from teh interwebs, but it seems like a 6922 might be close enough to whatever a 6N1 is to drop in. It would be nice to see some consensus on the point but I might just have to chuck a coupla cannon fodder 6922s in there and see what happens...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6N1P -
To reiterate...
My amp is not in your house? -
To reiterate...
My amp is not in your house?
No it is holding up the lawn tractors axle off the ground.... outside -
Yes Doc but there are some differencesmhardy6647 wrote: »I cannot tell with certainty from teh interwebs, but it seems like a 6922 might be close enough to whatever a 6N1 is to drop in. It would be nice to see some consensus on the point but I might just have to chuck a coupla cannon fodder 6922s in there and see what happens...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6N1P
Yeah, the 6N1P I am very familiar with -- it's not completely clear to me that the Chinese 6N1 is "identical" to the Soviet/Russian 6N1P, though. -
To reiterate...
My amp is not in your house?
That is correct
It is in an undisclosed location -- Dick Cheney may be groovin' to some tunes on it, I suppose.
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Naaah -- that's what the MC-2100 is for.
Actually, that's a joke. The MC-2100 makes a much better doorstop.
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Judging by the extreme glow of that thing, I'd say....the wick is lit. Delayed fuse maybe ? Kinda like when we were kids and made that wick on the M-80's/quarter sticks long enough to buy us some time to get the heck out of the way.
What's the warranty on this thing....36 hours ? HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
I’m happy so far so good. Perhaps number 4 is the charm! Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
I’m happy so far so good. Perhaps number 4 is the charm!
That's what I am thinking.
In fact, early results suggest that this gizmo, as is, represents a great 99-dolla desktop/nearfield amplifier, except:- It's rather large compared to most other such devices.
- It generates a fairly large amount of heat - mostly from those EL84s - relative to most other such devices.
I wonder if I can figure out how to do something with the Bluetooth on it? I am pretty... shall we say... low tech. ...or is it old school?
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It's actually $120 plus shipping. Not sure where this $99 figure is coming from.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13194 -
It was $99 at least at one point -- and the same amp with other brand names is or was available for $99, last time I looked.
If the OP paid more than $99 for it, I do apologize!
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As a postscript -- I will give this amp a serious audition at some point in the not too distant future.
If we really do get rain later today (it's in the forecast), maybe even tonight!
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$139.99, $120, $119.99, $99? Why does something from MONOPRICE have so many prices?
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$139.99, $120, $119.99, $99? Why does something from MONOPRICE have so many prices?
HAHA!
So you like it for $99? What if it was $99.99? Would it still be good for the money? -
$139.99, $120, $119.99, $99? Why does something from MONOPRICE have so many prices?
That's a good question.
One of those Imponderables, I guess.
Either that, or the company should be renamed Oligoprice. Or maybe Oligoprices, to kind of maintain some consistency of pluralism.
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Just doesn't have the same ring to it.mhardy6647 wrote: »Either that, or the company should be renamed Oligoprice. Or maybe Oligoprices, to kind of maintain some consistency of pluralism.
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How about "Mongoprice"?
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well, still not much clarity vis-a-vis the 6N1. Kevin Kennedy, who's something of a Russky-tube-o-phile (and a talented designer & builder) said it's just a lower-quality Chinese variant of the 6N1P. The 6N1P itself essentially is a 6922, although it requires twice the heater current.
For fun, I dissected one of those goofy tube cages on the "Monoprice" amp, extricated a 6N1 (labeled on the tube as "6N1-J") and tested it as a 6DJ8 (6922). Both sections tested good.
Doesn't really prove anything, especially since I used an emissions-type tester... but the result is at least not inconsistent with the notion that it's essentially a 6922 workalike
FWIW: Datasheet for the 6N1 (in Chinese, but not the numbers, units, or curves) at:
https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/095/6/6N1.pdf
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I must have missed the requirement that only members with more than 1 post could participate. Sorry about that Mr. Ho. -
Doc, when I was first getting set up, I picked up a couple of those Bluetooth receivers. Most seem to offer optical and 3.5mm/RCA out. They worked pretty well for the connectivity, and sounded pretty good for streaming music from a smartphone or tablet, so if you're just looking to play de myooziks and not necessarily critical listening, might be worth a shot. I used the Iogear TuneTap, but Oligoprice(s) probably has something less commit-ty. Also might offer the extra spark you need to get this fire started, since Johnny 4 seems to have fizzled (or is a sleeper).mhardy6647 wrote: »I wonder if I can figure out how to do something with the Bluetooth on it? I am pretty... shall we say... low tech. ...or is it old school?I disabled signatures. -
Sole employee leisurely travels around the country punching out those horses that lost in the Derby.How about "Mongoprice"?I disabled signatures. -
That was a requirement, but the real issue was that the karma had already been over for a while, and the amp was being shipped out. You were late to the party. -
So -- according to the aforementioned Kevin Kennedy, the 6p15 power pentode is equivalent to the 'western' EL86/6CW5.
As an aside: the Russian power pentodes just confuse me. It appears that the "Svetlana" branded "SV83" of the 1990s (and used in Steve Deckert's SE-84 "Zen" amplifier) was a relabled 6p15-ev The "ev" postscript refers, I believe, to ruggedized, "military-grade" variants of a tube type.
At any rate -- I looked up the 6CW5 and it's a cool tube. It was a fairly late vacuum tube development for series-string TVs but also for hifi. It is EL84-esque, but rated for lower plate voltage. It requires a gob of filament current, too (0.76 A @ 6.3 VAC). NOS 6CW5s are cheap!
datasheet: http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/frank/sheets/093/6/6CW5.pdf
http://tubelab.com/designs/tubelab-spp/applications/
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Haha, nevermind this, Doc, I didn't realize that unit already has Bluetooth, dehr. Thought it was just a standard tube integrated.
Doc, when I was first getting set up, I picked up a couple of those Bluetooth receiversmhardy6647 wrote: »I wonder if I can figure out how to do something with the Bluetooth on it?
...I disabled signatures. -
There is nothing standard about this little beastie
So -- today I gritted my teeth and hooked it up to the Frankenaltecs.
With really simple, really well recorded music -- it's not bad. A little bright, and without the depth of SE 2A3 on these loudspeakers -- but not bad.
As soon as the music got a little complicated, it started to get two-dimensional and hard/glassy sounding. And very bright.
Now, in fairness, the Frankenaltecs are adjusted for the "Simple 2A3" amp's behavior - - and that amp is doubtless rolled off in the treble... but the pairing of the Monoprice and the Frankenaltecs really isn't a propitious one. It wasn't awful, or even embarrassing -- but it wasn't compelling, either. The nominal 16 ohm load the Frankenaltecs presents might have played a role, too.
I will try some other decent quality speakers on the MP amp anon -- meanwhile, I'm
listening to Patty Larkin's 25 on the Frankenaltecs via SE 2A3 and lovin' what I hear.
DSC_1501 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
DSC_1506 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
