Hey guys, I just got my hands on a MC-10T. I am very impressed with the out of the box performance and I'm total noob when it comes to playing with tube gear. I've read plenty of posts and blogs about people swapping out the standard tubes in MC-10Ls and understandably everyone has their own preferences. I can't afford to start tube rolling until I find something I particulally like, I also couldn't really justify spending the amount I spent on the amp again just in tubes. Does anyone have any suggestions for some cheaper tubes for the MC-10T that will give a marked improvement in the sound of this amp? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ashlin.
Thanks,
Ashlin.
Found some good MS-10L reading here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lez/YAQIN MC10/A LOOK AT THE YAQIN MC10L.pdf
I take you're not refering to this problem then? http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/154318-yaqin-mc-10l-heater-voltage.html
No!
There is an SRPP stage in the amp, the top cathode must be about 150V, the heater is at 0V.
All tubes have a limited heater/cathod voltage, the Yaqin runs them above this limit which will stress the tube and IMO affect the sound too.
I think the following stage is also affected - you need to elevate the whole heater circuit to take the pressure off the tubes with HV on the cathodes.
This is the first thing I would do to this amp, before I switched it on.
The Yaqin MC-10L is the best of the cheap Chinese amps I think, and compared to stuff like Naim etc give a massive sound quality to price ratio.
The only real blunder is that filament/cathode voltage error which most 6N1P tubes seem to withstand for some time so I guess it's not bad. Looks nice too and sounds good out of the box.
Many other however have a lot worse than that - my Sweet Peach had recycled/fake capacitors that really lost the treble - an amazing feat for a coupling capacitor.
For the DIY scene where parts are scarce and pricey (UK/Europe etc) they are very useful as you get the whole transformers, chassis etc for a very good sum. The skill is then in turning these parts into a decent amp - but my Peach is now singing with the best of them - you'd never guess it cost £140 + DIY parts in a million years!
The only real blunder is that filament/cathode voltage error which most 6N1P tubes seem to withstand for some time so I guess it's not bad. Looks nice too and sounds good out of the box.
Many other however have a lot worse than that - my Sweet Peach had recycled/fake capacitors that really lost the treble - an amazing feat for a coupling capacitor.
For the DIY scene where parts are scarce and pricey (UK/Europe etc) they are very useful as you get the whole transformers, chassis etc for a very good sum. The skill is then in turning these parts into a decent amp - but my Peach is now singing with the best of them - you'd never guess it cost £140 + DIY parts in a million years!
I'd love to know if they have addressed the issues you mentioned in the later incarnation of the amplifier, I know Les identifies some of the changes to the MC-10L in his write up, I'm wondering If there have been further improvements/corrections to the MC-10T, noting it now runs 12AT7s instead of the 6N1Ps
Just wanted to add, that I do think it is very good value for the $$$, and that's why I originally grabbed one, I would have been very hard pressed to get transformers for the total including shipping cost
I'm looking for replacement tubes for my MC-10T, can anyone tell me if there will be anything wrong with using these ones. They appear to have a good bang for buck ratio. I am interested in any other suggestions.
Preferred Series 7025
Tung-Sol EL34B
Preferred Series 7025
Tung-Sol EL34B
just a quick note: I own the MC-10T and was really surprised by the quality sound I was getting out of it. It doesn't sound like a vintage tube amp - warm, rolled-off like a stock Dynaco 70 - but very modern.
The stock Shuguang tubes are pretty good - at least in my setup - but rolling in some good American/European 12AT7s really helped. Same with the EL34s, where I popped in original Mullard XF-2s (perhaps a little overkill for such a budget amplifier).
Anyways - my only complaint is the difficulty of working on these. The amp feels like something that Sony would build - ie it takes a lot of screw removing to get to the guts, and with the metalwork very tight on top, there isn't much choice for capacitor swapping.
The stock Shuguang tubes are pretty good - at least in my setup - but rolling in some good American/European 12AT7s really helped. Same with the EL34s, where I popped in original Mullard XF-2s (perhaps a little overkill for such a budget amplifier).
Anyways - my only complaint is the difficulty of working on these. The amp feels like something that Sony would build - ie it takes a lot of screw removing to get to the guts, and with the metalwork very tight on top, there isn't much choice for capacitor swapping.
I find the Shuguang EL34's have nice mids, but a wooly bottom and a veiled top, I have a preference for the NOS Winged C's, very balanced with a detailed top, tight bottom and nice mids.
Edit: While my amp was still a Yaqin I replaced the .1uf coupling caps with Mundorf silver & oils, and replaced the resistors in the signal path with Kawame's, this was after Triode strapping the EL34's and severing the GNF line, all this made marked improvements to my ears. Although reducing the output power.
Edit: While my amp was still a Yaqin I replaced the .1uf coupling caps with Mundorf silver & oils, and replaced the resistors in the signal path with Kawame's, this was after Triode strapping the EL34's and severing the GNF line, all this made marked improvements to my ears. Although reducing the output power.
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