Hi Soi, I took a photo of the original resistor.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Thanks. My kit came with two sets of resistors (stock and Takman). Victor said the stock resistors are carbon as well, but 5%.
Yes I understand there are 4 settings. I would like to know what they actually correlate to as they are not gain and appear to be impedance. Issue is when I have someone come with tons of headphones for a day of testing and we have no clue which setting to use to align with the headphone, and have to spend time going through all 4 settings turning the amp on and off to see which matches the best. Doubt it's good for the amp or the tubes either...
this has nothing to do with tea or someone's taste, I am specifically asking what the actual measurements for each of the output gains settings are putting out. I am pretty sure Elekit didnt put in a random set of settings to hope that it would work. If that is the case, well then I have no words.
If you dont know what the actual measurements are, then would be appreciated if you asked Elekit what they are, or if they could measure it. If not lets see if someone else was as frustrated as me and actually measured what they are. If I knew how, I would do it myself.
What I am asking for is measurements like the the measurements below that someone else did for the 8800 amp, and honestly should be something that should be shared by the manufacturer.
If you do not know, then hopefully someone can or has measured it. As you can see with the chart below (8800 amp by an individual user), the outputs ohms is not linearly increasing by setting. In the HZ 1 through 3 option, its actually jumping around between the 3 settings. The output also varies between 4-64 ohms between all the 6 settings.
Just in case anyone is curious, yes I have emailed Elekit and I have gotten no response.
I have also attached a picture of the situation that is occurring. 9 different headphones that were brought over to my home for auditioning and 4 different amps. on the 8600, we have no idea how to decide which setting to decide, so we have to turn the amp on and off 4 times for each headphone which is 36 on and off cycles in a short period. Aside from it being annoying and frustrating, it probably isnt good for the tubes or the amp.
If Elekit or yourself dont think its important and refuse to share/check the data then so be it. That is also why I asked if someone else happened to have actually measured the output between the settings, as I cant have been the only person who is frustrated by this. This question/complaint comes up quite often amongst headphone users that have an Elekit amp.
If you dont know what the actual measurements are, then would be appreciated if you asked Elekit what they are, or if they could measure it. If not lets see if someone else was as frustrated as me and actually measured what they are. If I knew how, I would do it myself.
What I am asking for is measurements like the the measurements below that someone else did for the 8800 amp, and honestly should be something that should be shared by the manufacturer.
If you do not know, then hopefully someone can or has measured it. As you can see with the chart below (8800 amp by an individual user), the outputs ohms is not linearly increasing by setting. In the HZ 1 through 3 option, its actually jumping around between the 3 settings. The output also varies between 4-64 ohms between all the 6 settings.
Just in case anyone is curious, yes I have emailed Elekit and I have gotten no response.
I have also attached a picture of the situation that is occurring. 9 different headphones that were brought over to my home for auditioning and 4 different amps. on the 8600, we have no idea how to decide which setting to decide, so we have to turn the amp on and off 4 times for each headphone which is 36 on and off cycles in a short period. Aside from it being annoying and frustrating, it probably isnt good for the tubes or the amp.
If Elekit or yourself dont think its important and refuse to share/check the data then so be it. That is also why I asked if someone else happened to have actually measured the output between the settings, as I cant have been the only person who is frustrated by this. This question/complaint comes up quite often amongst headphone users that have an Elekit amp.
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Sorry I have no such info
It is a matter of taste or preference
A lot of people like to connect 4 ohm speaker to 8 ohm tap.
the spec is a reference only
for example you have HD800+ headphone it is a high impedance headphone . According to the spec of the headphone, we should set the headphone to high impedance but i prefer low impedance setting.
The number is a reference only.
HiFi man and LCD are low impedance headphone. You should set the headphone out to low or med to fit your taste..
Tube amp prefers low impedance headphone but HD800 is an exceptional for TU-8600
if you too concern about the matching.. you should check the impedance of the headphone
It is a matter of taste or preference
A lot of people like to connect 4 ohm speaker to 8 ohm tap.
the spec is a reference only
for example you have HD800+ headphone it is a high impedance headphone . According to the spec of the headphone, we should set the headphone to high impedance but i prefer low impedance setting.
The number is a reference only.
HiFi man and LCD are low impedance headphone. You should set the headphone out to low or med to fit your taste..
Tube amp prefers low impedance headphone but HD800 is an exceptional for TU-8600
if you too concern about the matching.. you should check the impedance of the headphone
You are making absolutely no sense Victor. I am not asking for preferences. How someone wants to connect and match their headphone/speakers to which tap sure is a preference. How the amp outputs is NOT a preference. There is a specific measurement on what OHM measurement is coming out, just like how you have a 4ohm speaker tap, and 8ohm, speaker tap like you just mentioned.
The different "gain" settings on the 8600s for the headphones are adjusting the output OHMs for that tap.
Its very simple. A preference is making a choice after knowing a fact. Steak, salad, hamburger, fish, whatever is all a preference what we eat. But it doesnt change the fact that they are what they are. The amp does not magically change its output OHMs depending on its mood. It is set based on settings. I want to know what that output OHM is for each gain setting, just like how I shared with you that was measured on the 8800 amp, which I am sure you have stated to other people doesnt exist and is based off preferences as well.
I get it, you dont know the information, and you dont seem to be willing to ask Elekit for it. So as I have mentioned, I am asking if anyone else here has actually measured it themselves, or if they know how to and are willing to walk me through it let me know.
The different "gain" settings on the 8600s for the headphones are adjusting the output OHMs for that tap.
Its very simple. A preference is making a choice after knowing a fact. Steak, salad, hamburger, fish, whatever is all a preference what we eat. But it doesnt change the fact that they are what they are. The amp does not magically change its output OHMs depending on its mood. It is set based on settings. I want to know what that output OHM is for each gain setting, just like how I shared with you that was measured on the 8800 amp, which I am sure you have stated to other people doesnt exist and is based off preferences as well.
I get it, you dont know the information, and you dont seem to be willing to ask Elekit for it. So as I have mentioned, I am asking if anyone else here has actually measured it themselves, or if they know how to and are willing to walk me through it let me know.
Please note: The above post was deleted by the Moderators, at the Member's request.
Couple of interesting updates.
First my calculations above were wrong. Apparently the website does not like excel copy paste and does crazy wonkiness. I have asked a moderator to delete or allow me to edit the numbers.
The updated numbers are significantly higher than I expected.
so then this mean my measurements are as follows.
Position 1 670 - 771 ohms
Position 2 553 - 602 ohms
Position 3 239 - 250 ohms
Position 4 119 - 121 ohms
This seems to align a bit better with my experience, and why I thought the amp was running out of power in position 1-2 (My main headphone is 300 ohms). Also the output ohms seems quite limiting for lower impedance headphones. Ok, quite limiting in general.
If you run hard to drive planars or lower ohm headphones, I would recommend looking into building/buying an adaptor for the speaker taps for the headphones. You need to use an adaptor due to potential to damage the transformers if you attach a modified headphone cable directly to the speaker taps. This is not an issue with SS amps, but an issue with tube amps. Linking below the HE Adaptor, which is what I use, it has been discontinued, but just to give an idea of what I am using.
Headphones & portable audio - HIFIMAN.com
LASTLY! THE MOST EXCITING!
Elekit actually responded to me this morning and they have official measurements for the headphone tap.
Position 1 : 670Ω // Zphone
Position 2 : 550Ω // Zphone
Position 3 : 240Ω // Zphone
Position 4 : 120Ω // Zphone
What would make me really happy is if they are willing to reduce this by a significant amount in the future, and also for it to be adaptable to previous amps.
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I do not have a schematics for the 8600, but Elekit tends to add a high value resistor in parallel to the headphone output. Change that to a low value and you are done.
So to follow up on what was earlier posted, I finally spent some time looking at the schematics of the headphone position of the TU-8600S and noticed that the amp uses 3 different resistors to create the 4 different Zphone settings. 2x 120ohm resistors and 1x 430ohm resistor.
I am planning on swapping all 6 of the resistors (at location R129/R229, R128/R228, R127/R227) to lower resistances to create 4 positions that would work better with the headphones. I have attached a picture of the schematics and circled the resistors that I am planning on changing.
So based on the drawing, and my preferences I will probably swap to the resistors below.
R129/R229 - Switch the 120 ohm resistor to a 5 or 10ohm resistor. This would allow Position 4 to be either 5 or 10 ohms. Probably will use a 5W resistor (like in the link below) as some of my lower ohm planars have the ability to pull 3-5w of power if it is available, and I want to make sure the resistor can handle the voltage.
Honestly am not sure what the actual output power of the amp is at different ohms as it has not been shared, but figured it would probably be prudent to use a 5w resistor for a 5 or 10ohm load. I wont be using it at that level, but I have some hard to drive planars that will pull as much power as available that are around 30-50ohms. Assuming its better over spec'd vs a burnt up resistor.
Mills Resistor 10R Ohm 5W MRA-5 Series
R128/R228 - Switch the 430 ohm resistor to a 200 ohm 1W resistor like below.
Takman Resistor 200K Ohm 1W REX Series
R127/R227 - Switch the 120 ohm resistor to a 30 ohm 1W resistor like below.
Takman Resistor 30K Ohm 1W REX Series
So, if I switch to a 10 ohm, 30 ohm, 200 ohm resistor setup, I should be able to have the 4 positions below. Honestly position 2 will probably be a throwaway, and I wanted to keep the 240Ω position (old position 3) as I really liked the way that they sounded on my ZMF and HD800 headphones. But position 3 and 4 should allow much more flexibility (theoretically in my mind?) than the current stock settings for a wider range of headphones.
Position 1 : 240Ω // Zphone
Position 2 : 210Ω // Zphone
Position 3 : 40Ω // Zphone
Position 4 : 10Ω // Zphone
I am not 100% certain on these resistors values yet, still trying to decide which resistances values I want that will work best for my use case. I just wanted to share what I was planning in case you wanted to share any insight or thoughts.
I have also sent this off to Elekit to see what they think, but I will probably proceed to do something of this nature regardless of what they say anyways out of sheer frustration with the headphone tap. Will report back either when I hear back from Elekit or after I swap out the resistors.
I am planning on swapping all 6 of the resistors (at location R129/R229, R128/R228, R127/R227) to lower resistances to create 4 positions that would work better with the headphones. I have attached a picture of the schematics and circled the resistors that I am planning on changing.
So based on the drawing, and my preferences I will probably swap to the resistors below.
R129/R229 - Switch the 120 ohm resistor to a 5 or 10ohm resistor. This would allow Position 4 to be either 5 or 10 ohms. Probably will use a 5W resistor (like in the link below) as some of my lower ohm planars have the ability to pull 3-5w of power if it is available, and I want to make sure the resistor can handle the voltage.
Honestly am not sure what the actual output power of the amp is at different ohms as it has not been shared, but figured it would probably be prudent to use a 5w resistor for a 5 or 10ohm load. I wont be using it at that level, but I have some hard to drive planars that will pull as much power as available that are around 30-50ohms. Assuming its better over spec'd vs a burnt up resistor.
Mills Resistor 10R Ohm 5W MRA-5 Series
R128/R228 - Switch the 430 ohm resistor to a 200 ohm 1W resistor like below.
Takman Resistor 200K Ohm 1W REX Series
R127/R227 - Switch the 120 ohm resistor to a 30 ohm 1W resistor like below.
Takman Resistor 30K Ohm 1W REX Series
So, if I switch to a 10 ohm, 30 ohm, 200 ohm resistor setup, I should be able to have the 4 positions below. Honestly position 2 will probably be a throwaway, and I wanted to keep the 240Ω position (old position 3) as I really liked the way that they sounded on my ZMF and HD800 headphones. But position 3 and 4 should allow much more flexibility (theoretically in my mind?) than the current stock settings for a wider range of headphones.
Position 1 : 240Ω // Zphone
Position 2 : 210Ω // Zphone
Position 3 : 40Ω // Zphone
Position 4 : 10Ω // Zphone
I am not 100% certain on these resistors values yet, still trying to decide which resistances values I want that will work best for my use case. I just wanted to share what I was planning in case you wanted to share any insight or thoughts.
I have also sent this off to Elekit to see what they think, but I will probably proceed to do something of this nature regardless of what they say anyways out of sheer frustration with the headphone tap. Will report back either when I hear back from Elekit or after I swap out the resistors.
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Placed and order last night for new resistors, just to mention the linked resistors are incorrect in my last message. I for some reason linked 200K and 30K resistors, they are 200R and 30R resistors that would be needed. hopefully will have them in a week or 2, then I'll have to find time to take my amp apart to test. Should be a fairly quick swap, as its only 6 resistors, but assuming the holidays will cramp down on my time and possibly delay shipping to an extreme.