I have the MZ2 and the MZ3. The MZ3 has a little more refinement and most likely is one of the best headphone amplifiers out there. As a preamp, it would have to be excellent. If you put in some 7062 tubes in place of the 12AT7, along with the great 12SN7 tubes, you are good to go. Excellent transparency, layering and bass quality. It would be fun to play it with some nicely modified Klipsch speakers since it also has speaker cable terminals.
It's good to know the MZ3 has a little more refinement and is a good headphone AMP. Last year I purchased an Astell Kern DAC and Fostex TH900MK2 headhones. No compliants with the setup and happy it's portable. I'm curious what a decent preamp headphone amp would sound like with the MK2's.
I have not seen any mods for the Cornwall III speakers. Bob Crites and Great Plains crossover and driver mods focus on the older ! and II models. Do you have any suggestions for the Cornwall III mods?
I have not seen any mods for the Cornwall III speakers. Bob Crites and Great Plains crossover and driver mods focus on the older ! and II models. Do you have any suggestions for the Cornwall III mods?
Here is the headfi thread which jamato8 gives some great commentary on the differences between the Mz3 and Mz2. This has been the thread that has convinced me that the upgrade from Mz2 to Mz3 is worth the spend.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/microzotl-3-by-linear-tube-audio-true-high-end-audio.895908/page-2
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/microzotl-3-by-linear-tube-audio-true-high-end-audio.895908/page-2
The Mz3 seems to be a better value that the Mz2 considering the headphone piece and "bass slam" among other things. The Mz3 is almost like newer version on the Mz2 with more features The next question is music source. I was on a pretty tight budget when I got the LM219ia and opted for the Klipsch Cornwalls speakers and Bluesound node 2i for input source (tidal HIFI). I owned hundreds of scratched albums from the 60s and 70s and in the mid nineties some guy offered me $500 for the lot and I jumped for two reasons. One the majority of them had suffered through my cheap Technics phono and Shure cartridge. I was young and never and quality HIFI gear wasn't my goal, louder than anyone else in my circle of friends and yes, I won hands down, but that's another story.
Question: Will the Bluesound node 2i kill the potential of the Mz3? https://www.bluesound.com/products/node-2i/
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I had no idea the 2 channel world was still alive. I thought everyone was doing the SS surround sound thing hehehe....
Question: Will the Bluesound node 2i kill the potential of the Mz3? https://www.bluesound.com/products/node-2i/
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I had no idea the 2 channel world was still alive. I thought everyone was doing the SS surround sound thing hehehe....
Jamato8, Forgot to mention...I saw your headphone picture on the other board. How do the Fostex TH900MK2 compare with the rest of your HP arsenal?
I received the PSVANE ACME valves and could not be happier. The wet blanket is gone and I haven't even broken them in yet. I may wait before getting the preamp. Current setup. Tidal--BluOS node2i--LM219ia (PSVANE ACME)-- Klipsch Cornwall. It sounds pretty good.
Some people reported not much difference with Pre amp.
I recommend you to do tube rolling of input and driver tube of 219 first.
It will make also lot of differences
Thomas
Interesting comment about the preamp. I have never owned one having always used integrated amplifiers and heard the LM 219ia pre is sub par. The 300B, 845 and 12ax7 (input) have all been upgraded. I am looking for a 310a which is not as rare as the 300B in terms of NOS. Having read many mixed reviews I have not decided which direction to go with the last pair of 310a tubes.
Jeff
Jeff
Just had on the acme 300bs in my line magnetic 219 amp and had a couple hours on it. Very nice. Especially on plucked strings, variations in texture, contrast in intensity and nuances are nicely layered yet maintaining a very nice fluid musical flow.
Very naturaly air and extension to the highs as well, yet no hint of edginess and fatigue.
Am seriously considering the switch to acmes for my 845 tubes as well.
Very naturaly air and extension to the highs as well, yet no hint of edginess and fatigue.
Am seriously considering the switch to acmes for my 845 tubes as well.
Congratulation on getting good result out of Acme 300B.
I had never used Acme845 but I have been very happy with Acme 805 in LM 508.
Last edited:
I've had my Psvane Acme 2A3s installed in my Cary Signature 2A3 monoblocks for a couple of weeks. They replaced my Psvane 2A3-TII's (grey coat with gold base) which I have had for several years (longest lasting 2A3's I've ever had). Out of the box the Acmes are harmonically richer and the music is more satisfying. I had been very happy with the TII's over the years and only went to the Acme's because my TII's were several years old and I wanted to replace them before any sudden failure which would leave me without a good set of tubes as a spare. Now I have the TII's as my spare. I bought my pair from Rachel at Grant Fidelity where I have bought my previous Psvane and Shuguang 2A3's for over 10 years now. Very happy with them and with Grant Fidelity. I see the prices from China for the Acme's are about the same.
Larry
Larry
https://www.hifi-amplifiers.com/en/...ifi-electronic-valve-matched-pair-p-5263.html
I had bought Acme 805 and 300B tube from above source.
He replaced one faulty Acme 805 tube free of charge.
He offers best price and fast shipping with DHL Express.
I got the tube 3 days after shipping.
I had bought Acme 805 and 300B tube from above source.
He replaced one faulty Acme 805 tube free of charge.
He offers best price and fast shipping with DHL Express.
I got the tube 3 days after shipping.
What I like about LM508 after changing into Acme 805 and 300B is beautiful tone out of violin.
I am listening to above music through redbook CD now.
There is one more thing that I can do to improve LM 508, that is to replace key resistors , capacitors and input and speaker connectors with better quality ones.
But even without it, I am happy with LM 508 as of now.
I have no plan to add pre-amplifier to it.
Definitely worth thinking about Thomas as these changes will give a profound improvement, especially some Duelund interstage coupling caps. Is worth checking in with Adamaley as he was thinking of asking Vlad from AudioMirror who lives locally to assess his 508.
I have abt 15 hours of play time on the acme 300bs. My observation is that the tube sounded its best in the first 10 hours of playback. It went downhill after that. Its still great sounding no doubt but seemed to have lost some of its magic that awed me right at the start.
That level incisiveness to the music which had captivated me seemed to have toned down a little. Especially on the track Spanish harlem by Rebecca pigeon, the bass lines seem to have lost some palpability and the part where the shaker comes in, seems to have lost tht bit of incisiveness. What was retained however, during the last 15 hours was how the music was portrayed in a very nicely layered 3d space with good amount of depth.
Does anyone here share similar experiences with tube break-in? Are the perceived changes in sound a matter of tubes breaking in or is it more a psychological one, where our ears get accustomed to the initial excitement.
My dealer says that it takes ard 50 hrs to "settle in". Keeping my fingers crossed that the magic will be restored fully once again.
That level incisiveness to the music which had captivated me seemed to have toned down a little. Especially on the track Spanish harlem by Rebecca pigeon, the bass lines seem to have lost some palpability and the part where the shaker comes in, seems to have lost tht bit of incisiveness. What was retained however, during the last 15 hours was how the music was portrayed in a very nicely layered 3d space with good amount of depth.
Does anyone here share similar experiences with tube break-in? Are the perceived changes in sound a matter of tubes breaking in or is it more a psychological one, where our ears get accustomed to the initial excitement.
My dealer says that it takes ard 50 hrs to "settle in". Keeping my fingers crossed that the magic will be restored fully once again.
As tube get burned in, its sound can get gentle and more refined but may give impression of losing some incisive bass.
I had used combination of Acme 805 and 300B for 150 hours.
My impression so far is its sound is on the refined side, while NOS WE 300B sound more incisive with tighter bass.
But it is hard to find good NOS WE 300B and they are expensive( 5000$ or more for pair).
If Acme works fine for more than 2000 hours , then it will be very good for the money.
So far my impression of Acme series is very positive with musical sound.
I think it it the best new production Vacuum tube that I had experienced.
For reference I had lot listened to Erlog 300B yet.
1998 WE New production 300B was disappointing and it will be interesting how 2019 WE 300B New production will turn out.
To those who have bought Psvane tubes from the new Acme series, which retailer do you recommend for persons in the USA looking to purchase? Thanks in advance.
https://www.hifi-amplifiers.com/en/...be-highend-tube-best-matched-pair-p-5264.html
He offers best price and fast shipping.
Also he replaced Acme 805 which turned bad after 100 hours free of charge.
Since then, my Acme 805 had been running for 300 hours with no problem.
Also my Acme 300B has been running fine without any problem for 200 hours.
Thomas
Similar threads
