I have it plugged into a Black Lion Audio PG-X Rackmount Power Conditioner right now and no difference at all but it's not an inexpensive piece.
I think the balanced transformer approach simply works best to condition the power going into the LM from my experience. I have a Niagara 1200 that also made zero difference. I believe Totus Power makes some good products as well to consider.
And you've toyed with the Hum Balancer for both channels? Have you tried replacing the 6SL7 tube with another? That's the only one that affects both channels and where I'd start otherwise.
I have had some noise issues with my LM-805ia + Lampi DAC, given that neither component has a low noise floor. Maybe due to tubes, but there also seems to be some sort of other noise I have never been able to quite identify (and I have spent countless hours testing various things). Particularly when I tried to go directly from Lampi DAC -> "pre-in" on the LM and bypassing the LM volume control. Fortunately, most of the issue went away when I put a passive balanced -> SE Cinemag transformer with stepped attenuator in the chain. (XLR to RCA Balanced Converter with Input Transformers and Stepped Volume Control ) This allows me to use the balanced output of the DAC, bypass the LM volume control, and allows me to attenuate the max gain, which in turn takes care of noise. Secondly, like others, I am very happy with the Puritan PSM156 power conditioner. Great product. Had a Niagara 1200 but it didn't do anything whatsoever.
Someone who bought LM523pa left me this message to me. It seems that this mono block amp is not being imported by regular dealer here. I have recieved the line magnetic lm523pa + melody 1688p, it sounds wonderdull togther, much better than the lm508. soon i will recieve new linlai elite tubes for the preamp, i hope it will make aditional improvement. i suggest you to buy the lm523pa directly from line magnetic. As I enjoy music through Qobuz these days using Aurender N30, I listen to music for more than 10 hours a day Thus I am happy with Schitt Aegir which sounds close to tube amp due to class A operation. But I do not claim that Aegir sounds better than LM 508. The nice thing is that I can leave Aegir on 7/24 while I turn off LM 508 after having it on 3 hours. Please note that I have not had any problem with LM 508 with this practice of turning it after 3 hours during last 5 years. In the future, I plan to upgrade to Lm523 pa. If I do then I will also leave my impression of it.
Yes! I am not that smart! There is the update I didn't realize that my DAC was plugged into another outlet, not the same as the LM and I was getting crazy ground loupe issues. Also one of my interconnects had some noise too, not sure whats going on there but once I plugged the DAC into the same power source and changed out the interconnects I have a nice quiet sound.
For whatever reason I also found out early on that my LM805 was much more susceptible to ground loops than other amps I had used. I initially had an awful ground loop issue with my preamp until I traced down the issue.
@Ontheone would you mind elaborating how you traced down the issue and what finally solved it ? I had posted earlier as well and my 805 also has weird buzz issues from the speakers. One speaker has more noise than the other. The stock 6SL7 was very noisy and changing it to some NOS, lowered the noise quiet a bit but still not to my satisfaction. I am not sure if the noise are due to the higher noise floor of the amp and high sensitivity of the speakers combined or inherent to the amp. I have tried several things (change tubes, power conditioner, cheater plugs, ground loop eliminator, etc) to no avail. So I am wondering if I can do anything more to fix it.
I was told by an ex dealer in socal that he had to stop carrying them because of how noisy they could be. Not all of them but a vast majority
First off, my ground loop only occurred when my preamp was connected to LM805 - hopefully there is no 60hz ground loop coming from your amp using it standalone? It was a simple process of elimination for me tracing it down and I ended up using a HumX connected to the preamp power cable to remedy it. The remaining objectionable noise was removed using an Equi=Core balanced transformer power conditioner. Others such as AQ Niagara 1200 did almost nothing. I think the larger transformers in the LM are bit susceptible to noise and a balanced conditioning approach seems to address this best. Torus gear may also work well. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply. I have tried all sorts of things but couldn't get rid of it completely. The HumX does help to some extent. I have not tried any balanced conditioner yet but I do have an older 500watts BPT unit somewhere that I might try at some point.
Mullard EL32 + Brimar ECC804 OK, here to share as an early Christmas present... Who says you cant have amazing sound without burning a hole in your pocket? Here...using a twin Mullard EL32 (strapped as triode) on 6SL7 and a pair of Brimar ECC804 on 6SN7. If you look hard enough, you are looking at about USD12 each for the EL32 and ECC804, a total of about USD50 plus or minus. Enjoy and have a great holiday!!! P.S. Always study the datasheet carefully when rolling tubes.
Has anyone tried 7N7 tubes in their LM? The sylvania ones are supposed to be the same internals of the 6SN7.
I have tried the Sylvania 7F7 on the 6SL7 slot as it was recommended by some fellows here and I was not very impressed. It's not a bad tube, but I like others better. Although they are very cheap if you are on a budget. My fav on the 6SL7 slot is the Ken Rad 6C8G D getter, buy a wide margin. I prefered it over the Mullard ECC35, the Brimar 6SL7, the Sylvania 7F7, the Melz, etc. If the 7N7 is compatible with the 6SN7 and you give it a try, let us know how it goes. In this slot I prefer for now the RCA 6CG7 Clear Tops, wich are also pretty affordable. Of course, it depends on taste, system synegry, speakers, room, etc
By the way, I have a brand new EML 300B XLS that I'm selling at $290 shipping included. If anyone is interested can send me a PM.
Hi Guys, I write because I'm tempted to try a pair of Mullard ECC804 tubes on the 6SN7 slot of my LM508 as they are pretty cheap and I have the 6CG7 to 6SN7 adapters that @tlowe confirmed can also be used with the ECC804. Regardless the sound quality (I will take the risk on that), I've been reading the specs sheets, but I really have a hard time to understand them 100%. I have no option, but to ask people with experience like you guys and I would appreciate your help. Can the ECC804 tubes be used without a risk on the 6SN7 slots? Thank you and happy new year!!
Guy, I'm thinking of buying a pair of Psvane COSSOR 805M - the one with the pin on top - to upgrade the stock 805 on my LM508. Can anyone suggest a place to buy the cable to connect the top pin? (possibly one that ships to UK) Also are those tubes any good as an upgrade? And can anyone comment on the difference between the COSSOR 805 vs 805M sound wise? Thanks.
If you search back within this thread about a year and half back I think you will see posts from several of us about this topic. I ended up making my own connectors and I posted links to where I sourced the materials. I'm not the most proficient guy with a soldering iron but it was actually quite simple. I was running the RCA 805's at the time.
I have a pair of Psvane 805A Tii with a few hours of use. They sure are an upgrade from the stock tubes. I can send them to you if you can wait for me to finish my vacations, begining of february. You would have to just pay shipping, I guess about USD 25. Then, if you like them, you can pay me USD 80 for them. I can offer you that because I don't use them anymore. I use ACMEs and I love them, but ACMEs are much more expensive. 805A Tii should be around the same level as the Cossor.
Thanks but one of the motivation to get thr COSSOR is that the amp is next to an UST projector and the 805 spill so much light that bleeds onto the image, the COSSOR being covered black should do the trick in this regard.