Ah I see, thank you.
Grabbed mine for $350 usedā¦and again tube repository already exists so no sweat here.
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There are many reviewers I āreviewāā¦Shock jock types, entertainers, FG dudes 
and shillās but at the end of the day I let my ears decideā¦in-between thereās music and time to kill 
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I was kind of liking his reviews, but his response on this one threw me off a bit. He definitely got hung up a bit on the price and volume gain. If I was a reviewer I would probably do a little research on price fluctuations and sales if I was going to make price such a huge factor in that review (but Iām not so maybe what do I know). Also not mentioning that the pot āissueā can be āsolvedā or avoided with a dac that has volume or gain options, annoyed me a bit. I understand and can agree to a point that if an amp costs that much it should not need additional components to fix issues. But then again, comparing the MLP to 800-1000 amps doesnāt seem to be fair to do anymore considering its price fluctuations (even if that is what you paid).
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The volume issue alone would make it a no-go for me at $800-$1000 regardless of sound quality. But at the $400 that it was selling for for most of last year, itās a steal.
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Disagreed with his review as well. He probably only listened to the stock tubes right out of the box and judged them right then and there rather than allowing them to settle after 100-150 hrs of burn (as recommended by the instructions manual) because his description of them matched my impression when they were brand new. I donāt know if he has the patience for doing that or may simply handwave it away by saying, āA normal user shouldnāt wait that long to get better sound from the amp.ā
Also, his choice of non-stock tubes was interesting. New production JJās seem to be included in other stock amps/pre-amps, but I never heard them so I cannot say. Also, I never heard of National Electronic NOS tubes before. They seem to be around during old tube days in the US, but then probably sold off their license/trademarks to others. There appears to be National Electric tubes from the USSR too. The JJās and the National Electronic tubes are seldom recommended for the LP. When tube rolling, I assume that a regular user would go online and see what otherās are recommending and determine if the sound description from the LP+non-stock tubes fits their preference. Lastly, I donāt know if he allowed those tubes enough burn-in time.
I have to give him credit though for being spot-on about the lack of a gain switch, (which leads to) the small usable volume range, the volume knob channel imbalance issue, and providing a workaround for the latter. The channel imbalance issue in my first LP manifested itself whenever you move away from the gain boundary(?) at around 10:30-11 oāclock. Thankfully, my second LP unit has channel imbalance at around 7:30, which is more typical of these pots. An overseas customer will likely be put-off by the fact the unit may have to be shipped overseas (likely at cost) to fix or improve the volume issue.
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I should cut him some slack and remember that most of his audience probably live in or around Australia and he is reviewing based on the resources available to him/them.
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Well, I know Iām in the minority here, but I basically agreed with his review. I was never able to really engage with the LP.
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I pulled the Gold Lion 6922s and put in a set of Siemens 7308s yesterday and left them to break in for about 8 hours before giving them a listen.
My initial reaction was Whoa - What a difference to the positive. More energetic but a smoother energy especially the treble where there is now less of a bite, and to me more natural sounding especially with regard to ride cymbals and crashes. The mids may not be as forward but that could be the phones Iām using at the moment (th610 stock). Bass drum is deeper and richer but still a nice solid impact - not a lot of excessive decay. The overall sound just suits my tastes better.
Today I still hold the same thoughts pretty much, and adding yet another slight push towards the positive. Iāve used these phone sets now, LCD-2pf, Edition X V2, Lawton modded d5000 and stock th-610. Iāve yet to try the Elegia - I got sidelined by just listening to music and forgetting I was on a mission to try all the phonesā¦
All of the characteristics that appeal to me for each of my phones still shine through for each and they all sound better to me with the 7308s. If I had to generalize - Rich deep bass neutral mids (meaning not spoiled by bass and treble) and treble that is still full of detail but smoother, then wrap that all into a more organic overall presentation that still presents excitement.
I am now even more curious to try the Amperex PQ 6922/E88CC Gold Pins after giving these 7308s a healthy 4-6 week run.
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aggreed and better if youi get it cheaper used the one I got off Don seems to be a golden unit cause It doesnāt have either problems with the pots or channel imbalance
Thatās one problem. The pot (potentiometer) is what controls the volume for both left and right channels. If the pot is crap, it will attenuate left and right differently and you will get channel imbalance. Just FYI.
ah facts. how easy is it to replace a pot?
Not very unless you use the exact same one. Iām waiting on an Alps to be delivered that Iāll try to shoehorn into the chassis/circuitboard. Itās been done before but the front panel had to be modified so Iām not too keen on that method. Iām thinking of cutting the circuitboard to fit.
On Upscale Audio under the āMAKE/MODEL OF COMPONENT (BUYER RESPONSIBLE FOR ORDERING CORRECT TUBE TYPE)ā, what would you put there for this unit, do I just put the unitās name āMonolith Liquid Platinumā? Also, can someone explain to me what these different grade types of tubes mean or just whatās important to know about them to me?
after a small discussion I had about this amp recently itās got me curious. Anybody know of some tubes that will help with layering, soundstage, and imaging for the amp? Price is not of concern
If price isnāt an issue, these are what you want.
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interesting, will save that for laterā¦ anyone try these and have some comments for them? Or alternatives?
I personally own Amperex PQ Gold Pin, Siemens 7308, Sylvania Green Label 6DJ8, Matsushita 7DJ8/PCC88, GE 6DJ8, and National 6922. I personally believe that the Amperex or Siemens are the way to go as far as price to performance.
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how much of a difference would you say you get going from the stock tubes to the one you recommended there? Is it worth that price?
Absolutely. The stock tubes arenāt very good. In my experience, new production tubes are inferior to New Old Stock/NOS tubes 99% of the time.