V2 Help needed

[Crispy]

I decided today was the day to replace my Harma Valves with the Russian 6h23N-EB valves from Mike.

All was going well until I plugged the unit back in for a listen - nothing on the Left channel. Re-checked everything and swapped the valves just to make sure it was not one of them. Again nothing on the Left channel.

When I stripped the unit again I noticed the socket (SK1) was falling to bits - Hopefully problem found?


The reason I need help is that I do not have a clue about mending this type of socket

Looking at the schematic that our good friend Frans did for us, I have noticed on the lower part of the drawing stating UPPER PCB It says SK2?
He has also put a note saying it may give problems, and that you should remove the connector, shorten the wires and solder them in.

If you are reading this Frans I think you may have made a mistake on the schematic and SK1 is on the top board and SK2 is on the lower board.
It is on my V2 anyway.

If I do what Frans suggests and solder the wires in then it makes it more difficult to work on both boards if needed.

I am open to all possible solutions.

Thanks guys.

[PinkFloyd]

Chris, you can pop the connectors out (using a pin on the latch) and solder the wires back on OR you can solder direct to the PCB.... I would probably solder the wires direct to the PCB.

I can supply the entire cable assembly, you would just have to solder it onto the bottom board, let me know if this helps.

Mike.

[Crispy]

Jan 14, 2013 14:41:38 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Chris, you can pop the connectors out (using a pin on the latch) and solder the wires back on OR you can solder direct to the PCB.... I would probably solder the wires direct to the PCB.

I can supply the entire cable assembly, you would just have to solder it onto the bottom board, let me know if this helps.

Mike.

Thanks for that Mike, I will have a go at popping the pins out and re-soldering them and if I decide its to much trouble I will do what you say and solder them directly to the board.

Mike, do you think it would be wiser to get a new one from you and replace the cable anyway?

[mrarroyo]

I would get a new cable assembly, since it should make future work easier.

[Crispy]

Jan 14, 2013 14:50:46 GMT Crispy said:

Thanks for that Mike, I will have a go at popping the pins out and re-soldering them and if I decide its to much trouble I will do what you say and solder them directly to the board.

Mike, I tried popping the pins and re-soldering them and gave up.

I then thought that if I get a new cable I would have to solder it to the lower board so I may as well replace all the cables with OFC and solder both ends directly onto the boards. This is what I have done. (See pic below)
Still no left channel

Has anybody got any Ideas what else it could be?

Just out of curiosity is the front valve LEFT or RIGHT channel?

[PinkFloyd]

No left channel? Only happened after you put the valves in? Carefully check the valve socket connections (solder pads) it's possible you may have disturbed one of them when fitting the valve into the ceramic base.... rock the valve bases about and see if any of the pads move.

You've done a good job of the wiring, are you sure they are all going where they are supposed to?

Hopefully you've checked that it's not a defective valve by swapping them around?

[Crispy]

Jan 14, 2013 19:11:57 GMT PinkFloyd said:

No left channel? Only happened after you put the valves in? Carefully check the valve socket connections (solder pads) it's possible you may have disturbed one of them when fitting the valve into the ceramic base.... rock the valve bases about and see if any of the pads move.

You've done a good job of the wiring, are you sure they are all going where they are supposed to?

Hopefully you've checked that it's not a defective valve by swapping them around?

Thanks Mike.

I did one wire at a time so I would not to get them mixed up, then twisted them together, so pin 1 to pin 1 etc.

I have checked the valve bases and they seem fine. I am just about to put the old valves back in to see if that cures it.

I will keep you posted.

[Crispy]

Jan 14, 2013 19:25:40 GMT Crispy said:

Thanks Mike.
I did one wire at a time so I would not to get them mixed up, then twisted them together, so pin 1 to pin 1 etc.
I have checked the valve bases and they seem fine. I am just about to put the old valves back in to see if that cures it.

I will keep you posted.

Panic over

Instead of listening to my new Russian valves I have spent all afternoon and most of this evening fault finding

After putting the old valves back in the problem remained.

So I basically wiggled everything that would wiggle and found the volume pot moved a little. On de-soldering the pin that wiggled I found a broken track, hey presto. Scraped back the track and re-soldered the joint and no more problem.

So I am now going to fit the Russian valves again and let them burn in overnight with a burn in disc, then if the snow persists tomorrow I am bound to get some people cancelling their lesson and I will have time to have a good listen

Thanks again Mike, I was 99.9% sure it was not a problem with the new valves but you never know?

[PinkFloyd]

Jan 14, 2013 21:10:10 GMT Crispy said:

Jan 14, 2013 19:25:40 GMT Crispy said:

Thanks Mike.
I did one wire at a time so I would not to get them mixed up, then twisted them together, so pin 1 to pin 1 etc.
I have checked the valve bases and they seem fine. I am just about to put the old valves back in to see if that cures it.

I will keep you posted.

Panic over

Instead of listening to my new Russian valves I have spent all afternoon and most of this evening fault finding

After putting the old valves back in the problem remained.

So I basically wiggled everything that would wiggle and found the volume pot moved a little. On de-soldering the pin that wiggled I found a broken track, hey presto. Scraped back the track and re-soldered the joint and no more problem.

So I am now going to fit the Russian valves again and let them burn in overnight with a burn in disc, then if the snow persists tomorrow I am bound to get some people cancelling their lesson and I will have time to have a good listen

Thanks again Mike, I was 99.9% sure it was not a problem with the new valves but you never know?

I was 100% sure it would be a problem with one of the pads.... it was just a matter of finding the culprit well done Chris

[PinkFloyd]

Mike, do you think it would be wiser to get a new one from you and replace the cable anyway?

Hi Chris,

The ones I have will be from scrapped / burnt out boards... as good as new though I wouldn't bother now you have hardwired to the pads.... you've made a good job of it

[Crispy]

Jan 15, 2013 19:28:15 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Mike, do you think it would be wiser to get a new one from you and replace the cable anyway?

Hi Chris,
The ones I have will be from scrapped / burnt out boards... as good as new though I wouldn't bother now you have hardwired to the pads.... you've made a good job of it

Cheers Mike it's nice to get a compliment from somebody who does this sort of work all day long
I do try my best to get everything just right, but inexperience in electronics sometimes catches me out.

The jury is out with the new valves though

I haven't had a lot of time to listen to them yet but I do believe they need quite a bit more time to burn in. Either that or the Harma Vintage 6922SQ deep Cryogenic treated valves that I took out are far far better than I first thought, or burned in to perfection.

I didn't notice on the box when I bought them, but they have 29/29 written on the ends? what does this mean.

the two valves side by side.

Again just out of curiosity Mike, have you ever had a pair of Russian 6H23N-EB valves deep cryogenic treated? The theory behind it sounds good

[PinkFloyd]

29/29 means zilch to me?

The gain should be around 36
The transconductance should be around 12.5
The ma/V should be around ten or better

I have no idea what 29/29 means..... it's obviously better than 28/28 or not as good as 30/30 but god knows what scale they are measuring it on?

29/29 sounds better than 27/29, that's all I can think of.

[Deleted]

They did a stock check and had 29 valves left in collections of two's (matched) and you have the last of the batch?

[PinkFloyd]

Again just out of curiosity Mike, have you ever had a pair of Russian 6H23N-EB valves deep cryogenic treated?

I went into the deep freezer the other day for a "Findus Macaroni cheese".... when I was in there I grabbed a pair of 6N23P-EB and defrosted them, they tasted really good... nice and crunchy..... my mate reckons they are at their best if you batter and deep fry them straight out of the freezer.

Chris, I cannot BELIEVE that you have bought into the frozen valve market Fresh ones sound so much better

[Crispy]

Jan 16, 2013 21:40:15 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Again just out of curiosity Mike, have you ever had a pair of Russian 6H23N-EB valves deep cryogenic treated?

I went into the deep freezer the other day for a "Findus Macaroni cheese".... when I was in there I grabbed a pair of 6N23P-EB and defrosted them, they tasted really good... nice and crunchy..... my mate reckons they are at their best if you batter and deep fry them straight out of the freezer.

Chris, I cannot BELIEVE that you have bought into the frozen valve market Fresh ones sound so much better

I thought that would get you going Mike, ;D ;D ;D nice to see you back to you old self. I had to laugh when I read this - very funny.

I bought the Harma valves long before I knew about Rock Grotto and its mysteries - but I have to admit they do sound good whether its just the valves or the treatment who knows?

I still haven't made up my mind about the Russian valves yet
They definitely sounded better this morning - so I need to keep them working and burning in a bit longer.
The track that really made me sit up and listen was Fiona Apple - Window

The bass was so low and rumbled down my living room shaking the wax from my ears ;D
This was me this morning after my deep fried & battered straight from the freezer Russian valves for breakfast???
uk.news.yahoo.com/video/amazing-dog-feels-blues-music-050000230.html

[Crispy]

Jan 16, 2013 21:25:18 GMT @iancraig10 said:

They did a stock check and had 29 valves left in collections of two's (matched) and you have the last of the batch?

Thanks Ian, that seems to be the most logical answer

[PinkFloyd]

Chris,

The Russians do take a bit of time to come on song.... give them a good few hours from new.

[Crispy]

Jan 17, 2013 20:04:06 GMT PinkFloyd said:

Chris,

The Russians do take a bit of time to come on song.... give them a good few hours from new.

Mike them new wires sound absolutely stunning


Only joking with you
I have had a bit more time to burn in and listen to the Russian valves and they are definitely getting there. They do sound really good -especially the bottom end, so low and tuneful.
I still think they need a good few more hours burn in before they come fully on song, the sound stage doesn't seem as wide as it used to but I am confident this area will improve with more listening time.
All I can say is the V2 as a pre-amp/headphone amp is stunning
I have owned Linn, Naim, Ben Duncan and a few other pre-amps and none of them get close to my modded V2