What’s your price range? The Mojo prices for the new models shot up soon after they launched but have settled down recently, so depending on when you last checked the website, they are still expensive, but maybe not as expensive as you remember. If you look at their site now, you’ll see demo models between $7K and $9K, and new models a little more.
I have a V2xa that i think is fantastic, fantastic enough that i considered selling it for a v3 once i saw one hit sub $3k used. I say try your friends v3, old doesnt mean worse. The Mojos need about 2 days to warm up but they really grab your ear.
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Ive been finding myself with extra time with used houses going through their usual winter/school season shortage (read, no new houses to look at) that i should just zip down there. If i show up on your doorstep consider yourself warned. Just get some DHT OTLs in before i get there, hear that chief?
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Yeah i was considering trying out the v3 but my friend actually told me without hesitation that the Abbas is better. If I come across a really good deal on the newer models maybe I’ll reconsider but at the moment I’m going to pass on mojo.
Thanks for your feedback though. I think generally people are pretty happy with their mojo audio.
I don’t want to spend a ton. I think $5k is kind of my limit when it comes to each component (DAC, Pre, Amp, etc). I currently can’t justify more at my current stage of life. Plus from my experience, I’ve been fairly happy with the value/performance ratio of the $3-5k used components.
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I can only speak for the current Mystique X, but assuming (from all the other rave reviews on this forum) that Mojo has a house sound and a consistent level of excellence, then the previous models seem to be going at a huge discount, presumably because the Mystique X has pushed the prices down on the models they replaced.
Here’s one from 2021 on US Audiomart:
There’s another from 2020 that seems to have similar upgrades, and is a few hundred cheaper:
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We should car pool one time, nick does BBQ as well as show you his gear.
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BBQ you say? Ill grab a BEC from the deli on the way.
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@Polygonhell sorry to lean on you here but you always seem to have the knowledge i need for these things. I see a lot of reports of 300b tubes taking out other parts of the amp when they fail. Is that a more common thing with that tube type, amp design, or just bad luck?
I’m not going to say it can’t happen but…
It’s VERY unlikely given how they are likely to fail, and where they usually are in a circuit.
Basically you have a beam of electrons conducting between a cathode and an anode, with a “grid” modulating the flow, for that to happen, the cathode has to be heated, when the heater fails it basically just goes open circuit.
The type of tube has no bearing on this, I guess it’s theoretically possible to have the cathode short to the anode when it burns out, I’ve never heard of it happening, and if it did the amp fuse ought to blow, unless it’s extremely poorly designed.
I had a bad regulator take out a fuse in my DNA, big flash as the filament burned out then nothing. Fuse blew, nothing else un towards.
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Interesting. This is diving deep but ive seen a few posts of people having a white flash in their 300b, then either the fuse did its job and popped, or i think a few mentioned a cap blew and the amp needed to be serviced. One of these i think was a Cayin. But ive been reading so many threads this weekend i may be mixing things up.
They’re simple devices, the only thing special about DHT’s (or rather not special) is they don’t have a separate heater element, the amp has to provide a voltage offset either DC or AC, across two pins that connect to either side of the cathode in order to heat it directly.
There is some complexity in the implementation of that to do it well, but it’s unlikely to make the amp likely to fail.
I’ve used tube amps for 20+ years, and I’ve yet to destroy one with a bad tube.
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Thanks, i appreciate the insight. I used to be better, not great, with these things but over time my knowledge has eroded.
10 posts were merged into an existing topic: Bakoon KR / Enleum amp thread, 12R / 13R / 23R / 31 / 41 / 51R
First off, thank you to those on the forums who have helped me out, lent me an ear, and took the time to dive deeper on things as i tried to figure out my next steps…
Over the past year or so I have been spending a lot of time with my equipment and trying to figure out and express my likes and dislikes. Right now I have some loaner amps on their way to try out. And while the spot is there for any amp to claim, I think I narrowed down to two likely suspects, an LTA MZ3 or EC Studio B.
Both look to hit many things im looking for: Some but not extreme tubeyness (a little bloom, a little trailing echo, organic feel), relatively balanced, good control, black background (quiet as well), and seperation. I really love a well seperated soundscape, one with air around each piece, it is something @j.fopps pointed out to me about the Cowon S. To me it really makes that 3D placement pop and defines layers and each piece’s role in the mix.
A more whimsical take on my prefered staging
Think of a cool summer night and youre outside in a firefly filled field. Each instrument is its own firefly, they light up and are clearly defined before returning to the blackness. You can tell if each light is close or far off and even though they are clearly seperated, looking at it as a whole you can see how the whole dance works together.
The things i havent heard much about is their texture, tactility, and ease of presentation. I am guessing texture and tactility are at least adequate? I have no idea about the ease of presentation, do they seem like theyre not breaking a sweat (think rnhp) or is it a very pushed power thick sound? (How i felt the taboo was)
Outside of that I have the following in my head for each amp but please tell me I am wrong or if anyone here disagrees. I can be light years off.
MZ3: linear, neutral, crystalline and squeaky clean. Probably less tube characteristics, but i dont want to say SS in nature. I would expect plenty of treble sparkle and sizzle. More technically impressive.
ECSB: The warmer side of neutral, airer, well rounded with a more stereotypical tube influence than the above, but not full on like a BHC. A drop of bloom, a drop of wetness. No technical slouch but maybe behind the mz3.
Pairing wise the Dacs will be the Mojo Mystique and ::cough:: Golden Atlantic ::cough cough:: and main headphones are LCD2.2pf (maybe not on mz3?), LCD-24, Atrium. Maybe the 600 and HD800s get mixed in, maybe a Utopia in the future. but tbh I am not concerned about those nearly as much.
I think the only thing i want to avoid is a Taboo 2.0 experience where it feels very dense and concentrated on one strong aspect.
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The LTA MZ3 can be affected some by tube swaps and isn’t always as squeaky clean as possible.
I had some 12au7’s in mine that presented a slightly gritty/grainy upper midrange that grated on my teeth once.
I also find 12sn7’s a preference over most/all 6sn7’s I have personally tried especially since I feel they add width to an otherwise tighter/smaller soundstage.
There have been some other variations but overall yes sir, @Souldriver you are pretty close in your overall descriptions of both those amplifiers.
Also, looking forward to you finally playing with your Lampizator and hearing more about your experiences with it 
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I have found that the higher voltage versions of the same tubes tend to do that. Also 12sn7s are still cheap and less spoken about.
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Moving this discussion here. What would your ideal system look like usecase wise? I think if you are looking for a “desk + seperate main system” setup there are some realy good options that could save you some cash, but we would need a really clear idea of exact use case. Like do you need to game on it? Or can you get away only ever streaming? What cans would you use at each place and for what?
TBH I love these like optimization theory crafting questions, so post teh requirements if you have time and im more than happy to theory craft for a bit
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@orrman HP output of the weiss will be better from a wholistic perspective IMO, but obviously very different flavor so it will have some different synegry requirements.
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I won’t say no to some good advice!
I have two systems in the same room - lets call them desktop and main.
Desktop is currently BF2->RNHP connected straight to the Mac. This is used for listening while working, youtube etc. I don’t game. I sometimes listen more seriously next to the computer but that won’t be much more after I get a good chair for the main.
Main you all know by now - powerplant 3 with G1 with psu upgrade, Wavedream (not sig) balanced, LTA Z40+ and WA33, this drives speakers+sub and headphones for critical listening and time away from the computer.
Headphones are Susvara, Utopia 2022, Mysphere 3.2.
The two systems are about 20ft apart from each other. Ideally I would move the main system next to the desk and just run super long cables to the speakers but that’ll be ugly AF
If I could improve stuff it would be:
- better desktop chain (it’s underwhelming with my cans)
- my main is only tubes so solid state somewhere in one of the systems
What bugs me mostly:
Not using the WA33 almost at all these days, don’t have a good plan to keep the Susvara if I sell it.
What’s most likely going to be gone at some point? mysphere, current desktop chain, WA33.
I’d love to keep the Susvara but the LTA might not be enough for it. Utopia is staying. LTA is staying.
I stream 99% of the time. No local files at all. Vinyl connected directly to main system and will stay there.
I think that’s it, probably forgetting something lol
continuing the weiss discussion:
If I get that, it’ll be the streamer/DAC to the main system while replacing the desktop system (with its headphones out), that’s my theory at least.
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