ModWright Modified Transporter - The Wave of the Future!

zybar · « **Reply #400 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 03:05 am »

Quote from: rydenfan on 23 Jan 2009, 02:57 am

Thanks guys Hums are certainly a major pain. I have ripped everything apart and re-built it one by one multiple times over the last few weeks. There are a few things going on and I dont need to go into all of it, but I have identified my Transporter as one of the sources of the hum. As soon as power is put to it there is a noticeable increase in hum. I wonder what would cause it?

Sure you don't have any of these running around?

rydenfan · « **Reply #401 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 03:07 am »

Classic

I feel like I have a Mogwai! Is that Spike?

kenreau · « **Reply #402 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 06:55 am »

Quote from: rydenfan on 23 Jan 2009, 01:37 am

I have been fighting some group loop issue for the last few weeks. It has been driving pretty crazy actually Tonight I was swapping some power cables around on my TP and I noticed that when I had no power going to the TP that, while it didnt eliminate the hum from my system, it certainly reduced it. I am curious if anyone else has experienced any hum in their system? and what the cause could be?

David,

I did fight a similar issue about a year ago. Mine was overly complicated with my system being a combo HT and 2 channel set up, sharing the MWI pre and L & R speakers and PS3 a/v source. I have two dedicated lines, one for the 2 channel with a RSA Haley and the 2nd for the HT with a Monster HTPS 7000. 1st problem was satelite cable feed. Second was just too dam many power cords, cables, and rabbit trails of ground differentials. I bought six two prong cheater plugs that allow you to float the ground pins and by trial and error narrowed it down. I ended up keeping the cheater plug on the Dish sat. receiver and TV pc. This reduced 75% of the noise. To get rid of the balance of noise I ended up star grounding the two dedicated power lines. By this I mean I fished in another green ground wire and connected it to both wall outlets ground lugs to neutralize any ground differentials. Bingo, all noise gone.

If you are just running a 2 channel system and have been changing out amps, etc. I suggest trying the cheater on the preamp, or amp so there is only one main ground path. Typically you want the device with the largest power supply to be grounded.

Is your system on multiple, separate circuits?

There is some controversy with even the need for a ground wire. I like the idea of only one (like the preamp or amp, but not both). Most of Asia does not use them. Do a search over at the Music Reference forum (just under the MWI forum) for numerous related discussions.

I sympathize with your frustration. I spent hours and hours and hours trouble shooting the same issues before getting a solution.

Best of luck.
Kenreau

iluzun · « **Reply #403 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 05:18 pm »

Is the silkworm from transporter to pre? I can only use mine from pre to amps as it is unshielded.
Careful moving it as it has at its core a very brittle silver. I've went w/rca 'elbows' to relieve the stress
as I've had mine break several times now. The source to pre signal is low level so it really needs to be
shielded well to eliminate any loss/contamination. Just a thought....

Regards

iluzun · « **Reply #404 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 05:26 pm »

Another thought, it may already be broke. My initial break 'worked' for quite some time as long as the rca
was 'turned a certain way'. Later it went kaput totally but I am sure it had been fractured prior.

Regards....

ted_b · « **Reply #405 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 05:33 pm »

Quote from: iluzun on 23 Jan 2009, 05:18 pm

Is the silkworm from transporter to pre? I can only use mine from pre to amps as it is unshielded.
Careful moving it as it has at its core a very brittle silver. I've went w/rca 'elbows' to relieve the stress
as I've had mine break several times now. The source to pre signal is low level so it really needs to be
shielded well to eliminate any loss/contamination. Just a thought....

Regards

Yes, he's used the KCI from TP to pre (silver? I thought Silkworm was pure gold). The unshielded nature has kept him from going pre to amp I believe (he can answer better, of course). There he uses, currently, what I use, Soundstring Omega pro line balanced and shielded XLR's.

iluzun · « **Reply #406 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 06:44 pm »

The signal is weakest, from source to pre. Thus that interconnect should be properly shielded. It is not as important after that as the signal is stronger.

The KCI is silver w/a very thin gold coating. The silver is VERY brittle & snaps when bent. I have found this out by having mine repaired twice. I don't know why they use the silver they do, maybe cost, but it is brittle & does break easily. I guess that is what we get from not being able to afford the really expensive gold cables.

I use a pr. of Redrocks graphite shielded from tp to pre & amps to spkrs. The KCI works best pre to amps.

rydenfan · « **Reply #407 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 06:51 pm »

The KCI is pure Gold, not Silver. I have tried a multitude of IC's both shielded and un-shielded, it is not the IC.

ilzun, no offense, but I dont know you at all. You seem to have a gripe with KCI and they(John) have been absolutely wonderful to me. I hope you will take it elsewhere if that is what you are after.

Marco Prozzo · « **Reply #408 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 07:06 pm »

Quote from: rydenfan on 23 Jan 2009, 06:51 pm

The KCI is pure Gold, not Silver. I have tried a multitude of IC's both shielded and un-shielded, it is not the IC.

ilzun, no offense, but I dont know you at all. You seem to have a gripe with KCI and they(John) have been absolutely wonderful to me. I hope you will take it elsewhere if that is what you are after.

I wonder if he's referring to the silver solder John uses? He mentioned having to use "elbows" at the terminals to try to alleviate the breaking problem, which would lead me to believe it might be at the solder joint (which is silver). I've had problems with silver solder joints on RCA IC's on numerous occasions (NOT KCI's as I haven't even tried those). In my case the cables themselves were silver as well, but the break was always occurring at the silver soldered joint.

I was under the impression that KCI's were pure gold, and not silver coated with gold as ilzun states.

Regardless, if you've tried numerous IC's and all yield the same problem it's obviously not the Silkworms.

iluzun · « **Reply #409 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 07:19 pm »

Hey, just trying to help! Sorry you don't "know" me....

I live outside Denver & have had the cable repaired by Intrinsic Audio twice.
In business since '73.
They have been doing way more elaborate systems than anyone hear owns or runs.
7 way active crossover w/30" Hartley woofers.
Jerry of Audio Magic uses all their amps, crossovers, & drivers.

I came across these fellas after selling a $50,000 Naim rig I built up over a ten yr. period.

I watched as the cable was taken apart & repaired. It is silver w/a gold coating.

Do w/the info as you wish....

iluzun · « **Reply #410 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 07:23 pm »

It is not at the soldier joint, each time the cable snapped it was 2 or 3 inches into the cable itself.

Marco Prozzo · « **Reply #411 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 07:36 pm »

Quote from: iluzun on 23 Jan 2009, 07:23 pm

It is not at the soldier joint, each time the cable snapped it was 2 or 3 inches into the cable itself.

Thanks for clearing that up. Interesting. Everything I've ever read about those cables say they're "pure" gold (99.998 % gold or some such thing)....I guess that is different from "solid" gold though, though this is the first time I'd heard of a silver core. Even in their own description you would not assume that was the case.

iluzun · « **Reply #412 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 08:30 pm »

Well he states that it is not the ic, so the matter is pretty much moot.
I follow the Modwright threads as they have been helpful since I ditched a CDS3/555ps
and now run a mac mini w/Dan's tp. I have not had the turbo mod.

I don't have a 'problem' w/KCI. I like the cable (tensionless) but only from pre to power amps.
I run a pr. of Velvet Touch Migs of about 70wpc into Daedalus DA-1's.
I recently upgraded coupling caps in my pre & power amps to Mundorf silver/gold/oils & am
breaking them in. I own a Dodd battery pre, not currently in use that I understand benefits greatly
from the cap upgrade. Down the road I may check it out.

The ipeng remote app for the iphone is really slick & I want to try a metal base gz34. I've got an old
black base Valvo & a cryoed mullard gz32 w/the dr's.

A tube nobody has mentioned that works very well is the National Gold Line 6cg7, really premium stuff.

Just saw he was running the KCI's & thought I would share what I've learned.

Regards.....

ted_b · « **Reply #413 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 09:07 pm »

KCI makes a silver cable called the FireFly, I believe. Could that be what you are referring to, iluzun, (especially when you commented "cannot afford the expensive gold cable)? David (Rydenfan) has the gold one, the Silkworms. I am borrowing his XLR version to try here but haven't yet(arrived this week). Or are you specifically saying that the 99.8% expensive gold Silkworms are in fact, not all gold?

Ted

iluzun · « **Reply #414 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 09:23 pm »

It's a 1 meter silkworm that I am the second owner of. It has a very fine, solid silver core that is
very smoothly plated in gold. The other cables would be the Jade et al which retail for a lot more
dollars. Pure gold is a terrible conductor so I am guessing that all of these are a combination of
materials, but I could be wrong. Kinda like the Mudorf caps I've recently installed, the hierarchy goes
silver oil, silver/gold, silver/gold oil. They use only 1% gold or some such. I don't know the guys at
KCI but I've heard the 'hum' in my rig & cause was the broken silkworm. They r best not handled a lot
w/system reconfigs. It showed no outward damage & the disturbance was only in one channel which led
to an easy diagnosis. Just swapped the cables around to verify that the hum followed the ic.

Regards....

iluzun · « **Reply #415 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 09:32 pm »

Ok, let me simply state that if I am wrong about the content of the cable, because KCI's website alludes
to only goild w/no mention of silver,

"Both the signal and return conductor are produced from pure, 99.998% 24K gold bullion which is melted down and pulled into a fine audio grade wire using a special Pat. Pending process(The final step in this process, discovered by accident, helps reduce the dreaded "skin effect".... dramaticaly). Finally, the wire is treated with our proprietary cleaning, polishing and preservation process"

...then I am wrong. What I saw looked to be silver coated w/gold.

Regardless the cable is prone to 'snapping' when bent 90 degrees. It has the same characteristics as some grades ofsilver which can be brittle & was the cause of a hum in my rig.

My intent was to 'troubleshoot' the hum, not the cable construction....

Regards....

Philistine · « **Reply #416 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 10:21 pm »

Quote from: iluzun on 23 Jan 2009, 08:30 pm

I follow the Modwright threads as they have been helpful since I ditched a CDS3/555ps
and now run a mac mini w/Dan's tp. I have not had the turbo mod.

The ipeng remote app for the iphone is really slick & I want to try a metal base gz34. I've got an old
black base Valvo & a cryoed mullard gz32 w/the dr's.

Hi iluzun,
I've never heard the CDS3/555ps but would imagine it to be a very potent combination. You might want to consider the turbo mod upgrade as it is a significant and worthwhile improvement, I heard an immediate improvement with it. My favorite rectifier tube is still the mb gz34 but switch the signal tube on a regular basis, they're all slightly different. The advice, FWIW, I give on the mb gz34 is wait to get the feedback from owners that compare this with the EML 5U4, the reason being that mb gz34's have been going for crazy prices ($600 for a NOS). So far all EML owners have reported back favorably on its performance.
NB
Welcome to the MW forum!

iluzun · « **Reply #417 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 07:21 am »

Thanx for the welcome & sorry about any confusion I may have created speculating about the KCI's.
I probably assumed too much as the conductor is so fine there is not much to see in cross section.
The exterior was a polished gold but I thought the interior 'lighter' in color. The tech claimed that besides
being very fine, the conductor tended to vaporize at the touch of his solder gun, somewhere around 600 degrees, which is way below the melting point of gold or silver. I really have no idea now & wish I could locate the small 'break piece' I had that initial day. I got into the cable mess when I rotated out the Dodd & went to a bear bones we396a based pre w/the in & outs on opposite sides as the Dodds. Thus creating a 'clothesline' situation of the interconnects, something I shouldn't have done.

I also am waiting to hear more on the EML tubes, though I don't have
the necessary height for such in my current setup. The price on those metal basers is what keeps
me happily running the black base Valvo.

Moving the tp would require another 'reconfig'. Not an
idea I relish & besides Dan's stock tp is sounding very good w/the valvo & dr's.

I have talked to Dan & will move to the upgraded power supply sometime. I'm kinda watchin the board
because the upgrade seems to have created a rethinking on the accompanying tubes & somebody had asked about 'increased gain' that I haven't seen resolved.

I crawled up the Naim hierarchy of power supplies so I think I have a handle on what to expect. I kinda wish I still owned the 555ps as that thing was a monster improvement & I believe can be used to run their new music server. A full Naim rig can really boogie but can cost a boat load of cash and my current rig
has been more of an adventure & education on a fraction of the previous. The Naim stuff does hold its value & I was easily able to sell the stuff in a couple of weeks to people scattered all over the globe.

Dan adds the copper bybee, has anybody tried the silver or gold? They cost a bit more but I have a friend who owns one of Bolders modded squeezboxs w/the gold & he tried both the copper & silver prior to settling on the gold ones.

Once again, sorry for any confusion I may have created.

Regards....

Marco Prozzo · « **Reply #418 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 05:02 pm »

Quote from: iluzun on 24 Jan 2009, 07:21 am

[bigass snip]

Once again, sorry for any confusion I may have created.

Hey, your intentions were helpful, and you've contributed to a thread that is informative to anyone who may have questions about KCI cables, and also about the possibility of cable-induced hum. You've made a point to clear up any confusion - I'd say no apologies necessary... and thanks for the useful contribution by sticking with it and following up.

ted_b · « **Reply #419 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 05:36 pm »

Iluzun,
Welcome to the MW TP owners club!

Make sure you post your fave tube rolling stories or questions/feedback on the tube rolling thread.

Ted