Sound differences of Magnequest upgrades

[FraGGleR]

Well, I have decided to do a full rebuild of my S.E.X. 2.1 and have just purchased a new top plate to facilitate.  I was going to get a new DAC, but at this point, I think I will put the money towards the Magnequest iron upgrades and be "done" with my amp first. 

I have searched the forums and have only gotten a little bit of info on how people hear the differences in sound for the three levels of upgrades.  While full nickel might be the "best" from a technical standpoint, I am looking for a certain character from my amp.  I am using the HD800 as my primary listening tool, so I want to get as much bass/warmth as I can from my amp, but with letting enough detail through to let the HD800's shine.  As far as this can be controlled with the iron upgrades, which one would be best?  I understand the more nickel, the more detailed things get, but does that come at the expense of some bottom end?  While I like to pinch every penny I can, I am willing to pay what I need to at this point to get my S.E.X. the way I want it.

I just received some Clarity Cap SA and ESA capacitors and probably won't experiment beyond these caps FWIW.

 

[jrebman]

Well, IMO you're best off with the stock iron on the 2.1.  The iron upgrades from MQ are for the 2.0 -- different primary impedances, chassis plates, etc.  Your best bet is to try the caps, and probably others as well as they are likely to have the most effect.

Also consider wiring the amp balanced, using a 4-pin xlr connector and a balanced cable to your 800s, as long as you're rebuilding it, that is.  Impedance switch boards would be good too.

Really best thing I'd suppose is to upgrade the DAC -- that's where I think you'll get the most improvement, but I don't know what dac you're using now, so it's just a guess.

-- Jim

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Jim is spot on, and with the impedance board, you'd probably like the SEX set to the 4 Ohm setting.

-PB

 

[FraGGleR]

Hi Jim and PB,

Oh wow, I wasn't aware that the upgrade iron was only for the older versions of the S.E.X. - a few people have mentioned that those are the most important upgrade, although I might not have been clear with what I have.  So not worth the money on the 2.1?

Currently, I already have both the C4S and impedance boards hooked up as well as a 4-pin XLR (and a locking 1/4") jack for headphones, so caps, a rewire, and the iron upgrades were what I was looking at (in addition to some cosmetic tweaking).  Certainly gets a lot cheaper if the iron upgrades don't make sense!

I currently am using a Nuforce HDP with a Sigma 11 linear power supply that I built as my DAC.  It is an extremely good value, and I am pretty sure that I am going to have to put in close to $1000 to get a big enough jump in quality to justify the expense.  To be honest, there are so many DAC's to choose from that I got tired of researching and thought I'd max out my amp first.  Looks like I am going to have to dig back into DAC's now.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[jrebman]

Yes, the stock iron on the 2.1 )and stereomour) is a very nice piece of iron.  No, no nickel, just good ol' m6 and a really careful design.

Yeah, what can you say about dacs, at some point you just have to choose and hope it works out.  I'm not familiar with yours but a good power supply is key, and the one you have should be really nice.  Maybe just wait for the BH dac?

-- Jim

 

[Maxwell_E]

Mind if I hijack this thread a little? As someone who owns the SEX 1.0 and may be contemplating the iron upgrade soon, I am curious about the answer to original question. What are the general characteristics of the standard MQ upgrade vs nickel stripe/full? I'm running some small Sony monitors on my desk for background music and HD600's for real listening.

 

[Doc B]

We will also have the S.E.X. 2.0 iron available as an upgrade for S.E.X. 1.0 in the next day or two. Just need to get it up on the shopping cart.

 

[Paul Joppa]

Just to beclear about it, the Magnequest upgrade parts BH-1 and BH-2 fit mechanically and electrically, in any version of the Stereo SEX amp. The new Bottlehead parts OT-2 and PC-3 also fit, and have similar specs to the Magnequest parts. There is an audible difference between these two sets of iron, but it is small and more a matter of taste.

The old Stereo SEX amp (variously called version 1, 1.0, 2, or 2.0) was in production from 2004 to 2012, and that version benefits (especially in terms of bass power capability) from an upgrade to either the Magnequest or Bottlehead parts mentioned above.

The current Stereo SEX amp, V2.1 on the manual cover page, incorporates the OT-2 and PC-3.

Incidentally, I have started a new thread on the version names, because we have been a little sloppy about it over the years.  :^)

 

[FraGGleR]

Thank you for the clarifications. 

If the iron differences are more flavor as opposed to quality (resolution, etc.) for the 2.1 kit, then they are an easier thing to skip as an upgrade. 

 

[jrebman]

Well, I'm definitely going to get the new trannies for my old 2.0.

-- Jim

 

[jrebman]

Dan,

Is this done yet?

-- Jim

We will also have the S.E.X. 2.0 iron available as an upgrade for S.E.X. 1.0 in the next day or two. Just need to get it up on the shopping cart.

 

[Natural Sound]

I have a SEX 2.0 that I built many moons ago. 2005 or 2006 vintage I believe. It was my first Bottlehead kit and I still cherish it to this day. About a year later I upgraded to the enhanced SEX kit which included a pair of c4s boards, signal caps and a set of output transformers and plate chokes from Magnequest. I opted for the pinstripe version. The amp sounded completely different after getting rid of the speco outputs and adding the other upgrades. The Bass was more extended and tighter. There was also much more detail and smoothness after the upgrade. It has given me many years of pleasure.

I'm finally getting around to upgrading the iron in my Paramour II's so the SEX amp is back in the main system pumping out beautiful tunage to the "almost" broken in Orcas. It sounds crazy freaking good!

Here is my question. Has anyone compared a Magnequest upgraded SEX 2.0 like mine to the new SEX 2.1 with c4s?

 

[Doc B]

Here is my question. Has anyone compared a Magnequest upgraded SEX 2.0 like mine to the new SEX 2.1 with c4s?

Yes. Someone else owns my old 2.0 now.

 

[Natural Sound]

Here is my question. Has anyone compared a Magnequest upgraded SEX 2.0 like mine to the new SEX 2.1 with c4s?

Yes. Someone else owns my old 2.0 now.

;D I get it.

 

[Paul Joppa]

It's not a huge difference, like the Speco vs. either of the upgrades.

 

[johnsonad]

In my short time in owning a S.E.X. Amp I've found it responds very well to changes. If you are looking to tailor the sound, consider different coupling and parafeed caps first. I was very surprised at how much of a difference in sound they can make. Two other things to consider are grid chokes and replacing the last power supply cap (22uF) with some type of film cap. I have done all of these to mine, one at a time and am startled at how good it sounds now. By far the easiest and largest change in sound has came from trying different parafeed capacitors.

IMHO, I would stick with the stock Bottlehead iron and tailor the sound to your tastes with the above mentioned mods.

 

[royewest]

My family gave me the full-nickle transformers as an upgrade to my S.E.X. amp a couple of years ago and it was transformative -- if you'll forgive the pun. I upgraded some caps (Obligattos), the Pot (Alps), and added the C4S board, but the nickle was the trick for my system -- driving HD650s and Zu Druid Credenzas.

 

[FraGGleR]

My family gave me the full-nickle transformers as an upgrade to my S.E.X. amp a couple of years ago and it was transformative -- if you'll forgive the pun. I upgraded some caps (Obligattos), the Pot (Alps), and added the C4S board, but the nickle was the trick for my system -- driving HD650s and Zu Druid Credenzas.

Which edition did you have?  Apparently, the 2.1 transformers are good enough that it might not be worth the $400 to get full nickels.