STR-440s in IIC+?

[exbest182]

yea.. this amp has got around.. that's for sure... it went from Chicago, to someone in California.. who then sold it to the guy I bought it from... this was all inside a few months.. I'd say within 6 months.... I remember seeing it on here, but had no idea that was the amp I was buying at first... I was originally told it was a C -> C+ and was told it had an x101 in it .. I pretty much bought it sight unseen, going off what the guy told me.. then I got it checked the serial, and was like whoa.. what's going on.... didn't have a "+" on the back of it and i was freaking out that it wasn't even upgraded to a C+, then after a search on the serial here I found all the info. I needed. Good times though, and it's still a great amp.. I'm so excited to get it back, and do my side by side demo with my Mark V!

 

[dodger916]

yea.. but for something like a IIC+, I wouldn't trust anybody but Mike B. to do it... Dude is the guru for the older Mark amps, and loves to talk about them.. I got 3 seperate calls from him over a couple days talking about different options and things that I could do for my amp.. even though shipping might be terrible, in the long run, I think it's worth it... I had a guy here in town that was going to charge me half of what Mesa is charging me, and promised it back in 2-3 days, but I went with Mike B.. just because it's Mike B.. his initials are on the back of my amp!

Anybody EXCEPT Board member Boogiebabies (Ed). I respect Mike B., but having Ed blueprint my C+ was like a brother worked on it.

 

[exbest182]

got my order from Dougs Tubes.. now just waiting for the amp... I went with his recommended preamp cocktail with the Tung Sol in V1, and a Sovtek 12ax7lps in V4.. I see these 2 talked about quite a bit, but for V2 and V3, he sent me the penta labs 12ax7 - which according to the site is the same as Groove Tubes 12AX7-C, has anybody used these in a IIC+ in V2 and V3?

 

[mule#1]

I'm sure the 440's will sound fine, but maybe they aren't optimal. The mesa branded sylvania str-415 are a great match for the C+. They will sound great, plus a fresh set will last thousands of hours, compared to many hundreds of hours of new stock tubes. if you want EL-34's in the simul sockets, try to find a pair of sylvania str 416's, for the same reasons.

for preamp in the C+, for me, I would find some NOS RCA, Tung Sol, Sylvania, GE, RFT, Tungsram for it.

whatever you do, I would suggest fresh tubes after the service

scott

What slots do you put that tube coctail into? Just curious.

 

[zodiac272]

hey

for these NOS tubes, I don't have any Tungsram, but I hear they are the bee's knees in any spot

V1 RCA, RFT, Tungsram, Ting Sol,
V2 Tung Sol, Tungsram, GE, Sylvania
V3 RFT, Tungsram, Tung Sol
V4 Tung Sol, Tungsram, GE, Sylvania
V5 Tung Sol, GE, Sylvania

Right now i think I have
HRG C+
V1 RCA
V2 Tung Sol
V3 RFT
V4 Tung Sol
V5 Sylvania 5751 black plate

KDG C+

V1 RFT
V2 Tung Sol
V3 RFT
V4 GE 6201 (12aT7)
V5 GE 6FQ7

scott

 

[exbest182]

Amp is done... yay! Rich at Mesa says it won't get shipped back out until Monday though Grand total of repairs/tubes/return shipping.. $503.97, thing should be practically brand new... I'll post pics when it gets here.. I'm anxious to see a list of everything done....

 

[mule#1]

hey

for these NOS tubes, I don't have any Tungsram, but I hear they are the bee's knees in any spot

V1 RCA, RFT, Tungsram, Ting Sol,
V2 Tung Sol, Tungsram, GE, Sylvania
V3 RFT, Tungsram, Tung Sol
V4 Tung Sol, Tungsram, GE, Sylvania
V5 Tung Sol, GE, Sylvania

Right now i think I have
HRG C+
V1 RCA
V2 Tung Sol
V3 RFT
V4 Tung Sol
V5 Sylvania 5751 black plate

KDG C+

V1 RFT
V2 Tung Sol
V3 RFT
V4 GE 6201 (12aT7)
V5 GE 6FQ7

scott

Thanks Zodiak! I have to try to find dome RCA's to check out. I have some Sylvania's. The IIC+ manual says not to use them as they are micro phonic prone so I have discounted them. I have some NOS 12AX'7's.

 

[mule#1]

Amp is done... yay! Rich at Mesa says it won't get shipped back out until Monday though Grand total of repairs/tubes/return shipping.. $503.97, thing should be practically brand new... I'll post pics when it gets here.. I'm anxious to see a list of everything done....

Hope it sounds great!

 

[zodiac272]

Thanks Zodiak! I have to try to find dome RCA's to check out. I have some Sylvania's. The IIC+ manual says not to use them as they are micro phonic prone so I have discounted them. I have some NOS 12AX'7's.

that's funny, I never saw that mesa doesn't like sylvania12ax7's in the manual. Which manual do you have?

scott

 

[mule#1]

I have old manuals coming out of the wazoo! lol. I'll find it and let you know.

 

[mule#1]

Thanks Zodiak! I have to try to find dome RCA's to check out. I have some Sylvania's. The IIC+ manual says not to use them as they are micro phonic prone so I have discounted them. I have some NOS 12AX'7's.

that's funny, I never saw that mesa doesn't like sylvania12ax7's in the manual. Which manual do you have?

scott

Mesa boogie Mark II Maintenance & Repair -page 2 paragraph 1 "Recomended brands: GE, RCA, Amperex; try to avoid Sylvania12AX7's as they are incredibly microphonic".

 

[DaveP]

"Sylvania12AX7's as they are incredibly microphonic"

Yes they are. I acquired a set of them and they were the worst sounding tubes. Made the amp sound like azz.
Maybe someone else had better luck but they just didn't work for me.

 

[mule#1]

I've never used them that I remember but there were some new ones in the bottom of my IIC+ when I got it with the manual. I will have to try them to prove the theory myself.