Modwright PH 9.0x upgrades?
Hi all!
Happy owner of the Modwright PH 9.0x here and was looking into some of the upgrades that recently came available. I was wondering if anyone had any input on the following:
1. The ’T’ upgrade to the power supply to make it tube rectified;
2. The upgraded umbilical cable "PH9.0/X/T Reference Umbilical"
I’ve already swapped out the tubes & power cable (can see details on my virtual system if curious) on it and saw some nice improvements. Wondering if anyone has any input on whether or not it would be worth another ~$1000 to get these upgrades.
There's another Modwright tube rolling thread where others comment on the T upgrade. I did both at once so can't really comment. The others did report an improvement and the ability to roll the rectifier made a difference. My old ears couldn't hear any big difference in the rectifier, but could be my system. |
@armstrod Thanks! Perfect. I agree re: the stock umbilical. It's not really fitting of a piece of gear at this price point. IMO the upgraded one should just be the standard for something like this, but alas. @theflattire thanks for your insight! I tested a few rectifiers on my SET amp and saw pretty big changes in sound quality overall, so I would be surprised if I didn't hear any difference with doing it with the pre-amp. However, it may be less of a difference between tube types versus the non-upgraded power supply & the tube rectified in general. I guess I will find out! |
You gotta find that thread. Come to think about it, I'm not sure if the folks who reported good results also had the X upgrade done. Possible they were reporting only on the T upgrade. You already did the X so the T will just max it out! BTW, there's another company that does a Modwright umbilical, Triode Wire or something or other. I saw a used one go for a couple of hunski on another forum, can't remember which one. It was shorter though, less than a meter. I think they custom make them. |
@theflattire I'll see if I can track it down! Will be good to get some input into what rectifiers people prefer anyway. I bought the unit as a 9.0x from the factory last year (well, through a dealer). If the T upgrade would have been available at that time, I would have done that too upfront! It's a little more of a pain to ship it back and forth (and does introduce some risk of damage, etc) but worthwhile if it makes a nice improvement in the sound. The cost is pretty minimal for a good step-up in performance. Wywires also does ModWright umbilicals, though they aren't really much cheaper. I may hold off on the umbilical right away though to do some research on alternatives first. |
