Laconic Lab Night Blues Tube Transformer Coupled Amp

I might get one of these to go with my ZD Micro and Feliks Elise to complete my Soviet Tube Amp trifecta

 

It made through customs, yay . Have you tried the complimentary tubes? My Russia is a bit rusty but the ones in white cardboard box.

 

@t3hwx9 kindly organised for one to be sent to me - customs knocked it back once, and after much paperwork, the second time was successful. Lucky for our resident smuggler, the courier service refunded most of the costs of the first attempt.

The NBM works just fine without a transformer - the included cable obviously won't have the right plug, but you can always use a local cable.

 

No, I just put in the ones that were wrapped up and labelled "LEFT" and "RIGHT", as they're reputed to be matched. I will put some hours on the caps and tubes and see how it settles in. Given how cheerfully it handles HD650, I'm going to have to get modding.

 

First impressions are more honest, cmon spill it!

 

If you insist.. a very brief comparison with a fully burned in HP8 Mk2 and maybe the Jot. The NBM isn't at all burned-in yet, so it may well change somewhat, and gain some finesse on top of the basic sound.

Right now, the NBM sounds solid and competent. It actually sounds a bit more like the Jot than it does the HP8. It sounds faster, attacks are sharper on the NBM than the HP8- though not quite as fast as the Jot. Inner detail is present, but right now it sounds like HP8 > NBM > Jot for that. I expect this to be one of the things that might improve a bit. I'm not hearing much warmth and "tubeyness" yet, so I really think it needs some hours on the caps and tubes, too. Bass is well controlled, but bass extension feels like it hasn't fully kicked in yet.

It's solid and competent, but I really feel like it's too boxfresh to draw any serious conclusions yet. Unmodded HD650 is driven nicely out of the high-Z socket, looking forward to trying a modded pair.

It's a squat, plain, square unit. The volume pot isn't the smoothest. Build quality is spartan. It's gloriously Russian- like they took a lump of steel and cut off everything that didn't look like an amp. There's no messing about here. It reminds me of various old Soviet era camera gear that I've owned- very functional. I enjoyed using those, too.

I should try plugging in some IEMs to listen for spurious noise at some point, but I had no problems late at night with HD650 and HE-560 so far. Incidentally, the HE-560 sounded more "normal" out of the high-Z socket.. I wonder if that could be because there's more current available on that one? I think planars enjoy that sort of thing.

Anyway, am I disappointed? Hell no. If this was how the amp always sounds, it'd still be a good deal. However, I'm expecting it all to relax a bit, and gain some more bass extension and a spot more inner detail. I'm not holding out for it to sound totally different, but a gently improved version of an already quite decent unit.

Downsides? I feel like a bit of a hipster.. "Oh, you won't know it.. you can't buy them here, you have to get them artisan smuggled out of Russia..."

 

Thanks!
I meant more about the HP8. I have the Laconic laying about here already.
For me the Laconic has only really one weakness, the blurry bass. It doesn't bother me with HD800, but it does so with HD650.
As push-pull it should have some 3-rd harmonic. Mixed with DH650's generous 2-nd harmonic is the problem, maybe.
Slants didn't have much problem with it either, though a little more control in bass would have been preferred.

 

I haven't had quite enough bass from the NBM to worry about how tight it is, yet- it's being quite polite. I shall be listening out for it.

I'm trying not to post detailed impressions of the HP8 until I have had a chance to mod some HD650 to try with it. It's a weirdly divine pairing with my HE-560, though. It's a very tubey, silky effortless sound. It's not the most slamming amp that I've ever heard, but things have tons of texture and fine detail- really delicious chewy stuff. The day I got it, I listened to the damn thing for hours- it sounded good with everything from Beeth Oven's 9th to Nevermind. Actually, that was pretty amazing, I was able to listen to Nevermind through the HE-560s, and not only did I not feel like my head was being sawed in half, but I also heard subtleties of texture and detail that I've never heard before. Sound stage was maybe not quite as wide as my Jot, but has so much more depth, especially with big orchestral recordings. The high end is clear, but sparkling rather than piercing, and the bass is smooth and extends nice and deep. I need to try modded 650 to see how it manages the detail- it sounds lovely and textured on the HE-560 (which are very fast).

Ok, so I have just spoilered my own longer impressions, but I do intend to post more about it when I have made up my mind. However, I can say that a fully burned in HP8 with Jensen caps sounds gorgeous to me in a refined, laid-back way. Be aware that I may still have "new toy syndrome", mind you.

Happy now?

 

The ZD Micro sits on my work desk, the Elise sits in my living room, and the NBM, if I got it, would be at my home desk. The ZDS is too large to be ideal for any of these three situations (even my living room) or I would've copped one instead of the Elise when I was initially looking for a tube amp.

The odds of me actually getting another amp are low because I'm pretty much settled with my HP gear at this point.

 

Oh, regarding noise and high-sensitivity transducers. Kind of an early announcement for the next production batch. There's a plan to shunt the pair of resistors (their initial function was anti-ringing precaution. Not sure about the correct translation, there are different kinds of ringing), that'll make the noise floor less audible.

 

Very cool, nice to see that they're still actively tweaking it. I'm only going to listen for noise for curiosity- as IEMs are a killer tool for that. I don't expect it to be a problem either way, as it's only ever likely to be driving relatively heavy full-sized headphones anyway.

Incidentally, the sound changed yet again last night.. getting a little more bass through. It's definitely slightly organic in the way it's breaking in. Fun listening. Not about to warn people off the NBM, it seems like a nice little amp.

 

I did some photos how does it look inside...

Transformer:


View from bottom (after you open the cover)

Motherboard:

SE inputs connected together:

 

The new one(since dec. 2016) looks like this.

 

That is totally different from above, the jump area, i would understand if the blueprint is prototype.
I hope anyone tell me that this is not concerned with consistent noise.

 

I've definitely messed up, the R1.1 and R1.2 were the ones to shunt.
windcaller, are you experiencing an audible noise floor / ~50-60Hz hum thing? There were some units with an assembly error/oversight. Got one of mine returned to the manufacturer: s/n 01-91, production date 14.01.17, same wire color, and capacitors as featured on your photo.

In other news, NBMs are back in stock now. The expected price bump was $16 ($303 → $319)

Spoiler

Russian-Economy.png

 

Are any of these units wired for American 115vac?

 

Nope! Only three(?) were ever produced with the correct transformers.
@Marvey and @zerodeefex had them and I believe Marvey sold his on.

edit: If you read back through this thread you will find that there would be a minimum order quantity of 20 to 50 to have more 115v units produced. Also, no direct shipping.

 

No, mine is just having some power oriented noise and laconic inform me how to get over this.
After setting up the config which they told me, i would tell the result.

 

Did anyone ever work out what the standard tubes are in the NBM? I don't have mine in front of me right now, so I can't check. I'd like to get some spares of good quality to stash in the cupboard.

I'm not looking to do wanky Christmas tree things - I just want decent-quality replacements. There's not a lot wrong with the valves that came with the unit, they're quiet and sound decent. It's nice to have spares, though- so I can leave it on with a clear conscience when I am at home.