NAD: Victory Kraken VX MKII

[2dor]

I had this hooked up yesterday and decided to turn the camera on. It’s a really great, tight amp.

Big iron sounds all day long - love that little amp!

 

[Desertdweller]

Let's jump in, I'm about to void a warranty.

I did a bit more experimenting with tube rolling this week with the amp, and found some interesting things with it.

Preamp tubes:
I was getting a bit of noise with the original set that was in there and I had rolled some JJs and Marshall ECC83s a few months ago. I swapped out V1 to a Tung Sol, something I thought I did months ago but apparently I didn't. That was the biggest change in sound, nicely reducing the noise floor. I keep forgetting that this is the first thing I need to do whenever I get a new amp. Tung Sols are awesome.

Experimentation led me to believe that V1-V3 are the gain stages, and V4 is either a phase inverter or drives the FX loop, I'm not sure, and I'm not tech-savvy enough to trace the wiring to find out, but V1-V3 changes the tone and V4 has some impact as well.

Where I wound up is a Tung Sol in V1, Ruby tubes in V2 and V3, and a Russian LPS in V4 that just smoothed out the overall sound a bit. I kept going back and forth between the Ruby and a shielded Mesa SPAX7 12ax7 in V2, but stayed with the Ruby as the Mesa tube darkened the tone a bit more than I liked.

Power tubes:
Normally I'm a 6L6 guy, but in rare occasions I prefer EL34s. This is one of them, and I'm so glad they included the tube bias switch. It feels like the amp just hits all the right frequencies with the EL34s and the notes just jump out of the speakers in ways they didn't with the 6L6s. It's almost like it put a Mesa Mark-like slight V EQ on the amp swapping the tubes. I thought I had some JJ EL34s in my tube bin, but I think I used them recently in a different amp, so I used Tung Sol EL34s here and they sound amazing.

I don't have time to do a comparison video or recording right now, but I played the EL34s enough to be happy with the sound and closed up the amp for the night. I did not adjust the bias yet, but I played for about 30 minutes, the amp sounded good, and there's no red-plating on the tubes, so good enough for now and I'll check the bias later today. It's nice it has leads and the bias trim pot on the outside, but ultimately it's a fixed bias amp so I'm not terribly worried.

If any experienced YouTuber wants to do a deeper dive on this amp, feel free to hit me up, I'd be happy to consult. I think it's an absolute banger of a circuit they built here and it's a really flexible platform. This amp absolutely replaced my Badlander and EVH heads and I hear literally nobody talking about this amp.

 

[2dor]

Let's jump in, I'm about to void a warranty.

I did a bit more experimenting with tube rolling this week with the amp, and found some interesting things with it.

Preamp tubes:
I was getting a bit of noise with the original set that was in there and I had rolled some JJs and Marshall ECC83s a few months ago. I swapped out V1 to a Tung Sol, something I thought I did months ago but apparently I didn't. That was the biggest change in sound, nicely reducing the noise floor. I keep forgetting that this is the first thing I need to do whenever I get a new amp. Tung Sols are awesome.

Experimentation led me to believe that V1-V3 are the gain stages, and V4 is either a phase inverter or drives the FX loop, I'm not sure, and I'm not tech-savvy enough to trace the wiring to find out, but V1-V3 changes the tone and V4 has some impact as well.

Where I wound up is a Tung Sol in V1, Ruby tubes in V2 and V3, and a Russian LPS in V4 that just smoothed out the overall sound a bit. I kept going back and forth between the Ruby and a shielded Mesa SPAX7 12ax7 in V2, but stayed with the Ruby as the Mesa tube darkened the tone a bit more than I liked.

Power tubes:
Normally I'm a 6L6 guy, but in rare occasions I prefer EL34s. This is one of them, and I'm so glad they included the tube bias switch. It feels like the amp just hits all the right frequencies with the EL34s and the notes just jump out of the speakers in ways they didn't with the 6L6s. It's almost like it put a Mesa Mark-like slight V EQ on the amp swapping the tubes. I thought I had some JJ EL34s in my tube bin, but I think I used them recently in a different amp, so I used Tung Sol EL34s here and they sound amazing.

I don't have time to do a comparison video or recording right now, but I played the EL34s enough to be happy with the sound and closed up the amp for the night. I did not adjust the bias yet, but I played for about 30 minutes, the amp sounded good, and there's no red-plating on the tubes, so good enough for now and I'll check the bias later today. It's nice it has leads and the bias trim pot on the outside, but ultimately it's a fixed bias amp so I'm not terribly worried.

If any experienced YouTuber wants to do a deeper dive on this amp, feel free to hit me up, I'd be happy to consult. I think it's an absolute banger of a circuit they built here and it's a really flexible platform. This amp absolutely replaced my Badlander and EVH heads and I hear literally nobody talking about this amp.

View attachment 52494

I'm getting one this autumn for sure; can't f'in wait.

 

[Sleepingatsea]

Let's jump in, I'm about to void a warranty.

I did a bit more experimenting with tube rolling this week with the amp, and found some interesting things with it.

Preamp tubes:
I was getting a bit of noise with the original set that was in there and I had rolled some JJs and Marshall ECC83s a few months ago. I swapped out V1 to a Tung Sol, something I thought I did months ago but apparently I didn't. That was the biggest change in sound, nicely reducing the noise floor. I keep forgetting that this is the first thing I need to do whenever I get a new amp. Tung Sols are awesome.

Experimentation led me to believe that V1-V3 are the gain stages, and V4 is either a phase inverter or drives the FX loop, I'm not sure, and I'm not tech-savvy enough to trace the wiring to find out, but V1-V3 changes the tone and V4 has some impact as well.

Where I wound up is a Tung Sol in V1, Ruby tubes in V2 and V3, and a Russian LPS in V4 that just smoothed out the overall sound a bit. I kept going back and forth between the Ruby and a shielded Mesa SPAX7 12ax7 in V2, but stayed with the Ruby as the Mesa tube darkened the tone a bit more than I liked.

Power tubes:
Normally I'm a 6L6 guy, but in rare occasions I prefer EL34s. This is one of them, and I'm so glad they included the tube bias switch. It feels like the amp just hits all the right frequencies with the EL34s and the notes just jump out of the speakers in ways they didn't with the 6L6s. It's almost like it put a Mesa Mark-like slight V EQ on the amp swapping the tubes. I thought I had some JJ EL34s in my tube bin, but I think I used them recently in a different amp, so I used Tung Sol EL34s here and they sound amazing.

I don't have time to do a comparison video or recording right now, but I played the EL34s enough to be happy with the sound and closed up the amp for the night. I did not adjust the bias yet, but I played for about 30 minutes, the amp sounded good, and there's no red-plating on the tubes, so good enough for now and I'll check the bias later today. It's nice it has leads and the bias trim pot on the outside, but ultimately it's a fixed bias amp so I'm not terribly worried.

If any experienced YouTuber wants to do a deeper dive on this amp, feel free to hit me up, I'd be happy to consult. I think it's an absolute banger of a circuit they built here and it's a really flexible platform. This amp absolutely replaced my Badlander and EVH heads and I hear literally nobody talking about this amp.

View attachment 52494

This was a great read! I recently bought this amp and absolutely love it however I've had a few tube related niggles. Initially I was getting red-plating and returned it to the store who had their amp tech look at it. When it was returned, the power tubes were replaced with Electro Harmonix 6L6's.

I found these to change the feel/tone from the original PSVANE tubes not to my liking so ended up buying some JJ's and immediately preferred them.
This week when using the amp I noticed that I was getting a microphonic squeal when gain is pushed, either on CH1 with a boost/OD or on CH2 when gain was past 6ish.

After reading your post, I decided to buy a Tung Sol 12AX7 and a JJ ECC83S to try in the V1 position.

The sound I am wanting from the Kraken is a thicker low-mid with saturation on CH1. From reading, the Tung Sol may be too bright for my liking but keen to try these out!

 

[Desertdweller]

This was a great read! I recently bought this amp and absolutely love it however I've had a few tube related niggles. Initially I was getting red-plating and returned it to the store who had their amp tech look at it. When it was returned, the power tubes were replaced with Electro Harmonix 6L6's.

I found these to change the feel/tone from the original PSVANE tubes not to my liking so ended up buying some JJ's and immediately preferred them.
This week when using the amp I noticed that I was getting a microphonic squeal when gain is pushed, either on CH1 with a boost/OD or on CH2 when gain was past 6ish.

After reading your post, I decided to buy a Tung Sol 12AX7 and a JJ ECC83S to try in the V1 position.

The sound I am wanting from the Kraken is a thicker low-mid with saturation on CH1. From reading, the Tung Sol may be too bright for my liking but keen to try these out!

Thanks! I agree its a brighter amp. I don't use either of the options on the back and I run the presence either off (which is the tone of the original V1) or at most at 9 o'clock. It's an odd presence knob, like it's pushing more 5k than it should be at 8k-ish, but that's a guess as I haven't actually measured it. I also run the bass hot at about 3 o'clock. I like to run the gain below noon and boost it as well. It doesn't need a boost and records well without one, but live in the room I like what a boost does to amps like this.

Doing all of this I get a nearly perfect tone out of it, for me anyway.

 

[laxu]

This was a great read! I recently bought this amp and absolutely love it however I've had a few tube related niggles. Initially I was getting red-plating and returned it to the store who had their amp tech look at it. When it was returned, the power tubes were replaced with Electro Harmonix 6L6's.

I found these to change the feel/tone from the original PSVANE tubes not to my liking so ended up buying some JJ's and immediately preferred them.
This week when using the amp I noticed that I was getting a microphonic squeal when gain is pushed, either on CH1 with a boost/OD or on CH2 when gain was past 6ish.

After reading your post, I decided to buy a Tung Sol 12AX7 and a JJ ECC83S to try in the V1 position.

The sound I am wanting from the Kraken is a thicker low-mid with saturation on CH1. From reading, the Tung Sol may be too bright for my liking but keen to try these out!

The way I see it, being too dark is a bigger problem than being too bright. It's usually easier to tame treble - use your guitar tone knob, roll down treble or presence.

IMO the JJ ECC83S is the worst sounding preamp tube on the market that manages to be both dark and harsh at the same time.

I like the Tung Sol, should buy one of those myself. I think it's a good tube for early gain stages.

 

[2dor]

I like the Tung Sol, should buy one of those myself. I think it's a good tube for early gain stages.

It's my fav in the V1 position in all the British-voiced amps I've got.

 

[Desertdweller]

It's my fav in the V1 position in all the British-voiced amps I've got.

For 20 years now I've put a Tung Sol in V1 of every amp I've owned. It has a low noise floor and improves the punch of any preamp.

 

[Sleepingatsea]

Thanks! I agree its a brighter amp. I don't use either of the options on the back and I run the presence either off (which is the tone of the original V1) or at most at 9 o'clock. It's an odd presence knob, like it's pushing more 5k than it should be at 8k-ish, but that's a guess as I haven't actually measured it. I also run the bass hot at about 3 o'clock. I like to run the gain below noon and boost it as well. It doesn't need a boost and records well without one, but live in the room I like what a boost does to amps like this.

Doing all of this I get a nearly perfect tone out of it, for me anyway.

Sounds very similar to how I run mine too . CH1 is fantastic, love it set low for chimey breakup tones and with a compressor or like you say, it loves a boost in front as well. My favorite tones!

Re: my high pitched whistle noise I was getting...looks like I didn't do enough testing before ordering new preamp tubes. I put the TungSol in and it was still there. I ended up tracing the noise to the FX Loop, and then to my TC Sentry! For some reason with it in the 4cable method it introduces quite a loud high pitched whine.
I did a FW update on the pedal, changed cables and switched it to buffered vs true bypass and still no luck. As a last attempt, I put an old Boss TU-3 tuner BEFORE the Sentry and wouldn't you know, the whine is gone!

At least now I have a few spare 12AX7 tubes if anything happens I guess. Back to enjoying the amp!

 

[nightlight]

The Kraken is one amazing amp. I have the older MKI model, it's the second time I've owned one.

This was a recording I did with a Sennheiser E906 and a Townsend Labs Sphere mic. Positioned the room mic too close to my guitar, so there's some string noise creeping in. It's on Channel 1.

 

[Solarflares]

Rule of thumb is to put your strongest anode current (Ia) valve in V1.
V2 is a cathode-follower, and this valve is running only unity-gain, so we use a valve with the strongest transconductance (Gm).
V3 is an impedance-matcher, and just requires a good all-round valve.
V4 is the splitter, and it should be a closely internally-matched valve if possible, with both strong current and transconductance.
Always drive V4 strongly to retain a rounded tone, and push the power-section.
Always bear in mind that inhibiting negative-feedback is a product of higher values of the master-volume setting.

Victory ship all their products with utterly dreadful valves. I’m not aware that PSVane valves are stock Victory valves.
More likely are PM ecc83, shit-arse equivalents, and TAD EL34’s. All horrible.
In a busy shop for 15 mins, that cacophony of cheap Chinese hi-mid emphasis, might compel you to buy the amp - thinking that something good is going on.
But at home, the noise levels of ECC83S valves is criminal, and where’s the lo-mid and bass separation? In fact where are the lo-mids? Why is the bass uncontrollable? Why did I leave the shop with this fucking thing?
All is not lost however. You might have bought a ridiculously stiff and anaemic one-trick pony, and been conned by downright skullduggery on promo vids - but simple valve-changes can put you back on the right road.

All 4 pre-amp valves have a direct bearing on sound/tone.
Some people go with changing just V1 for something they like, but really, all 4 valves should be upgraded to something that has better noise levels and more linearity across the frequency bandwidth.
My recommendation for both the Sheriff 44 and the Kraken, is to try and source good used 60’s Blackburn Mullard ECC83, with figures better than 1.2 Ia and 1.6Gm. Either type 161 for the Sheriff, or the grittier 163 for the Kraken. They are still out there, and £50 to £70 per valve will give you something with real sonic-performance, and they will outlive anything currently made too.

My Sheriff 44 has it’s treble on 1 and presence on 1. Bass on 4 and middle on full. Using full input gain, I find having the master on around 7 is the best amount of negative feedback - so the amp is nicely responsive.
Many of you will want more top-end, and it is there of course.
The front-end needs 6-10dB of boost, to achieve the desired gain, and an added 6dB of mids at 1Khz can help an awful lot too.

For power valves - If you can’t get 60’s Mullard XF2’s cheap enough (80 Ia/11Gm), then next best thing is original Svetlana winged-C from the St.Petersburg factory. Later Reflektor plant stuff is junk. Use adjustable bias and they will last years.

Current production valves - I will stay out of that discussion.
If you like a valve, and it’s sound, then good luck to you.
But anything JJ or Chinese - you are not going to get the correct required high plate-voltage headroom that a vintage valve will provide. That’s providing their lax quality control hasn’t given you a dud in the first place.
The hi-fi boys quite like the Mullard and Tung Sol EL34 reissues, but I really can’t comment from direct experience.

Opinionated I know, but all Victory amps are hobbled by that negative-feedback aspect, and the tone-stack design is feeble, especially since the presence and treble affect overall gain.
But if you are prepared to set the amp up with great valves, and find it’s narrow sweet-spot - then they can be a rewarding, responsive platform.
I do not recommend using the loops at all, due to the V3 circuit’s foibles.
Take it sonically up another level - Use a reactive load to soak the perfect amp-response setting down to line-level, apply your fx to that, then use a second amp’s power section or power amp, to bring it back up to the level you need.

Btw. The mk2 Super-Sheriffs did not address these problems. Instead, they simply added mid-voicing, more gain, extra resonance thump, and varied the presence - although the loop design is better on these, and they tweaked the negative-feedback. If anything, they vainly tried to mitigate their use of cheap, shitty valves, with design-tweaks. Shame on them.

I might as well go all out, and say that I wouldn’t be buying a product R&D’d by corporate slut Rabea Massad in the first place. Not when Craig Anderton is in charge of parts sourcing either. Knowing that Rob Chapman might once have walked past my amp - is bad enough!

I will keep my original, heavily-modified Sheriff 44, with it’s £500 worth of vintage Mullards.
It is a stable, linear, one-trick pony - and a nicely responsive recording amp, if you are willing to accept it has just one optimal setting - which I am.
In it’s defence - I use an isolated 1kW APC UPS and shielded audiophile mains cables to power my amps. My outboards all have balanced cables. With way above book-spec Mullards, the Sheriff 44 is utterly silent, even on full gain, with the single-coil guitar turned up. No hum, no hiss. I have found the perfect setting where I achieve complete linearity across the board, and the true sound of the guitar (wire and wood) shines through, as well as any finger-nuance - at high-gain shred levels.

 

[Orvillain]