anyone know about trannies? in the RT2/50?

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withmittens

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This amp is great for sure. I just start looking around and hearing other things and wonder if a tranny upgrade would improve this amp and it's response and tone. I know some folks think a tranny upgrade doesn't do much, but I think that depends on the tranny. once you get a good tranny, you get a lot for your money. more than you've ever had before.

what are the trannies in the RT? is Heyboer better? I've heard Mercury is not worth it, Heyboer being better for less.

what about a vintage set? how would one go about matching a tranny?

I think it may be worth looking at the trannies
 
China, they are made in china.

Your choices for replacements are limited and mercury is likely it.

Jaded faith is probably the only place u will find replacements, and I think he may even need work with mercury to r&d them.

I don't think there is one currently available anywhere
 
I was on the fence about the tranny thing as well, but I took the plunge and had my RM50 modified.

I just picked it up yesterday...I WAS WRONG, best sounding MTS amp I've ever heard. I sold my Foglifter+ modded RT 2/50 to buy it, and I'm glad I did. DO IT.....
 
Mercury in the RM50? I was always wondering why they were the only option seemingly with the RM100's. My SL-X had a Classic Tone upgrade in it. If it can handle el34 should be able to handle other tubes. They're 1/3 the price but I guess maybe a bit smaller. Asking cause my other RM100 needs resurrected and if worst case scenario it needs one. Hopefully just that dumb power board.
 
I personally did not find the upgrade to Mercury Magnetics to be all that much improvement....So I sold to someone who could hear it better than I....I stick with the stockers and find MDA does all I need for the extra tone I wanted...

Just my $.02
 
I have two RM50s and was able to A/B them. Icould tell a big difference with the Mercury transformers. Needless to say, I had the 2nd RM50 upgraded soon after.
 
I think the Mercury upgrade was a HUGE improvement to my current RM50.
I've had EVERY flavor of MTS amp ever made, and nothing tops this one.
 
I believe there is a difference between the Mercury Magnetics transformers and the Jaded Faith spec Mercury Magnetic transformers. Maybe Rob could chime in. I have JFM RM100 and a stock RM100 and there is a small amount of difference between the two. I am sure there would be more but I am playing it at home and not cranked like you would in a live situation. I also have a JFM RM22 combo with the transformer upgrades and there is no comparison to when it was stock. I also have a JFM RM50 combo and head and while I think the combo sounds fabulous the head is just slightly better than stock IMHO.
 
There are a couple things to know about transformers and if you will reap the benefits from a premium set.

The PT is like the heart and circulatory system. Think of it pumping current like blood through the amp. Now consider the demands you put on the amp. Bedroom levels are like a slow walk with your dog. Cranking it is like running a marathon. At low levels, you are asking very little of the PT. So an upgrade makes little financial sense if you aren't really using it's potential. However, if you crank the amp up it demands a lot more of the power supply just like a marathon does of your heart. That's where a quality PT outshines every time.

On the other hand, your OT is like the lungs and voice box. It pairs the signal leaving your output tubes to the speaker, operating like a fulcrum if you will. A high quality OT will also shine regardless of the level you use it at. From a designers POV there are considerations such as primary impedance, laminate technique, oversized vs undersized and more. I typically offer two custom sets for the RM-series amps. One is tuned in the sweet spot for the most tubes and another that makes EL34/6550 tubes more at home. When you claim the ability to use any octal tube with an amp, some types of tubes are going to operate happier than others because you need to make choices and not all can be ideal for all tubes.

So in short, you can see an improvement with an OT upgrade nearly always (in addition to going with a design that's best suited to your favorite tube) and a PT upgrade is mainly judged by your application. This is part of the process I guide you through when selling an upgrade job.

The RM20/22 iron is underwhelming in stock form. Upgrading these and adding a choke is pretty night and day over stock form. That's also part of the secret sauce in the amps I build for our showroom here at the shop. I've been building custom amps in the style of a Princeton Reverb that I can't keep in stock. They sell as fast as I can make them. I redesigned the power supply and use an oversized Deluxe Reverb style OT. Along with some other things, this amp yields 5W RMS more than any Fender and with a much bigger sound from the same small package. It's a Princeton with enough horsepower to hang with drummers. It's similar to the RM20/22 upgrade.

I'll close with a story that helps explain it in context. When I did George Lynch's RM100LB, I delivered it in person at a tech gig I was hired to do for Lynch Mob. Oni (Logan, the vocalist for Lynch Mob) has extreme sensitivity to loud guitar amps from years of gigging. When we set up the stage, George's amps need to point off-axis about 45 degrees away from from facing the audience and in the opposite direction of center-stage. We were using an SLO and a Trainwreck for George at this show and tried the RM100LB I did right after soundcheck. Oni came up to George and I and complimented how good the amp sounded at high volumes. He found it very comfortable at high SPL without any painful artifacts that he experiences with most amps cranked that loud. It's an interesting story of what the upgrades can do in a real world setting. That amp had the EL34 transformers I offer with a quad of EL34's.

Hope this helps shed some practical understanding of the what and why of transformer upgrades.

Rob
 
withmittens said:
This amp is great for sure. I just start looking around and hearing other things and wonder if a tranny upgrade would improve this amp and it's response and tone. I know some folks think a tranny upgrade doesn't do much, but I think that depends on the tranny. once you get a good tranny, you get a lot for your money. more than you've ever had before.

what are the trannies in the RT? is Heyboer better? I've heard Mercury is not worth it, Heyboer being better for less.

what about a vintage set? how would one go about matching a tranny?

I think it may be worth looking at the trannies

The stock RT 2/50 set are actually Heyboers and quite good. I would have to work with Mercury to design an upgrade. I never have because I find no need over stock. I consider Mercury 1A and Heyboer 1B. The primary nod to Mercury is their total flexibility to do any nutty custom design you need.

Interesting nugget: Every RM80 I have ever seen were also Heyboer equipped. Very few were made and that's a stock upgrade over an RM50.
 
Rob,

Can u speak for what you have seen in the rm1250's.

Are they Chinese made like the rm50 or something else?

Great stuff. Thanks!
 
warmachine67 said:
Rob,

Can u speak for what you have seen in the rm1250's.

Are they Chinese made like the rm50 or something else?

Great stuff. Thanks!

The 1250's are probably the dogs of the bunch. The 1250's and RM22's were the only amps designed by the Chinese and not by Bruce or Randall. The power amps are underwhelming and they were really only intended for trade shows and studios. Players and live use were not the intent. I think there were 50 or less made.

I think the transformers were the same as the RM50's but it's been a while since I was last inside one. They don't perform as well as an RM50 either. I can confirm there were errors in 4 out of 5 I've been inside of in the power amps, which is a big contributing factor to why they sounded bad occasionally. I did correct all I came across.
 
Rob,

Is it still possible to get the PT and the choke for the RM22?
I could not find anything on the Mercury site.
 
shortlife said:
Rob,

Is it still possible to get the PT and the choke for the RM22?
I could not find anything on the Mercury site.

Absolutely! They don't sell the custom iron we designed together direct. It has to be purchased through me and prices are on my website. Let me know if you're interested.
 
Jaded Faith said:
withmittens said:
This amp is great for sure. I just start looking around and hearing other things and wonder if a tranny upgrade would improve this amp and it's response and tone. I know some folks think a tranny upgrade doesn't do much, but I think that depends on the tranny. once you get a good tranny, you get a lot for your money. more than you've ever had before.

what are the trannies in the RT? is Heyboer better? I've heard Mercury is not worth it, Heyboer being better for less.

what about a vintage set? how would one go about matching a tranny?

I think it may be worth looking at the trannies

The stock RT 2/50 set are actually Heyboers and quite good. I would have to work with Mercury to design an upgrade. I never have because I find no need over stock. I consider Mercury 1A and Heyboer 1B. The primary nod to Mercury is their total flexibility to do any nutty custom design you need.

Interesting nugget: Every RM80 I have ever seen were also Heyboer equipped. Very few were made and that's a stock upgrade over an RM50.

Wow, I had no idea that was the case. Should've kept my combo!
 
Jaded Faith said:
Interesting nugget: Every RM80 I have ever seen were also Heyboer equipped. Very few were made and that's a stock upgrade over an RM50.

How can you tell if they are Heyboer? My two RM80s have very little in the way of markings on the transformers. From memory the output has a sticker with OT-75 on it.
 
Jaded Faith said:
shortlife said:
Rob,

Is it still possible to get the PT and the choke for the RM22?
I could not find anything on the Mercury site.

Absolutely! They don't sell the custom iron we designed together direct. It has to be purchased through me and prices are on my website. Let me know if you're interested.

I finally got around to getting my RM22 modded with the Mercury Magnetic's Choke, Power Transformer and Output Transformer I ordered from you.
I also had the Master Volume Mod done, and put a Salvation MDA board in it too.

I have to say that I am totally shocked by the result. I was not really impressed with the Rm22 before I had it modded, now I am completely blown away by how killer it sounds.
I play Metal and I did not think it was possible to get such a level of brutality from such a little amp. Amazing.

Anyone who owns RM20/22 should seriously consider getting all of these Mods done.


Cheers.
 
The stock RT2/50 Heyboers are actually oversized ?
In order to be able to drive tubes more powerful than 6L6s or EL34s ?
 
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