MTS Transformer Upgrades are here!

[unconventional]

What do you mean by PT?

So there is nothing and will be nothing available for the RM4 and RT2/50?

 

[jmgman70]

What do you mean by PT?

So there is nothing and will be nothing available for the RM4 and RT2/50?

I think there will be but they need the trannys,chokes etc. to measure them before they can make them.Mercury does make an exceptional product,probably one of the best.

 

[Soulinsane]

What do you mean by PT?

So there is nothing and will be nothing available for the RM4 and RT2/50?

PT is short for power transformer. For the RM4 and RT2/50 there could be an upgrade but it will require inspection of the units to see how much room there is to work with, plus the stock trannies would need to be sent to Mercury for test. I would love to offer those upgrades but until I can go through an RM4 or RT2/50, there is no way I can get an upgrade made for them.

OK that's good and bad news. Should i wait for the PT or not. And can you write a instruction to put it in, with picture. My father is electric professionel but he has no ideas about amps, but i think he can help me.

Do you think is ther a big difference if i put in the PT or not, but then i would wait.

Thanks

At the moment, the PT for the RM50 and RM80 are in the same situation as the RM4, RT2/50, and RM20. I would need to have them for a couple months in order to have upgrades made for them. There is some improvement in tone made by upgrading the PT but not as much as the OT and choke. It is better to get the whole package but it might be a while.

Your dad would have no issues installing the transformers electrically. Its really as simple as mounting them on the chassis, cutting the wires to the right length, crimp spade connectors on the leads, and plug them in. Mercury supplies diagrams for every tranny they make and I'm also here to help. I'm actually making an installation guide for the RM100 set.

The only real concern is safety. It MUST be first above all else whenever you open an amp. Everything has to be discharged and checked. You can literally kill yourself if you are not careful.

 

[elpresidente99]

Ok, i will wait for the package. I forgot to ask if you send to Europe and how much are the transport costs.

When the PT is available what do you think would it cost. So i can calculate and maybe i have to safe money.

OT: Can you look at my thread with the SL+ low volume. I switched the tubes but no effect what part can be broken so that there is no volume

Thanks

 

[Soulinsane]

Ok, i will wait for the package. I forgot to ask if you send to Europe and how much are the transport costs.

When the PT is available what do you think would it cost. So i can calculate and maybe i have to safe money.

OT: Can you look at my thread with the SL+ low volume. I switched the tubes but no effect what part can be broken so that there is no volume

Thanks

To ship the RM100 upgrade set to the UK I know cost about $130USD+/- and I would expect it to be about the same for the rest of Europe. Customs are up to you of course.

When PTs are available for the RM50 and RM80, and one day they will be, they might cost just as much as the RM100 PT upgrade ( $260USD through me ). Mercury are the ones that determine the prices though.

 

[TheHunter]

Soulinsane,

Will this mod work in the RM100 combo as well. Im sure its the same design but everything is upside-down and reversed.

Could I be in the TONE OF THE GODS club too please.

 

[Soulinsane]

I'm pretty sure the upgrade RM100 set will work for the RM100C, but do me a favor first. On the top of the stock transformers ( or the bottom in your case :wink: ) there are stickers. What do they read? I'll know for sure if this upgrade will work for you.

 

[khingpynn]

I dunno... I like the current power trannys in the Randall Lynch Box...

whats all the fus over the current trannys?

 

[paintkilz]

do these power/output transformers rival egnaters stuff then?

i think i want this set for my rm100 but will be a step-by-step process....soul, could you suggest what you would start with 1st, the output or the power tranny? im sure ill just get the choke with whichever i get 1st being its not so expensive...


and what have you thought about the sound after your install?

and can we have pics?

 

[Soulinsane]

Egnater uses Hyboer transformers. Those are better than the Chuang Meei transformer Randall uses but the Mercury Magnetic transformers are light years ahead of both of them.

I have mine in my RM100 right now but I haven't finished getting the amp back together yet lol. I've been swamped with other customer work, plus I have been taking some time off.

As for what to get first, the Output and Choke are the cheapest and they will yield the greatest change. The PT will also improve things but they also cost the most.

Send me a PM with what you would like with your zip code and I will give you a total with shipping. Keep in mind you can get whatever color you like on the bell ends. I kinda like mine chrome.

The OT

The choke

The PT ( The BEAST!)

And the set

 

[enuenu]

Have you tried them out yet? How has the change altered the sound?

 

[bruce egnater]

Can't wait for your test results. Hope you don't mind but one point you made in your original post is not quite accurate. The KT88 does draw a little more filament current than many other tubes but certainly not twice the current. The RM100 power transformer was designed for EL34 tubes and really has no problem with heat that I was aware of.

KT66 1.3A
KT77 1.5A
KT88 1.6A
6550 1.5A
EL34 1.5A
6L6 0.9A

 

[FlyingV]

Soulinsane, please please please don't take this wrong. Please.

You are selling these mods here. They are not cheap [in price or quality] and I think you can't stress enough that if you do not know what you are doing you can KILL YOURSELF making these mods to your amp just as you have noted.

I see this thread started by you on May 20th. It is now the middle of August and you say you are "really busy" AND "taking some time off"? but you seem to have time to post the sales pitch anytime someone has a question and also say this is not that intense of a modification? so why not do your amp and post the results already for all these interested folks?

I do not doubt the quality of what you are selling even a little bit. I just think you should make the mods yourself as you said you would and post the results by now as you are selling on this forum. Please know that I appreciate your offering a quality improvement for those having problems with their amp. Thank you for that sincerely.

 

[nomad100]

I think the upgrade kit is a gimmick, not that i've actually used one of these amps. Mercury tries to sell a similar kit for the epiphone valve junior, and it is very much a gimmick. That's what most people who have modded there VJ thing as well.

Lets see if i remember correctly the choke affects the sag/stiffness of the power amp. So if you like that aspect of your amp don't change it.

If the PT is putting out to high of a voltage just adjust the dropping resistors in the PS less than 50?. Now if you want to run bigger Octal tubes than what the stock PT will safely supply then yes you should change the PT, but you don't need MM PT any with the proper specs will do. You can easily test this buy running your amp and using the touch test to make sure it's not getting to hot. You should be able to wrap your hand around the PT and it just be warm.

The OT will change your tone if it's an improvement that's up to You. You may need a different OT if you want to run bigger octal tubes. If you like the sound of OT core saturation distortion than you don't necessarily want a bigger OT as long as your OT not running hot.

 

[Aaronharmon]

I think the upgrade kit is a gimmick, not that i've actually used one of these amps. Mercury tries to sell a similar kit for the epiphone valve junior, and it is very much a gimmick. That's what most people who have modded there VJ thing as well.

Lets see if i remember correctly the choke affects the sag/stiffness of the power amp. So if you like that aspect of your amp don't change it.

If the PT is putting out to high of a voltage just adjust the dropping resistors in the PS less than 50?. Now if you want to run bigger Octal tubes than what the stock PT will safely supply then yes you should change the PT, but you don't need MM PT any with the proper specs will do. You can easily test this buy running your amp and using the touch test to make sure it's not getting to hot. You should be able to wrap your hand around the PT and it just be warm.

The OT will change your tone if it's an improvement that's up to You. You may need a different OT if you want to run bigger octal tubes. If you like the sound of OT core saturation distortion than you don't necessarily want a bigger OT as long as your OT not running hot.

I'm with you. I think that is a load of horse crap. I am not saying that there are not better quality parts out there. I just don't think that they will impact the tone in any appriciable way. The only way that I would lay down the jack for one of these is only if mine was broke. Even then, I wouldn't be willing to spend a bunch more on an unproven product.

 

[Soulinsane]

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I was hospitalized in July and was forced to take 3 months off from work. I apologize for not responding to PMs or post, but I really needed the time off. No, I didn't electrocute myself lol. I'm back up and doing well.

I can understand if some people want to believe the MM transformers are some snake oil gimmick, but be assured they are a proven upgrade and impact tone in a very positive way. The OT and choke more than the PT affect tone but the PT still plays a role. If you like the stock transformers then thats cool. I'm not saying everyone should get these upgrades. They are expensive as hell but price transformers sometime. They are the most expensive part of any amp. Mine run cooler than the stock transformers and sound better just like they are supposed to. I don't understand how that is a gimmick. Besides, MM provides a full refund if you don't like the upgrade and they have a 10 year warranty. I don't see how anyone can beat that deal.

FlyingV, you are right that these amps are dangerous. These amps can kill you so its important to know what you are doing when working inside them. I have been doing this most of my life, plus I was an electronics tech in the Navy for 6 years. I take safety very seriously. That is why it is important to have this upgrade done by an authorized tech. It keeps the warranty valid and keeps everyone safe.

Bruce, thanks for the interest. The results are good so far. The upgrade transformers run cooler than the stock Randall's did, but require a chassis modification to mount. Maybe I had a defective stock set, I'm not sure, but after a short time the stock PT was VERY warm to touch on the top. The problem was worse when using KT88 tubes. I realize there is radiated heat from the tubes but the proximity to one of them couldn't account for it all. I know it had something to with the filament windings. That is the main reason I got MM to make this upgrade. The amp doesn't sound as dark as it did before either. It has more sparkle and... flavor than before. Overall, it was a great upgrade but it cost an arm and a leg. I could definitely see this upgrade being a option for custom spec amps.

I have plans to upgrade the capacitors and some other key components next and see if I can enhance the tone any further. The normal kind of things that help most amps.

 

[okstrat]

One can also add a very small filament transformer if they want to take stress off of the stock power transformer. Any tech who is good enough to replace a transformer should be able to add one easily.

 

[Soulinsane]

One can also add a very small filament transformer if they want to take stress off of the stock power transformer. Any tech who is good enough to replace a transformer should be able to add one easily.

I thought about doing that actually, but the issue was space, plus I was worried about the separate electromagnetic field causing undue interference and generating extra counter currents. These EI transformers have huge fields. I didn't test it but I think it was better to keep the whole package confined to one iron. I think it might have been the filament winding causing the heat but I couldn't be absolutely sure. What if I had added an extra filament transformer and the PT still behaved the same? I would be back to the looking for a different PT. Besides, a 10amp filament transformer are not really that small or cheap. It was more practical to have the whole PT redesigned and enhanced.

 

[okstrat]

beg to disagree on pricing on a filament transformer, Hammond makes a 10 amp for under $40. You might have a point on size, but regarding the issues with interference you can always rotate the filament transformer for least amount of noise.

I'm curious, how many RM100s have gone down due to transformers? A lot of amp transformers run hot... I just haven't ever had to replace a power transformer in any of my tube amps, and I've owned a LOT. I can understand replacing the output in the name of a different tone, but not so sure about the power replacement as a reliability issue.

 

[Soulinsane]

$40 is a really good deal and I agree that Hammond make nice transformers. I have seen them used in other custom amps but when they were compared with MM upgrades people normally preferred the Mercury's above Hammond's. I don't suppose it would matter as much with filament transformers though. The turning method does help lower the noise level but there is a good chance it will cause other interference. Then again the added field might be like aligning the planets to enhance the tone in some weird way. There is just no way to be sure unless someone tries it. Electromagnetic fields are bizarre beast that can contribute a great deal to a tube amps legendary status. I do agree that adding a filament tranny is a valid alternative to relieving stress on the PT. I just prefer to keep the field local to one iron core package as far from the preamp tubes as can be achieved. I would included the choke into the PT if it were possible to consolidate any further. Also anymore weight added to my RM100 and I'll need a folk lift to move it lol.

Heat is something else all together. A hot running transformer is inefficient, overstressed, and indicates eventual death from insulation breakdown. Anything above 115F is way to hot. It does nothing good for tone except make amps dark and muddy sounding. There are transformers designed to operate at super hot temperatures but instrument amp transformers are not one of them. Excessive heat is nothing more than the amp?s circuit demanding more power than it?s transformer can give in the form of I2R loses. An upgraded higher-efficiency PT runs cooler and will live far longer. Thats where the reliability issue is addressed. Plus they provide enhanced tone by way of increased headroom, consistent loaded voltages, and better response.

Even if you never get a MM, I just want people to be aware that transformers do play a vital role in tone and that temperature is a normally overlooked problem. If your stuff runs hot then seriously think about an upgrade if you plan to keep the amp or want more from it. For me that's worth more than the money payed. The MTS is an awesome design and its one amp I plan to keep for the rest of my life.