Post Pictures Of Your Headphone Setup

[Ehrmantraut]

7 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Looks awesome - what a rack! Where do I start? How do you find the ALO vs the Woo vs the Glen? I find it difficult to get info and to buy Glen OTLs. The Schiit DAC is a monster. Did you try it our vs any other similar DACs? Which ZMFs do you have? And lastly, the driver tubes with the caps on the WA22 - what are they please? Sorry for the drool!

Sorry - saw that you had previously posted info on the ZMfs and ALO.....

[Odyssey]

3 hours ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Looks awesome - what a rack! Where do I start? How do you find the ALO vs the Woo vs the Glen? I find it difficult to get info and to buy Glen OTLs. The Schiit DAC is a monster. Did you try it our vs any other similar DACs? Which ZMFs do you have? And lastly, the driver tubes with the caps on the WA22 - what are they please? Sorry for the drool!

Thanks. I do like what I have now. For 2 months, I find it hard to choose between the 3 amps. They all sounded amazing with my ZMF Verite Open and HD800. 

 

Ultimately this is my ranking 1) Studio Six 2) Glenn OTL amp 3) Woo Audio WA22 with those good tubes. Studio Six is a polished performer. So refined, articulate and powerful. It's the quietest tube amp I've ever heard and the construction is first class. I bought it off Andrew Yuri, who's a gentleman and a delightful person to deal with. Even invited me to listen to his stereo system which by the way is the most HiFi sounding system I've heard. I think it's his room acoustics and the SGR active floor standers. 

 

Glenn OTL amp with Mullard ECC33 and 6 x RCA 6BX7gt tubes is a powerful sound with the sweetest midrange and a very nice mid bass punch. It pairs so well with Verite and HD800.

 

Woo Audio WA22 with those upgraded tubes took me by complete surprise. I did not expect to like this amp but in the end I love it !. Unlike others who always have hum and noise from their WA22, mine is ultra quiet !!!

 

Schiit Yggdrasil is my first high end DAC. Prior to that I use a NAD D1050 dac. Yggy is such a big jump from that. I'm happy with Yggy and did not feel the need to upgrade. It's strength are clarity, details and slightly neutral with a slight touch of organic tone. Only my Rega RP8 with Apheta cartridge is more revealing than Yggy.

 

I'll have another amp made by Glenn of USA sometime in Feb 2020. It's an OTC headphone amp with speakers out. It will use Telefunken EL11 as drivers and Telefunken EL12 spez as power tubes and using Lundahl transformers. The amp will output about 10 watts in SET mode. Here's a mock up picture.

[Odyssey]

4 hours ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Looks awesome - what a rack! Where do I start? How do you find the ALO vs the Woo vs the Glen? I find it difficult to get info and to buy Glen OTLs. The Schiit DAC is a monster. Did you try it our vs any other similar DACs? Which ZMFs do you have? And lastly, the driver tubes with the caps on the WA22 - what are they please? Sorry for the drool!

Sorry I didn't answer the question about the tubes in the WA22. In that picture, the rectifier is a Cossor 53ku. I also have a GEC U52 which I like more than the Cossor. The power tubes are Tung Sol 5998. The driver tubes are Tung Sol 6F8G black glass round plates, which is quite similar in tone to the Tung Sol 6sn7gt black glass round plates.

[Ehrmantraut]

Thanks Odyssey (Audeze!),

Very helpful info. I bought my WA22 Gen 2 from Woo in the US. A2A only has ver 1. Is there a website you buy your Glens from? I have ZMF Aeolus and they're almost my favourites. Zach is doing something special. I have Verites on order, couple of weeks away hopefully. ZMF had a massive order on Verite C. I'm a big fan of Schiit, very honest and down to earth guys. Hoping that there will be some juicy "Black Friday" sales.

Cheers.

BoB

[Ehrmantraut]

7 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

Sorry I didn't answer the question about the tubes in the WA22. In that picture, the rectifier is a Cossor 53ku. I also have a GEC U52 which I like more than the Cossor. The power tubes are Tung Sol 5998. The driver tubes are Tung Sol 6F8G black glass round plates, which is quite similar in tone to the Tung Sol 6sn7gt black glass round plates.

Wow - double Tung-Sol! Those 5998s must be worth a bit - well done. Classy....

[Odyssey]

12 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Thanks Odyssey (Audeze!),

Very helpful info. I bought my WA22 Gen 2 from Woo in the US. A2A only has ver 1. Is there a website you buy your Glens from? I have ZMF Aeolus and they're almost my favourites. Zach is doing something special. I have Verites on order, couple of weeks away hopefully. ZMF had a massive order on Verite C. I'm a big fan of Schiit, very honest and down to earth guys. Hoping that there will be some juicy "Black Friday" sales.

Cheers.

BoB

To order a Glenn amp, go to this thread and message Glenn. He is custom amp builder. He can do 300b, EL34, 45 or 2A3 OTC amps or a OTL amp. 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/2359glenn-studio.600110/page-2251?utm_campaign=HFnotification&utm_medium=email&utm_source=watched_thread_reply_messagetext#post-15274764

 

My OTL amp cost US $1600 which is very reasonable.

[Odyssey]

16 minutes ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Wow - double Tung-Sol! Those 5998s must be worth a bit - well done. Classy....

 

I bought the pair of NOS brand new Tung Sol 5998 from a seller in Vietnam 3 years ago. It came very well packed in a Tupperware box.  Cost me US $238 at that time. It's a lot more now. This pair is brand new and ultra quiet. I have a pair of GEC 6as7g NOS brand new too. Sounds amazing on both Glenn's OTL and WA22.

[Odyssey]

I bought Yggdrasil and Ragnarok from A2A Newtown in 2017 but have since sold off Ragnarok. Should have kept it. It's a matching pair.

 

 

[Ehrmantraut]

Thanks again - super helpful and love your (to me) endgame setup.....

[Odyssey]

5 hours ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Thanks again - super helpful and love your (to me) endgame setup.....

 

Thanks mate. If you're ever in Canberra, can drop by and have a listen.

[flea22]

Hey Guys, Here are some pics of my wa22 with lcd 3s. Using a chord qutest at the moment for source. Running Chatham 5998's for the power, ecc35's for driver and a gec u52 rectifier. This is most likely going to be my end game setup. Maybe change the source to  a balanced dac latter on. Also I am on the look out for some  gec 6as7g and western 421A's so if anyone has some to sell give us a msg. 

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Leigh Quigg

[Odyssey]

Beautiful setup Leigh. WA22 with those tubes ought to sound great !

 

I use a ECC35 with my Glenn OTL amp.

 

I also use your GEC U52 and GEC 6as7g on my WA22. All great tubes but I don’t have WE 421a.

[flea22]

1 hour ago, Odyssey said:

Beautiful setup Leigh. WA22 with those tubes ought to sound great !

 

I use a ECC35 with my Glenn OTL amp.

 

I also use your GEC U52 and GEC 6as7g on my WA22. All great tubes but I don’t have WE 421a.

Thanks mate. looking at your sig you have some great gear, you must love headfi gear. Also do you think the gec 6as7g is worth the price? 

 

Cheers

[gat474]

Cheap, simple and sound surprisingly good. Preferred these to my 600’s and 6XX (with or without separate amp). The HD58X just do it all pretty well and as a bonus sound great even from an IPhone.

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by gat474

[Odyssey]

21 minutes ago, Leigh Quigg said:

Thanks mate. looking at your sig you have some great gear, you must love headfi gear. Also do you think the gec 6as7g is worth the price? 

 

Cheers

 

If your into rock and blues, Tung Sol 5998 might be better. GEC 6as7g is refined, smooth and has impact too. Basically the best qualities of any 6as7g or 6080 that I've heard. I've not heard WE421A though.

 

As to whether it's worth the price... that's always a difficult question to answer. Now it's almost unobtainable or would be priced US$500 or above for a NOS pair. Recently a mint used pair was sold on SNA for AUD $450. That's the sought of deal you want to watch out for.

 

So yeah at AUD $450 to 500 is a very good price for a mint pair of GEC 6as7g but you won't find it at that price though.

 

Every amp is different. On the Glenn OTL amp, I find using 6 x Tung Sol 6BX7gt better to my liking than a pair of GEC 6as7g but GEC 6as7g on the WA22 is amongst my top tubes in the Woo amp.

 

The Studio Six is another kettle of fish  Amazingly good, amazingly quiet for a tube amp, punch, impact, clarity, details, soundstage... it's all there in a single Sylvania 6sn7w metal base, dual Brimar 6V6gt power tubes, dual Mullard OB2 and a Mullard GZ34 blackburn. This is the best tube amp I've heard..... until the next better one comes along.

[Ehrmantraut]

21 hours ago, Leigh Quigg said:

Hey Guys, Here are some pics of my wa22 with lcd 3s. Using a chord qutest at the moment for source. Running Chatham 5998's for the power, ecc35's for driver and a gec u52 rectifier. This is most likely going to be my end game setup. Maybe change the source to  a balanced dac latter on. Also I am on the look out for some  gec 6as7g and western 421A's so if anyone has some to sell give us a msg. 

 

Great looking setup and nice tube choice. I find tube rolling kinda fun and very expensive! A lot of HeadFi people are always looking for “endgame” or a “better” sound. The problem is that you really need to sit with one tube setup for at least 10-15 hours on the same or similar headphones to get the signature. You can’t (and shouldn’t) put cold tubes into a “hot” amp, especially power tubes. So you get used to a particular sound on one tube setup and then you introduce a “better” tube. You get a different (not necessarily better) sound. Except it’s really hard for your ears to remember what the previous sound was like! Arghhh! Down the rabbit hole we go.......”Odyssey” on the previous post has some great tubes and tube amp experience from my observations.

Love the LCD-3s with WA22. Have you tried ZMFs? Awesome with this amp. How do you find the Chord? Lean signature DAC contrasts the warmth of Woo? What are you feeding the DAC from? Your space age looking PC? Awesome!

[Ittaku]

Finally got myself a headphone stand for the Staxen. Here's the current setup with Singxer SU-6 going to Topping DX7s into the KGST headphone amp topped off by the SR-009s. Most people would be horrified to learn that this setup spends most of its time watching anime...

 

[flea22]

1 hour ago, BlueOceanBoy said:

Great looking setup and nice tube choice. I find tube rolling kinda fun and very expensive! A lot of HeadFi people are always looking for “endgame” or a “better” sound. The problem is that you really need to sit with one tube setup for at least 10-15 hours on the same or similar headphones to get the signature. You can’t (and shouldn’t) put cold tubes into a “hot” amp, especially power tubes. So you get used to a particular sound on one tube setup and then you introduce a “better” tube. You get a different (not necessarily better) sound. Except it’s really hard for your ears to remember what the previous sound was like! Arghhh! Down the rabbit hole we go.......”Odyssey” on the previous post has some great tubes and tube amp experience from my observations.

Love the LCD-3s with WA22. Have you tried ZMFs? Awesome with this amp. How do you find the Chord? Lean signature DAC contrasts the warmth of Woo? What are you feeding the DAC from? Your space age looking PC? Awesome!

Thanks for the info with tube rolling, the amp sounds great with the current tubes, I will only buy nos tubes from now on only if they are at a great price. I have never heard of ZMF, just gave them a quick google and they look like some pretty cool headphones. I only have 2 dacs to compare one inside my Peachtree nova 150 and the other is the qutest. I find the qutest a lot better then the peachtree. One  thing that bugs me a little is the chord is being unbalanced and the wa22 being designed for balanced, the wa22 does have a phase splitter for use with single ended sources though, so maybe not to much of a problem. 

 

Yes the space age pc I built a few years ago! I use tidal from the pc.  

[Ehrmantraut]

4 hours ago, Leigh Quigg said:

Thanks for the info with tube rolling, the amp sounds great with the current tubes, I will only buy nos tubes from now on only if they are at a great price. I have never heard of ZMF, just gave them a quick google and they look like some pretty cool headphones. I only have 2 dacs to compare one inside my Peachtree nova 150 and the other is the qutest. I find the qutest a lot better then the peachtree. One  thing that bugs me a little is the chord is being unbalanced and the wa22 being designed for balanced, the wa22 does have a phase splitter for use with single ended sources though, so maybe not to much of a problem. 

 

Yes the space age pc I built a few years ago! I use tidal from the pc.  

I alos stream Tidal MQA through a Lumin U1 to Mytek Brooklyn DAC. That way I can preserve MQA and balanced. There's a lot of discussion on forums and amongst designers about the merits of "balanced" vs "unbalanced". My understanding is that you can push more power out of a balanced output. Designs do have to be "balanced" throughout the circuitry though - or so I read. So, maybe (and I mean maybe), your LCD3s would sound "better" using the balanced output on WA22 if you can spring the balanced input from a suitable source.

[sly_bastard]

Updated setup with a second amp being the smsl sp200, now to decide what to get next.

[Barry Bulb]

On 03/11/2019 at 9:31 AM, Ittaku said:

Finally got myself a headphone stand for the Staxen. Here's the current setup with Singxer SU-6 going to Topping DX7s into the KGST headphone amp topped off by the SR-009s. Most people would be horrified to learn that this setup spends most of its time watching anime...

 

Haha at least the anime sounds awesome!

[holytiger]

My two systems in my room and the living room area. Keeping Hd800s and night owl for the long run but sold the Hd6xx and trying to find a replacement open back..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gat474]

On 02/11/2019 at 2:43 PM, gat474 said:

Cheap, simple and sound surprisingly good. Preferred these to my 600’s and 6XX (with or without separate amp). The HD58X just do it all pretty well and as a bonus sound great even from an IPhone.

 

Currently trialling these with a Graham Slee Voyager portable amp. Makes everything bigger and better again.

[Bengineer]

10 hours ago, holytiger said:

My two systems in my room and the living room area. Keeping Hd800s and night owl for the long run but sold the Hd6xx and trying to find a replacement open back..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe a ZMF Auteur?

 

Nice setup!

[holytiger]

5 hours ago, Bengineer said:

Maybe a ZMF Auteur?

 

Nice setup!

Thanks, I have been thinking of getting anything Zach made from ZMF. Even the modified headphones from him. They are not easily found on the used market though ! Keeping my eye on it. Otherwise, also considering focal clears(for 2 years now haha) and maybe something from dan clark.. curious to know what the new aeon 2 sounds like.