Post Pictures Of Your Headphone Setup

[gat474 1,477]

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 608]

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. 🙂

[BlueOceanBoy 121]

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 3,628]

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...

 

[felix22 19]

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.  

[BlueOceanBoy 121]

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 35]

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

[Barry Bulb 1]

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 14]

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 1,477]

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 324]

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 14]

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.

[CAVL 6]

My bedside table

[Bengineer 324]

ZMF definately rare. Autuer or Verite would be the goal for me.

 

Clears, well, very Focal sound. You need to like that sound. They are good.

 

And Aeon 2. Aeon 1 was good, maybe touch boring. High hopes for Aeon 2 myself!

[holytiger 14]

2 hours ago, Bengineer said:

ZMF definately rare. Autuer or Verite would be the goal for me.

 

Clears, well, very Focal sound. You need to like that sound. They are good.

 

And Aeon 2. Aeon 1 was good, maybe touch boring. High hopes for Aeon 2 myself!

I agree that the aeon is bit boring. I saw some reviews that aeon 2 are a much more improved version. Audeze 2,3s are also on my list if I can get over my neck pain after an hour of wearing them. Talking about the weight, ZMF worries me a little since anything over 350grams, my neck gets easily tired.

[treemagnet 12]

On 16/11/2019 at 4:17 PM, sly_bastard said:

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

How are you finding the Smsl sp200?? Really thinking about getting one as my next amp.

[Bengineer 324]

1 hour ago, holytiger said:

I agree that the aeon is bit boring. I saw some reviews that aeon 2 are a much more improved version. Audeze 2,3s are also on my list if I can get over my neck pain after an hour of wearing them. Talking about the weight, ZMF worries me a little since anything over 350grams, my neck gets easily tired.

Yeah. Waiting on some more reviews to filter in. Head_Fi is its usual orgy of praise. Weight comfort and foldability are win. If it can avoid boring then super win.

[sly_bastard 35]

59 minutes ago, treemagnet said:

How are you finding the Smsl sp200?? Really thinking about getting one as my next amp.

Really good, very clear, detailed and powerful.  Great amp for a very low price.

 

[holytiger 14]

My 3rd New headphone system incoming! Will update with a pic soon. Bought a new headphone, new DAC, new headphone amplifier at one go(I only planned to buy a new headphone but ended up buying a whole system...) and they are all arriving in couple of days. SO EXCITED!

[holytiger 14]

Ok, so I'm still waiting for my new headphone to arrive but in the meantime, listening to my new amp and dac combo. I don't think I've heard my night owl sound this good... Ever ! So clear and wide, opens up everything. Totally transformed into a whole new headphone. 

 

[Batty 4,698]

My latest headphone amp build.

[BlueOceanBoy 121]

On 20/11/2019 at 8:23 PM, holytiger said:

I agree that the aeon is bit boring. I saw some reviews that aeon 2 are a much more improved version. Audeze 2,3s are also on my list if I can get over my neck pain after an hour of wearing them. Talking about the weight, ZMF worries me a little since anything over 350grams, my neck gets easily tired.

Hey Guys,

ZMF are the dynamics to go for IMHO. There is definitely a ZMF "house" sound = laid back and warm. I've tried nearly all of his HPs and am currently on Verites and Atticus. Zach has a "November" sale on right now 

ZMF November — ZMF Headphones

WWW.ZMFHEADPHONES.COM

---

The ZMF November one off, demo and b stock sale! Check back as we add more headphones from now until December 15th! If you can purchase the set from the drop-down menu - it is still...

 and there's an Auteur on Fleabay....

[Mat-with-one-t 1,127]

On 11/10/2016 at 6:55 PM, migasson said:

HE-400i + Dragonfly Red

Exact combo I often use.  Great match.....

[holytiger 14]

Loving how Ether 2 sounds with this amp, tight/fast, well controlled and really enjoying the overall warm tone. None fatiguing, not even after 10 hours of straight listening session!

 

[Snrub 62]

10 hours ago, holytiger said:

Loving how Ether 2 sounds with this amp, tight/fast, well controlled and really enjoying the overall warm tone. None fatiguing, not even after 10 hours of straight listening session!

 

 

The Taurus is a wonderful HP amp. I ran Audeze LCD2C's from mine, and found the balanced output the sweeter of the two. If you come across a balanced cable for the Ether 2, I recommend giving it a try.