Tube Pin Ups - your pics.

[Jasonovich]

Jasonovich, it's good that you have found a combination of amp and headphones that gives you what you want. Pathos amps, even my solid state Converto mk2, give a slightly warmer sound, whilst this one also gives me the energy and punch I want when listening to prog rock.

For me Converto mk2 and Elegias are a great match. Based on things I have read here and elsewhere, Focal Elegias seem to need careful matching with amplification so, maybe I was just lucky. I plugged them into my Chord Mojo once and, they sounded dull and lifeless.

Yes it was a bit of luck I came across these. There were two brands on my radar Sennheiser HD650 or the Beyer DT1990 both >250 ohms.

People raved about the HD650's but I remember those cheap tinny £20 Sennheiser's I use to buy from PC World, it kind of brought back the mediocrity and I look at the HD650's and they're a bit plasticky but suppose to be premium, also felt the Beyer's are going to offer sterile studio type monitor sound. I didn't want to compromise on the Elegia's 'organic' sound.

The Amiron is a Beyerdynamic alternative to the studio cans DT1990, based on the same design but tweaked for home listening. Very glad I managed to find one at a very reasonable price. Richer Sounds currently selling them at £395 (new) which undercuts other vendors but still beyond what I wanted to pay. £289 on eBay and almost new was the preferred choice!

The Amiron's (WHF 2022 winner) are like Elegia's long lost brother, they almost identical in sound, a worthy replacement. The Focal's have the better build quality but costs about the same. I was fortunate to find the Beyers cheap on eBay (ex-demo, virtually new).

The Focal's worked perfect using the DAP via the powered 4.4 jack output, and SingXer head amp and Atoll IN100 no probs. Wasn't compatible with XDUOO tube amp.

Amiron's open design means I can't commute with them on the train, so I had to purchase a separate closed design FiiO FT1's from AliExpress, hopefully these will arrive next week.

Oh got a message from eBay, Elegia's are sold and gone at the asking price. Whey-hey happy days!