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!

 

[Jasonovich]

GLOWTASTIC!
My feedback and I hope you don't mind me sharing.

Still running in the XDUOO's and they're silky smooth, really beautiful to listen to. If you're on a budget and don't wish to spend > £249 on a head amp, this really is no brainer.
My issue in the past were the tubes popping but replacements are relatively cheap on AliExpress, not unless you own a McIntosh. Yes well pleased.

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

I've never seen a volume control at nearly noon!

 

[Jasonovich]

I've never seen a volume control at nearly noon!

I have pushed it up further to past noon and that was the sweet spot for my Beyer Amiron 250 ohms head phone. If I reduce the volume output on the Matrix streamer, I suspect I can push it to 3:00 but haven't tried.

 

[Jasonovich]

Tube Rolling
Tinkering with things has become an obsession with me, formerly it was with cables and while I'm on the subject those faux speaker cables I recently got from AliExpress for just over 100 bucks @ 1.5 metre have proved to be a revelation.

I won't prod the bear so I'll stop here but I will say briefly; the Amazon Basic speaker cable is probably all you ever need but if you want that extra clarity and space, the replicated Nordost Valhalla 2 are worth your cash, not unless, you're loaded and wish to pay £10-£15K for the real thing (which is insane).

Even if you hold the view that all cables sound the same, you really can't fault the Valhalla 2's aesthetics, beautifully constructed, the wooden squares give it that furniture look, the jack plugs are stiff and of good quality. Nice and flat, almost transparent.
If your HiFi costs thousands, nice to pimp it up with the Valhalla's, throw in some fluffy dice. My man, look at you!
Anyway, I can see my friendly nemesis aiming his spear towards me, Shot through the heart and you're to blame - Name that tune?

Apologies I digress, I'm tinkering with tube rolling and decided to replace the generic 6N2 with high quality Psvane 6SL7 Art Series tube, not cheap but someone on Head-Fi forum noted once you swap it out for Psvane Art series, you're not going to tube roll again, so I thought it was worth the investment. We'll see

I decided not to mess with the buffer tube (the big tube 6N5P), I believe changing it won't make much difference to the sound but the little guy (6N2) poking his head out of the golf hole, the preamp tube will make the biggest difference to the sound.

Anyway, (was it Amormusic?) pointed out, that this wasn't as simply as it seems, in terms of pin configuration and voltage and not all tubes from different manufacturers can be directly swapped, even though they have the same pins and voltage?

I did some prodding, I contacted the seller about TA-66 6N2 tube compatibility with Psvane 6SL7 Art Series tube and although it is advertised as a 6N2 upgrade, i.e. both require 6.3 voltage, it nevertheless, can't be directly swapped because the 6N2 has 9 pins and the former has 8 pins. I need an adapter. Hmmm messing with cables was a doddle. Yeah if you want to get into tube rolling, you really need to know what you're doing.
Always do your research, I have been frequenting the Head-Fi forums, these guys really know their tube amps. Knowledge is power, ha!

Gottle of beer, got my gear - below!
Set my watch to 10 days in advance, maybe longer if it's by land freight but once it arrives and done the tests, happy to feed back, was it worth it?