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Head-Direct EF-1 - Page 9

post #121 of 348
1/19/09 at 5:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by uberburger101 View Post
EF-1 on offer again at $299, but now they're shipping with the Sylvania 12AU7 instead.
Thanks for the heads up. Are the Sylvania tubes not as good as the clear top RCA ones?
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post #122 of 348
1/19/09 at 7:58am
How much does tube rolling affect the sound. Op Amp rolling as well? Is it more subtle or can it make a very noticeable difference?

I switched the stock from OP275 to AD8599. The 8599 I have is attached to a brown dog adapter, but I only seen one of them on there when I think there should be two, so maybe I didn't get the full effect. Still, I did notice things gained a bit more clarity. I'll have to do some more ABing.

Ok I did a quick AB. One thing I noticed is that the voices were clearer with the 8599. The 8599 sounds a bit more upbeat and clear as compared to the OP275.
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post #123 of 348
1/19/09 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwong View Post
Thanks for the heads up. Are the Sylvania tubes not as good as the clear top RCA ones?
There are some EXCELLENT Sylvania 12AU7's. Sylvania made a lit of tubes, and there are quite a few different Sylvania 12AU7 variants, but the ones I have tried were very good.

There was an EBay seller recently selling a lot of NOS/NIB Sylvania 12AU7's - maybe Head-Direct decided to stock up
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post #124 of 348
1/19/09 at 12:04pm
The bad news is, the 220V EF-1 (that I need) ships with a China tube.
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post #125 of 348
1/19/09 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KevM2 View Post
How much does tube rolling affect the sound. Op Amp rolling as well? Is it more subtle or can it make a very noticeable difference?

I switched the stock from OP275 to AD8599. The 8599 I have is attached to a brown dog adapter, but I only seen one of them on there when I think there should be two, so maybe I didn't get the full effect. Still, I did notice things gained a bit more clarity. I'll have to do some more ABing.

Ok I did a quick AB. One thing I noticed is that the voices were clearer with the 8599. The 8599 sounds a bit more upbeat and clear as compared to the OP275.
It's a dual channel opamp, so you only need one on the DIP8 adapter. With single channel, such as AD743, you need 2 on an adapter.
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post #126 of 348
1/19/09 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uberburger101 View Post
EF-1 on offer again at $299, but now they're shipping with the Sylvania 12AU7 instead.
Nice, I just bought a Sylvania tube (HP rebrand) from Skylab and it sound really nice with my AKG K701s since it adds a little warmth. The RCA ain't no slouch either, and synergies well with a lot of cans.
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post #127 of 348
1/19/09 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict View Post
It's a dual channel opamp, so you only need one on the DIP8 adapter. With single channel, such as AD743, you need 2 on an adapter.
Yeah, I definitely stand corrected. I just assumed because of the small size that it was single channel, especially after hearing 2:1 adapters tossed around in this thread in reference to other op amps lol. Anyhow, I appreciate HiFlight for letting me buy one off of him. Was shipped quickly with no hitches. I'd definitely buy from him again. I might try a few others just to have some reference points.
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post #128 of 348
1/20/09 at 9:33pm
Just bought an EF1 last night, my first purchase for a dedicated headphone amplifier, to go along with my D2000's. The Chinese New Year deal was too tempting to pass up. I can't wait for it to come.
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post #129 of 348
1/20/09 at 10:03pm
I just got my EF1 today... all I can say is WOW!!! This amp is just off the wall amazing. I'm using Grados with flat pads, and the soundstage is still gigantic.
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post #130 of 348
1/23/09 at 7:59pm
we need more tube rolling impressions, I'd like to try out some different tubes, but they are kind of pricey, anyone have listening impressions of the Mullard 12AU7?
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post #131 of 348
1/23/09 at 8:51pm
I got a mullard this week. not one of the classic 50s mullards but a newer one. when i first put it in I thought it was a little boring. very smooth. used it primarily with recordings i thought were a little bright. after a few days of burning it in though i was listening to some godsmack this morning and really rocking with the mullard. figured i would put the rca in because i was thinking it would spice it up even more, but was surprised how much more i liked the mullard with godsmack, the guitar had real growl and authority which i lost with the rca.

cant wait to try some more tubes. sylvania is next.
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post #132 of 348
1/23/09 at 11:08pm
Thread Starter 
A very nice sounding tube that I include with my kits is the JJ82ECC, matched and balanced. Superb synergy with the AD743.
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post #133 of 348
1/24/09 at 12:30am
Ive been trying some op-amp swapping. Today I got a pair of ad627 mounted on a brown dog adapter. This is the first op amp i put in that wasnt clearly deficient to stock op amp. But Im still not sure its an improvement. My initial thoughts were it was pretty lean. It has a nice wide soundstage with instrumentation in the right place, probably just a little wider than stock. Detail and midrange seem excellent. it is a very fast sounding op amp. almost too fast, the decay doesnt seem quite right with drums or bass strings. ive been listening with the rca cleartop. it definently beats the 8620 i tried and the lm6172.
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post #134 of 348
1/24/09 at 1:42am
Does tube rolling (or upgrading the stock tube) make a significant differences for EF-1?

As a point of reference, cables make very insignificant difference for me as long as they're well built (i.e. BlueJeansCable is perfectly fine).
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post #135 of 348
1/25/09 at 4:00pm
I ordered these on ebay, hopefully they are good, the mullard looks used, but the guy says it's NOS. I'll see, maybe someone who knows more about tubes can look at them.

Mullard and Thorn (Brimar) 12AU7 tubes. NOS pair - eBay (item 180322041008 end time Jan-24-09 04:28:03 PST)
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