Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Do tubes like the maverick A1, littledot2/3 or Caliente can soften this brightness on Grado's? Is this a good thing or not?
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Do tubes like the maverick A1, littledot2/3 or Caliente can soften this brightness on Grado's?...

post #1 of 5
11/24/10 at 9:33am
Thread Starter 

Do tubes like the maverick A1, littledot2/3 or Caliente can soften this brightness on Grado's? Is this a good thing or not? Personal preference?

 

Does the warmth of tube detract from the grado signiture sound in a +tive way? Good balances acheived?

 

People who have one of the above plus sr80i/sr125i let me know!!

 

Also any other advisory tubes or SS amps?

 

Cheers

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post #2 of 5
11/27/10 at 7:14pm

A1 will soften any bright headphone absolutely, but when I try A1 with my MS1i, I'm not really like the signature, too muffled for me. (it made my MS1i produce awesome depth staging though)

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post #3 of 5
11/27/10 at 7:26pm

Depends on the tube you're using good tubes will and other tubes will make it sound even worse.  The Caliente won't soften the brightness, it is only a candle flame warmer than the kicas.  But, MS1i and HF-2 Vixen sound great out of the Caliente, imo.  If you don't like the brightness, I would think it would be more beneficial to get a different set of headphones than an amplifier.

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post #4 of 5
11/28/10 at 12:01am

I've tried the SR60, SR80, and MS1's with the maverick A1 and absolutely loved it.  It added depth which almost all grados lack, and it definitely softened the brightness =]  Highly recommended.

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post #5 of 5
11/28/10 at 12:18am
If you pick up an OTL, make sure it doesn't have an output impedance higher than 32 Ohms - they don't play well with Grados. If you want to run tubes, look for an amp with output transformers.

There are a handful of OTLs with low output impedance, but they are the exception. The majority won't be a good match.
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Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Do tubes like the maverick A1, littledot2/3 or Caliente can soften this brightness on Grado's? Is this a good thing or not?