Balancing Act 2a3\45 impressions - Page 2

The solid-plate EML 2a3's are not as good in my Balancing Act as the mesh EML 2a3's.  While the sound is a bit more focused, it comes at a much greater expense of sound-stage, openness, air, and especially musicality.  Whether that also holds true when used in a speaker amp, I don't know.

I also finally got a CV181 (ECC32) and it now is my reference input tube.  I'll have to get a couple of more types of ECC32 to see how they differ, because while the ECC32 is better in almost every aspect than my 6sn7's and 7n7's, the two things it (at least this one tube) are not quite as good as certain 6sn7, is musical intensity and bass slam  -- but just by a little.

I also acquired a couple of pair of back-up 6x4 rectifiers.  Craig said they shouldn't affect the sound, and comparing them, I find that mostly the case, but do detect small differences.  The NOS RCA, were just a little too smooth and boring, while the supplied Phillips had a slightly bit more\deeper bass, and the cryo-ed NOS Tung-Sol had the most natural sound.  But again, the changes are quite small -- I doubt I would even notice them with the T1.

I doubt anyone cares, but just in case someone decided to get the BA 2a3\45 due to this thread, a couple of weeks ago I tried the solid-plate EML 45 tubes with the CV181, as I had only tried them with 6sn7's before that.  Yet again, I am amazed by the 45 tube.  The CV181 has a wider soundstage than 6sn7's, so with 6sn7's the Mesh 2a3 is the tube to use, as the Mesh 2a3 has a wider soundstage than the Solid plate 2a3's and 45's.  But the body of the music, the front to back imaging, and the naturalness of the 45's comes to life with these CV181's.

The bass with the 45's wasn't quite solid enough, but I fixed that problem with some changes to various settings in Isone Pro and Media Center 15.

I've been listening to this combination for a couple of weeks now, and it's still hard to believe how good it sounds.

I still haven't got my pair of stock DX1000's balanced, but I figured I'd do it myself since I won't be buying APS 3 cable for this one.  For all those DIYers out there, is just connecting pins 2 and 3 of three pin XLR cables to the positive and negative posts of the headphone drivers correct?  I don't need to use pin 1 of the XLR cable?

I few more updates.  I got a Stefan AudioArt Balancing Act Umbilical cable and am very pleased with the improved sound.  While not revolutionary -- it doesn't carry the signal, just power -- it was still worth it for me despite it's high price tag.  All aspects of the music are better, and no negatives that I can notice.

I also heavily modified and then balanced my third pair of JVC DX1000's with Signal Cable Silver Reference interconnect cables.  They are also a very noticable step up from my non-balanced, modified, DX1000's.  I think more of the improvement is from the cable, rather than the balanced aspect, but there is no way to isolate those differences with my setup.

I also purchased an LCD-2 rev. 2.  This is the first time I've heard an LCD-2, so I don't know what a rev. 1 sounds like.  I must say it is one of the best sounding headphones I've heard.  Unfortunately, not as good as the R10, Jade, nor my modified DX1000's.  Currently, despite the 'improvements' in the rev. 2 version, they do have a stepped-down signature from the mid-mids on up compared to my other headphones.  Also, there is some slight weird tone, or sound-stage issue going on in the lower mids I'm still unsure of.  I have improved them considerably to my liking using different Isone Pro settings, but still prefer music through my DX1000's. They only have about 15 hours on them and I ordered a Stefan balanced cable for them, so hopefully over time things will continue to improve.

Someone asked me these questions via PM, and I thought I would respond here in case anyone else would be interested:

Does the BA sufficiently drive the HE-5? Or is the EF-5 more appropriate and pairs well?

The BA can drive the HE-5 and LCD-2 with no issues at all in terms of power.  However, the EF-5 does have more power.

I feel that the HE-5 midrange and vocals sound distant and not forward/intimate enough, which of the BA or EF-5 do you think is warmer-sounding and would bring forward the midrange and vocals?

The BA with 45 tubes.  With 2a3 tubes, the soundstage is wider, but there is less 3-dimensionality (the z-axis is flatter).  With 45's the soundstage is narrower, but more 3-dimensional, there's more body, intimacy, and the musical performance sounds more natural to me.  The 2a3's do have a little bit more PRAT\bass attack than the 45's.  But both the 2a3 and 45 on the BA sound much better than the EF-5.  (I use an Amerprex Bugle Boy in the EF-5.)  And yes, detail and every other aspect of the sound and music is better on the BA than the EF-5.

Price and detail refinement aside, which of the BA or EF-5 is more neutral and which falls into classic lush tubey sound? Do you feel that the BA provides wider and deeper soundstage?

I'm not sure I can tell you which is more neutral, as neutral seems to have multiple definitions.  According to the Head-Fi definition, the EF-5 is more neutral because it sounds very flat and boring in comparison to the BA.  However, according to my definition, the BA is more neutral because it sounds more natural and more like what I would hear from a live performance.  It's just more real sounding.  Given that though, the BA is more lush sounding (in a very good way - not slow, muddy, rolled off, or anything like that), but I attribute that to different sonic characteristics than just frequency response.  No matter how I EQ the EF-5, I could never get it to sound like the BA.

I'm aware that it's not fair price and balanced-wise, but I would like to know whether the more expensive BA would do justice to my HE-5.

It would improve the HE-5 for sure.  But to be honest, I'm not impressed by the HE-5 (I've never heard the LE version or the HE-6.)  If the HE-5 is your best headphone, I would much rather sell that and get a different headphone before buying the BA.  But the BA is a great amp once you have great headphones to appreciate it.  As a simple comparison, I would compare the HE-5 to the LCD-2, as the EF-5 to the BA.  The HE-5 and EF-5 are flat, boring, unremarkable sounding componants compared to the more exciting and interesting sounding LCD-2 rev. 2 and Balancing Act.