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K701 & LDI+ or M-Stage?

post #1 of 8
10/30/11 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 

I'm just asking for opinions on how well the K701 would work with the LDI+ versus the M-stage.

 

I know the M-stage has gotten lots of good reviews from K70X users, but the LDI+ is also tempting because, Firstly, I've never used a tube amp, and secondly, the entire "tube rolling" sounds like cheap(er) way of having fun with different sounds. Plus, the LDI+ is significantly cheaper.

 

So basically asking for opinions if the K701 will work well with the LDI+, and if it's better for me to buy the LDI+ for it's tube rolling opportunities.

 

Right now I'm using the NFB-12 as both AMP/DAC.

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post #2 of 8
10/30/11 at 11:21am

You can also play with sound flavour with a M-Stage with  "OPAMP rolling :p " furthemore opa are less expensive than tubes biggrin.gif

 

M-Stage is a better amp than LD1+

 

and K701+ LD MK3 = was not my cup of tea . (but i am not found of tube amps in general soo peraphs not an objective opinion rolleyes.gif)

 

 

 

 


Edited by HaVoC-28 - 10/30/11 at 11:23am
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post #3 of 8
11/1/11 at 4:58pm
Thread Starter 

Any other opinions or input on this matter?

 

The major turn-off with the M-stage is obviously the price tag, being at +$100 more than the LDI+, I would rather have that money for other, non-audio related, purchases. Along with the fact that they rarely appear in the for sale section makes it hard to find them for cheaper, especially with the whole Living-in-Canada Thing. That and I do have this odd urge to try out a tube amp of some kind.

 

I'm also not planning to change tubes many times, but is there an average price range I would be looking into for OPAMP rollings. Tube Rolling? say, for a pair of tubes vs. however many opamps m-stage requires.

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post #4 of 8
11/1/11 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2enty3 View Post

The major turn-off with the M-stage is obviously the price tag, being at +$100 more than the LDI+, I would rather have that money for other, non-audio related, purchases. Along with the fact that they rarely appear in the for sale section makes it hard to find them for cheaper, especially with the whole Living-in-Canada Thing. That and I do have this odd urge to try out a tube amp of some kind.

 

I'm also not planning to change tubes many times, but is there an average price range I would be looking into for OPAMP rollings. Tube Rolling? say, for a pair of tubes vs. however many opamps m-stage requires.


Well,...if you're quick you can grab the one that just went up for sale on the FS forum.

 

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post #5 of 8
11/2/11 at 9:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HaVoC-28 View Post
and K701+ LD MK3 = was not my cup of tea . (but i am not found of tube amps in general soo peraphs not an objective opinion rolleyes.gif)
 


The MK3 is an OTL tube amp and works best with high-impedance headphones, the LD1+ is a hybrid tube amp that works best with low-impedance headphones.  They really are not comparable in any way, especially in the context of how they work with a certain headphone.

 

You can swap the OPAmp in the LDI+ also.  In addition, it works with multiple families of tubes, EF92/CV4015, EF95/CV4010, EF91/CV4014, 408A, etc.


Edited by GotNoRice - 11/2/11 at 9:32am
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post #6 of 8
11/2/11 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 

What is an "OTL" tube amp? I thought the LDI+ was called hybrid because of it having both opamp and tubes.

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post #7 of 8
11/2/11 at 8:44pm

OTL = Output Trasformer-Less, or in otherwords, no output transformer.   The LDI+ is a hybrid amp because it uses a solid state output stage.  OTL Tube amps are generally capable of supplying lots of voltage but not much current (amps) which is a perfect match for high impedance headphones.  The LDI+ with it's solid state output stage is capable of supplying a lot of current (amps) but not as much voltage, which is more suited toward low-impedance headphones.

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post #8 of 8
11/4/11 at 1:46am

Hoo , ok thanks for the clarification :) 

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