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Tube amp that's not too "tubey" sounding.

post #1 of 14
3/11/12 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 

I need a tube amp with lots of drive, deep tight and fast bass, and that is not overly tubey sounding.  Any suggestions please ?   I will be driving Beyer DT880 / 600 ohm cans.

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post #2 of 14
3/11/12 at 12:21pm

WA6SE have the qualities that you desire, although I've never tried them with a 600ohms headphone before. On paper they should do fine though.

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post #3 of 14
3/11/12 at 12:42pm

What is your budget?

 

If $350 = Schiit Valhalla

If < $1000 = Woo 6 or Woo 6 SE

If > $1000 = Trafomatic Experience Head One

 

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post #4 of 14
3/11/12 at 1:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hodgjy View Post

What is your budget?

 

If $350 = Schiit Valhalla

If < $1000 = Woo 6 or Woo 6 SE

If > $1000 = Trafomatic Experience Head One

 

 

I will most likely stay around the $1200 price point, and am currently considering maybe a Woo Audio WA2

 



 

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post #5 of 14
3/11/12 at 2:42pm

The WA2 is very, very tubey sounding.  It's a great amp, but if you're looking for a non-tubey sound, you should stay away from the WA2.

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post #6 of 14
3/11/12 at 8:21pm

You could try a solid state that has a good warm sound signature. Supposedly, a good Millet Hybrid amp has a good balance of solid state and tube without sounding syrupy. In my opinion, a well designed tube amp represents the tube sound correctly and the offensive tubey sound is absent.

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post #7 of 14
3/11/12 at 8:31pm

On that note, the Burson 160 is a warm amp that leans to the tube side of things.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spareribs View Post

You could try a solid state that has a good warm sound signature. Supposedly, a good Millet Hybrid amp has a good balance of solid state and tube without sounding syrupy. In my opinion, a well designed tube amp represents the tube sound correctly and the offensive tubey sound is absent.



 

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post #8 of 14
3/29/12 at 12:58am

Get yourself a Darkvoice 3322. It will not sound "tube-syroupy" at all, especially after carefull tube rolling. 

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post #9 of 14
3/30/12 at 8:59pm

Alternatively, you could get the La Figaro 332C, which is basically the same amp as the 3322. The gent that runs La Figaro left Darkvoice to make his own amps. It definitely has more of SS sound to it.

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post #10 of 14
3/30/12 at 9:29pm

I don't think you can do better than a DNA Sonett:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/493097/dna-sonett-review

I agree 100% with what punkaroo is saying about this amp. Just amazing snappy bass with incredible transparency and musical sweetness. I tried it with the T1 and DT880 and it was a fantastic match.

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post #11 of 14
3/30/12 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hodgjy View Post

The WA2 is very, very tubey sounding.  It's a great amp, but if you're looking for a non-tubey sound, you should stay away from the WA2.



yep

go WA6SE if you want a solid statish sounding woo amp

but those 880s are gonna sound phenomenal out of either woo.  and really good out of the WA3 as well.  but its tubey along the lines of the WA2

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post #12 of 14
3/30/12 at 10:01pm

La Figaro 339 with 5998's

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post #13 of 14
3/31/12 at 7:36am

I'm using a Decware CSP2+ with my Beyers DT880 600 ohms.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/products/decware-csp-2/reviews/3607

 

This tube amp uses 3x ECC88 tubes and 1x 5Y3 Tube rectifier.

 

The best thing about tube amps is that you can tinker with the tubes used and get the sound you are looking for.

 

I'm currently running my amp with German Siemens tubes and the tube amp is very linear (like SS) but has the warmth (but not too much) from vacuum tubes.

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post #14 of 14
3/31/12 at 8:16am

The DNA will be a good option for the DT's, and on the SS side Violectric V100


Edited by Acix - 3/31/12 at 8:17am
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