DNA Stratus 2A3 amplifier - first impressions - Page 35

Quote:

Originally Posted by fejnomit 

 

 

Interesting.  Yes, I am on the verge of getting a First Watt.  I have been abreast of the threads pertaining to the HE-6.  That being said it is a headphone and it seems logical to try them out on headphone amps.  The original question was about whether any of us have used the HE-6s on the Stratus.  My original post acknowledged that SS amps seem to be the way to go.  I was merely stating that *to my ears* they sound good with the Stratus - not optimal but good.  They also sound good with my 15W George Wright Au-215 I tube amp using the speaker posts.  So far, in my odyssey with SS amps for the HE-6s, I have not been able to entirely do away with what I hear as a false treble sibilance and a lack of decay in the higher frequencies in general.  There is a combination of linearity and largeness of tone that good tubes bring to the HE-6s that I haven't found reproduced yet by a transistor.  But I by no means want to imply I have done exhaustive research.  Still, there does seem to be a general dismissal that tube amps can't drive the HE-6s *correctly* that isn't really borne out by mathematics, more by subjective reaction, which I respect and want to understand better.

 

What First Watt re you looking at?  The J2 is what I would go after if I didn't have the F1J.  Or even better but might be a little "overkill" (my middle name) would be a pair of F4s.  

I always say the HE-6 are speakers sitting on top of your head.  

The thing is.  The leg work has already been done for new comers.  Just like they ask questions in this thread after reading it.  The same could and should be done from a research standpoint in the HE-6 thread and the Amps that can drive the HE-6 thread.

I have to agree with Frank that if you have not compared head amps with speaker amps when pared with the HE-6 they you just don't know.  Then yes - you are playing them - not driving them.  However, I agree with you as well in that - some just might like the sound they get while "playing" them...

I've just had a lot of trial an error with these.  Been through many amps.  Been to audio store with the headphone in hand testing different amps.  Spent lots of time until I cam across the amp I have now.  

So yes, people can enjoy music from the HE-6 out of anything.  However, until people are able to hear and compare to other amps / speaker amps / tube amps - people are just not in the know.

I'm not a tube guy.  So I have no input on tube gear.  I've heard people say they got clipping with tube amps and the HE-6 on very demanding and complex passages.  I've not experienced that myself.  

I was looking at the F2J from the guy in Reno for about half the price of the J2...  Do you think that's too low?

Yes - speakers on head - like the K1000 in my opinion...

Anyway - I guess the part of my post where I said I've tried various SS speaker amps got lost.  I have tried a vintage Marantz rated at 100wpc; Blue Circle monoblocs rated at 50W; Audiozone Amp-1 rated at 45W; my old Yamaha integrated rated at 250W; and the speaker taps off my Marantz home theater amp, also rated at 250W.  I can understand what people are talking about.  And I respect all the homework that has been done by everyone on the HE-6 threads.  But this is the Stratus thread and - again - I was merely trying to answer whether I have listened to HE-6s on the Stratus and whether I liked the combination. Answer is still a resounding yes.  Never meant to imply it's the best combo ever.

Had the question been about the best amps to pair with the HE-6, I would have directed him to that thread.  You get the point...

Now, despite all that, none of my SS attempts have resulted in answering the treble issue I mentioned.  The Stratus did.  That's all.  That's also why I have been looking into the current source amps, since, as you point out, that is the real issue...

Anyway, onto bigger and better things:  curious if any Stratus owners have been listening to LCD-3s on it like I have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fejnomit 

I was looking at the F2J from the guy in Reno for about half the price of the J2...  Do you think that's too low?

 

Yes - speakers on head - like the K1000 in my opinion...

 

Anyway - I guess the part of my post where I said I've tried various SS speaker amps got lost.  I have tried a vintage Marantz rated at 100wpc; Blue Circle monoblocs rated at 50W; Audiozone Amp-1 rated at 45W; my old Yamaha integrated rated at 250W; and the speaker taps off my Marantz home theater amp, also rated at 250W.  I can understand what people are talking about.  And I respect all the homework that has been done by everyone on the HE-6 threads.  But this is the Stratus thread and - again - I was merely trying to answer whether I have listened to HE-6s on the Stratus and whether I liked the combination. Answer is still a resounding yes.  Never meant to imply it's the best combo ever.

Had the question been about the best amps to pair with the HE-6, I would have directed him to that thread.  You get the point...

 

Now, despite all that, none of my SS attempts have resulted in answering the treble issue I mentioned.  The Stratus did.  That's all.  That's also why I have been looking into the current source amps, since, as you point out, that is the real issue...

 

Anyway, onto bigger and better things:  curious if any Stratus owners have been listening to LCD-3s on it like I have?

Gotcha.....

Mark is a good guy to deal with.  The F2J may work with all other headphones good as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fejnomit 

I was looking at the F2J from the guy in Reno for about half the price of the J2...  Do you think that's too low?

 

Yes - speakers on head - like the K1000 in my opinion...

 

Anyway - I guess the part of my post where I said I've tried various SS speaker amps got lost.  I have tried a vintage Marantz rated at 100wpc; Blue Circle monoblocs rated at 50W; Audiozone Amp-1 rated at 45W; my old Yamaha integrated rated at 250W; and the speaker taps off my Marantz home theater amp, also rated at 250W.  I can understand what people are talking about.  And I respect all the homework that has been done by everyone on the HE-6 threads.  But this is the Stratus thread and - again - I was merely trying to answer whether I have listened to HE-6s on the Stratus and whether I liked the combination. Answer is still a resounding yes.  Never meant to imply it's the best combo ever.

Had the question been about the best amps to pair with the HE-6, I would have directed him to that thread.  You get the point...

 

Now, despite all that, none of my SS attempts have resulted in answering the treble issue I mentioned.  The Stratus did.  That's all.  That's also why I have been looking into the current source amps, since, as you point out, that is the real issue...

 

Anyway, onto bigger and better things:  curious if any Stratus owners have been listening to LCD-3s on it like I have?

Regarding the LCD-3s, I haven't listened to the Stratus at all yet, but when it gets here (shortly) I will be. 

One thing that I think is missing from these discussions-connecting the HE-6, K-1000, or any headphone with an impedance from 30+ ohms to 120 ohms directly to an amps speaker taps may not be giving you a 'flat' frequency response. The amp could be ok or it could even be oscillating which could cause the problems some people are experiencing in the highs. Virtue Audio states in the manual for the Sensation amps that speakers from 2-16 ohms can be used, but higher impedances may not have optimum frequency response. I have noticed on the amps I have used , both tube and SS, that connecting the HE-6 directly to the speaker taps doesn't always sound 'right'.

HiFiMan makes the HE-ADAPTER for this reason. With the HE-6 plugged into the Adapter and the Adapter speaker taps connected to the amp speaker taps, the amp is seeing a load of 9 ohms measured with a VOM. Now the amp is driving a load that is in the range it was designed to drive. However, the stock HE-ADAPTER is a somewhat nasty device in stock form. It uses ceramic resistors which don't sound good, so I upgraded mine to Mills and Riken resistors. From my experience with the Adapter I would recommend you try it or something similar on your amp before making a final judgment on the HE-6.

Go to 6 Moons and look up his review of the K-1000 with Norh and Antique Sound Labs amps some years ago. He actually experienced gross oscillation with the Antique amp and I confirmed this with the exact same amp I owned at that time. The Norh amp was fine and sounded good with the K-1000 and was one of the recommended amps for these phones at the time. This shows how the higher impedance of a headphone may or may not affect the amp that is driving it. Hope this helps. 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:

 

Originally Posted by Da5Id 

OK thanks I feel better now. :-) My OCD was kicking in pretty hard there for a while. 

A couple of pics from earlier in the thread to "help" with the wait!

Quote:

Originally Posted by third_eye 

A couple of pics from earlier in the thread to "help" with the wait!

These don't really help ...    These can actually make the wait even more unbearable, at least for me, when I stared at these pics while waiting for my Stratus 

I'm a former Stratus owner, and listened fairly exclusively with my LCD3. What a great combo!

But IMO the 3's sounded poor without the tube upgrade. Popping in the SE Princesses or EML solids made a dramatic difference to my LCD3 experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duckman 

I'm a former Stratus owner, and listened fairly exclusively with my LCD3. What a great combo!

 

But IMO the 3's sounded poor without the tube upgrade. Popping in the SE Princesses or EML solids made a dramatic difference to my LCD3 experience.

Hey Duckman ;)

I love the lcd-3 - stratus combo as well. =)   Thanks for selling me your amp!  

Can anyone please fill me in on the best rectifier tube to use with the stratus?  I am currently using sophia princess 2a3's and an old school RCA rectifier tube.  I have heard that the EML rectifier might be the way to go..

cheers,

gav.

he HE-6's don't require as much current as you think,  the hifiman adapter just dumps current  the ground,  its voltage that's needed and why high power SS amps are popular.   5W into 50 ohms is 20+Vp-p which is  equivilant to a solid 35 watts into 8 ohms (most solid state amps are over-rated). 

A 3 watt watt tube amp with a 50 ohm secondary has a chance,  see audionotes new HE-6 tube amp.  Possibly the maker of the Stratus could offer a 50 ohm secondary for the HE-6. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by catfish 

he HE-6's don't require as much current as you think,  the hifiman adapter just dumps current  the ground,  its voltage that's needed and why high power SS amps are popular.   5W into 50 ohms is 20+Vp-p which is  equivilant to a solid 35 watts into 8 ohms (most solid state amps are over-rated). 

 

A 3 watt watt tube amp with a 50 ohm secondary has a chance,  see audionotes new HE-6 tube amp.  Possibly the maker of the Stratus could offer a 50 ohm secondary for the HE-6. 

 

Donald -- is that easy enough to do? Could you offer that as an option? And would that impact performance for other headphones like the HD800? Sorry for asking basic questions. Electronics = magic in my head. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by econparanoia 

These don't really help ...    These can actually make the wait even more unbearable, at least for me, when I stared at these pics while waiting for my Stratus 

haha, sorry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by budx3385 

 

Sorry for the "wait". I use my HD800 with the Sophia Princess 2A3s and a Kuhltube NOS 5U4G. I've read here about the 274B rectifier and wondered about buying the Sophia model. Anyone tried that?

 

I'm still upgrading cables. Right now I'm trying an Entreq Apollo 2012 i/c and a DHC silver Complement headphone cable. They both seem to provide a wide open window. I have the new Shunyata Anaconda from TCC to compare next, and I've also heard good things about the SAA HD800 upgrades.

 

The Stratus is quite amazing, because it continues to transcend the best complementary components. Absolute no noise background, gorgeous timbre and presence, macro and microdynamics, and utter realism.

 

Oops, we've been accused of being "fanboys"? Well, let's just say I like what I hear. haha

 

WRT the HE-6, I thought it sounded fine with the Stratus, though using it on the speaker terminals of the ss Odyssey Cyclops 100wpc provided tighter bass and overall better control.

 

I just received the HE-adapter to use with the HE-6, but I haven't tried it yet. Thanks to dpump for the tip on upgrading the resistors!

 

EDIT -- and a big THANK YOU to third_eye for the lovely photos!!!

My pleasure Bud! Thank you for your contributions and impressions in this thread. They helped me seek out the audition with Donald and also in my choice of tube upgrades.

I just ordered some 6BQ7As, 6N1P-EVs, and RCA 5U4G ST from eBay. Although these tubes are claimed to be "tested good" by fine rated sellers, I am still somewhat concerned about whether it is safe to try tubes on the Stratus without testing them by myself using a tube tester. However, I don't current own a tube tester.

What do you guys think? Do you own a tube tester? And, is there any (rule of thumb) eyeball test that can be done? I am also wondering if the Stratus has some built in protection mechanism against malfunctioned (such as shorts in tubes) or incompatible tubes.

In addition, as a more specific question, is the RCA 5U4G ST compatible with the Stratus? Specification wise, are they identical to a regular 5U4G?