Schiit Lyr Tube Rollers

guidostrunk said:

I seriously can't stop laughing at that pic. It's priceless bro. Pretty much sums it up. Lol

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hk_sends said:

 
Hey guys, every now and again the fine folks at Tubemonger as me to post some information in response to something they see in the thread.  They keep an eye on it so they can provide helpful responses to questions/issues and because they want us to enjoy our tube experience.
They asked me to pass this along in response to the above:
 
"Never a good idea to soak socket saver in any solvent. What he has done has caused the silicone to dissolve and that is what he is assuming is the gunk.
Again, please do not try to clean socket savers with any solvent."
 
Hope that helps...
 
Disclaimer: I am not an employee of TubeMonger and have no connection with them other than being a long time customer.
Cheers!

-HK sends

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rb2013 said:

 
Try the 6n23p Voskhods!  The '75 gray shield is my top of the line there and my #3 overall.  They have amazing bass.  Even the '76's or '77's are pretty amazing.
 
Here is a link to my review of the Voshkod 6n23p tubes I posted over a year ago on the old thread - it'll give you my take on the different years.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/549508/schiit-lyr-the-tube-rolling-thread/8595  page 574 post #8606.
 
PS - See sfo1972's post and link - he has all the links to my reviews. The quick story after finding the Voskhods back a few yrs ago - I noticed some were better then others.  So I bought a bunch and sorted and ranked them (that's the original post on the old thread).  Some time after that I discovered a very rare and unique Reflektor (not the common dual getter post version) but with a single curved wire better post.  These were only made in '74 and '75 - gray and silver shield.  They blew me away.  The '75 silver became my all time favorite 6922 type tube - I call the 'Holy Grail' of HG for short.  The '74 silver is right behind it. 
 
Disclaimer: YMMV...these have not been widely reviewed - only the mediocre '80s and '90s Voskhods.  So you won't read much about them- except here.  I feel we have truly uncovered an amazing 6922 type tube here.
 
Happy Rolling!

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noxnoctum said:

Not to hijack the tube thread but I'm thinking of upgrading to Lyr 2 and would like to know your opinions on them versus Lyr 1. Is there any difference in their sound signatures or is it mostly just about getting the bonus gain switch? Any reason why I'd want to own Lyr 1 instead?

I'm still within the 30 day return period with my Lyr 1 from Amazon so I'm tempted to just return them and order the 2 from Schiit (provided 2 can hold all these Russian tubes as well)

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sfo1972 said:

Hi G Tone and welcome to thread and the Lyr2 headphone amp realm

I suggest you read this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers/4575#post_11215025

Get up to speed on the top recs from the guys. You then can come back with questions. I want to point out that in my humble, and limited, experience thus far, you are well served by not equating high price with great sound. You can get amazing sound for under $100/pair with tubes in the top 5 and top 10 lists you will read about in the post above. There are some holy grails to be had that will blast north of 200 and 300 bucks a tube, but that is not necessarily a requirement if you are in it for finding value for your money and willing to do your homework.

Hope this helps and I look forward to your questions...welcome.

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• Soundstage: The stock tubes have an ok soundstage that seems to be straight ahead with some height. The Reflectors have a wide sound stage with depth, width, and height. You feel in the performance and on certain tracks you feel surrounded with the music; even from behind you.
• Timbre: The stock tubes produce adequate timbre while the Reflectors are much clearer to the point of hearing the chords being pulled back at the start of play. The guitar and piano chords are simply astounding.
• Bass: The stock tubes have low to medium fullness of bass, again its adequate BUT the Reflectors have a deep and full bodied ‘umph’ that you expect to hear from the Lyr2. All I can say is that its satisfying as if you have finally caught up with that mirage of good sound that we keep chasing. You just start nodding and say ‘that’s what I am talking about.’
• Detail: The stock tubes seem a bit vanilla and boxy (similar to my experience from last week) the detail is just not quite there. The Reflectors articulate instruments amazingly well, the guitar chords reverberation, the drums and bass are both clear and enjoyable, and the whole experience is both holographic and fulfilling
• Liquidity/Flow: Not much with the Stock tubes but the Reflectors are smoother, not gritty, or harsh the music just flows and is liquid and I just soaked it in.
• Spaciousness: Not much with the stock tubes but with the Reflectors by default give you spaciousness and air due to its monster soundstage. 

sfo1972 said:

  Impressions - 6n23p 75 Reflectors Single Wire Getter Post (SWGP)
 
Alright folks, Here is the Reflectors SWGP review after several hours of listening yesterday. Then again today, I spent an hour focused on a comparison with the stock tubes.
 


 
I built a 20 minutes playlist for the comparison with four tracks from Knopfler, Nickelback, Krauss, and Daft Punk(RAM). I selected those tracks to get a decent dynamic range and flex the tubes to see what they can do.
 
I made sure to keep conditions constant for both sessions and fairly give each set of tubes the same head start. I warmed up the tubes for 30 minutes before each session and each session ran through the full 20 minutes playlist. I jotted notes along the way to remember specific observations that explain why I liked the reflectors so much.
 
Setup:
*Tubes burnin of 60+ hours on both stock and Reflectors
*Tubes warm up of 30 minutes before listening
*LCD 3 were used as the HPs
*High-gain switch on
*Volume at 11 o’clock
*Same components in the chain: Mac > DAC > Lyr2 > HPs in both tests - except tubes swap between sessions 1 and 2
*Ran the two sessions in sequence minus the warm up of the Reflectors before session 2
 
Disclaimer:
I am a firm believer that we have different tastes, components, component synergies, and hearing sensitivities. To that affect, this review is from my perspective and to others, they may and will have a different experience. So take this review at face value.
 
Overall outcome:
I realized after this test how unfair it is to pit the stock tubes against the Reflectors. To say the Reflectors blew the stock tubes out of the water is an understatement.  I realized very quickly that the Reflectors are at an entirely different level. Nonetheless, read below why I feel that way.
 
Compare and Contrast:.
 

• Soundstage: The stock tubes have an ok soundstage that seems to be straight ahead with some height. The Reflectors have a wide sound stage with depth, width, and height. You feel in the performance and on certain tracks you feel surrounded with the music; even from behind you.
• Timbre: The stock tubes produce adequate timbre while the Reflectors are much clearer to the point of hearing the chords being pulled back at the start of play. The guitar and piano chords are simply astounding.
• Bass: The stock tubes have low to medium fullness of bass, again its adequate BUT the Reflectors have a deep and full bodied ‘umph’ that you expect to hear from the Lyr2. All I can say is that its satisfying as if you have finally caught up with that mirage of good sound that we keep chasing. You just start nodding and say ‘that’s what I am talking about.’
• Detail: The stock tubes seem a bit vanilla and boxy (similar to my experience from last week) the detail is just not quite there. The Reflectors articulate instruments amazingly well, the guitar chords reverberation, the drums and bass are both clear and enjoyable, and the whole experience is both holographic and fulfilling
• Liquidity/Flow: Not much with the Stock tubes but the Reflectors are smoother, not gritty, or harsh the music just flows and is liquid and I just soaked it in.
• Spaciousness: Not much with the stock tubes but with the Reflectors by default give you spaciousness and air due to its monster soundstage. 

 
Phew….. Sorry for the lengthy review guys but I wanted to articulate why I was blown away by these tubes.
 
Hope this helps and hope you all enjoy your weekends.
 
Cheers

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rb2013 said:

 
++1  Awesome review!  You are hearing exactly what I'm hearing - but on a Lyr2 and LCD-3's vs my Lyr 1 and HD800's.  More confirmation - the 'magic' of these amazing tubes translates to a different set of HP's.
 
Thanks for taking the time to write this great review up.
 
Happy Rolling!

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joell28 said:

  Hey guys i'm probably in the market for some new 6n23p's again
 
how much do the HG 75 grey or silver shields go
 
or if someone knows would be nice to know what kind of prices all the tubes go

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g tone said:

  Thanks a lot! Just figured how to reply with "qoute" from your reply.
 
I was just curious if I am barking up the wrong tree by owning the Hifiman HE-400's as opposed to a dynamic driver headphone  trying to deliver maximum bass-punchy and impactful? hence the need for the Lyr.I previously owned the Sennheiser HD 598, but the low end was definitely lacking there.  

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sfo1972 said:

Hey buddy, PM @rb2013 for what inventory he has and at what prices.  He will hook you up.  Cheers 

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