[jamato8]

Depending upon how the tubes are implemented, will determine how much they can impact the bass. They can be a major factor, so I can only imagine that tube rolling with the Lyr would be in order. The Gold Lion 6922 would seem to be a very nice current tube that from the reading I have done, rivals some of the best in NOS. Also, most amps really need around 100 hours or more to settle in. This was a standard that Cary Audio even put in there owners manual. 

 

[deadie]

Thanks all, very much appreciate the info on tubes.
 
USAudio - surprised to hear you have no hum in the LCD-2s through your Lyr at max volume, as mine is indeed present, even with my Transporter off. 
 
Assuming it's not the amp, it must come down to power noise or interference from adjacent electronics.  I'm running it through a Richard Gray power box.
 
Time to start unplugging gear and/or move the amp to a different outlet to see if anything changes.
 
In the end, thankfully I don't play music at max volume, so the issue is a bit moot. 

 

[Frankie K]

Jude said He heard that hum when He brought it home, very low hum that did not change when You raised the volume, read His thought's on it and bounce some idea's back and forth with Him and see what You can come up with. It could be each individual unit or maybe it need's more sufficient burn in time! Keep Us posted on Your finding's.

 

[Frankie K]

Quote:

Depending upon how the tubes are implemented, will determine how much they can impact the bass. They can be a major factor, so I can only imagine that tube rolling with the Lyr would be in order. The Gold Lion 6922 would seem to be a very nice current tube that from the reading I have done, rivals some of the best in NOS. Also, most amps really need around 100 hours or more to settle in. This was a standard that Cary Audio even put in there owners manual. 

I was looking up the Gold Lion 6922 tube's and I Myself am looking at the Lyr in the very near future, I did notice there are 5 variation's of that tube: standard, highgain, matching, balanced, matching & balanced & low noise & microphonic's. For some one like Myself that would be getting a tube amp for the 1st time would it be wise to stay with the stock tube & wait for sufficient burn in time or dabble into the above mentioned tube's?
 
 

 

[deadie]

A buddy of mine sent me this comment from an Aussie headphone forum:
 
http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php/33845-Schiit-Lyr

Been spending the day valve rolling in the Lyr, and after a lot of trials my favourite is the NOS JAN Philips 6922 - a great match for this amp. They are not the last word in delicacy or detail, but the mids and top are good and it is a very synergistic pairing all over. They also nicely fix the slight bass softness that I'd heard with other valves and give the Lyr real bottom end slam. There is no discernable noise floor, unlike the EH valves with which there was very slight valve hash audible.

They are not silly money either, and are pretty easy to find. eg http://thetubestore.com/janphilips6922.html (NOTE this is not intended as an ad for the company, I have no connection with them other than as a long time customer, I've included it only FYI).

For midrange and treble accuracy the Genelex E88CC were the best to my ears, but the NOS Philips valve has great dynamics and sounds "right" to me. All listening was with the Beyerdynamic T1s, so YMMV with other cans.

 
 
I may pick up a pair of the JAN Philips 6922 -- not prohibitively expensive, but oh a slippery slope to tube collection.

 

[MacedonianHero]

A buddy of mine sent me this comment from an Aussie headphone forum:
 
http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php/33845-Schiit-Lyr

Been spending the day valve rolling in the Lyr, and after a lot of trials my favourite is the NOS JAN Philips 6922 - a great match for this amp. They are not the last word in delicacy or detail, but the mids and top are good and it is a very synergistic pairing all over. They also nicely fix the slight bass softness that I'd heard with other valves and give the Lyr real bottom end slam. There is no discernable noise floor, unlike the EH valves with which there was very slight valve hash audible.

They are not silly money either, and are pretty easy to find. eg http://thetubestore.com/janphilips6922.html (NOTE this is not intended as an ad for the company, I have no connection with them other than as a long time customer, I've included it only FYI).

For midrange and treble accuracy the Genelex E88CC were the best to my ears, but the NOS Philips valve has great dynamics and sounds "right" to me. All listening was with the Beyerdynamic T1s, so YMMV with other cans.

 
 
I may pick up a pair of the JAN Philips 6922 -- not prohibitively expensive, but oh a slippery slope to tube collection.

I've got JAN Philips and JAN Sylvanias here on hand and with both my Woo Audio WA2 and Lyr (nice that both amps use these driver tubes), they are very nice tubes, but not in the same league as either the Genalex Lions or Mullard CV2492s (which are amazing tubes) IMO.

 

[deadie]

Thanks MH! 
 
Fair to say that a good upgrade from the $30 JAN Philips is the Lion ($45), then a good but diminishing return to the $150 Mullard?
 
 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Thanks MH! 
 
Fair to say that a good upgrade from the $30 JAN Philips is the Lion ($45), then a good but diminishing return to the $150 Mullard?
 
 

I would say that the JAN Philips ($30 per pair) are nice, but I do like the Genalex Gold Lions quite a bit more for only $15-18 more a tube. The Mullards are likely one of the best...but yes, more diminished returns here.

 

[deadie]

Much appreciated!

 

[jamato8]

The JAN Philips have never really been very highly thought of. They can be thin sounding with a bit of upper grit on the high frequencies. They made 100's of thousands of the tube and they flooded the market in the 80's and 90's when they could be had for next to nothing and no one really wanted them. 

 

[deadie]

Interesting.
 
So I'm thinking a new pair of Lions or a used pair of Mullards

 

[deadie]

Ron / HiFlight made me a 2(3pin) female balanced to LR banana plug speaker adapter to be used with my LCD-2.  (Thanks Ron, great work!)
 
I plugged it into a Denon 3801 receiver - a 105 watt mid-fi product in its day - to see if I could discern any gains from the higher wattage (vs the Lyr and Headroom Balanced).
 
It was, well, an interesting experiment.
 
First off, the Denon exhibited quite a bit of hiss.  From its beginning "-60db" volume all the way up to 0db, there was a constant hiss.  I used to run Boston Acoustics towers off the Denon, and it performed very nicely, hitting robust SPLs at -10db.  I had to get up to -30db on the LCD-2.
 
Sound wise?  Harsh.  I could generate greater bass by adjusting levels, but it just produced more boom and mud than clean, hard hits.  Highs were shrill, unpleasant all around.  Denons aren't exactly known for lush sound, so this isn't unexpected. 
 
So that's that.
 
After a few days and 50+ hours on the LCD-2 and Lyr, this is my favorite combination thus far.  The bass is still a bit weaker than the Headroom, but vocals and highs are just wonderful.
 
Genelex Lions arrive this weekend!

 

[Frankie K]

Just give it time My Friend and hopefully You come back with better new's on the Bass side!

 

[deadie]

My Lion tubes arrived today.
 
holy hot dog on a stick what a pain it was to pull the stock tubes. 
 
On first listen with the Lions, major bummer, the hum that was present at 3 oclock is now always there - at min volume, with Transporter both off and on.  Letting the amp and tubes burn in for a couple of hours, the hum is still there, but now it's time to listen to tunes.
 
The good news is that the music quickly takes over, and the hum is not noticable even at low volume levels.  It comes back between songs, then only music.
 
I swapped out the stock power cable to a signalcable magicpower, and no difference with hum.
 
Right off the bat, I noticed that the Lions increased gain, db.  Overall volume is louder by a few mms on the dial.  Vocals in particular are a bit more forward, and have tons of life and realism.  Bass impact is only very slightly improved.
 
Ultimately, though, for tubes pretty much right out of the box the sound is awesome.  They certainly did nothing to hurt the sound.  The combination of the Lyr and the LCD2 is just magic, the best combination I've ever heard. 
 
The Lions right now give it a slight boost, but is the incremental improvement worth $90?  Eh, hard to say right now... frankly even if it doesn't improve, there's always that "peace of mind" knowing that I'm feeding the amp better tubes.
 
Lastly, this experience with the Lyr is making me rethink / reassess my previous push to balanced.  Does my Headroom Desktop balanced provide more power and bass impact?  Yes, significantly.  But the overall experience with the Lyr, the sound, the enjoyment, the increased clarity, the greater space and air between notes and vocals, less veil,...  I don't care to listen to my balanced given how good the Lyr sounds with the LCD2. 
 
 
 

 

[USAudio]

deadie,

Have you communicated with Jason at Schiit about the hum?  Is the hum from the unit itself only or is it audible through the headphones?  I'd ask Jason, he might be able to quiet down your little Schiit.

What happened to the volume knob on your HeadRoom Balanced amp?  You might get improved clarity and details with a volume knob ... 

My experience so far is I've been surprised how little difference there is between the headphone output of my Lavry DA11 and the Lyr with stock tubes.  To be fair I need to give the Lyr tubes more time to settle in and last night I might have noticed a bit more life coming out of the Lyr, but still hard to tell.  I've been thinking of going Balanced as the next step up but your experiences have me second guessing going that route ... please keep the impressions coming.

Thanks!