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REVIEW AND COMPARISON: Eddie Current Balancing Act and SUPER 7
Apr 5, 2012 at 12:26 PM Post #287 of 422
I've been meaning to call you to get some objective impressions!  I am VERY slow right now in rolling and have been taking my time...maybe I should bring the tubes and amp over and we can roll!
 
Quote:
elysian said:
When will you have your perfect tube configuration ready by?  I'm waiting to listen to Muse on your Super 7 and HD800!
Click to expand...

 
 
Apr 5, 2012 at 2:25 PM Post #289 of 422
The Leben and S7 take different approaches to audio reproduction. The EC amps tend to be neutral, "fast", and extremely resolving without being overly analytical. They also have the most clarity and bass control among all the tube (not counting hybrid) head-amps that I have heard. The only other tube head-amp with similarly good clarity and bass control would be the Apex Pinnacle. I can see a lot of people not liking the EC (or Apex) sound because of this. There's an expectation from many people that tubes should sound romantic and lush. Indeed this is not necessary a bad thing as I feel the Woo WA5 (and the DNA Stratus to a lesser extent) accomplishes the "lush and romantic" thing quite well.
 
The CS300X definitely takes this lusher approach. Personally I feel it's overly warm, gooey, slow, and mushy with poor bass control and at-best mediocre resolution.
 
So it's hard to compare both. It's kind of Apple and Oranges. Again, just my opinion based on my own preferences and how I like to hear things.
 
Apr 5, 2012 at 5:12 PM Post #290 of 422
I did hear a slow, gooey and mushy sound with poor base control from my Leben driving a HD800.  That is when I put RCA red command 5751/Mullard EL84 combo in Leben.  Everything got worse if the base boast was turned on.  I confirmed that again after our conversation about Leben last time. 
 
The stock tube combo (sovetk 5751 and EH el84?) is not nearly as bad, actually to my ears not bad at all.  However, when I put in the RCA red command 5751 and amperex EL84 1950s with d-getter, I heard a very detailed sound with punch base, rich mid and open top.  The music has layers and lines, the sound from different instruments in an orchestra can be clearly differentiated.  You can follow the music by each of them.  Other numerous tube combos made from mixing various front end tubes ( 5751s by GE, sylvania BK PL, RCA BK PL, 12ax7s by RCA, amperex and mullard) and various output tubes (6BQ5 from sylvania and GE, EL84 from mullard and amperex, 7189 from amperex) fall somewhere between the aforementioned good and bad extremes.  In general using bass boast is not a good idea in my experience, more bass but less controlled.  A couple of CBS 7729 are coming soon.  We will see if they do better than the red command 5751 paring with amperex EL84.  The Leben is just highly sensitive to tube rolling and probably to other components along the chain as well. 
 
I compared it to WA22, and Leben is definitely much less lush.  We all hear differently, but to my ears the sound of Leben did change over a big range with tube rolling, from good to bad.  All my comments are directed to HD800 as the headphone.
 
I am curious whether your "water fall graph" can reveal any difference between two amps driving the same phone.  I have never heard an EC amp.  I would love to have an opportunity.  I should look for an S7 owner in the Boston area.           
 
Apr 8, 2012 at 4:22 PM Post #292 of 422
Take the tube outputs before the transformer inside the S7 - at the primaries - and connect to the TakeT. Throw in a cap to block DC and add a resistor for bass response shaping (and current limiting to prevent oh-crap incidents.) That way you don't go through two sets of transformers, which is never good.  
 
I don't know what the plate voltage is on the output stage on the S7 or what the TakeT expects in terms of voltage. Might want to ask Craig if this is possible. Show him this schematic: http://www.taket.jp/h2/tubeamp.html You may even be able to do this with the ZD with less hassle.
 
 
Apr 8, 2012 at 7:42 PM Post #293 of 422
Can the super7 be modified to use the taket?   that's an interesting finding.
Please let me know more about the taket . 
Can we use the DIY T2 or Stax amplifier to drive it or do we need the speaker output post to drive via the TR2?
What is the termination of the taket H2?  Is it 4 pin XLR or Stax termination?
Is the sound better than the LCD3 with the supertweeter?
 
Apr 8, 2012 at 10:01 PM Post #294 of 422
Any tube amp with sufficient plate voltage should be able to drive the TakeT. I don't know what the operating points of the TakeT are. A T2 in theory should work, just don't need the 580V bias, though the 1000V swing sounds like overkill though. The TakeT uses 4 pin XLR. Shouldn't be that hard to make an adapter.
 
Apr 8, 2012 at 11:47 PM Post #295 of 422
Any tube amp with sufficient plate voltage should be able to drive the TakeT. I don't know what the operating points of the TakeT are. A T2 in theory should work, just don't need the 580V bias, though the 1000V swing sounds like overkill though. The TakeT uses 4 pin XLR. Shouldn't be that hard to make an adapter.
      @Purrin  :  Thanks for the info.   I have been looking for this headphone for a while now.
      I will get more info about the use with DIY T2.  Hope the voltage swing will not do damage to the headphone
 
Apr 9, 2012 at 1:13 AM Post #296 of 422
Dear Kiertijai what tubes are you using with your S7?
 
Apr 9, 2012 at 3:50 PM Post #298 of 422
Hmmm....I think they went up in price.  
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May 5, 2012 at 7:31 PM Post #299 of 422
I was checking EC's page it seems like the Super 7 drop price.
 
May 10, 2012 at 3:41 PM Post #300 of 422
Any further thoughts/reviews on the Super 7? How does it hold up after honeymoon period is over for the ones that got in with the first batch?
There is a new small batch in the making for shipment in June...

By the way is there a significant difference in output power or quality between the balanced and SE output?
As so far all my hps are currently single ended (Hd800, Lcd2, T1).
 
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