[cat6man]

Thanks so much for your very comprehensive review.  A nice virtual attendance indeed.
 
I want to point out one issue, since you mention centering (soundstage presented) as your top priority.
This is also very high, if not highest, on my checklist as well.
I've been to some local meets over the past few years and find it almost impossible to make
truly objective (or even subjective) comparisons because I find the differences in DACs so great that
they swamp any ability of me to isolate performance to HP, amp or DAC (maybe some of you have better
long term memories and can make those leaps, but I certainly cannot).
 
As an example, my home HP rig is either a CD player or Logitech touch as digital source, to a TACT2.2XP
(room correction unit for loudspeakers, which is used here as a pre-amp with room correction bypassed but still functions to
re-time the digital signal to the DAC) then AES/EBU at 96kb/s to Wadia 27ix.  Amazingly, and this totally
blew me away, the soundstage was brilliant with AES/EBU at 96k to the Wadia, but the soundstage
collapsed/congealed with coax or optical at 96k or with any of them at 44.1k.  So apparently the jitter behavior of the
DAC/transport combo can be huge.  Note that if the problem (or advantage) was due to the 96k upsampling of the TACT,
I would expect consistent behavior with coax or AES/EBU, or consistency between 44 and 96k.  Since only one of
those combinations leads to miraculous soundstaging, we are left with the god of synergy to thank (or blame).
If I heard my headphones (404LE+SRM-T1S) with anything but the best digital connection as above, I'd be very down on the sound.
 
So, perhaps some of the things you heard might be due to source issues, and not just HP/amps.........such is life.
 
What do you all think?  How do you deal with the varying source issue?
 
 
fyi:  I've been a stax fan since my SR-3s in college........working my way slowly up the food chain.
 

 

[aFo]

Thanks for the great impressions! Tons of work

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

Quote:

Yes, and the Boulder wasn't the only $20k+ source I listened to. The Meridian 808.3 is up there in price as well and I didn't like anything I heard from it through the Pinnacle.

Price isn't the end all be all of factors. It's all about implementation. The Boulder just happens to be one heck of a player, cost notwithstanding. In my brief session with the Meridian, I myself didn't care for it, especially considering Robert Harley's enthusiastic review in TAS. I found it overly analytical and lacking somewhat of presence....which is a surprise considering Meridian's history. I even owned a 508.24 back in that day, and I remember that player to be more involving and musical.
 
In my previous post, I was merely pointing out that the source, which often gets somewhat overlooked on this board, is an extremely critical factor. 
 
Excellent effort on your part to communicate to us what you heard. I've been to many a hifi show, and couldn't dream of taking notes and enjoying myself at the same time. Thanks for the sacrifice!
 
 
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Nice write up.  So is soundstage and imaging your top priority?  It seemed to bother you more than anything else since many rigs you said were nearly perfect you also mentioned having hot treble. 

 

[Maxvla]

Hot treble is not a bad thing in all circumstances. When it has an edge to it or is not presented clearly it is quickly fatiguing. For instance the HE-60 on the A-10 Thunderbolt had pretty hot treble but it was extremely clear and thus sounded great.

 

[saisunil]

Brilliant - so enjoyable ... it was as if I had a chance to listen to all the gear and have wish list ready ...
1. UERM
2. JH13
3. Miracles
4. LCD3/LCD2
5. Dark Star
6. Liquid Fire ... I better stop this "wish" list 

 
Super Thanks
Sunil.

 

[Soned]

Quote:

If you have been to enough shows, you know there is NO such thing as coincidence in Deadland, LOL!
 
For all we know, it could be Ray's cosmic sense of humor seeing as the sticker price for the amp will certainly allow for a black hole in most of our fellow hobbyists' wallets.

This Deadhead's wallet loves the name, but recoils at the price.Maybe one day I'll find a "Deal" on this wonderful amp

 
 

 

[Marburger]

great impressions! i wish i would be there and listen all these beauties... 
how about comfort  issue with grado PS500 ?

 

[Wharfrat]

LOL....Ditto.  Or maybe there will be some "Help On the Way"....
 
Back to the thread...I noticed there did not seem to be much mention of any particularly one outstanding tube-based amp, other than the Lyr and I wonder if its possibly because the higher performing cans are generally harder to drive and hybrid or strictly solid-state gear have the ability to do the requisite justice those cans demand.  I have auditioned Woo amps before and none of them tugged at me like the Lyr did.  The Eddie Current is in a league of its own and is just as expensive as the Dark Star...so at least we now know where the bar is dollar-wise in order to get the level of SQ audiophiles demand. 
 
I think the Dark Star amp certainly is a contender for those who can afford it...(or have the Dead senitmentality and the ability to live well off of Shakedown St...) 

 

[Maxvla]

great impressions! i wish i would be there and listen all these beauties... 
how about comfort  issue with grado PS500 ?

Found them the same as usual. Not a fan of Grado fit, but these seemed to be just 'ok'. Probably couldn't wear them for a long time, but ok for short term.

 

[Maxvla]

LOL....Ditto.  Or maybe there will be some "Help On the Way"....
 
Back to the thread...I noticed there did not seem to be much mention of any particularly one outstanding tube-based amp, other than the Lyr and I wonder if its possibly because the higher performing cans are generally harder to drive and hybrid or strictly solid-state gear have the ability to do the requisite justice those cans demand.  I have auditioned Woo amps before and none of them tugged at me like the Lyr did.  The Eddie Current is in a league of its own and is just as expensive as the Dark Star...so at least we now know where the bar is dollar-wise in order to get the level of SQ audiophiles demand. 
 
I think the Dark Star amp certainly is a contender for those who can afford it...(or have the Dead senitmentality and the ability to live well off of Shakedown St...) 

Hadn't noticed that, but you are right. Didn't find any tubed amps that knocked my socks off except the stat amps, which are almost all tubed. Couple tubed amps that were very good were the Peak and the B-52, but both are quite a bit more than a Lyr I'm sure the BA is a very nice amp, but it didn't synergize well with the LCD2, imo.

 

[Wharfrat]

I sensed a hit and miss with the Peak in your reviews and it seems more of an issue of source-amp-can synergy for the Peak to shine.  I have auditioned the Peak only once and I have to say it was truly marvelous rendering of female piano and vocals on my ATH-AD2000...the midrange was butterly luscious and bass had a definite presence on what many consider to be a fair to middling producer of bass notes (the AD2000).  I think with proper tube-rolling, the Peak has some room to move up in SQ with other headphones...at least, that tends to be the case with good tube designs...and it is at least $1K (or more) less expensive than the next price point upwards (B22, KGSS, Dark Star, Eddie Current amps).
 
 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

I sensed a hit and miss with the Peak in your reviews and it seems more of an issue of source-amp-can synergy for the Peak to shine.  I have auditioned the Peak only once and I have to say it was truly marvelous rendering of female piano and vocals on my ATH-AD2000...the midrange was butterly luscious and bass had a definite presence on what many consider to be a fair to middling producer of bass notes (the AD2000).  I think with proper tube-rolling, the Peak has some room to move up in SQ with other headphones...at least, that tends to be the case with good tube designs...and it is at least $1K (or more) less expensive than the next price point upwards (B22, KGSS, Dark Star, Eddie Current amps).

I owned the Peak/Volcano (P/V) for a period of time and I currently have the Balancing Act. (I actually have the same 2A3 that Craig brought to RMAF in front of me right now too.)
 
The P/V definitely has some latitude with matching to particular headphones. It's almost a blank slate where the tube pretty much defines the sound. The only thing is that 6SN7s tend to sound fairly close to one another (some may argue with this). The Peak has some characteristics are not going to change much regardless of tube: very extended, some say even a bright treble; analytical with an amazing ability to render micro-dynamics; and very tight controlled impactful bass.
 
The P/V's treble is smooth for what it is, but it's nowhere as smooth as either of the Eddie Current amps (BA or 2A3). As for the LCD2 (running off the same source), I prefer it on the BA. I haven't heard the LCD2 sound better off any other amp (the only "big" amp I haven't yet heard the LCD2 from is the Cavelli Liquid Fire.) Don't get me wrong, the LCD2 and Peak are a good combo. But I prefer the BA because the LCD2's treble, even though its shelved down, sounded a bit grainy and edgy on the Peak. The BA is more liquid. Lastly, I felt the BA opens up the LCD2 better than the P/V with more depth and dynamics.
 
In terms of tube rolling, you have much more latitude with the BA since you can use either 300B or PX4 output tubes. There are tons of 300B's out there. They all sound quite different from each other too. The fact that there are some great current production 300B's is a plus. Combine this with the ability to roll the 6SN7, 6SL7, et. al., and you certainly have a lot of options.
 
BTW - I ran certain tubes with P/V and BA depending upon headphone.

 

[jp11801]

I prefer the 2a3/45 tube option for the BA or the 2a3 amp. There are still a bunch of 45 tubes out there (NOS or used) as well as 2a3s and they are no where near as pricey as the 300b. 
 
That said my favorite LCD listen was the 2a3 amp as the lcd 3 was not at the EC table, I love the BA and given the price differential (about $1000) if you are that far down the rabbit hole save your pennies for the BA. I hate saying this as I loved the 2a3 amp and think it is special but the power supply of the BA is killer and gives it an edge. Now if you have single driver high efficiency speakers than the balance tips in favor of the 2a3 with its speaker taps. 
 
I really liked both the Pinnacle and the BA with the LCD 2s but prefer the slightly better tone on the BA over the Pinnacle. The advantage the Pinnacle has over the BA is the flexibility it has with various headphones. I never felt that the 2a3 or BA was running out of power even with an iPad as the source. 
 
My top priorities are accuracy of tone, top to bottom extension, definition and head stage. Given the limits of having the drivers strapped to your ears head stage is tricky as our ears are designed to take directional cues from the delay between sound reaching our ears. In a headphone this is a challenge. I have yet to hear a crossfeed that sounded good to me. I have just come to accept that head phones are headphones and speakers are speakers. Each do some things better than the other. On speakers I love soundstage and imaging, which is an artificial effect as unless you hear an acoustic performance in a very small venue this effect does not exist in live performance. 
 
I need to finalize my show thoughts and get them up in the main thread later today. They will be less extensive as I was running the event and hanging with friends. 

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

I prefer the 2a3/45 tube option for the BA or the 2a3 amp. There are still a bunch of 45 tubes out there (NOS or used) as well as 2a3s and they are no where near as pricey as the 300b. 
=

 
I would have to agree that the 2A3 or BA w/ 2A3 option are very viable. The 300Bs are not cheap, you can get three to five pairs of 2A3s for the same price as one pair of 300Bs. Because of that I don't expect to roll 300B's. I do love the Sylvania 2A3 tubes that I assume were also on the 2A3 amp at the show?
 
Finally I know a few asked - the 2A3 did not and will not have the high-frequency A/C heater. That's a BA only feature.