[galileaux]

Hi all,

New to the forum, but have been into audio for some time (though only made more significant investment into it recently).

I’ve been wanting to experience a more “tubey” sound, and wanted to get some opinions on whether I even have the right headphones to go into that. I own a pair of HIFIMAN Ananda (and not planning on trying them with a tube, since they’re planars) and a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R.

Would the Z1Rs pair well with a full tube amp? I’m wondering if their impedance is too low to take full advantage of an OTL amp, something like the Darkvoice or better.

I’m currently using them with a hybrid (the Drop CTH), and I honestly don’t notice much difference from other amps - so maybe they’re not revealing enough to try different amps for a different sound?

Thanks all!

 

[Monsterzero]

Most OTL designs wont work well with your headphones, as the impedance is too low, as you mentioned. Your best bet would be a tube hybrid amp, however that wont give you the full tube experience like an OTL will.

If you have your heart set on an OTL you will want to pick up a high impedance headphone, something 250 ohms and higher.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hi all,
New to the forum, but have been into audio for some time (though only made more significant investment into it recently).
I’ve been wanting to experience a more “tubey” sound, and wanted to get some opinions on whether I even have the right headphones to go into that. I own a pair of HIFIMAN Ananda (and not planning on trying them with a tube, since they’re planars) and a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R.
Would the Z1Rs pair well with a full tube amp? I’m wondering if their impedance is too low to take full advantage of an OTL amp, something like the Darkvoice or better.
I’m currently using them with a hybrid (the Drop CTH), and I honestly don’t notice much difference from other amps - so maybe they’re not revealing enough to try different amps for a different sound? Thanks all!

The 25-Ohm Hifiman Ananda and 64-Ohm Sony MDR-Z1R would more likely designed to run off less voltage, but more current.
Pure tube (OTL) amplifiers are more about outputting voltage. And your going to get more current from a solid state amplifier.

 

[Rayon]

Feliks Audio Euforia gave amazing results. With Hugo 2 as a dac and Euforia as an amp MDR-Z1R has never sounded so good. A bit less certain kind of ultimate clarity than TA-ZH1ES mut much more magical.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I’ve been wanting to experience a more “tubey” sound, and wanted to get some opinions on whether I even have the right headphones to go into that. I own a pair of HIFIMAN Ananda (and not planning on trying them with a tube, since they’re planars)...

What's wrong with using tubes for planars? Other than using the wrong kind of tube amp?

...and a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R.

Would the Z1Rs pair well with a full tube amp? I’m wondering if their impedance is too low to take full advantage of an OTL amp, something like the Darkvoice or better.

Use a transformer-coupled tube amplifierwith low output impedance and, unlike OTL amps, these produce more power at anywhere to loads in the range of 32ohms to 120ohms whereas OTL amps produce most of their power when driving 150ohs to 600ohm loads.

That said...you might have other problems.

1. It's a lot easier to find a decent and affordable OTL amp with very low noise and it's still possible that a $1,000 transformer-coupled tube amp might have some noise getting through on a low impedance, very high sensitivity headphone like a Z1R.

2. Depending on how you understand what a "tubey" sound is or should be on a playback system vs, say, a guitar amp, it might actually be better to gamble on an OTL amp. I say "gamble" because that impedane mismatch will either get you Norah Jones with sinusitis that some believe is the the playback tubey equivalent of upgrading from a $149 Washburn guitar+SS amp combo to guitar with better pick ups and a really good tube head paired to a nice speaker, or it will get you a tin can, because that impedance issue can go either way. Case in point: my SR225 sounds like a bad Mylar dome tweeter and a plastic midrange using t he wrong crossovers on my Marantz CD60's output, but along with my HD600, has Norah Jones with a blocked sinus cavity on the Little Dot MkII.

I’m currently using them with a hybrid (the Drop CTH), and I honestly don’t notice much difference from other amps - so maybe they’re not revealing enough to try different amps for a different sound?

In some cases what most people describe as "revealing" is just having an issue on one amp than on others ie being picky. Like the K701 sounding fine on my Cantate.2, barely any thinner sounding than the HD600 when both have new pads, but sounds like a total tin can on several home audio CDPs and headphone amps, the LD MkII; and somehow get more improvement in its bass performance vs an HD600 when both are on a Burson Conductor. That said, the K701 being finicky is a small price to pay for the imaging, and had I known I'd be able to snag a Cantate I would have gotten a K701 two years prior.