[shwnwllms]

I can get a Bigger Ben for a decent price. Is it worth it to try and find an Agartha instead? Justin just told me there's also a Rockwell. Apparently all 3 are the same level. Sigh.

BB is going to have more tube rolling options, it will take anything you can throw at it including power hungry planars. Thick mids and tons of slam

Agartha is that “live music” sound. Stage is vast and wide, notes trail off into the distance and seem to dance in the holographic stage surrounding you, painting a canvas with the music. You are simply “there”. It’s a very unique sound, esp with vocals and acoustic music. SET amp + 300B (and the ability to power high efficiency speakers is end game)

Rockwell is the “thinking man’s amp” according to Justin. Tubes are cheap but still has a lush romantic sound. Nothing as exotic as KT-88s or 300Bs to drive up the cost of ownership

I actually prefer the Rev 1 with Octals. You can always run Novals with an adapter. Rev 1 means more tube rolling options for drivers where I usually prefer to run single triodes with an adapter anyway (which also brings down the noise on the 300 Ohm tap and sound better than Novals IMO)

Agartha’s rarely come up. BB is a more direct upgrade path from the Pendant (even if you leapfrogged a step or two). Also Agartha has a slightly higher noise floor due to the 300B circuitry.

Speed run for the top. Buy the BB (you’ll be looking at a bigger desk and a Nautilus next week at this pace)

 

[HiFiWar]

It's not below the Mogwai, it's still built with beefier transformers. Version 1 biggest difference is 8-pin vs 9-pin input tube. Justin claims that Rev 2s are quieter amps and some other differences, but AFAIK the input tube is the biggest change.

Having those 5 input impedances is pretty cool. And it has binding posts to run speakers

Ah, on his site he made it sound like the Mogwai SE made the bigger Ben v1 obsolete so he made the V2.

 

[HiFiWar]

BB is going to have more tube rolling options, it will take anything you can throw at it including power hungry planars. Thick mids and tons of slam

Agartha is that “live music” sound. Stage is vast and wide, notes trail off into the distance and seem to dance in the holographic stage surrounding you, painting a canvas with the music. You are simply “there”. It’s a very unique sound, esp with vocals and acoustic music. SET amp + 300B (and the ability to power high efficiency speakers is end game)

Rockwell is the “thinking man’s amp” according to Justin. Tubes are cheap but still has a lush romantic sound. Nothing as exotic as KT-88s or 300Bs to drive up the cost of ownership

I actually prefer the Rev 1 with Octals. You can always run Novals with an adapter. Rev 1 means more tube rolling options for drivers where I usually prefer to run single triodes with an adapter anyway (which also brings down the noise on the 300 Ohm tap and sound better than Novals IMO)

Agartha’s rarely come up. BB is a more direct upgrade path from the Pendant (even if you leapfrogged a step or two). Also Agartha has a slightly higher noise floor due to the 300B circuitry.

Speed run for the top. Buy the BB (you’ll be looking at a bigger desk and a Nautilus next week at this pace)

Ok, I may have thought about a bigger desk already today. Justin offered me a Nautilus for 8800. Very hard to turn that down. Also, very easy because of the price . The Nautilus is just to big and heavy for me though, so I'm looking at the top of the line for amps that won't murder my desk. But really, I should just keep the Pendant too . So, that's a very helpful post, thanks!

 

[shwnwllms]

Ok, I may have thought about a bigger desk already today. Justin offered me a Nautilus for 8800. Very hard to turn that down. Also, very easy because of the price . The Nautilus is just to big and heavy for me though, so I'm looking at the top of the line for amps that won't murder my desk. But really, I should just keep the Pendant too . So, that's a very helpful post, thanks!

I may have to take him up on that offer when I get back to CA in a couple of weeks. I’ll practically be neighbors with him (20 min away) so I can save him on shipping

 

[HiFiWar]

I may have to take him up on that offer when I get back to CA in a couple of weeks. I’ll practically be neighbors with him (20 min away) so I can save him on shipping

Good, then you can sell me whatever you have now

 

[shwnwllms]

Good, then you can sell me whatever you have now

I might take you up on that lol

 

[HiFiWar]

I might take you up on that lol

Lemme know. I'm currently trying to decide on an Agartha, Rockwell, Big Ben, and then there's some other random ones on his site too. Plus, a 4 week waiting period. But he'll make it black for me

 

[steve468]

Bit off topic...maybe not really...

I recently got myself a Susvara, and was very curious about whether the Pendant could do it justice. With my normal tube roll, Tungsram WPFG and G-73R, it really didn't sound like it had enough juice, sounding thin and wheezy. So just now I've put in my favourite 12AX7, Grass Electronics Select Telefunken, and that extra gain was the secret sauce. Listening now to Gojira, and there is impact, texture, power in spades. I'm am BLASTING it, above my normal listening volume, at just under 9 o'clock on the volume dial. This amp just continues to surprise me. It's not the most detailed and spacious sound, but this amp does IMPACT just about as well as anything I've heard.

 

[HiFiWar]

Bit off topic...maybe not really...

I recently got myself a Susvara, and was very curious about whether the Pendant could do it justice. With my normal tube roll, Tungsram WPFG and G-73R, it really didn't sound like it had enough juice, sounding thin and wheezy. So just now I've put in my favourite 12AX7, Grass Electronics Select Telefunken, and that extra gain was the secret sauce. Listening now to Gojira, and there is impact, texture, power in spades. I'm am BLASTING it, above my normal listening volume, at just under 9 o'clock on the volume dial. This amp just continues to surprise me. It's not the most detailed and spacious sound, but this amp does IMPACT just about as well as anything I've heard.

I really enjoyed the Susvara with the u709, g73-R, and Tunsgrams.

 

[tholt]

Bit off topic...maybe not really...

I recently got myself a Susvara, and was very curious about whether the Pendant could do it justice. With my normal tube roll, Tungsram WPFG and G-73R, it really didn't sound like it had enough juice, sounding thin and wheezy. So just now I've put in my favourite 12AX7, Grass Electronics Select Telefunken, and that extra gain was the secret sauce. Listening now to Gojira, and there is impact, texture, power in spades. I'm am BLASTING it, above my normal listening volume, at just under 9 o'clock on the volume dial. This amp just continues to surprise me. It's not the most detailed and spacious sound, but this amp does IMPACT just about as well as anything I've heard.

Nice! Are you using the Susvara on another primary amp or just the Pendant? The 12AX7 switch was a good one, makes sense the extra gain would help. I wonder if different power tubes might be worth trying, like if you still had those Russian 6P14P tubes that may give a tad more juice?

 

[steve468]

Nice! Are you using the Susvara on another primary amp or just the Pendant? The 12AX7 switch was a good one, makes sense the extra gain would help. I wonder if different power tubes might be worth trying, like if you still had those Russian 6P14P tubes that may give a tad more juice?

Good point. I have been mostly using my 300b amp so far, so haven’t done too much rolling for synergy yet. I bet the Russians would be too bright, but a lot a times you just gotta roll ‘em in and see what happens.

I bet a rectifier change would help too. I’ve basically got a RFT foil getter in there permanently, but could roll in a Mullard for more warmth. I never did get a U709, since I got a lifetime supply of extremely good RFTs for extremely cheap from Ukraine just before the war started

 

[haasaaroni]

This amp just continues to surprise me. It's not the most detailed and spacious sound, but this amp does IMPACT just about as well as anything I've heard.

So true! The one dimension of soundstage I really do love with the Pendant is the sense of forward depth. The Auteurs have a relatively flat presentation on other gear, but the layering and forward depth it throws really complements the headphones well. And totally, that impact is