It sounds like you got a bad example of a WE396A. They tend to sound warm and full sounding. I'm not saying the WE396A is any better sounding then the other tubes you have tried but they tend to be a full sounding tube and definitely not thin sounding. You may very well have a bad example of...

Agreed. I can easily hear a difference between an all copper cable and a copper/silver hybrid. The hybrid cables usually have more extension in the highs while the all copper cables are fuller sounding. At least that's how I hear it anyways.

I also prefer an all copper cable (in my case Norne Drausk and Draug) with the VO. I have ZMF Lectric S 4-strand and LQI Esprit copper/silver hybrid cables that I like to run on the Aeolus, Atticus, and Autuer OG. I prefer my all copper LQI Voda, Norne Draug, and Norne Drausk cables with the...

I absolutely recommend trying a Crack (especially with Speedball) and Mainline. Both go with ZMFs and other high impedance phones like peanut butter and jelly. My main reason for getting a Mainline initially was to get a transformer-coupled tube amp that I could run my planers with. The...

Sorry I'm just now responding to this as I just saw your post. I must preface that the Mainline is not completely stock as it uses Mundorf caps and also uses a CBS blackplate 5814 for the 12AU7 tube (5814 is a variant of the 12AU7). Both the Mundorf caps and the CBS 5814 made a big improvement...

My Eikon is rusted Zebrawood:

Since we're on the subject of Cherry Eikon, here's my early production Cherry Atticus:

These are my favorite pads for the Atticus.

The country the tube is manufactured at is often written on the tube. These can wear off though but there are also usually markings on the tube that will tell you the date and factory the tube was made. Each manufacturer used their own code system. Phillips also owned/manufactured Amperex and...

The BE2 pads are close to the Verite pads but with added dimensionality if that helps. The lambskin BE2 pads are my favorite on the Verite Open.

Very nice! While Telefunkens are typically more valuable in the market I actually prefer the house sound of Holland made Phillips tubes over the typical Telefunken house sound. Of course there are exceptions and these things are often equipment dependant but generally speaking I prefer the...

I listen to my Atticus on a WA 6 from time to time. Its a great sounding combo!

Agreed and as I was saying earlier I get just as much enjoyment out of the Crack as the others.

I run a Primaluna Prologue 4 tube amp to run headphones occasionally (mainly use to run my power-hungry Modhouse Argons) with good success. It does have a little more background noise then a typical headphone amp but sounds great otherwise. The background noise is not an issue with typical...

I want to say the Canary Wood Aeolus was one of their more recent limited releases (within the last year or so). Congrats on the Aeolus! Can't wait to hear your impressions of them!