You describe what I like about this amp. It is a little surprising that the gain seems high to you with the HD650's since they are pretty high impedance so its probably a high output from the DLIII. The 6DJ8 tubes have a little less gain than the 6BZ7 (33 vs 36), so that would be worth...

  Why would it not be worth mentioning? Every popular tube amp made (especially for headphones) has had someone upgrade thier coupling caps. This amp inparticular has the cap in a position where the sound is influenced, its similiar to cap rolling a tube DAC output (see the Havana thread)...

  I would never turn-on/off a headamp with the phones pluged in. Does the new relay show measureable added hum over the pre-relay model? Just a little hum can really add IMD. I guess I am a purist that never liked a relay coil near the output, will I void my warranty if I by-pass it ?

I just don't "get" the senn comparison. These orthos for me are so superior to the senn 580/600/650 in the imaging or 3d close to the performer area that comparison is difficult. I really like these HE-5LE, the only really negative being they require a lot of power, which rules out non-hybrid...

  Thanks for the summary. I am not surprised by the 6GC7 results, the operating point with the 6GC7 is in a very non-linear region with this amp, more distortion very weak output impedance/transductance. This amp the Lyr is really a platform to build on, it competes with the best hybrids I've...

  Those look like A frame dimple getter Amperex orange globes. I think they are the all round best bet for 6DJ8's as they can't be counterfeited and being the last generation from Holland they typically can be found in good condition. Holland Amperex is the only way to go with 6DJ8, this tube...

This is why friends don't let friends use 6n1p's in a Lyr. Notice the non-linear operating point. Also note the heater transformer drops down to 5.7VAC min spec is 6. All in all pick this tube for the guitar amp distortion effect, its not optimal. [IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/34pifl4.jpg] Also...

the only thing I don't love about this amp is 6DJ8 tubes. Years ago a swore off any design that used these because they are expensive, their are copies (fakes), the tone varies significantly by brand/construction, and used ones are prone to testing "strong" while being noisy. For the price when...

  SOHAII is a low power design, the EHHA is a power house. See the designers webpage.

has anyone rolled the wima coupling caps for something better? Seems more logical to start there than spend $300 on a pair of tubes.

My head is a little too small for my HE-5LE's. The earcups sit too low. Is there a head band wrap or something I can put on the top of the headband to raise the position of the cups to the center of my ears ?

http://i48.tinypic.com/2jakdpu.jpg This is a measurement of my Lyr with 6.1 Vrms output into my HE-5LE headphones (about 1 watt). It is an amazing performance, the best measured tube or hybrid head-amp I have every seen driving this much power. I am a bit speachless after taking this measurement.

dp

This amp has the tubes biased at a low mA. After years of dealing with this to this tube this is not is not a great operating point, So the 6922 is a poor choice as their operating range is more suitable with each half biased at 10mA. Tubes that sound good with this amp are white label Amperex...

I like the SET-OPT for efficient headphones. But your thread title suggests you are looking for power . For example the 45 it may be easy to build a 1 or 2W speaker amp but when dealing with inefficient headphones like the new orthos it just seems impossible, you have to swing so much voltage at...