I think (and hope) that consumers are becoming more sensitive to marketing hype like Stereophile and seeking out more experiences from end users that have actually purchased the product. TripAdvisor is an example of this in the tourism industry where I can see what other people thought of that...

it has been 6 months since I got my Yggy and I thought I would post some "longer-term" impressions. Since the purchase I have added a Freya to the mix and have moved my setup about 5 times all around my home office. The Yggy has never been turned off or unplugged since I got it. I think there...

I don't have a headphone setup at all and go strictly 2-channel speaker with the following chain: PC(lossless WAV or Tidal)>Yggy>Freya>NAD 356>Legacy Classics. It is a great setup and I am very happy with it. Even at this level I'm noticing that a lot depends on source material (the more...

Yup, I would love VU meters. If I had to pick, I would choose VU meters over MQA any day!

The sad truth is perception is reality. Very few educate themselves on these topics before feeding the frenzy. It is very unfortunate. I'll stick with my obsolete Yggy!

For me I can tell a noticeable difference with the output stage loaded with poor tubes. Moving forward I'm going to purchasing either matched quads or two matched pairs.

Has anyone been able to compare a matched quad Tung Sol new production to a matched quad Psvanes TII? I have 10 Tung Sols at this point and plan on getting more, I've been very impressed. If the Psvanes are better I'm willing to give them a try but because they are expensive I don't want to fly...

That is a great idea they are fantastic! Please let us know your impressions.

Well that is strange but if it sounds boring to you that is true for you. Audio is so personal, everyone hears and perceives differently which is why this hobby is so exciting. The static thing is weird I get no static at all from mine. Who know... Anyway if you ever decide to let's your 5692s...

I'll be honest you might have received some bad 5692 tubes because mine are vivid as hell, killer bass for sure and detailed. I have two pair, RCA red base and CBS brown base (both 5692 and both sound good, red base very slightly better). Of course it might be different in different systems...

I agree! For me- substitute "black" for "vu meters" lol.

I was doing some research on tube amps and I had an idea for Schiit. An OTL tube amp for their 2 channel lineup. From my research the design is relatively inexpensive to implement and it produces a very pure signal to the speakers. Just an idea for down the road :)

That sounds good to me and makes things a lot easier :)

At the 7 figure position I would hope it would be the full purchase of a NICE house! Lol of course real estate prices in East Tennessee are very reasonable.

So it is frikin hard to find matched quads of the NOS exotic variety these days so my search into matched quad 5692s has stimulated a thought. Would I be able to hear a difference between a matched quad and two matched pairs? It would potentially make things a little cheaper and easier to source.

Very interesting. So Basically don't swap them out unless you want to/have to and make sure they power down completely and have proper cool down. I've been pulling them when still hot (if testing multiple types of tubes) so I should stop doing that. I'm in the process of going through the 6sn7...

Great feedback! I completely agree about the new Tong Sols, they made a massive difference. I had my cousin over last weekend and we did some tests with some of my tubes. When I put the Tong Sols in even before break-in he was like "wow, that sounds 10X better" and he is very untrained in the...

Great perspective! I also had some issues with noise but I've not noticed it recently as I've been running with the new Tong Sols. I don't think the TS fixed the problem I just have been lost in the music and haven't been listening for the noise. Speaking of Tong Sols, if I had one affordable...

Agreed. The 5692 red base are the best I have heard on Freya and the best I have heard on my system bar none. I really do wish there was a modern duplicate of that tube so I don't have to feel bad "using them up" when I listen to them...

So I have a question- how does one tell if they are listening to MQA on Tidal? I haven't seen any specific libraries or labeling on any songs. I pulled up Bob James and his content look just like all the other content lol. Just curious...

I was actually thinking the same thing as watchnerd- i would at least check the sound with a different set of connectors. It might not help but if it does it is an easy fix. I have silver plated copper wires that I really want to swap out for solid copper.

I totally didn't think about Oppo, I might try my 103d via optical and see what happens. I have a Raspberry Pi as well that I want to try, almost done with the setup on it and that should also work well. I hear a lot of good things about microrendu, I might look into it one day.

So I'm just curious. Does anyone have a dedicated music server like an aurender driving Yggy? I mostly run Tidal and apparently there are a bunch of music servers (like Cambridge) that don't support Tidal. What has everyone found success with when it comes to music servers that play Tidal to...

I know it. I see more red base tubes online that I want but I just don't want to spend the money... the new Tung Sols are as close as I was able to get but they aren't a perfect match, but good enough especially for the price.

I agree with you about Yggy- and I even questioned that when I first got it but it was because the rest of my gear was not up to par.   If you have 5692 (4 of them) give them a shot. I have two RCA red bases (in the inputs) and two CBS 5692 (in the outputs) all matched, all NOS. Amazing...