[2359glenn]

Pah! <kicks sand in the face of EL3N amp>

Then again, practicality is an issue with the 300B. It throws a lot of heat, gets quite hot, weighs more than most mothers-in-law and nice 300B tubes are crazy crazy expensive.

EL3N tubes $20 and most headphones don't need more then 2 watts.

 

[2359glenn]

Hey Matt how is this so far.

 

[UntilThen]

Hey Matt how is this so far.

O M G. You finished it !!!

Looks superb. I suppose those 2 tubes on the left in front of the chokes are the hexfred rectifiers?

 

[TonyNewman]

EL3N tubes $20 and most headphones don't need more then 2 watts.

Agreed that most headphones don't need more than 2W, but there seems to be quite a few that like more than 2W (HEK / HD800 / Abyss / LCD-4 ... ).

The point being that to get the absolute best out of a headphone more power can be a good thing (sometimes).

 

[2359glenn]

The HD-800 is high impedance it needs more voltage then power. So your you might have to turn up
the volume more to get the voltage needed but they are using little power.
They work well with the OTL amp.

 

[2359glenn]

O M G. You finished it !!!

Looks superb. I suppose those 2 tubes on the left in front of the chokes are the hexfred rectifiers?

No it is far from finished. Those 2 things are the large filter capacitors and the chokes are between them and
the Lundahl transformer.

 

[TonyNewman]

The HD-800 is high impedance it needs more voltage then power. So your you might have to turn up
the volume more to get the voltage needed but they are using little power.
They work well with the OTL amp.

That leaves more than a few power hungry planars out there that might be gasping with 1.5 to 2W, but then folks should be aware upfront if they are fans of the those headphones.

 

[lukeap69]

Hey Matt how is this so far.

Looks amazing! I am sure Matt is ecstatic right now.

 

[gibosi]

Here is a nice rectifier I won last night

Also, you might want to try some of the AZ12 manufactured in Germany, such Loewe and Telefunken. Whirlwind tells me that they sound great in your EL3N.

 

[UntilThen]

Looks amazing! I am sure Matt is ecstatic right now.

I am very excited indeed. The layout of the amp looks beautiful. I really like it.

 

[whirlwind]

Pah! <kicks sand in the face of EL3N amp>

Then again, practicality is an issue with the 300B. It throws a lot of heat, gets quite hot, weighs more than most mothers-in-law and nice 300B tubes are crazy crazy expensive.

Ha ha.
If one needs 8 amps then the 300B is the way to go, no doubt about it.
No doubt about it that it is the better amp.

That being said, the EL3N amp has much going for it....it will power most headphones out there, with some exceptions as you say.
$20 each for the sound of these tubes is an absolute bargain, the amp runs so cool it is not funny, chassis is never more than luke warm...only heat from the amp comes from rectifier.
Two different modes to listen to, with one of them having nothing in the signal path...this mode will be dead silent, even if you do not have the quietest tubes.
My planars are at ear bleeding levels with my amp in two tube mode and volume pot at 10:00.
The ZMF Ori is not a hard to drive planar, I don't feel I am missing anything...the sound is big and the synergy is a 10/10.
I have not listened to my HD800 very much since I have had this amp.

The bang for the buck is off the hook with this amp......granted, it may have it's limitations, but you need to know what you want it for before buying.

The EL3N tubes can be finicky, I bought quite a few to make three solid sets that I like, but at $20 each at least it is not like paying $100 or more for a tube to find it not to your liking.

You only need the front two tubes to be quiet as if you have any finicky ones, you can throw them in the back two sockets and they are just fine.


Matt, you must be very excited to see that pic

 

[UntilThen]

EL3N tubes $20 and most headphones don't need more then 2 watts.

Just a few observations here. Agree that most headphones don't need more than 2 watts. I've heard hd800 and T1 on several OTL amps (Woo Audio WA2, Elise, Euforia, La Figaro 339) and it has been driven perfectly. At no time did I think that hd800 was under driven by those amps. The last I heard hd800 was on Sat with Woo WA5, which is quite a beast. At 9 o'clock on WA5 volume dial, HD800 was really loud.

EL3N are not usually $20 tubes. Depends on who you buy from. A quick search on ebay shows different prices. Some as much as US$89 each. We do know that it's our fortune that we can get NOS NIB EL3N tubes from 2 sources for $20 each. One of them being Acoustics Dimension where I bought my 10 el3n tubes from. All 10 work fine and none were finicky.

As observed by whirlwind and those who have owned GEL3N amps or use EL3N in Elise, these are cool running tubes. The amps are barely warm. In contrast, my Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP when I had it, was very 'hot' after 30 minutes of operation. However, nobody buys the Primaluna HP sorely to drive headphones. It is first and foremost a very good stereo integrated tube amp that happens to be a really good headphone amp too. Likewise Ragnarok which runs in class A mode for headphones. Rag is hot in operation. You can toast your bread on it.

Here is an unusual gold colour Visseaux EL3N on ebay.

 

[2359glenn]

Agreed that most headphones don't need more than 2W, but there seems to be quite a few that like more than 2W (HEK / HD800 / Abyss / LCD-4 ... ).

The point being that to get the absolute best out of a headphone more power can be a good thing (sometimes).

Hey Tony
How about a GM70 tube amp 40 watts per channel single ended and the tubes are cheep from Russia.

 

[TonyNewman]

Hey Tony
How about a GM70 tube amp 40 watts per channel single ended and the tubes are cheep from Russia.

Fantastic - a tube amp that can melt a HE6

 

[Rossliew]

Hey Tony
How about a GM70 tube amp 40 watts per channel single ended and the tubes are cheep from Russia.

Only pairs well with the HE6 and nothing else?