[UntilThen]

Went to bed at 1am and woke up at 4:30am to listen to a Deeper Understanding by War On Drugs. Off the C3G and 6BX7s goes and in comes RCA 1633 and a pair of chubby 6336s. Using LCD-2F. Head bobbing and toes tapping at this ungodly hour. Life's good. Christmas is already here !!!

Thanks for the 1633 tube, Glenn. I flick the switch to 25 volts but have not flick the boost switch yet.

Volume at 12 noon !!!

 

[ru4music]

For a long time, I read what others are talking about GOTL, in particular that which runs C3Gs and 6 x 6BL7 / 6BX7 but I have not the faintest clue what they were talking about. Now I know. I'm hearing it now. 3 key words pop into my head. Damping, transient and dynamics. Damping is the way an amp control the headphones. Under damp and you get loose, flabby bass. Over damp and the bass is too lean and tight. On Hotel California when Don Henley hits the bongo drums, GOTL did it just right. I have never heard it sound so punchy and real.

This amp feels fast. Great transient attack but not overly so. Again I feel the attack is spot on. It's not over done or aggressive but it's punchy. On Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat 20th anniversary CD, the song 'First We Take Manhattan' comes alive. This is the part where I got transfixed.

Some tube amps are more romantic. Others are more dynamic. I personally prefer a lean towards dynamic with the ambience of tube goodness. GOTL dynamics got me hooked.

Alright I can't talk too much for now. I have to go back to listening again. This is addictive.

Some more pictures before I go.

For my initial listening session, I'm using my Pioneer SACD player with twin Burr Brown dac chips. This feeds direct into GOTL. Full of details and clarity. I've heard a lot of good amps this year but this is the best yet and it's right out of the box !!!

Nice! Enjoy!!!!

 

[UntilThen]

Glenn can I flick the boost switch when the amp is already powered on?

 

[rnros]

Went to bed at 1am and woke up at 4:30am to listen to a Deeper Understanding by War On Drugs. Off the C3G and 6BX7s goes and in comes RCA 1633 and a pair of chubby 6336s. Using LCD-2F. Head bobbing and toes tapping at this ungodly hour. Life's good. Christmas is already here !!!

Thanks for the 1633 tube, Glenn. I flick the switch to 25 volts but have not flick the boost switch yet.

Another beautiful Glen OTL! Congrats again.
Love those '80s Cetron 6336Bs, incredible combination with the C3gs.
Like the C3gs, incredibly dynamic, detailed and natural. And SO quiet!
Like the best concert hall seats, close enough to hear and feel instrument timbre
and just enough distance to fully appreciate the hall acoustics.
(And that's without the 5998 switch.)

Will be looking forward to all of your exploration with that extensive tube collection.
Don't think you'll be selling this one... Just bugging Glenn to build you another amp!

Beautiful work, Glenn. (I need one for my office. : ))

 

[gibosi]

Glenn can I flick the boost switch when the amp is already powered on?

What I do: Dsconnect the headphones.. flip the switch to 5998.. and then reconnect the headphones... never a problem so far.

 

[UntilThen]

What I do: Dsconnect the headphones.. flip the switch to 5998.. and then reconnect the headphones... never a problem so far.

You are right. I tried it and I didn't get ejected from my study. Now we are talking. Boost switch on, the Cetron 6336s sounds really good. Volume is now down a notch to 11am for the same loudness.

 

[UntilThen]

Don't think you'll be selling this one...

There's no way this is going to happen the way the amp is driving my headphones now. I'm musically connected. Those electrons are flowing through me. This is surprising me more than the Woo WA5. GOTL is more precise and more punchy and more euphonic. The amp is quiet and there's not a murmur of hum or noise. With no music playing, I could turn the volume all the way to 3pm and it's still dead quiet. It's only past 3pm that some noise creeps in but very soft.

When I was listening to Dark Side of The Moon, I hear details that I've not heard before. I was very surprised. This amp is worthy of a place in a reference system.

 

[2359glenn]

You can flip the switch with the amp on. I would unplug the headphones as there will be a loud pop.

You are going to drive yourself crazy trying all the different tube combinations. You will have to go to work before you go nuts.

 

[UntilThen]

Thanks Glenn. I did just that. Headphones unplug before the boost switch on.

Going nuts is a common symptoms with this amp. I had known that it would be good but I have no idea how good it would be. No wonder Zach told me he would love to get a Glenn amp despite the many tube amps he already has. One more song before I go to work. An oldie from Dan Fogelberg.

 

[Hansotek]

Thanks Glenn. I did just that. Headphones unplug before the boost switch on.

Going nuts is a common symptoms with this amp. I had known that it would be good but I have no idea how good it would be. No wonder Zach told me he would love to get a Glenn amp despite the many tube amps he already has. One more song before I go to work. An oldie from Dan Fogelberg.

Yeah, that’s partially my fault for bringing it over to his house before the last Chicago meet, lol. Funny part is, it sounds so much better now than it did a couple of months ago when he heard it. Since then, I acquired a couple nice 5U4GB rectifiers (was using a nice RCA 5U4G at the time but the RCA 5U4GB sounds clearly better... for like $10!), and FOUND a sweet Mullard ECC31 w/ an ECC31 to ECC33 adaptor sitting in the bottom of the box the tubes shipped in back when I bought the GOTL (I almost threw this little gem away!). It’s at a whole new level now, just shockingly good.

Also just got a quad of Sylvania 6BL7’s in the mail. My 6080 to dual 6BL7 adaptors and 6SN7 to 6922 adaptors should be here Thursday. Can’t wait!

 

[whirlwind]

There literally is enough tube combos to drive you nuts Matt.

I am glad you are enjoying it. I told you you would love it!

Now , get some sleep

 

[whirlwind]

Yeah, that’s partially my fault for bringing it over to his house before the last Chicago meet, lol. Funny part is, it sounds so much better now than it did a couple of months ago when he heard it. Since then, I acquired a couple nice 5U4GB rectifiers (was using a nice RCA 5U4G at the time but the RCA 5U4GB sounds clearly better... for like $10!), and FOUND a sweet Mullard ECC31 w/ an ECC31 to ECC33 adaptor sitting in the bottom of the box the tubes shipped in back when I bought the GOTL (I almost threw this little gem away!). It’s at a whole new level now, just shockingly good.

Also just got a quad of Sylvania 6BL7’s in the mail. My 6080 to dual 6BL7 adaptors and 6SN7 to 6922 adaptors should be here Thursday. Can’t wait!

Very nice, those ECC31 tubes sound wonderful.

Did Zach listen to it with all of his ZMF line ?

 

[Hansotek]

Very nice, those ECC31 tubes sound wonderful.

Did Zach listen to it with all of his ZMF line ?

I hooked up my cherry Atticus right away, so he heard that first, then we hooked up the blackwood Auteur and listened to that for a bit. Not sure if he heard it with anything else at the meet at all (probably not, as it was crowded and busy). He liked the GOTL a lot though. The synergy with his 300 ohm dynamics is just spot on.

 

[whirlwind]

I hooked up my cherry Atticus right away, so he heard that first, then we hooked up the blackwood Auteur and listened to that for a bit. Not sure if he heard it with anything else at the meet at all (probably not, as it was crowded and busy). He liked the GOTL a lot though. The synergy with his 300 ohm dynamics is just spot on.

Thanks. I am sure I will have a few nights without much sleep next week.

So excited to finally hear that headphone.

 

[UntilThen]

Yeah, that’s partially my fault for bringing it over to his house before the last Chicago meet, lol. Funny part is, it sounds so much better now than it did a couple of months ago when he heard it. Since then, I acquired a couple nice 5U4GB rectifiers (was using a nice RCA 5U4G at the time but the RCA 5U4GB sounds clearly better... for like $10!), and FOUND a sweet Mullard ECC31 w/ an ECC31 to ECC33 adaptor sitting in the bottom of the box the tubes shipped in back when I bought the GOTL (I almost threw this little gem away!). It’s at a whole new level now, just shockingly good.

Also just got a quad of Sylvania 6BL7’s in the mail. My 6080 to dual 6BL7 adaptors and 6SN7 to 6922 adaptors should be here Thursday. Can’t wait!

So it was you ! Good job.

Can't believe you haven't tried that Ecc31 all this time. One of the premier drivers.