[UntilThen]

Mazda 6N7G and GEC 6as7g closeup.

 

[UntilThen]

Glenn's use of a single 6SN7 and equivalent is a big advantage here. It sounds as good as those amps that use 2 drivers and when you're buying expensive tubes, your wallet will thank you for buying just one tube.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Glenn's use of a single 6SN7 and equivalent is a big advantage here. It sounds as good as those amps that use 2 drivers and when you're buying expensive tubes, your wallet will thank you for buying just one tube.

Nice and very nice image.

Are you using solid state rectifiers?

 

[yates7592]

Tube rolling on GOTL applies to all headphones. Adapter for ECC31 has just arrived. After warming up ECC31 and 6 x 6bx7 for 2 hours, I started listening with HD800. I can't believe what I hear. ECC31 has a romantic tone with a voluptuous bass. Coupled that with the tight, punchy tone of sextet 6bx7 and the result is pure euphony.

Thanks, so GOTL is good with low Z cans as well. Are there more preferable tube combinations that work better with low Z compared to high Z? I'm thinking 42 ohm dynamic, but not a hard to drive planar or anything like that.

 

[gibosi]

Very nice! Are the E-bay Chinese made tube adapters best avoided?

For the most part, Chinese-made adapters on eBay are the only game in town. And in my experience, I have had very good luck with these Chinese vendors.

I have Hexfred. What is the advantage of each option?

In short: Tube rectification allows for tube rolling to further tweak the sound.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Tube rolling on GOTL applies to all headphones. Adapter for ECC31 has just arrived. After warming up ECC31 and 6 x 6bx7 for 2 hours, I started listening with HD800. I can't believe what I hear. ECC31 has a romantic tone with a voluptuous bass. Coupled that with the tight, punchy tone of sextet 6bx7 and the result is pure euphony.

The mercurial pairing.

Funny, I had my pair of ECC31's in the Elise this AM and yes..."romantic" is a good description for them. Add the BX7's...and I am certain you have a really nice sounding amp!

Have you tried FDD20 as driver?

 

[UntilThen]

Nice and very nice image.

Are you using solid state rectifiers?

Thanks JV. You would have taken better pictures.

I'm using solid state rectifiers - HEXFRED. That's based on the responses of a few here. There's appeal with going tube rectifier but in the end I just want to keep it simple.

 

[UntilThen]

Thanks, so GOTL is good with low Z cans as well. Are there more preferable tube combinations that work better with low Z compared to high Z? I'm thinking 42 ohm dynamic, but not a hard to drive planar or anything like that.

6336 tubes are supposed to work well with low Z cans. My lowest Z can now is the LCD-2f at 70 ohms and planar. All the the tube combinations drive this headphone with ease.

I will get my son's HE560 back this weekend for a listen. That's 32 ohms but it shouldn't be a problem for this OTL amp. @Hansotek has just posted about the excellent response he had using HE500 with the OTL amp.

 

[UntilThen]

Funny, I had my pair of ECC31's in the Elise this AM and yes..."romantic" is a good description for them. Add the BX7's...and I am certain you have a really nice sounding amp!

Have you tried FDD20 as driver?

To simply things, I describe tubes according to the 2 extremes. That's ....

Romantic <-----------------------> Dynamic

Draw an imaginary centre line and you have a tone somewhere in between. I don't use words such as bloom or worst, 'bloat' on great tubes like ECC31 because that would be cruel. And yes I would categorise 6BL7 / 6BX7 as on the dynamic side of neutral.

My FDD20 adapter is on it's way to me from xulingmrs. I still have five FDD20 tubes. I couldn't sell them at one stage and I'm glad I didn't sell it. From recollection, I find the FDD20 to be the best of ECC31 and various 6N7G on Elise.

 

[rnros]

I have Hexfred. What is the advantage of each option?

As @gibosi noted, the tube rectifier option allows further sound tweaking, essentially another point of change for FR balance/profile and soundstage qualities.
You can read gibosi's posts in this thread on a large number of rectifiers to get a sense of that topic, if you think it would interest you going forward.

Hexfred is a good choice for high quality sound without the added effort and expense of rectifier tubes. Hexfred will not limit your options with drivers and output tubes.
Rectifier tubes, on the other hand, do need to meet the current requirements of the output tubes, so some selection for compatibility is required.
Also note, every tube is a potential source of noise, so the SS rectifier is a good way to reduce that nuisance.

There is also a third option, GOTL can also be built for the PY500 tube rectifier, which uses only that one tube type.

Is one option clearly better than the other two? No. Would I give up my GOTL with tube rectifiers? Never. Do I want a Hexfred GOTL? Yes.
It's a Win/Win/Win.

 

[rnros]

Thanks, so GOTL is good with low Z cans as well. Are there more preferable tube combinations that work better with low Z compared to high Z? I'm thinking 42 ohm dynamic, but not a hard to drive planar or anything like that.

The headphones I use on a daily basis with the GOTL are low impedance, no issues with any of them. Check my profile.
I have preferences for tube combinations, there are always synergies, but none that I would describe as flawed or unacceptable.

 

[UntilThen]

Nice collection of headphones and amps rnrros.

At the beginning of last year, I wanted to get Schiit Gungnir Multibit and Mjolnir 2. When I went to Addicted To Audio, that plan went out the window and I had to redraw my plans and my cheque. So I end up with Yggdrasil and Ragnarok (together with Euforia) and I thought I will live happily thereafter. It was the most gorgeous sound for a while. Then in the midst of my total contentment, Glenn pop into my thread and said hello. That changed the course of my audio history. Now Euforia is sold and Ragnarok sits on the floor - unplugged. There's no space for it on the desk or the rack !!!

 

[rnros]

Nice collection of headphones and amps rnrros.

At the beginning of last year, I wanted to get Schiit Gungnir Multibit and Mjolnir 2. When I went to Addicted To Audio, that plan went out the window and I had to redraw my plans and my cheque. So I end up with Yggdrasil and Ragnarok (together with Euforia) and I thought I will live happily thereafter. It was the most gorgeous sound for a while. Then in the midst of my total contentment, Glenn pop into my thread and said hello. That changed the course of my audio history. Now Euforia is sold and Ragnarok sits on the floor - unplugged. There's no space for it on the desk or the rack !!!

Thanks. I agree, so many fine components to choose from, and like many others here, we are fortunate to have what we do have. Obviously it is both a passion/obsession and a commitment.
Obviously the designers and builders of the fine components you mention share a similar passion/obsession, perhaps more so. We only risk the expense of a single purchase, the designers/builders have much more at stake. So I am always grateful for, and respectful of, their efforts and accomplishments.
True, I feel very fortunate to have come across Glenn's work and his fine amps. But we are all very fortunate that this level of excellence and competition in audio design exists in the first place!
So, hats off to every designer/builder with skin in the game.

 

[UntilThen]

I blame this amp. It's what make me produce my Rembrandt.

 

[whirlwind]

Glenn's use of a single 6SN7 and equivalent is a big advantage here. It sounds as good as those amps that use 2 drivers and when you're buying expensive tubes, your wallet will thank you for buying just one tube.

The driver stage of Glenns OTL is its greatest feature in my mind...brilliant.
Pair this with a kick butt transformer and that in itself makes for a wonderful piece of gear.