[lukeap69]

It's hard to convince anybody until it happens to them. So far Glenn you and I are the only two people who have had their headphones blown up by 5998 tubes. Although you're the only one of us who was also unlucky enough to be wearing them at the time too. This is why I always start the OTL with nothing plugged into the jack now. After it's been on 5 minutes I plug in the phones.

You also had 5998 blown up? Wow. Scary. I don't worry however because I always have my amp running for a while before plugging in my phones. Being an engineer, I almost always follow some procedures when I do things. The same as my guitar amps, turn them on for say 10 minutes before I plug my guitar in.

 

[whirlwind]

The GELN

You also had 5998 blown up? Wow. Scary. I don't worry however because I always have my amp running for a while before plugging in my phones. Being an engineer, I almost always follow some procedures when I do things. The same as my guitar amps, turn them on for say 10 minutes before I plug my guitar in.

I always do the same, never plug my headphones in right away.

 

[2359glenn]

I do the same these days.

Glenn, don't hate me when I plug in 4 5998's into the OTL

It's your phones and ears.
Not going to do anything to the amp.

 

[whirlwind]

The EL3N amp has made its way back to me with the new Yamamoto sockets






I have also installed a couple of more SS hard drives in this old Coolermaster server case....this behemoth must be 15 years old....it has transformed from a gaming machine into holding all of my music files...it is ugly, but a very effective case.

 

[2359glenn]

The EL3N amp has made its way back to me with the new Yamamoto sockets






I have also installed a couple of more SS hard drives in this old Coolermaster server case....this behemoth must be 15 years old....it has transformed from a gaming machine into holding all of my music files...it is ugly, but a very effective case.

How did you like how the side pin tubes went into those Yamamoto sockets.

 

[whirlwind]

How did you like how the side pin tubes went into those Yamamoto sockets.

Pretty sweet, no force required ...great upgrade to the amp.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Do you think that your bad experiences are limited to a certain batch? If so, maybe you could provide date codes or similar identifying information.

Anything is possible, but what you are asking for seems like it would be difficult if not impossible to find information on.

To be both fair and clear, this isn't something that's limited to the 5998. Any power tube has the potential to short or arc if it has an issue. It just seems to happen more often with these voltage regulating tubes, and more often still with the 5998 in particular. But, this could happen with a 6AS7 or the like just as easily.

 

[2359glenn]

Pretty sweet, no force required ...great upgrade to the amp.

You can wiggle the tube in the socket with the amp on no static or nothing heard in the phones.
Worth the price.
Will only use Yamamoto sockets on the EL3N amp for now on will be a price increase but it is worth it.

 

[wazzupi]

You can wiggle the tube in the socket with the amp on no static or nothing heard in the phones.
Worth the price.
Will only use Yamamoto sockets on the EL3N amp for now on will be a price increase but it is worth it.

Do you tube roll alot on a EL3N amp ? If not wouldnt a otl amp be a better fit since everyone loves to tube roll with it ?

 

[leftside]

The EL3N amp has made its way back to me with the new Yamamoto sockets

[

Do you prefer one amp over the other? Or maybe it's a mood thing and one day you prefer one over the other? Or maybe the EL3N is your preferred amp and you use the GOTL when you want to tube roll?

Is there much of a difference in sound to the amps? If so, if you roll in the EL3N tubes to the GOTL does that make the GOTL sound more like the EL3N amp?​

 

[gibosi]

Do you prefer one amp over the other? Or maybe it's a mood thing and one day you prefer one over the other? Or maybe the EL3N is your preferred amp and you use the GOTL when you want to tube roll?

Is there much of a difference in sound to the amps? If so, if you roll in the EL3N tubes to the GOTL does that make the GOTL sound more like the EL3N amp?​

Apart from the sonics, I think it is important to remember that the EL3N amp is a transformer-coupled amp while the OTL has no output transformer. Hence the EL3N will be much better with low-impedance and/or inefficient headphones, while the OTL excels with high-impedance and/or efficient headphones. So different amps for different jobs, so to speak.

 

[leftside]

Apart from the sonics, I think it is important to remember that the EL3N amp is a transformer-coupled amp while the OTL has no output transformer. Hence the EL3N will be much better with low-impedance and/or inefficient headphones, while the OTL excels with high-impedance and/or efficient headphones. So different amps for different jobs, so to speak.

Understood. My questions are more around the sound signatures of the amps, say perhaps with an efficient headphone such as the HD800. I can't imagine something like the HD800 sounds bad with the EL3N just because it has sensitivity of 102 dB/1V and impedance of 300 ohms at 1Khz.

I also appreciate the GOTL might not be the best amp for the LCD-4. Those are really power hungry headphones, but the 300B seems to mate with those headphones better than any other headphone I've tried with that amp. Not just the sound quality, but the black background quietness.

When I get the GOTL, I'll invite my friend to come over with his high-impedance headphones and we'll give them a try.

 

[leftside]

@gibosi what would you say makes a headphone inefficient? For example if I look at the specs of the Focal Utopia:
Impedance: 80 Ohms
Sensitivity: 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz

The impedance is quite low, but the sensitivity is quite high and therefore will probably be quite efficient and easy to drive.

The LCD-3 are quite hard to drive:​

Impedance: 110 ohms
Sensitivity: 102dB/1mw

The LCD-4 are very hard to drive (I need to turn up the volume more on my preamp with the LCD-4 than the LCD-3 to get the same output level):
Impedance: 200 ohms
Sensitivity: 97 dB/1mW

From my experience, I believe the sensitivity is more important than the impedance in determining if a headphone is easier to drive or not. But perhaps there is more at play? I'm certainly not an expert in this area - this is just from my own experience with headphones I've listened to (both my own and friends)

 

[gibosi]

@gibosi what would you say makes a headphone inefficient? For example if I look at the specs of the Focal Utopia:
Impedance: 80 Ohms
Sensitivity: 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz

The impedance is quite low, but the sensitivity is quite high and therefore will probably be quite efficient and easy to drive.

The LCD-3 are quite hard to drive:​

Impedance: 110 ohms
Sensitivity: 102dB/1mw

The LCD-4 are very hard to drive (I need to turn up the volume more on my preamp with the LCD-4 than the LCD-3 to get the same output level):
Impedance: 200 ohms
Sensitivity: 97 dB/1mW

From my experience, I believe the sensitivity is more important than the impedance in determining if a headphone is easier to drive or not. But perhaps there is more at play? I'm certainly not an expert in this area - this is just from my own experience with headphones I've listened to (both my own and friends)

I tend to believe that you are correct, sensitivity is more important than impedance in determining if a headphone is easier to drive or not. But I can only speak generally as I don't have experience with lots of headphones. In fact, I have only the HD700. But I think some of the others here, who "roll" headphones, should be able to provide a better answer....

 

[whirlwind]

Do you prefer one amp over the other? Or maybe it's a mood thing and one day you prefer one over the other? Or maybe the EL3N is your preferred amp and you use the GOTL when you want to tube roll?

Is there much of a difference in sound to the amps? If so, if you roll in the EL3N tubes to the GOTL does that make the GOTL sound more like the EL3N amp?​

I prefer the EL3N amp with My planar headphones ZMF Ori and I also like it in one tube mode with my Grado RS1

No need to roll the EL3N tubes in the OTL amp...they sound good in the OTL amp as driver tubes...but they sound much better in the transformer coupled amp.

With my ZMF Ori the EL3N amp has much better control of the drivers and this delivers much better bass IMO.