[MelaVerde]

Thank you so much. I will let them know tomorrow .

Meomap let me know how the Sophia perform, I am interested as well for my Studio Six Phono Pre-amp tube replacement.

 

[meomap]

Meomap let me know how the Sophia perform, I am interested as well for my Studio Six Phono Pre-amp tube replacement.

Ok. Will do.

 

[TomSix]

I just communicated yesterday with Jim who is the chief Studio-Six assembler and tester at ALO: Studio-Six amplifiers are coming back into stock and can be ordered presently : )

 

[llamaluv]

I actually just got mine yesterday! Doing a little bit of listening and mostly just letting the tubes burn in...

 

[llamaluv]

A general usage question, actually:

All my headphone cables are 4-pin XLR, so I'll be using one or two XLR-to-6.33mm adapters to connect to the Studio Six.

Is there any harm in leaving the adapters plugged into the unit while unconnected to the headphones?

 

[TomSix]

A general usage question, actually:

All my headphone cables are 4-pin XLR, so I'll be using one or two XLR-to-6.33mm adapters to connect to the Studio Six.

Is there any harm in leaving the adapters plugged into the unit while unconnected to the headphones?

llamaluv,

Congratulations on receiving your new Studio-Six!

Answering your question about the use of XLR-6.33mm adapters: There should not be any problems leaving XLR-6.33mm connected to the Studio-Six while the headphones are disconnected. The only exception would be *if* the adapters you are using are designed to short-circuit themselves to ground once the (headphone's) male XLR plug are disconnected from the female end of the adapter. I doubt your adapters are self-shorting, but I would suggest checking with the adapter's manufacturer if you are uncertain.

BTW: you will experience no decrease in performance/ fidelity of your balanced headphones when using them with the single-ended Studio-Six. The Studio-Six is a an optimized single-ended amplifier, and so there is no performance compromise as compared with balanced amplifiers.

I hope that helps

-Cheers!

 

[llamaluv]

Thank you Tom, that sounds good.

 

[dstubked]

Anyone driving the Abyss with the studio six? Does the studio six drives it well?

 

[TomSix]

Anyone driving the Abyss with the studio six? Does the studio six drives it well?

dstubked,

I have not yet personally listened to an Abyss headphone with the Studio-Six. I have, however, read a small number of comments by those who have tried this pairing.

The reports are mixed, with a few users claiming they wished the Studio-Six would play louder (SPL) into the Abyss at the maximum volume setting. I have heard others who
say the pairing is good, and have no complaints about the maximum SPL attainable. So far I have not read any substantial complaints about the quality of the sound produced.

The Abyss is a headphone known to perform best overall with amplifiers of higher wattage. The Studio-Six is conservatively rated at 1-watt maximum output, but it delivers it's rated power to most electrodynamic headphones very effectively.

My suggestion: If you like to play music quite loudly, and your Abyss headphones are very often used, then I suggest staying with the Schiit Ragnarok, which I see that you already have. The Ragnarok is a fine amplifier and an excellent choice for use with lower sensitivity headphones such as the Abyss. If, however, you listen at more moderate levels with your Abyss, and also would be listening with your Focal Utopia's and/or other revealing TOTL headphones of more average sensitivity, then the refined reproduction qualities of the Studio-Six could be very worthwhile.

Hopefully other head-fiers , those who do personally have Studio-Six / Abyss listening experience can comment here for you also.

 

[dstubked]

Hey TomSix, thank you for your comments. They are very helpful! Something to think about for sure.

 

[Illya]

Can anyone compare SS to Wa5 LE? Considering one of these two for my tube amp, primary headphone would be HD800 but planning on getting some planar's like LCD3, HE1K, and maybe abyss. Thanks.

 

[TomSix]

Can anyone compare SS to Wa5 LE? Considering one of these two for my tube amp, primary headphone would be HD800 but planning on getting some planar's like LCD3, HE1K, and maybe abyss. Thanks.

Yes, I too would be very curious to hear a side-by-side comparison of these two quality amplifiers .

 

[fhuang]

Can anyone compare SS to Wa5 LE? Considering one of these two for my tube amp, primary headphone would be HD800 but planning on getting some planar's like LCD3, HE1K, and maybe abyss. Thanks.

i have the studio six and the previous version of wa5, not le. they sound very different and that is why i'm still keeping and using the 2 amps(with 3 different cd players). in short, you can think if you like the 300b sound or the 6v6 sound.

 

[MN8372]

Thank you Tom, that sounds good.

llamaluv - I see you own both the HEK v2 and Utopia headphones. I would be very interested to hear from you a comparison between the Studio 6 and GSX Mk 2 on both headphones. I assume two quite different amplifiers? I love the Studio 6 - I just wish it had a bit more power for the LCD4’s and Abyss Phi’s of this world which are the next step on my journey...

 

[llamaluv]

llamaluv - I see you own both the HEK v2 and Utopia headphones. I would be very interested to hear from you a comparison between the Studio 6 and GSX Mk 2 on both headphones.

Thanks for asking. I've been meaning to write something about my Studio Six experience, so...

HEKv2

I think the Studio Six drives the HE-1000v2 quite well. Fast, resolving, controlled, way more power than needed for raw SPL. Tonality is maybe just a shade warmer than neutral. Bass run deep (though no tube amp can compete with the depth and detail of the lower bass on the GSX, is my theory). No pronounced tubey midrange bloom.

The GS-X's renowned transparency makes it hard to compare without taking consideration of the DAC that's feeding it. I have it connected to a Pavane, which gives it a full, "analog-like" sound with a suprisingly expansive soundstage (qualities usually associated with tubes, basically).

With that in mind, I hear the two to be not far off in overall character. I do prefer the HEKv2 with the GS-X mk2 though. Soundstage is a little wider and rolls off more gradually. And the almost aggressive character to the GS-X's treatment of dynamics suites the HEK better by partially offsetting its soft-ish sound presentation. Tube rolling on the S6 didn't have much effect on my impressions. Also, I think because I personally find the HEK very full-sounding already (maybe due to the slow decay that shows up in waterfall graphs?), any tube-effected "harmonic magic" becomes less of a potential plus-factor than it would otherwise. That's a theory, anyway.

I actually also prefer the HEK on the Kenzie Encore over the S6 as well. It has a nice tube-effected, opened-up midrange, and most of all, the soundstage is big and very satisfying.

Utopia

I like the Utopia on the S6 the best. On the GS-X, it's sometimes too aggressive for me, and while super-resolving, oftentimes doesn't hold my interest after the first few minutes for whatever reason. And while better connected to the Pavane than on previous DACs I've tried, the upper frequencies make for a "challenging" listen that I'm not always up for. And on the Kenzie Encore, the 32-ohm output impedance on my particular model gives it a little too much bass bloom.

On the S6, it's nice and lively, articulate, has a richer tone, and is overall more "musical" to my ears (which is a hand-wavey way of saying that it "does it" for me in a way I don't quite know how to articulate, lol). I wish I had more to say on it, but I've not been giving the Utopia much time for quite a while now, as I've been gravitating more and more towards all the planars. I also really liked the ZMF Eikon with the Studio Six for similar reasons.

I love the Studio 6 - I just wish it had a bit more power for the LCD4’s and Abyss Phi’s of this world which are the next step on my journey...

Having recently owned the LCD-4 and just gotten the Phi, I have to agree. I've put my Studio Six is up for sale and am going to go for a high-powered tube amp in a different price category next.