[goldendarko]

  I wonder why he listed (and sold) the best headphone amp he's ever heard on Audiogon today...

You got a link to that? I don't see it anywhere on Audiogon or HifiShark, I've literally been checking every day for the past year hoping to get a deal on an S6 too!

 

[yogi1ab]

givemevinyl: So, who specifically are you saying is selling a Studio Six? I am not seeing anything on Audiogon. Please, do clarify.

 

[goldendarko]

  givemevinyl: So, who specifically are you saying is selling a Studio Six? I am not seeing anything on Audiogon. Please, do clarify.

Think he means Steve Hoffman who just wrote the glowing review of the Studio Six, calling it the best headphone amplifier in the world (or what have you), but I don't see anything either and unless it was listed and sold and then deleted within the past 16 hours or so I don't know how I couldv'e missed it, I just checked last night. 

 

[bcschmerker4]

From /content/type/61/id/1446041/width/200/height/400/flags/LL, the Studio Six packs one 5AR4/GZ34 direct-heated dual rectifier, one 6SN7GT dual triode, two 6L6GC beam power tubes, and two 0B2 miniature regulators.  I presume the 0B2's are in series for 210 VDC at the plates?

 

[goldendarko]

https://app.audiogon.com/listings/amplifiers-alo-audio-studio-six-phono-ref-tube-headphone-amp-2015-09-05-headphones-85379-surprise-az
 
Apparently Steve was selling the Studio Six WITH the Phonostage for $2500. Price doesn't seem realistic considering they cost almost $6000 together, but I am kicking myself for missing that deal now, but secretely hoping it was some sort of fake listing or scam

 

[longbowbbs]

My review is up on Guru....
 
http://headphone.guru/alo-audio-studio-six-and-phono-stage-heirloom-quality-audio/

 

[goldendarko]

 

[longbowbbs]

How is the combo?

 

[goldendarko]

Still just breaking them both in now but with the HE1000 I will say the first thought that came to mind was how 3D the sound presentation was. I also realized how much juice they really need compared to my LCD-3s which still sound significantly better than with my HA-1, but not as big a difference as the HE1000

 

[Currawong]

This is what I'm running now. Absolutely fantastic. 

 
 
I've just plugged in a 6N8S (6SN7) "MELZ" Russian metal-base tube which has added just a touch more air to balance the Brimar 6V6GTs. I'll have to do a bit of back-and-forth to see if it is much different from the 5692 though. 

 

[LifeAspect]

yggy is on order and should arrive in 2/3 weeks. Can't wait to hear the combo
probably endgame for me.

 

[ahsu7]

Hi all. I've just began my first foray in to the world of tube rolling. So far, I've put a red base RCA 5692 into the 6sn7 spot, and a pair of NOS Mullard 6v6g into the 6v6 positions. I'm using the stock Mullard ob2's and JJ 5ar4. I just ordered a metal base Mullard 5ar4 which should arrive in two weeks.

im based in Hong Kong, and we've got a killer tube shop called wiwi tubes (wiwitubes.com)...so I haven't had much difficulty in fuelling my tube rolling needs yet!

My question: is there any way to define which tube will impact which characteristics of the s6's overall tone? For example, I've heard the rectifier might make an impact on the overall warmth. What about the regulators and in/output tubes? What do they "control" (e.g. Sound stage, imaging, etc?)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Currawong]

I don't roll the power tubes any longer, but the output tubes I do a little. The 6SN7 is a gain stage, and the 6V6 slots are the output tubes. It's hard to get info on the latter as almost all of the discussion online is for guitar amps. However, you get pretty much the same characteristics in that tube as you do in a 6SN7 of the same brand. I found searching for good 6SN7/6V6 combinations to be the most interesting.
 
Sylvania: The usual: Flat tone. Neutral. Boring. Some people really like this and have Sylvanias in all slots except the rectifier.
GE (usual tubes): Neutral, but fairly standard output.
Brimar: Mid-range and bass bloom as per English preference.
Mullard: Polite, but a touch musical.
Tung Sol (NOS): Slightly sweet, but I haven't tried 6V6s yet. 
 
There are a few tubes that don't fit the profile, such as brown-base 5992 (6V6GT) Bendix and the GE 5692, which I guess I'd class as a more aggressive GE standard sound now. 
 
I have a few sets of OB2s now. The stock Raytheons for some reason made the amp sound very aggressive, and while this was fun for a while I'm not sure they weren't introducing distortion. In the end I switched to one of my sets of what are probably Mullards. Given that they are for voltage stabilisation I don't think you really want a coloured tube in here, but that's my preference. 

 

[ahsu7]

Thank you for the excellent insight.

I wasn't sure, but the 0b2 switch seemingly had the biggest impact for my ears. I recently switched from my initial 0b2 set (can't remember the brand, they're buried in storage already) to the mullards, and I actually feel it is more harsh with the mullards. I don't think ALO necessarily gives the same set of 0b2 (or any tube for that matter) to every customer, so I am not sure my regulators are the same as anyone else's....

My mistake so far has been switching 5/6 of the stock tubes out over 1 weekend, so it's hard for me to distinguish what's impacting which aspect of the amp's tone.

 

[PAM005]

For me, Sylvania OB2 followed by the 6SN7 (Red Base RCA) made the biggest improvements...