[Faisalova]

I hope you enjoy it! This is a long one as I compare to the Pendant, and Mogwai OG as well as describe the Nautilus quality of sound with several headphones.



Have a great weekend friends.

Great review. Very informative. I have the Mogwai OG right now, and saving up to get the Nautilus hopefully soon.

 

[TonyTripleA]

Kind words. Thanks Alan. Source in the original Candy store. First time really sitting down to hear the SR1s, crazzy good.

Anyone hear the SR1 vs the HE1000SE... recently got to pair the HE1000Se with the Nautilus and the Ovation both were insanely good pairings.

Justin, just getting delivery of a Bigger Ben here in Australia. I wondered if the SR1 safely be used with it given the very low impedance? I’d be tempted to get a pair!

thanks Tony

 

[nwavesailor]

Justin, just getting delivery of a Bigger Ben here in Australia. I wondered if the SR1 safely be used with it given the very low impedance? I’d be tempted to get a pair!

thanks Tony

I think you will be really happy with the BB and TT2. I've had this combo (and MS) for about 8 months and I am one very happy ampandsound owner.
The stock tubes are quite nice but going to vintage GEC KT88, A-2900 and a 596 rectifier really made it shine with the susvara and T+A, P.

Justin is one heck of an amp wizard!!!!!

 

[TonyTripleA]

I think you will be really happy with the BB and TT2. I've had this combo (and MS) for about 8 months and I am one very happy ampandsound owner.
The stock tubes are quite nice but going to vintage GEC KT88, A-2900 and a 596 rectifier really made it shine with the susvara and T+A, P.

Justin is one heck of an amp wizard!!!!!

Thanks nwavesailor, appreciate the tips on the tubes too! I’m a bit of a tube novice so the journey will be interesting but I’m sure challenging. Is there a place you’d recommend to purchase tubes, as I’m in Australia it is likely to be a bit limited here.

cheers,

T

 

[nwavesailor]

I've done well finding strong testing KT88's on E-Bay. I was very patient and looked at a lot of them as well as seller feedback and if they took returns if they did not test as strong as advertised.

Langrex in the UK has some NOS TT21 (KT88 = ) that are made by GEC and most folks find them as good and a ess costly alternative to the GEC KT88. You will need a pair of adapters that some top quality sellers in China make as these have a top anode cap.



There is a gentleman here on HeadFi that has great testing A2900 and you will need an adapter for that as well (12a**) as any 12AU7, 12AT7, 12AX7.

The BBis a really amazing amp and I am thrilled to own this beast!!!

 

[TonyTripleA]

I think you will be really happy with the BB and TT2. I've had this combo (and MS) for about 8 months and I am one very happy ampandsound owner.
The stock tubes are quite nice but going to vintage GEC KT88, A-2900 and a 596 rectifier really made it shine with the susvara and T+A, P.

Justin is one heck of an amp wizard!!!!!

So sad, the bigger Ben arrived. Put on the gloves inserted the tubes…. Volume to zero, power on: a buzz, a pop, and then smoke from under the left hand transformer. Powered off immediately. Sadly didn’t get to hear a note. And there are no more replacement amps for some time in Australia.

Maybe have to try the Kenzie ovation instead? Not sure it will have the same bass energy, but reading this thread I feel I won’t be disappointed in how the utopias might benefit from the enhanced purity?

Edit… okay it was my bad, Justin was very helpful and suggested I check the valve insertion was correct… one valve the 6SL7 was incorrectly inserted. And I was careful I thought… so a lesson to me “watch that that key is directly in the correct place”. Thought it was worth publicly shaming myself as a warning to others. And thanks to Hugo at Indi HiFi for his patience with me and help with this!

sigh….


Tony

 

[ThanatosVI]

Any sound impressions for the Forge available?

The headphones.com exklusive amp from ampsandsound.

 

[Wes S]

Any sound impressions for the Forge available?

The headphones.com exklusive amp from ampsandsound.

There is some good info over on the Headphones.com forum.

 

[omega1990]

Did anyone get to hear the Agartha amp at canjam? I tried asking in the canjam forum but did not see a response.

 

[TonyTripleA]

So sad, the bigger Ben arrived. Put on the gloves inserted the tubes…. Volume to zero, power on: a buzz, a pop, and then smoke from under the left hand transformer. Powered off immediately. Sadly didn’t get to hear a note. And there are no more replacement amps for some time in Australia.

Maybe have to try the Kenzie ovation instead? Not sure it will have the same bass energy, but reading this thread I feel I won’t be disappointed in how the utopias might benefit from the enhanced purity?

Edit… okay it was my bad, Justin was very helpful and suggested I check the valve insertion was correct… one valve the 6SL7 was incorrectly inserted. And I was careful I thought… so a lesson to me “watch that that key is directly in the correct place”. Thought it was worth publicly shaming myself as a warning to others. And thanks to Hugo at Indi HiFi for his patience with me and help with this!

sigh….


Tony

I can now report the repairs are complete from my misalignment of the 6SL7 tube. Justin was very helpful, and yes just a simple replacement of a capacitor and two resistors. Ouch, but now working and working well. Dead silent noise floor on the bigger Ben with the utopias, and very impressive sound. Ill give myself some time listening before defining the sound but words such as engaging, relaxed and resolving spring to mind. Definitely not fatiguing with the focal utopias. I may look at the tubes for some more slam later but for now enjoying the stock tubes with jazz, vocals and guitar… very nice with folk styles.

impressive!

Tony

 

[TonyTripleA]

I've done well finding strong testing KT88's on E-Bay. I was very patient and looked at a lot of them as well as seller feedback and if they took returns if they did not test as strong as advertised.

Langrex in the UK has some NOS TT21 (KT88 = ) that are made by GEC and most folks find them as good and a ess costly alternative to the GEC KT88. You will need a pair of adapters that some top quality sellers in China make as these have a top anode cap.



There is a gentleman here on HeadFi that has great testing A2900 and you will need an adapter for that as well (12a**) as any 12AU7, 12AT7, 12AX7.

The BBis a really amazing amp and I am thrilled to own this beast!!!

nwavesailor, you mentioned that the "596 rectifier" tube improved the sound... can I ask an uninformed question, is this equal to a 5963 or an 5965 valve which is available from the Valve Store in Australia? I'd value your description of how the sound was improved if you can?

One last question, did you find replacing the 6SLN tube made a noticable difference? Any recommendations appreciated.

I've made the decision to try some KT88 tubes... okay, I love the stock sound, but some added slam for some of my more juvenile inclinations cannot be a bad thing from time to time right! I'm thinking Therion, Clavicula Nox... operatic heavy Swedish metal but so orchestral in nature....

Anyhow, I think I'm on the valve swap gravy train...

T

 

[nwavesailor]

Trying various input tubes, in place of the stock 6SLN, should make the single biggest difference for the BB. Most folks feel power tubes next and then the rectifier.

There are some nice vintage or perhaps real NOS Tung Sol 6SU7 or Mullard ECC35 both drop in replacements w/o the need for an adapter

I think Justin has found that a lot of folks get an adapter to allow use of the many 12AU7, 12AT7, 12AX7 input tube versions with the base of the adapter 6SN7 / 6SL7. The list of tubes to safely use with this adapter is nearly endless. I use 12A**, Valvo 6201, Raytheon 7728 / 7730, GEC A2900 to name a few great ans some exotics.

Two well respected tube wizards have found an inexpensive input tube and these guys, @Wes S and @Guidostrunk, are saying it is FANTASTIC! They have bought and tried countless tubes and spent a fortune over time. It is the RFT ECC81, 12AT7 foil geter . Mine have not arrived yet!

If you don't want to go All IN on KT88's there is a odd tube called the Bendix 6384. Sounds really nice and you will need an adapter 6L6 at the amp and 6384 at the top. Justin heard these and though they sounded good. Then again there is always the GEC KT 88.

Read all and everything here posted by @me2621a. He has had most every amp made by Justin and is a great guy who REALLY knows what tubes really shine in these amps.

Welcome down the rabbit hole!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AndyTheGreatest]

The 5691 RCA red base 6SL7GT made me instantly stop buying more input tubes for my Bigger Ben. It just added so much weight to every note and still added detail.

For $90, it was the best tube value I've ever bought.

 

[me2621a]

Trying various input tubes, in place of the stock 6SLN, should make the single biggest difference for the BB. Most folks feel power tubes next and then the rectifier.

There are some nice vintage or perhaps real NOS Tung Sol 6SU7 or Mullard ECC35 both drop in replacements w/o the need for an adapter

I think Justin has found that a lot of folks get an adapter to allow use of the many 12AU7, 12AT7, 12AX7 input tube versions with the base of the adapter 6SN7 / 6SL7. The list of tubes to safely use with this adapter is nearly endless. I use 12A**, Valvo 6201, Raytheon 7728 / 7730, GEC A2900 to name a few great ans some exotics.

Two well respected tube wizards have found an inexpensive input tube and these guys, @Wes S and @Guidostrunk, are saying it is FANTASTIC! They have bought and tried countless tubes and spent a fortune over time. It is the RFT ECC81, 12AT7 foil geter . Mine have not arrived yet!

If you don't want to go All IN on KT88's there is a odd tube called the Bendix 6384. Sounds really nice and you will need an adapter 6L6 at the amp and 6384 at the top. Justin heard these and though they sounded good. Then again there is always the GEC KT 88.

Read all and everything here posted by @me2621a. He has had most every amp made by Justin and is a great guy who REALLY knows what tubes really shine in these amps.

Welcome down the rabbit hole!!!!!!!!!!

Happy to help where I can, I also happen to have pretty much every 6SL7 and sub in existence, along with a vast collection of NOS power tubes so happy to offer help and suggestions.

Thanks again for the shout out! You can’t go wrong with any of Justin’s amps but they all have a unique flavor.

 

[nwavesailor]

I got a TON of help and valuable guidance from @me2621a when I bought my BB and all the suggestions he made were very good and accurate.
One of the best decisions I made, with @me2621a's help, was buying the GEC A-2900 input tube. Much better all around and with nice extension in the detail and treble end as well as the bass.
You can figure the tube thing out by yourself and spend tons of $$$ and time or have someone who has already been there and done that make your buying decisions easier with a much shorter learning curve!!!