[ampsandsound]

Though I have examples of my bigger amps the Kenzie is just so good at what it does and feels accessible. Enough so, I still actively use.

 

[nwavesailor]

I received my Bigger Ben yesterday and was up til 5:15AM listening!

I love the Pendant. It is a great amp that easily makes the VO and Empy's sing. The BB is simply MORE of everything.
With the stock new production JJ KT88 and TS 5AR4 and 6SL7, cold right out of the box, it sounded really good. I then started rolling many combinations of 5AR4, 5U4 and USAF 596, a pair of Bendix 6384 and 1943 vintage smoked glass Tung Sol 6SU7 and some 12A** input tubes..........now it's sounding a LOT better. Far too many combinations to remember.

Tonight I put in 1968 GEC KT88's and the hype is real..............WOW! The JJ's are good, the Bendix are better and the GEC KT88's are crazy good!

The ZMF VO and Empy's were easily driven by the Pendant and the BB, the Susvara, however, needed that extra 'Sumpin-Sumpin' (honking huge transformers!) that the BB has and for a hard to drive hp the BB did it very well!

If you have a ampsandsound model that takes KT88 power tubes the GEC are simply stunning. Yes, they are spendy but WOW!!!!!!!!! I'll post some pictures after I listen some more...........I am NOT staying up until 5 this AM.

 

[nwavesailor]

3 LONG nights of listening and I am LOVING the Bigger Ben paired with VO, Empy, and the hard to drive HifiMan Susvara!
Dead and I mean DEAD quiet even at step 24 of the 24 stepped pot. The BB does what the Pendant does just more and better controlled bass and sweeter and more extended highs.
As much as I was a pendant fan, and still am, the BB is a crazy good tube amp!

Well done Justin and the A&S team!!!

 

[gugges]

Question for people in this thread...

I am trying to buy an endgame amp to pair with my ZMF VCs + RME ADI 2 (maybe Bifrost 2 in the future) and I'm curious how the Pendant compares to the Kenzie Ovation sound wise on the VCs or other ZMFs?

I see a lot of the descriptions for the Ovation as having textured bass which does sound very appealing to me as I listen to a lot of hip hop / electronic music (but a bit of everything really including lots of rock, bluegrass, folk etc).

Other descriptions of the Ovation call it romantic, although I'm unsure what that means exactly. I know the Ovation has more inputs for different impedances which seems nice in theory, but is it that much better than 8ohm / 100ohm like on the Pendant? I would like to add an open headphone to the collection one day so it is part of the equation to have flexibility with the amp I end up choosing. Also, I couldn't find or compare the power outputs of the two amps... I don't see specs for the Ovation on the A&S website, so curious if anyone knows the difference there.

Thanks in advance for the help!
gugges

Edit: Also worth noting that the Pendant SE when it arrives will also have Jupiter caps and a stepped attenuator so I am really comparing against this future model

 

[branislav]

I hope it's ok to post here, but my Kenzie Ovation is available. So those who's been thinking about this amp, here's an opportunity to save some money and production time and own this musical headphone amp.

 

[nwavesailor]

I was a HUGE fan of the Pendant and was hoping for a bit more of everything with the Bigger Ben and that is exactly what I got!
The BB is one CRAZY good amp that has had me non stop grinning every night I listen.

Simply stunning!!!

 

[ampsandsound]

That’s one of the most insane tube compliments I’ve ever seen. Lovely selection.

 

[nwavesailor]

That’s one of the most insane tube compliments I’ve ever seen. Lovely selection.

It sounds GREAT with those dual Siemen C3g's and these dual 6J5G!

TBH, it also sounds great with ECC35, 12AU7,12AT7 (6201, 7728) or 6SU7..............

 

[tkam]

Question for people in this thread...

I am trying to buy an endgame amp to pair with my ZMF VCs + RME ADI 2 (maybe Bifrost 2 in the future) and I'm curious how the Pendant compares to the Kenzie Ovation sound wise on the VCs or other ZMFs?

The Kenzie Ovation is a wonderful amp and pairs extremely well with my ZMF VC & Aeolus. I actually have tried using the different impedance outputs and I do prefer the 300 ohm. You'll want to use a tube with a lower amplification factor like a 12sn7 or 12au7 or you'll likely get too much noise on the 300 ohm output.

I use the 8 ohm output with the Empyrean and that's a really nice pairing as well.

In terms of pure output power the Pendant is rated for higher output despite the fact that the Ovation uses larger output transformers.

 

[gugges]

@tkam thanks for the impressions and tube advice! The empys are definitely on my radar as an open hp so good to know that pairs well with a&s too

 

[Yassa]

Last time i visited my friend in Melbourne i got the chance to listen to Feliks audio Euforia, and i loved the sound.
Now i am in a position to buy my first tube amp and i am wondering if ampsandsound Bigger Ben or ZMF Pendant would be the better choice/noob friendly?
Further more i will be listing out of LCD-X,HD600,Focal Clear, yet to come ( Meze Empyrean).

Please advice on above?

 

[pkcpga]

Last time i visited my friend in Melbourne i got the chance to listen to Feliks audio Euforia, and i loved the sound.
Now i am in a position to buy my first tube amp and i am wondering if ampsandsound Bigger Ben or ZMF Pendant would be the better choice/noob friendly?
Further more i will be listing out of LCD-X,HD600,Focal Clear, yet to come ( Meze Empyrean).

Please advice on above?

I have the ZMF pendant and Focal Stellia and Utopia, those for me weren’t the best match. The Focal’s seem to be very sensitive and there’s a little noise with some tubes, which for me is annoying. Pairs extremely well with my LCD 4 and ZMF VC. Never tried the Bigger Ben but looks like a great amp, just seems like more amp then your listed headphones. Before I’d buy the Bigger Ben, maybe the Mogwai or Pendant with a nice headphone. Many of the Pendants nos tubes are fairly available and not extremely priced, so it makes it easy to tube roll. Mazda 12au7 tube, out of low z, with Amperex el84’s and Siemens rectifier tube definitely help remove noise making the pendant sound great with the Focal Utopia. Still not the biggest fan of the Stellia through the Pendant, personally like the Stellia with solid state better. Swapping just the Mazda 12au7 with the Amperex 6201 gold pin 12at7 makes the LCD4’s and LCD XC sound amazing. Good luck, I’d personally not spend $5-6k on an amp without owning some end game headphones and having a dac to match its capabilities. I’m using the chord Dave with the pendant, might upgrade the amp at some point, but happy with the Pendant right now.

 

[tkam]

I've been running a GE 5-star blackplate 6072 in my Kenzie Ovation with a pair of TS 1626's. Wonderful combination and I think this 6072 is my new favorite tube in this amp.

 

[forthehoard]

Haven't seen too many size comparison photos, so figured I'd post these since I currently have both a Kenzie OG (originally made in 2016) I bought from a Head-Fi'er last year and a Kenzie Ovation I bought from branislav last month.

The Ovation's set of output impedance choices is great. I find myself gravitating towards the 300-ohm output for my HD 800 and towards the 100-ohm output for my Auteur and Verité.

 

[gugges]

Eagerly awaiting a Mogwai SE which will be my first tube amp! So have a few newbie questions for the group.

If I listen to music on and off throughout the day, is it better to leave the amp on (say 9am to 6pm) or try to be judicious by only turning it on when I use it to extend the life of the tubes? I have seen some comments that excessive flipping of a tube amp on/off is hard on the tubes, but curious what people here do with their amps.

Also, I am just going to buy some high quality but affordable interconnects for starters. What do people think of these? Are there any better alternatives?
https://www.markertek.com/product/m...neglex-quad-rca-male-to-rca-male-black-3-foot
https://www.markertek.com/product/n...gle-1-4-inch-plug-w-gold-contacts-black-shell