[koover]

Funny. So many Choices and preferences. We ALL love our own amps, that’s why we have them.
Even though I love my MJ2, I may have to agree with the Glen OTL amp.

 

[ProfFalkin]

"gentile treble" (hmmm)

so you're saying the Eikon's treble is not kosher?

Compared to the 900 it is gentle. Hehe

And it's very kosher to my tastes.

 

[Halam]

On the amp,
I absolutely love the Schiit Mjolnir2. You can get one on the classifieds here for about your budget if you wheel and deal.
It sounds sublime with the Atticus and I highly recommend. It’s one Schiit amp
That’s a hybrid that has more of a tube-ie sound versus their others.

What do you think about Lyr3, probably one more good option from Schiit for Atticus?

 

[Halam]

I wish I knew an answer to #1, for #2 Chord is my go to, and for #3 I would get a Bottlehead Crack Crackatwoa for sure!

Does Mojo have enough power to rock Atticus?

 

[gLer]

Hey guys!
I have Atticus and really like this amazing headphones. It was like a...remedy from side effect of audiophilia, when you listen to sounds more then just enjoy the music. Atticus sounds so natural and sweet.
Guys I have a few questions to you:
1) S3 6500 case is great, but may be anybody knows some alternative case, with less size and more portable?
2) What is the good portable/transportable amp with enough power to reveal potential of Atticus (Mojo, iFi iDSD Black Label or others)?
3) And the last but most important question: what is the good and not too expensive tube amp for Atticus in the 700$ price range more or less?
Thanks in advance, sorry for my English and any help is highly appreciated)))

1. You can try the Slappa hard case. I have one but haven’t actually checked it with the Atticus. Will do so tomorrow if I remember.

2. I personally wouldn’t try drive an Atticus with a portable amp/dac. Maybe an ifi BL if you must. It will sound fine, just not optimal.

3. I sold a bunch of amps and dacs when I got to hear my Atticus on an Audio-gd R2R-11. For $350 it’s one of the best kept secrets in head-fi right now, although it’s not really a secret. Tons of power and perfect synergy, very tube-like for a SS amp/dac. If you just want an amp and not a dac, I’d get the Audio-gd NFB-1, again only because I know the synergy it has with the Atticus. And for $485 it betters amps twice the price.

Hope this helps.

 

[iamjaymo]

1. You can try the Slappa hard case. I have one but haven’t actually checked it with the Atticus. Will do so tomorrow if I remember.

2. I personally wouldn’t try drive an Atticus with a portable amp/dac. Maybe an ifi BL if you must. It will sound fine, just not optimal.

3. I sold a bunch of amps and dacs when I got to hear my Atticus on an Audio-gd R2R-11. For $350 it’s one of the best kept secrets in head-fi right now, although it’s not really a secret. Tons of power and perfect synergy, very tube-like for a SS amp/dac. If you just want an amp and not a dac, I’d get the Audio-gd NFB-1, again only because I know the synergy it has with the Atticus. And for $485 it betters amps twice the price.

Hope this helps.

I can vouch for AGD amps and synergy with the Eikon, my 28.38 mates really well with it.

 

[koover]

What do you think about Lyr3, probably one more good option from Schiit for Atticus?

I wish I could help you here but I’ve never heard the LYR3 with the Atticus. Actually never heard the LYR3 at all. One good thing i know for sure is it only takes 1 tube which is a huge plus for rolling expense.
I’ve heard great things about it especially for the price but an opinion would have to come from someone who actually has this paring.

 

[Stillhart]

Just to throw out another opinion, I loved the Atticus with my Project Solstice (with the right output impedance set), even better than with my Liquid Carbon or Liquid Crimson (~10x the cost of the Solstice). The right amp synergy makes a huge difference with that headphone.

 

[Monsterzero]

For about $750 will get you the basic version of a Glenn OTL amp

I sold a bunch of amps and dacs when I got to hear my Atticus on an Audio-gd R2R-11

I think the R2R-11 does a respectable job driving the Atticus,the Glenn OTL however is on an entirely different level. There is zero comparison.

The GOTL takes the staging,imaging,bass impact/rumble to such a higher degree of awesomeness that it almost sounds like an entirely different headphone.

The downside of course is the price difference,not to mention the cost of tubes.

 

[GrussGott]

The downside of course is the price difference,not to mention the cost of tubes.

Roughly what is the GOTL cost with the choice tubes? I know the basic is ~$750 ... also, given your impressions of the GOTL as a leap above the R2R-11, have you ever tried the ZMF dynamics with the Hugo 2? Curious of your opinion on the Hugo 2 direct versus your GOTL (which has a super awesome config if I remember ... plus with whatever DAC you drive the GOTL with a bit of apples/oranges I suppose ...) Thanks!

 

[Monsterzero]

Roughly what is the GOTL cost with the choice tubes? I know the basic is ~$750 ... also, given your impressions of the GOTL as a leap above the R2R-11, have you ever tried the ZMF dynamics with the Hugo 2? Curious of your opinion on the Hugo 2 direct versus your GOTL (which has a super awesome config if I remember ... plus with whatever DAC you drive the GOTL with a bit of apples/oranges I suppose ...) Thanks!

I have never heard the Hugo 2,so I cannot comment on that. I believe @Hansotek has,perhaps he can chime in.

My GOTL is pretty bad ass...6v/12v/25v switch so I can use numerous different tubes for the driver slot+it has two slots to use C3Gs as well,in lieu of the others. I can use a tube rectifier or solid state hexfred,preamp outs,Lundahl transformer too. All told mine came out to $1400.00. My current tube roll is:

Mullard GZ32 rectifier
C3G x2 drivers
GE 6BX7 x6 power

I paid about $340.00 for those tubes,which is high,but I wasnt patient,just wanted to grab them.

Im using a vintage EAD DSP-7000 MKlll which came highly recommened by Zach. Its head and shoulders in SQ over the R2R-11(which is great for the $),however it only does redbook,so its not a DAC for everyone.

 

[Hansotek]

Roughly what is the GOTL cost with the choice tubes? I know the basic is ~$750 ... also, given your impressions of the GOTL as a leap above the R2R-11, have you ever tried the ZMF dynamics with the Hugo 2? Curious of your opinion on the Hugo 2 direct versus your GOTL (which has a super awesome config if I remember ... plus with whatever DAC you drive the GOTL with a bit of apples/oranges I suppose ...) Thanks!

You definitely have a lot of options on the tube rolling. I’ve been using:
2x Siemens C3G drivers ($65/ea)
2x Centron 6336B power tubes ($100/pr)
1x Raytheon 5CU4 Rectifier ($16)

So that’s about a $250 for an endgame quality roll.

The Hugo 2 drives the ZMFs beautifully on its own, but you get a big boost in impact, rumble, tone, stage size and depth by adding in the GOTL between the Hugo 2 and the headphone. As a three-piece combo, they are incredible.

 

[Hansotek]

What do you think about Lyr3, probably one more good option from Schiit for Atticus?

It wouldn’t be my first, second, third, fourth or fifth choice.

The Glenn basic OTL build at $750 was the best suggestion of all the amps, by far.

Also, regarding the portable solution, the iFi iDSD Black Label is the best choice. Pretty noticeable improvement from the Mojo. I spent about 2 hours comparing them head-to-head one day a few months ago.

 

[gLer]

Although I haven’t heard (or even seen) a GOTL and have no doubt it’s superb, I decided some time ago not to go down the tube rabbit hole for the sake of keeping things simple and focusing on the music instead of gear, gear, gear and more gear. So a SS all-in-one was my ticket, and I’ve sice upgraded the R2R-11 to the Audio-gd R-28 from which I see no sense - financially or otherwise - to spend another dime on an amp or dac. If anything any future change would involve further simplifying my gear selection, perhaps sacrificing two of my headphone trifecta for the effortlessly natural sounding Auteur. But I digress...

Should I ever have the urge to dive into the dark arts of tube rolling again, there are some excellent options listed in this thread.

 

[givemetacos]

As a counterpoint, R2R 11 is about the one amp I just don't care for with Atticus. I find it overly warm and congested compared to my other amps. For $700 budget there's a lot of solid options. I really like it with my Valhalla 2. I also enjoyed Atticus on Massdrop CTH as well as Lyr 3. I have the Massdrop EC ZDT Jr coming in the next couple weeks and I bought it because Zach gave it really high praise when he got to demo it. I also really liked Atticus on Feliks Elise, but I know that is hard to find in that budget these days. For solid states, the one most people seem to be recommending these days (including Zach) is the Gilmore Lite mk2. I haven't heard myself, but that is high on my wish list.