[CoiL]

Quote:

My very initial impressions of the Ultron is that it is very similar to the Phillips PCC189. I did not get the "wow" factor that I got when I first listened to my GAC or Mullard. 

O_o ...we must be hearing things differently & also seems to be the matter of taste.
 
Imho Ultron PCC189 is definitely better than Philips PCC189. And same or little better than Amperex GAC, depending on music. For example, Amperex GAC is too mellow & warm with Dead Letter Circus /  TOOL / Karnivool and lacks littlebit in bass/percussion tightness & kick - Ultron PCC189 "fixes" all that. Like I said already, both have same soundstage imaging but Ultron is much better layered and transparent with instrument separation also being lot better. Same goes against Philips PCC189.
 
Well, anyway, nice to hear someones else opinion. For me it`s very very good tube, and for the price I`m getting them - killer tube!

 

[McKajVah]

Can anyone reccomend a tube to go with my Grado SR325??
 
Probably something dark and mellow....

 

[GaryPham]

Ordered my T1 already along with Amperex orange globe.  Heavily considering picking up a pair of DT990 pro's to go along with it.  Is anyone using this setup right now?  Only thing that concerns me with the DT990's is that I heard the treble can be quite harsh on them and was hoping that the T1 along with mellow orange globe would help tame down the highs.  What do you guys think?

 

[CoiL]

As much as I´ve read, DT880 should be better with T1. Orange would probably tame highs littlebit but not much. If you get good condition orange, then highs should also be bright and opened, can`t tell if it will bring down harsh highs that depend on cans bc I don`t have DT990 myself. But I have Superlux HD-681 which are also with harsh highs if mkII filter isn`t being applied and my amperex GAC orange don`t take those harsh highs out of the picture. I belive it should be same with DT990.

 

[CoiL]

Quote:

Can anyone reccomend a tube to go with my Grado SR325??
 
Probably something dark and mellow....

Amperex orange globe should be ok. Also, if you can find Mullard PCC189 (large halo getter, metal center plate) then it is very good intimate, foward & warm sounding tube. I enjoy it with some rock bands with external speakers very much.

 

[MrEleventy]

Ordered my T1 already along with Amperex orange globe.  Heavily considering picking up a pair of DT990 pro's to go along with it.  Is anyone using this setup right now?  Only thing that concerns me with the DT990's is that I heard the treble can be quite harsh on them and was hoping that the T1 along with mellow orange globe would help tame down the highs.  What do you guys think?

I have DT990/600s. T1 + Amperex Orange Globe is the only way I'll listen to them w/o heavy EQing. The Amperex does a good job of taming the highs and the lows too while "fixing" the mids. It does a nice job of balancing the signature of the DT990s a bit. As a reference, I pretty much stopped using the DT990s and was actively trying to sell them. Now with the Amperex, I'm a little hesistant on selling because it's now a great bass cannon for electronic music. I'm not as active trying to sell them.

E: T1 + Amperex is absolutely heaven with the DT880s tho. XD, get that instead. Hehe

 

[GaryPham]

Hmmm, yea looks like lots of people are recommending the DT880's over the 990's.  Are your 880's also 600 ohm?  I'm just leaning towards the 990's right now since I can get a brand new pair of 990 pros for 145 bucks, while the 880's would cost considerably more.  How harsh are the highs on the 990s?  I guess for reference, I use to own a pair of Denon D2000s which I thought were fine (I read some people say that they felt the D2000 had harsh highs), and a pair of Grado 60i's which I felt wanted to pierce my eardrums with its highs, haha.  Are the highs on the 990's anywhere close to that of grados?
 

 

[MrEleventy]

Yeah, 880s and 990s are 600 ohms. I haven't heard the Denons nor the Grado so I can't help you there. I think the closes reference that I have with your hps would be the Senn Amps. I had the HD25-II and I found them a bit to treble hot. Same with the DT990/600 ohms.

 

[GaryPham]

After doing some local searching, I was able to find a pretty good deal on a pair of 600 ohm DT880's, so I think I'll definitely go after that instead of the DT990s.  MrEleventy, you say that the T1 should have no problem driving these 600 ohm monsters right? Am I going to have to open the amp up and flip some gain switches or anything? or should the T1 be adequate already without needing to do any changes? (except for rolling in the amperex tube of course).
 

 

[MrEleventy]

Oh, oops. I should've prefixed that I use the Aune T1 as a dac only. I line out into the objective 2.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/110900/beyerdynamic-owners-unite/1515#post_9337575

I posted a comparison on running directly from the Aune T1 w/ both dts. tl;dr - don't do it. I noticed that you already have an Objective2... I'd recommend keeping it for the time being.

 

[GaryPham]

Hmmm, that's kinda strange.  I was hoping that the T1's amp section was gonna be superior to the O2's (specs says that T1 outputs 1w at 32ohm while O2 outputs 613mw at 33ohms).  I noticed that in your testing you had the gains set at +10db.  Did you also try it at +16db and it was still too weak?  The O2 amp is a beefy little guy no doubt, I was just hoping that the T1 could've been my end all dac/amp problem so that I can get rid of all my other components and cleanup my setup.

 

[MrEleventy]

+10 db ran them fine, level wise. they just didn't sound as good as the objective 2. it's a fuller sound.

 

[icecap]

I have the DT990 Pro 250ohm version and I personally prefer this to the DT880 600ohm during my audition.. DT990 gives me the PRaT DT880 is not able to.. granted, some prefers its neutrality, to me I just like the extra juice from DT990, like EQ-ed straight out of box.. not to forget the amount of $$ saved..
 
with Amperex orange globe, I don't hear the soundstage DT990 is capable of.. it tames the highs no doubt, but the sounds are pressing to my ears, especially with the strong mids this tube gives.. right now I am mainly switching between Gold Lion and Tungsram.. when I am lazy to swap, Philips ECC88 remains there for some time.. these 3 tubes deliver the separation and clarity I am craving for, each with their pros in the different frequency.. my 2 cents..

 

[debuchan]

Quote:

Was sitting on this but looks like Head-Fi bought up all the tubes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-PCC189-7ES8-NOS-NIB-VINTAGE-VACUUM-TUBE-HEERLEN-HOLLAND-/261186327538?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3ccfeb13f2&nma=true&si=PnfGwtBC84t9whzNms2BxElzNec%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Sorry, I am partly guilty. My only regret is buying only one.

 

[BluesDaddy]

Quote:

O_o ...we must be hearing things differently & also seems to be the matter of taste.
 
Imho Ultron PCC189 is definitely better than Philips PCC189. And same or little better than Amperex GAC, depending on music. For example, Amperex GAC is too mellow & warm with Dead Letter Circus /  TOOL / Karnivool and lacks littlebit in bass/percussion tightness & kick - Ultron PCC189 "fixes" all that. Like I said already, both have same soundstage imaging but Ultron is much better layered and transparent with instrument separation also being lot better. Same goes against Philips PCC189.
 
Well, anyway, nice to hear someones else opinion. For me it`s very very good tube, and for the price I`m getting them - killer tube!

Agreed, though it may have a lot to do with the other equipment we're using. I'm also more convinced that spending a lot of time listening to vinyl has made the tubes all sound more the same.  It is a good tube, good, tight bass extension - I just don't think I'm hearing the mid-range the way I do with the GAC or the Mullard, but when I switched back to the GAC I didn't get quite the same sense either, hence my impression that the vinyl listening is impacting my perspective. At this point, I'm not real confident in my aural senses.