[pataburd]

Truth be told, I sold mine cheap--boo-hoo!--and never had the opportunity to hear the Darkvoice drive the DT880/2003 (or HD650, for that matter) with these babies. But I don't necessarily agree that the Tung-Sols are "more musical" than the RCAs. Hey, maybe we ought to take this discussion to the 337 tube-rolling thread.

Oh, well, the vississitudes of Head-Fi life! : )

Tonight, I want to swap the GE 6SN7GTA driver for the Mullard ECC33 in the Bada and help turn the Darkvoice 337 into a pleasant but distant memory. The Bada can use the Tung-Sol 6SN7GT round plate, too--Hee-Hee!--try puttin' one o' them in your Darkvoice 337 sockets, diehards(!)--Hee-Hee! Tung-Sol, Schmung-Sol--Hee! Hee! Hee!

(Yes, I freely admit that I may need psychological help at this point.)

EDIT: Put in the Mullard. Wow! Mammoth head stage, with the most expressive vocals I've heard yet! : )

 

[pataburd]

The Bada will be southbound again by week's end, God willing, returning to Fitz for the "Repletion" mods:
(1) All remaining solen 1uF/250v caps replaced w/ERSE Pulse-X caps,
(2) Blackgate NH 150uF/350v electrolytics replacing the Rubycons at the PSU,
(3) Teflon tube sockets (recommended by Fitz), Premium Teflon 8 Pin Octal | Diy HiFi Supply.
[Some claim that good sockets, like these, can represent the equivalent, or perhaps the better, of a capacitor upgrade.]
(4) Furutech fuse.

The past several days of running the Fitz-Max Jr. Bada have completely removed any doubts/misgivings I may have had about "prematurely" selling the 337. These mods have simply taken everything I already liked, and preferred, in the Bada and raised these inherent/stock qualities to significantly improved levels. In addition, the mods have given the Bada the hands-down advantage in terms of frequency extension at both ends, appreciably better dynamics--both micro- and macro-, overall frequency and dynamic balance and sheer levels of detail. (Keep in mind, too, that the V-Caps have another 300+ hours to go before completely settling down.)

What I already favored in the Bada: its musical, liquid, synergistic and more tonally/harmonically sophisticated sound, come even more to the fore with the mods. My experience with the Darkvoice, on the other hand, has been of a different kind of amp, delivering a different type of sound, which I have described as more analytical, spatially anchored (and to a degree, static) and a tonally and/or harmonically "blander" presentation.

In summary, I'd qualify the Bada PH-12 as the more "inductive" and the Darkvoice 337 as the more "deductive" overall listening experience. In the former, one discovers the individual sonic parts from within the primary and more holistic delivery of the music; in the latter, one secondarily composes the musical whole after first having gathered the individuated sonic parts. With the Darkvoice 337, at least for me, the musical whole is always less-than-or-equal-to the sum of its sonic parts; while with the Bada the musical whole invariably exceeds the sum of its sonic parts, bringing a superior sense of realism, involvement and musical "transcendence" to the listening experience--at least for me.

IMHO, no amount of modding--short of redesigning the driver tubes--will ever close this stark, musical gap between these two headphone amplifiers. Which is why the Bada is my favorite of these two amps in its stock configuration and my overwhelming favorite in its (initial) modded configuration. I will quickly remind myself and the reader that my headphone preferences (the K501 and D5000, in particular) weigh heavily upon my stated preference for the Bada.

With the "Repletion" mods, I am guessing that the Fitz-Max Jr. Bada will handily "lap" the Darkvoice, making the 337 a magnitudes-more-distant memory. : )

 

[Skylab]

Just one point, Patrick - cost of the FULLY modded Bada vs. the 337?

 

[pataburd]

Sky,
Obviously it's more expensive, on the order of 225%, but that does not alter/detract from my initial assessment that the stock Bada--IMHO--already bettered the stock 337, nor my belief/conjecture that even with comparably executed mods the 337 probably will not and/or perhaps cannot achieve the musicality and realism of the Bada due primarily, again IMHO, to the difference between the two amps' respective driver tube(s).

The additional cost of the mods does not negate my stock preference for the Bada, change my longstanding preference for the 6SN7 driver vs. the 6SJ7, or obviate the inherently different presentations of these two amps. Equivalently, if I had deemed the Darkvoice 337 a more worthy candidate for modding expenditure, based on my listening preferences, then it--and not the Bada--would be returning to Fitz for further tweaking, and it [the Darkvoice] would have been the amp I decided to keep and send out for mods in the first place.

I want to restate this plainly: the stock Bada was already my preference over the stock DV337. The "Fitz-Max Jr." mods simply capitalized on what I had already come to prefer in the stock Bada and did not, in-and-of-themselves, change the Bada from an inferior anterior proposition into a superior posterior proposition.
PAB

 

[Skylab]

Cool, that makes sense, and I understand and appreciate your position, even if I do not agree. I don't have an issue with the 6SJ7, and in fact I think it's a good sounding tube. I also don't generally like Hybrid designs, although my recent experience with the Head-Direct EF1 has caused me to re-think this position somewhat.

After discussing the idea of modding my 337 with Mazuki, however, I have decided against it. There just isn't a lot of room in the chassis to do much. And I am happy with the sound from it anyway.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just one point, Patrick - cost of the FULLY modded Bada vs. the 337?

The mods for the darkvoice 337 would also cost as much, but the bada, as stated before, has much more upgrade potential then the darkvoice!

Also, and i agree totally with pataburd on this one, the 6sn7 is probably a nicer tube.

Don't get us wrong, the darkvoice 337 IS probably a nice sounding amp, but i think too much people underestimate the potential of the bada!

All those mods, just make the bada much, much better! As would any mod on any amp, cost money! But the mods don't have to be the same impact as the mods on the bada do.

As said before, all is preference and taste, but as a musician said about the bada; the instruments sound real!

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cool, that makes sense, and I understand and appreciate your position, even if I do not agree. I don't have an issue with the 6SJ7, and in fact I think it's a good sounding tube. I also don't generally like Hybrid designs, although my recent experience with the Head-Direct EF1 has caused me to re-think this position somewhat. After discussing the idea of modding my 337 with Mazuki, however, I have decided against it. There just isn't a lot of room in the chassis to do much. And I am happy with the sound from it anyway.

Exactly, the bada has in this respect more potential...so, if you like the bada, it will take it to another level. if you don't like the sound of the bada, no problem, just find the amp you really like pared with the headphones you like most.

They don't make one brand of amp you know.