[Wes S]

The wire used in the adapters is questionable. It is copper that is tin plated, not the best. So I replaced it with my favorite, 22 gauge or is it 24 gauge, either is fine and teflon tubing over the dead soft 99.9995 silver wire.

With matched Mullard VR135 tubes.

I see you went with a mix of Blackburn (A) and Mitcham (D) Mullards. What do you think about those Mullards vs. the Ken-Rads?

 

[tman01]

Thanks to WesS, ColSaulTigh, Jamato8, and Idairyyou for advice. I have learned a lot from your post on this forum and PM exchanges.
Update.
Regarding the lack of sound stage from the Focal Utopia with this amp, I have learned a few things.
1. A/B testing with Senn800 and Utopia – (Now that I better understand soundstage (width and depth) vs holographic (air between layers of sound)….(thanks Idairyyou))
· The soundstage of Senn800 is huge, both width and depth with amazing detail. After a bit of Google research, this is one of the best headsets for expansive sound stage, which is why I would have purchased it 10yrs ago.
· The Utopia has incredible realism, clarity, dynamics, and insane details. However, it does lack in soundstage, “a lot” compared to the Senn800.
· What I have learned though, it does have a lot of holographic/air between layers – it is just intimate.
· Takeaway. The Senn800 is my while working and enjoying music headset. It is fun, airy, detailed and can be enjoyable with passive listening. Where the Utopia requires active listening, doing nothing but losing oneself in the music, eyes closed – and boy does it excel at this.
· I now understand why people have a few headsets as TOTL setup.
· I love both my cans for what they each bring out differently from the same music, enjoying each for specific occasions.

2. Next steps for how to improve my setup, with a focus on hopefully getting a bit more soundstage from Utopia.
1. Ordered Linlai Elite 6sn7 for a few people said this “may“ add more air/space to the amp. I am just wanting a bit more. (While I would love one of the Mullard, GEC CV6, VR135, Russian 6C8C with adapters – this is my first tube roll, so will look at them later on)
2. New headphone cable - Lazuli Reference FC for Focal Utopia. (May not improve soundstage, but improvement across the board.) If anyone thinks another would be better, please pm me.
3. Elrog 300B-MO in 12 months. (May not improve soundstage, but improvement across the board.)
4. Question. Would the cable from Naim Atom to Amp make a big difference? If so, could I get PM on suggestions?

· While a new DAC has been recommended, it is not in my budget to replace the existing DAC. Also, the Naim Atom pairs well with the Utopia for many other aspects of the Utopia. Having said this, I might consider getting the Hugo2 for when I work on laptop (mobile) away from my home setup. This would allow me to also do some A/B Hugo2 vs Naim Atom at home as well.

Again, a huge thanks to WesS, ColSaulTigh, Jamato8, and Idairyyou for advice on learning and getting the most from this amp.

copied from word..soz for font colour mess

 

[Wes S]

Just checking back in after putting some serious hours of burn-in on the SR Master fuse, and it is flat out amazing what this thing has done to the sound. Actually, this just might be the single best tweak/upgrade I have experienced with this amp so far. The sound is so holographic, dynamic, textured and detailed it's flat out nuts. There is so much depth added to the stage it's stunning, and talk about hearing stuff you have never heard before! I am listening to tracks that that I have listened to thousands of times before and they have never sounding this amazing, and I am hearing nuance and detail I did not know was there.

Another cool thing I have experienced now that the SR Master fuse has been added, is the fact that some of my tubes that were lacking a bit in one area or the other, sound incredible now. The dynamics, detail, note weight, texture, and staging all improve so much with the Master fuse, that all my tubes sound spectacular now with their own unique flavor added in.

The SR Master is not cheap, but for what it does it's totally worth it. They do have a 30 day no hassle return period for those who are on the fence, but with what I am hearing I doubt anyone has actually returned one.

Back to musical bliss. . .

 

[Doctor HiFi]

that you don't really notice it with the Caldera but that it's mainly apparent with Grados.

Hi @zach915m , @incredulousity ,
Just sharing with you what I have experienced so far, hopefully helpful, I'm also still experimenting with the amp and would be happy to hear more from you guys: I have also noticed that there's almost no noise on planars using the XLR output regardless of the impedance matching setting (Caldera, Susvara and Arya Stealth, I have tried so far), but I hear noise on almost all my dynamic-driver headphones (both rather-low or high impedance ones) when the impedance matching is set to high - there's less though when set on M and much less or close to none on L). Triggered by Zach's point on 4.4mm connection, I tried my VC and also HD800S using that output instead of XLR and the noise level was much less (if any). Didn't try the 6.35mm output or other low-impedance headphones though.
Note: I use XLR connections from my DAC (or via pre-amp) to the amp and the noise - when there - is there regardless of them being connected or not.
Cheers.

 

[KrauserX91]

Checking some specs of this amp... how this amp manages to drive Susvara? 2W on balance low impedance. I guess the output power is not all that matter but the SET design and other characteristics too ?

 

[Pashmeister]

Checking some specs of this amp... how this amp manages to drive Susvara? 2W on balance low impedance. I guess the output power is not all that matter but the SET design and other characteristics too ?

Yeah definitely not just the output power but also how good the current delivery is throughout the dynamic range, transformer design, etc. I drive a Susvara to high heavens from a 300b speaker amplifier, 8 wpc at 8ohm (much less at 60 ohm). 300b amps in general tend to have lower power output (around 8-10 wpc at 8ohm traditionally I think). Low/moderate power but with a focus on sound quality and musicality.

 

[Doctor HiFi]

Checking some specs of this amp... how this amp manages to drive Susvara? 2W on balance low impedance. I guess the output power is not all that matter but the SET design and other characteristics too ?

It effortlessly drives the Susvaras without breaking a sweat. I haven't tried Susvaras on speaker amps and cannot compare, but as a headphone amp it does a great job in my opinion. They indeed exhibit great synergy.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Checking some specs of this amp... how this amp manages to drive Susvara? 2W on balance low impedance. I guess the output power is not all that matter but the SET design and other characteristics too ?

Because it simply produce enough power at Susvara's impedance, and ever more important, a good and clean type of power.

Actually most of modern Cayin tube amps "struggle" more to drive very low impedance headphones such as DCA Expanse (23 Ohm), or even LCD-5 (14 Ohm).

They still capable to create great sound with these headphones of course, but in LCD-5's case, I need to move the volume pot close to what Susvara needed (While LCD-5 being much easier to drive with majority of modern solid state amps), and Cayin even need push more power than Susvara needed, to drive Expanse to achieve the same loudness.

I would prefer Cayin HA300-II anytime any day to drive Susvara compared to Ferrum stacks.

 

[Alenotta]

So, with just a few hours of burn-in. . .I can already tell this tube is legit and just might be the best of the bunch.

Also, it's already evident the Melz 1578 ain't got nothin on the Svetlana 6C8C. This is the 70's version 6C8C I am using right now, and I have some from the 50's on the way and have a really good feeling those are going to be even more incredible, as earlier is often quite better with tubes and especially the Russian made one's.



More to come. . .

So my adapter and mullards came in. It looks like it doesn't fit. How did you all get that angle you have in this pic? My adapter seems to put them like perfectly horizontal. Did you have to unscrew this center screw and resolder connections?

 

[Alenotta]

I see on the listing it mentions possible rotation, but I'm wondering how the connections are going into the 6SN7 adapter. I see some solder joints that I don't imagine hold up if you rotate it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195173933937

 

[Alenotta]

OMG nm I just figured out it rotates when you just turn it with your hand. Geez I was just being too careful.

 

[Alenotta]

Ok I hear no music out of them. Just hear my Elrogs warming up. Do I have the top things reversed here? I'm going to stop messing with stuff until you experts chime in. I'm scared of these ghostbuster DIY things.

 

[steve468]

Because it simply produce enough power at Susvara's impedance, and ever more important, a good and clean type of power.

Actually most of modern Cayin tube amps "struggle" more to drive very low impedance headphones such as DCA Expanse (23 Ohm), or even LCD-5 (14 Ohm).

They still capable to create great sound with these headphones of course, but in LCD-5's case, I need to move the volume pot close to what Susvara needed (While LCD-5 being much easier to drive with majority of modern solid state amps), and Cayin even need push more power than Susvara needed, to drive Expanse to achieve the same loudness.

I would prefer Cayin HA300-II anytime any day to drive Susvara compared to Ferrum stacks.

Interesting. I've had the Expanse for a little bit now and thought it was pretty much at the top end of the Cayin's capabilities. I use about half of the volume pot, but the VU metres are pretty much at 80-100 the whole time (for whatever those are worth). I thought for sure this meant the Susvara is out of the question. So is Susvara a better match with HA-300 than Expanse? As with most amps and Susvaras it seems opinions are divided.

I love the Expanse on this amp for what it's worth.

 

[jamato8]

Ok I hear no music out of them. Just hear my Elrogs warming up. Do I have the top things reversed here? I'm going to stop messing with stuff until you experts chime in. I'm scared of these ghostbuster DIY things.

You have them hooked up backwards. Don't put them in that way. You have the grid to the anode and the anode to the grid. The grid is in the more central part of the tube, the anode or plate, are the sections that are further from the center of the tube.

Also, if you get any 7193, like RCA or Ken-Rad, the caps are opposite of that of Mullards and their type. So it is good to know tube anatomy.

 

[jamato8]

Interesting. I've had the Expanse for a little bit now and thought it was pretty much at the top end of the Cayin's capabilities. I use about half of the volume pot, but the VU metres are pretty much at 80-100 the whole time (for whatever those are worth). I thought for sure this meant the Susvara is out of the question. So is Susvara a better match with HA-300 than Expanse? As with most amps and Susvaras it seems opinions are divided.

I love the Expanse on this amp for what it's worth.

The Expanse sound fine with the 300 MK2 IMO. Tube amps are voltage and solid state are better for current delivery, this is true but I get very good sound with the Expanse. What I don't get good sound with, oddly, is the Utopia. Bass heavy and detail goes down. That one is a head scratcher. :^)