[shafat777]

Last night I popped in the Audiomagic M1 fuse in my HA6A and all i can say is wow ! I was not expecting what i heard. Even after a cold start, the amp sounds much more clear and spacious. Its not a night and day difference but i can certainly hear it. So far, i cant hear any difference in top, mids or bottom end sound, but everything seems cleaner. Now given, my system is already treated very well for noise and electrical contaminants but i was pleasantly surprised with what the fuse has done.

Please don't take my word for it, i NOT am suggesting this fuse will do wonders for your amp as i know there are some who doesn't subscribe to that idea and I can certainly respect that. All i am saying is that I am satisfied with this purchase and I am reporting my findings as such.

A special shout out to @Wes S for the recommendation. You sir are a special asset to this forum. Thank you

 

[Wes S]

Last night I popped in the Audiomagic M1 fuse in my HA6A and all i can say is wow ! I was not expecting what i heard. Even after a cold start, the amp sounds much more clear and spacious. Its not a night and day difference but i can certainly hear it. So far, i cant hear any difference in top, mids or bottom end sound, but everything seems cleaner. Now given, my system is already treated very well for noise and electrical contaminants but i was pleasantly surprised with what the fuse has done.

Please don't take my word for it, i NOT am suggesting this fuse will do wonders for your amp as i know there are some who doesn't subscribe to that idea and I can certainly respect that. All i am saying is that I am satisfied with this purchase and I am reporting my findings as such.

A special shout out to @Wes S for the recommendation. You sir are a special asset to this forum. Thank you

Heck yeah man!

Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for the kinds words!

 

[Newbman123]

Finally upgraded from the stock jj 12au7 to a rca 5814a and man am i blown away by the change. I can finally hear the layers that people speak so highly about in tube amps. I have a clear top to try and a brimar cv4003 on the way. I'm excited . Any nos el34 or kt88 suggestions?

 

[jamato8]

Finally upgraded from the stock jj 12au7 to a rca 5814a and man am i blown away by the change. I can finally hear the layers that people speak so highly about in tube amps. I have a clear top to try and a brimar cv4003 on the way. I'm excited . Any nos el34 or kt88 suggestions?

There are many good power tubes. I like the SED flying C EL34, the Tungsol grey plate and the black plate, the Sylvania 6550 and the new production KT88 Gold Lion is good. They all need a little time to burn in. The biggest influence in sound, IMO, will be the input tube.

 

[Leto Dal]

Anyone upgraded or compared HA-3A with HA-6A? Currently got a chance to upgrade my HA-3A with my dealer not sure if I want to bite this bullet.

What would be the gain apart of triode mode switch? What puts me off mostly is the higher noise floor, stepped volume control and most importantly much higher tube prices..

 

[Michaels1963]

Finally upgraded from the stock jj 12au7 to a rca 5814a and man am i blown away by the change. I can finally hear the layers that people speak so highly about in tube amps. I have a clear top to try and a brimar cv4003 on the way. I'm excited . Any nos el34 or kt88 suggestions?

For KT88 I like and use the Sophia Electric https://sophiaelectric.com/collections/vacuum-tubes

 

[Michaels1963]

The main power fuse is a 5x20 mm 2A Slow blow type

Last night I popped in the Audiomagic M1 fuse in my HA6A and all i can say is wow ! I was not expecting what i heard. Even after a cold start, the amp sounds much more clear and spacious. Its not a night and day difference but i can certainly hear it. So far, i cant hear any difference in top, mids or bottom end sound, but everything seems cleaner. Now given, my system is already treated very well for noise and electrical contaminants but i was pleasantly surprised with what the fuse has done.

Please don't take my word for it, i NOT am suggesting this fuse will do wonders for your amp as i know there are some who doesn't subscribe to that idea and I can certainly respect that. All i am saying is that I am satisfied with this purchase and I am reporting my findings as such.

A special shout out to @Wes S for the recommendation. You sir are a special asset to this forum. Thank you

I Purchased Synergistic Research Orange Fuses https://www.thecableco.com/accessories/fuses/orange-quantum-fuse-small-6-3x32mm-250v-slo-blo.html

 

[shafat777]

Heck yeah man!

Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for the kinds words!

You deserve so much credit for the musical bliss that i enjoy daily from my setup. Be it your tube impressions, or amp preference, i have always been a fan of your choices.

Speaking on which, do you think switching fuses in my Feliks Audio Elise OTL amp would add any benefit? It uses 1.6A SLow blow fuse. Was wondering if its worth the price tag?????

 

[Wes S]

You deserve so much credit for the musical bliss that i enjoy daily from my setup. Be it your tube impressions, or amp preference, i have always been a fan of your choices.

Speaking on which, do you think switching fuses in my Feliks Audio Elise OTL amp would add any benefit? It uses 1.6A SLow blow fuse. Was wondering if its worth the price tag?????

Just trying to do my part payin it forward, and glad it was helpful.

I have yet to experience an amp (RH-5, Pendant SE, and HA300mk2) that did not benefit from switching fuses, so I would imagine it will do it's magic in the Elise as well.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Have been using the RCA 22DE4 as my daily rectifiers on my HA-6A (together with Mullard ECC82 and SE EL34); pairing with my ZMF VO. This weekend, decided to bring out the Raytheons (Japanese rebranded) rectifier tubes for a spin. Below are my impressions:

• Visual: It has probably the brightest glow among all the tubes I have in my possession.
• Stage: Not as wide and deep as RCA but still very good staging effect overall
• Timbre: Very life-like. Notes seems richer and smoother vs RCA.
• Clarity/Details: Improved slightly vs RCA and sounds a lot more focused with a very cohesive overall presentation.
• Highs: More extended with sparkling notes more evident but not piercing sharp.
• Lows: More extended and really rumbles with certain bass-heavy tracks
• Mids: Relatively less forward and loses bit of that holographic mids centricity (from my Mullard ecc82). This could be due to the extensions of both ends in the FR spectrum

In summary, the sound comes across as more linear, more dynamic with extensions at both ends with a slight compromise in staging effect vs the RCA. Depends on what one is looking for, these are wonderful tubes to have in the collection for enhanced dynamics and details. These Raytheons grey plates are my 2nd most preferred rectifiers with the Cayin amp simply because I have attached greater importance to the mids and staging. For someone who values more transparency, dynamics, details and linearity in sound, these could be the winning rectifier tubes for fine tuning the final audio output.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Just trying to do my part payin it forward, and glad it was helpful.

I have yet to experience an amp (RH-5, Pendant SE, and HA300mk2) that did not benefit from switching fuses, so I would imagine it will do it's magic in the Elise as well.

Thanks for all your past sharing @Wes S . Much appreciate it.

 

[Wes S]

Have been using the RCA 22DE4 as my daily rectifiers on my HA-6A (together with Mullard ECC82 and SE EL34); pairing with my ZMF VO. This weekend, decided to bring out the Raytheons (Japanese rebranded) rectifier tubes for a spin. Below are my impressions:

• Visual: It has probably the brightest glow among all the tubes I have in my possession.
• Stage: Not as wide and deep as RCA but still very good staging effect overall
• Timbre: Very life-like. Notes seems richer and smoother vs RCA.
• Clarity/Details: Improved slightly vs RCA and sounds a lot more focused with a very cohesive overall presentation.
• Highs: More extended with sparkling notes more evident but not piercing sharp.
• Lows: More extended and really rumbles with certain bass-heavy tracks
• Mids: Relatively less forward and loses bit of that holographic mids centricity (from my Mullard ecc82). This could be due to the extensions of both ends in the FR spectrum

In summary, the sound comes across as more linear, more dynamic with extensions at both ends with a slight compromise in staging effect vs the RCA. Depends on what one is looking for, th are wonderful tubes to have in the collection for enhanced dynamics and details. These Raytheons grey plates are my 2nd most preferred rectifiers with the Cayin amp simply because I have attached greater importance to the mids and staging. For someone who values more transparency, dynamics, details and linearity in sound, these could be the winning rectifier tubes for fine tuning the final audio output.

Well said, and exactly how I hear them.

Also, I would keep an eye out for the Japanese Black Plate 22DE4 version if you want more mids and a bit more warmth compared to the Grey Plates.

 

[Wes S]

Thanks for all your past sharing @Wes S . Much appreciate it.

 

[AudioPowerHead]

Well said, and exactly how I hear them.

Also, I would keep an eye out for the Japanese Black Plate 22DE4 version if you want more mids and a bit more warmth compared to the Grey Plates.

Noted and thanks for the tip !

 

[BiscuitHammer]

After hearing and reading so many good things about ha-6a (and trying it in my local dealer while comparing to ha-3a and ha-300mk2), I finally pulled the trigger and got myself my first tube headphone amplifier!

The build quality is definitely top notch, with the amp being very solid and dense. Aesthetically, I'm really digging the orange light on the VU gauge which matches the tube glow .

My setup is using Matrix Audio mini-i pro 3 as DAC > ha-6a > ZMF Atrium / Focal Utopia

First impression, it is true what they say in the forum: ZMFs and Utopia with tube amps are match made in heaven! Really loving the organic timbre and soundstage from this amp.

So far I've only used the tubes that it came with:
- 2x RCA 22DE4
- 2x JJ 12AU7
- 2x EH EL34

Any tube rolling recommendations are definitely welcome (I'm a total newbie in the tube world).