[Norman]

I finally took the plunge and ordered my 336i

Officially part of the 336i team but need to wait on a family member to bring it back to me from Hong Kong

 

[keanej6]

i went from the h5 to the 336i too and i was elated with the sonic improvement. i think you'll be very pleased in how they will make your 701s sing! be sure to get some 6sn7 tubes, you will definitely hear a difference from the stock ones.

 

[GoldWarlock]

by the way, is it a good match for AKG 271s?
Is anyone using this combination?

 

[LoweArt]

YAH ! My Darkvoice 336i arrived today !

Even with the stock tubes in this baby she sounds better than many
other amps I've demo'd ! Can't wait until I get those NOS tubes in her !

 

[Norman]

My Darkvoice 336i arrived at my cousin's place in Hong Kong today!!

He's going to send it over (to New Zealand) real soon..

Side note:
People who are thinking/skeptical of buying one direct from Jian Liu, I'd just like to tell you it has been AWESOME to do business with Jian Lui.

Very quick email replies
Replies are informative
No hassles with payment process (Paypal)
Told me when the packaged was shipped and ETA

What more could you ask for?

Thanks Jian!

 

[swt61]

He's a very trustworthy gentleman, and quite a nice guy. And now that he has PayPal I can't see any reason not to deal with him.

 

[LoweArt]

Norman is spot in his comments regarding Jian Liu, my experience
through out the transaction was the same - just excellent !

My NOS RCA tubes arrived this afternoon and I've been warming them up
this evening - ooh baby very nice sound indeed and that's considering they
still need a few hours on them !

I had to open the case to have a peek inside and noticed that the wiring has been tidied up since the first version of the 336 ( no "i" suffix ) but I have to say as neat it may be the use of decent wiring like what Fitz did is much more preferable from my point of view for servicability ! To everybody else, it isn't going to matter.

This unit is DEAD silent, no hum what so ever ! It's even quieter than my Mapletree Audio Design Ear + purist !!!!

I only have two complaints about this amp and both don't relate to it's sonic abilities. Firstly, that BRIGHT Blue LED just has to go ! Man it must be at least 4000 Mcd, bright and powerful enough to give you laser eye surgery from across a darkened room. Secondly, the volume pot as Fitz had previously mentioned doesn't give you enough variation of control over the volume. You go from no volume to full volume in less than one fifth of a turn of the volume knob, so I've ordered an Alps Blue Velvet 100k logarithmic pot off eBay already !

Hope you get your amp soon Norman !

I'm off to soak in some tunes for the evening because I have the day off from work tomorrow !

 

[djork]

OK.. i'm going for it! I'm buying it for my dad

finally he'll have a tube amp. Can't wait to see the grin on his face, hahaha

 

[LoweArt]

I'm sure he'll be over joyed with the Darkvoice !

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoweArt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Norman is spot in his comments regarding Jian Liu, my experience through out the transaction was the same - just excellent ! My NOS RCA tubes arrived this afternoon and I've been warming them up this evening - ooh baby very nice sound indeed and that's considering they still need a few hours on them ! I had to open the case to have a peek inside and noticed that the wiring has been tidied up since the first version of the 336 ( no "i" suffix ) but I have to say as neat it may be the use of decent wiring like what Fitz did is much more preferable from my point of view for servicability ! To everybody else, it isn't going to matter. This unit is DEAD silent, no hum what so ever ! It's even quieter than my Mapletree Audio Design Ear + purist !!!! I only have two complaints about this amp and both don't relate to it's sonic abilities. Firstly, that BRIGHT Blue LED just has to go ! Man it must be at least 4000 Mcd, bright and powerful enough to give you laser eye surgery from across a darkened room. Secondly, the volume pot as Fitz had previously mentioned doesn't give you enough variation of control over the volume. You go from no volume to full volume in less than one fifth of a turn of the volume knob, so I've ordered an Alps Blue Velvet 100k logarithmic pot off eBay already ! Hope you get your amp soon Norman ! I'm off to soak in some tunes for the evening because I have the day off from work tomorrow !

So how do they compare, otherwise???

 

[LoweArt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So how do they compare, otherwise???

Firstly, let me say that the Darkvoice 336 is GREAT value and Bang for your buck considering it's price of $310US delivered to your door, fully built tubes and all. I believe you would be hard pressed to find another tube headphone amp of this build quality with such flexible tube rolling options for this price or less that offers such sonic performance and virtues.

That said, when put in comparison with the MAD Ear + purist it does fall a little short in the areas of detail, imaging ( headstage/holographic ) and it's ability to be as articulate with deep bass notes. Now, I'm not talking about a HUGE gapping difference that would make you consider selling the Darkvoice after a couple of weeks of ownership. Sure, the differences are noticable but these differences are ones that I wouldn't really notice if I hadn't previously owned or have the MAD Ear + purist as a side by side comparison.

In practical terms, the Darkvoice does everything very well and is a great all-rounder and handles a vast array of musical genre's without necessarily sounding like it's favouring one type or style over the other. My only gripe is that of the linear volume pot and that can easily be fixed ( well I found it easy ). The MAD Ear+ purist is the headphone amp you would buy if either you had the $$s first up to spend on a GREAT amp or if you wanted to hear the next sonic step up from the Darkvoice.

 

[esuko]

Hello

After reading this whole thread...phuuh

Wanted to ask about the output capacitor mod.
After increasing the capasitance low impedance headphones would not have bass rolloff?
If there would be noise problems would adding some output resistance be a bad idea?
I have not even bought 336i. I just wanted to get all information straight before buying.
Most of my favorite headphones are now low impedance and efficient.
So i realy would be grateful geting some information from modders of this amp.
Got also K340 but it seems that it's a no problem with this amplifier

 

[shotmaker]

Hi,

I am thinking about getting a 336i, but when I tried to order it from Jasmine I have been told that the production of the 110V version stopped "a long time ago" so I was wondering if anyone bought one recently and from where??