[JKDJedi]

JKDJedi:

I have never tried the 6080. I have tried the NOS Jan Philips 5998 and the NOS Tung Sol 7236. Both are very good.

Ok, thanks, I just got the Dark 3 weeks ago and tossed the stock tubes and went for the Winged "C" 6H13C / 6AS7G (just blindly picked it, have no clue what is where when how and why right now) and the Tubestore is saying it's considered NOS now because it's no longer in production as of late last year , something like that.. O.o I'm thinking NOS is anything Older than 50 years or so.. , anyway, bottom line, to my tube virgin ears, sounds dam good. and would love to have some of the Top Picks in my collection, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[JKDJedi]

Didn't know where else to post this question, and since this is a Darkvoice thread... Besides the best possible headphone to ever match with the Darkvoice, one could say the Darkvoice was made with the Hd650 in mind....What other headphones mate well with the Darkvoice?

 

[SWIN]

My old AKG K 340 sounds excellent thru the DV, but of course they are "H" as in historic.

 

[aisalen]

It is a good pair with my HD600/650 and Fidelio X1.

 

[SylvesterH]

I use it tung-sol 6sn7 and winged C tubes (from the tubestore) and am quite pleased.
My preferred phones are the AKG k812. They pair quite nicely with DarkVoice.

 

[JKDJedi]

I use it tung-sol 6sn7 and winged C tubes (from the tubestore) and am quite pleased.
My preferred phones are the AKG k812. They pair quite nicely with DarkVoice.

This was my first set up, the exact same tubes as you from the same vendor. To me this set up sounded a lot like Class A Solid State Amp. Very clear and precise. I grabbed the Electro-HArmonix 6SN7tube and this tube sounds wider and a bit brighter , perfect for a HD650/6XX . currently jazzing/rocking to a NOS tube, this little guys packs a punch.

 

[SylvesterH]

Because my k812 is a quite bright hp I wanted something warmer. To me the tung-sol 6sn7 with the winged C does not sound bright or like a solid state amp.
I compared the output of the aforementioned setup with my oppo ha-1 which is a class A ss amp. To me the dark voice sound warmer and with a more lush bass then the oppo. It really tames the akg`s brightness.

 

[JKDJedi]

Because my k812 is a quite bright hp I wanted something warmer. To me the tung-sol 6sn7 with the winged C does not sound bright or like a solid state amp.
I compared the output of the aforementioned setup with my oppo ha-1 which is a class A ss amp. To me the dark voice sound warmer and with a more lush bass then the oppo. It really tames the akg`s brightness.

Right on, it does push the bass more, and the mids! HD6XX sounds super loud in the mids. I found a 1955 Sylvania Philco preamp tube that really warmed things up, I like it over the Elctro-Harminics I just got. I get the "edgy" sound used for the Harmonics, not the case with the Syvania, super smooth.

 

[ggillies]

Hi, I'm a new Darkvoice owner; just received my amp today and am presently burning it in using the stock tubes. My setup consists of a Skull Canyon Intel PC with two 512GB SSD drives, 16GB RAM, plugged into a Topping D50 DAC via USB. The Topping is connected to the DV via a set of Audioquest RCA cables (Cinnamon), and finally, a pair of Focal Clear headphones. I also have a few other sets, including OPPO Digital PM3s and a set of in-ear Westone UM Pro 50s.

It has taken me a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time to read through both Part I and Part II of this tube rolling epic, but it has been completely worth it - What a freaking treasure trove of information!

As a long time lover of all things Hi-Fi, I was looking for something to really get me involved again, since my interest had waned, and along comes the headphone revolution, plus the tube amp resurgence, so here I am.

After reading the exhaustive and quite frankly exhausting thread here, I have already got a few tubes on their way for me to try:

A Sylvania 6SN7W short envelope - phenolic base (1940s vintage)

A KenRad JAN CKR 6SN7GT Black Glass (1950s vintage)

And a couple of NOS GE 6080s from the 60s.

Cheers, and thank you all for your contributions to this thread. I hope I can also contribute something of value.

 

[JKDJedi]

Hi, I'm a new Darkvoice owner; just received my amp today and am presently burning it in using the stock tubes. My setup consists of a Skull Canyon Intel PC with two 512GB SSD drives, 16GB RAM, plugged into a Topping D50 DAC via USB. The Topping is connected to the DV via a set of Audioquest RCA cables (Cinnamon), and finally, a pair of Focal Clear headphones. I also have a few other sets, including OPPO Digital PM3s and a set of in-ear Westone UM Pro 50s.

It has taken me a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time to read through both Part I and Part II of this tube rolling epic, but it has been completely worth it - What a freaking treasure trove of information!

As a long time lover of all things Hi-Fi, I was looking for something to really get me involved again, since my interest had waned, and along comes the headphone revolution, plus the tube amp resurgence, so here I am.

After reading the exhaustive and quite frankly exhausting thread here, I have already got a few tubes on their way for me to try:

A Sylvania 6SN7W short envelope - phenolic base (1940s vintage)

A KenRad JAN CKR 6SN7GT Black Glass (1950s vintage)

And a couple of NOS GE 6080s from the 60s.

Cheers, and thank you all for your contributions to this thread. I hope I can also contribute something of value.

Man...you did your homework! Nice start there. Enjoy your new amp and please chime in with your thoughts on sound. First timer here too with the Darkness and learning quick.

 

[ggillies]

Man...you did your homework! Nice start there. Enjoy your new amp and please chime in with your thoughts on sound. First timer here too with the Darkness and learning quick.

And what a lot of homework it was!

Lots of listening today, with the stock tubes. Taking notes on how it sounds on certain of my favorite tracks. Overall, I am stunned at just how good this amp is for the price, it's shockingly good!

Most of my listening is with flac ripped CDs that I know intimately, but some, I'm doing with DSD files and MQA files as well. The Topping DAC is doing a great job of making sure the files are played in the correct format. See picture below. 352.8 khz, 32 bit DSD file.

I am using Audirvana+ on my Windows 10 Skull Canyon PC as my player for all the music - It supports all DSD formats, as well as MQA and sounds great!

Music so far:

Dire Straits - Live at the BBC (recorded uncompressed and basically unmixed, so very raw, tons of dynamics. Recorded in the basement of the BBC building with an audience of about 50 people before Dire Straits got famous). This CD makes most systems fall to pieces. (flac ripped CD)

Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii (flac ripped CD)

DJ Tiesto - Live at the Bridge 2005 (flac ripped CD)

Mahler's 1st - IV - Finale (DSD 352.8 mhz, 32 bit)

Keith Greeninger & Dyan Kai - Looking for a home (DSD 176.4 mhz, 24 bit).

Bachman-Turner-Overdrive - Not Fragile, (flac ripped CD)

Joseph Haydn String Quartet in D - (DSD 256)

The Stranglers - Golden Brown ((flac ripped CD)

Tour De France - Kraftwerk (flac ripped CD)

Deep Purple - Live in Japan (Double live album, beautifully recorded, and probably Deep Purple at their incredible best).

Mozart - Violin Concerto in D major (MQA)

Yes, I really, REALLY like live music.

P.S. The DV drives my Oppo digital PM3s with zero issues. Max volume I can deal with is about 9:30.

 

[JKDJedi]

And what a lot of homework it was!

Lots of listening today, with the stock tubes. Taking notes on how it sounds on certain of my favorite tracks. Overall, I am stunned at just how good this amp is for the price, it's shockingly good!

Most of my listening is with flac ripped CDs that I know intimately, but some, I'm doing with DSD files and MQA files as well. The Topping DAC is doing a great job of making sure the files are played in the correct format. See picture below. 352.8 khz, 32 bit DSD file.

I am using Audirvana+ on my Windows 10 Skull Canyon PC as my player for all the music - It supports all DSD formats, as well as MQA and sounds great!

Music so far:

Dire Straits - Live at the BBC (recorded uncompressed and basically unmixed, so very raw, tons of dynamics. Recorded in the basement of the BBC building with an audience of about 50 people before Dire Straits got famous). This CD makes most systems fall to pieces. (flac ripped CD)

Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii (flac ripped CD)

DJ Tiesto - Live at the Bridge 2005 (flac ripped CD)

Mahler's 1st - IV - Finale (DSD 352.8 mhz, 32 bit)

Keith Greeninger & Dyan Kai - Looking for a home (DSD 176.4 mhz, 24 bit).

Bachman-Turner-Overdrive - Not Fragile, (flac ripped CD)

Joseph Haydn String Quartet in D - (DSD 256)

The Stranglers - Golden Brown ((flac ripped CD)

Tour De France - Kraftwerk (flac ripped CD)

Deep Purple - Live in Japan (Double live album, beautifully recorded, and probably Deep Purple at their incredible best).

Mozart - Violin Concerto in D major (MQA)

Yes, I really, REALLY like live music.

P.S. The DV drives my Oppo digital PM3s with zero issues. Max volume I can deal with is about 9:30.

Whats sitting in the 6AS7 slot? looks like a keeper!

 

[ggillies]

Whats sitting in the 6AS7 slot? looks like a keeper!

Both those tubes came with the Amp. The front one that looks like it has a keeper (but doesn't) Has "6N8P" printed on it. The rear is a 6N5P. As I said, this is what came in the box with the amp. Is this an anomaly, or are they the usual stock tubes?

 

[JKDJedi]

Both those tubes came with the Amp. The front one that looks like it has a keeper (but doesn't) Has "6N8P" printed on it. The rear is a 6N5P. As I said, this is what came in the box with the amp. Is this an anomaly, or are they the usual stock tubes?

Yes it is, these come stock with cheap China tubes, did you get this used or? Those tubes look like a keeper, kinda jelly to be honest

 

[ggillies]

Yes it is, these come stock with cheap China tubes, did you get this used or? Those tubes look like a keeper, kinda jelly to be honest

I got it brand new. I'm itching to try the new tubes I ordered. I can definitely see the flaws in the sound at the moment. It's very, very good, but I'm sure it can be a lot better.

Cheers.