[chesebert]

First thing first, I bought the 332 after 1.5hrs of hard work

Gear list: K701, CDP is Cambridge, not sure the model number. 336i was well broken in, 332 was new. both amp were on for at least 20min before audition. Both amps were stock

Music: Debut Recital / Martha Argerich, Diana Krell Girl in the other room

I picked 332 for its midrange trueness, sound stage and its low end control. 336i was very nice indeed, those huge tube sure looks nice in dark. I was not overly impressed wit 336i as I find the sound is fairly muddy. Piano didn't have the bite that is true to a percussion instrument. The lower notes of the piano didn't have the kind of weight one associate with a Steinway. The most disappointing thing about 336i compared with 332 was its lack of sound stage. I was able to capture many holographic moments with 332 but none with 336i on the Diana Krell CD.

I know many people love 336i and I understand why. But I came from ss camp and 336i sounded too puffy, muddy, "big stroke" to me, lacking the finner detail that I came to associate with good equipment.

When I get my 332, I will do a more through impression.

 

[laxx]

Congrats and welcome to the club.

I thought you were done with headphones. Maybe I'm imagining things.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Congrats and welcome to the club. I thought you were done with headphones. Maybe I'm imagining things.

uh...damn those impulse buys!!!

 

[Headphony]

Interesting. What tubes did you listen to the 336i with? I don't find the 336i particularly impressive with the stock tubes, but excellent with a variety of others.

edit: "stock", missed that.

 

[chesebert]

actually I was prepared to buy the 337 but the store owner was strongly against it..actually he thought 332 is a fine replacement for 337. Among the reasons for his disliking include abnormal amount of repairs on 337. Those damaged include warped case during shipping and possible lose internal parts when moving due to its humongous size. He also mentioned 337 sounds like 336i on steroid. Since I didn't quite like the sound sig of 336i and I hate to have a broken amp when I get it, I didn't even bother to listen to 337.....in hindsight I probably should have tried 337....

 

[laxx]

The biggest problems I have with Darkvoice amps is the pot they use. I would have to have a 337 with DV's oh so fantastic linear pot. You would never be able to match channel volumes unless you replace the pots.

I personally want to hear how the 336i sounds now that I have a 332.

Oh, do get some tubes. The Russian Ulyanovsk 6S19P-V/B are argueably the best power tubes to use if you read the 332 thread. I personally haven't tried the Western Electric 403A or 403B output tubes yet, but I have played with the stock 6J1s, 6J1P-EVs, and General Electric 5654W/6AK5Ws. The GE's are by far the best sounding to my ears. I'm still planning on getting a pair of 403A's to see how they perform.

There's alot more rolling options for the otuput tubes, but the power tubes are pretty limited.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif The biggest problems I have with Darkvoice amps is the pot they use. I would have to have a 337 with DV's oh so fantastic linear pot. You would never be able to match channel volumes unless you replace the pots. I personally want to hear how the 336i sounds now that I have a 332. Oh, do get some tubes. The Russian Ulyanovsk 6S19P-V/B are argueably the best power tubes to use if you read the 332 thread. I personally haven't tried the Western Electric 403A or 403B output tubes yet, but I have played with the stock 6J1s, 6J1P-EVs, and General Electric 5654W/6AK5Ws. The GE's are by far the best sounding to my ears. I'm still planning on getting a pair of 403A's to see how they perform. There's alot more rolling options for the otuput tubes, but the power tubes are pretty limited.

I asked the store owner what pot DV332 uses and he said alps, but don't know exact model number. Are they making changes to the original 332?

 

[Fairbanks]

Hey Chesebert,you should use the Saturn as your source if you can.

 

[chesebert]

I will run it from Ayre's loop out, which would allow me to switch between saturn and CS

 

[laxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif I asked the store owner what pot DV332 uses and he said alps, but don't know exact model number. Are they making changes to the original 332?

They could be, I have no idea. I guess the easiest way to tell is to ask you:

1. How loud do you usually listen to your music?
2. Where on the pot do you use (range) for your normal volume.

I'll answer based on my 332.

1. I listen relatively loud. Usually hovering around 8:30 with my K701's. I actually didn't look when I used my RS-2's, so the only thing I can remember is based on K701's. I'd say it's louder than most people here on head-fi listen to. I can hear music playing out of my k701's from outside my room in the bathroom, lol. My room is 20' wide x 14' long. My door is on the 20' wall all the way to the bottom left corner. My headphone system is along the 20' wall the way in the top right corner. My bathroom door is right across from my room door. If I take the K701's and put them on my desk and walk into the bathroom, I can hear the music, not everything, but it's not just a faint sound. =[ Even at those volumes, I can't get past 9:30 on mine.

If you can get to 11 with any headphone on your head, then you're in luck, they changed pots.

 

[Mazuki]

volume changing on the 337 is a real PITA. They really should have used a 4 channel pot. But I guess in the end the sound is worth it?

I've compared the 337 and the 332. They sound very very similar. However, there are many more tube rolling choices with the 337 due to its using 6AS7s. That alone can make a big difference.

 

[laxx]

Yea, the one thing I'm disappointed with the 332 are the rolling options.

 

[LoweArt]

I can understand and appreciate Chesebert's comments regarding the Darkvoice 336i having come from Solid State amps.

That said, there is a good deal of improvement to be had with the 336i and tube rolling, all this have been mentioned on various earlier threads regarding the 336i.

Yes, if only they would change that linear pot to a logarithmic pot and then we would all get more finer/accurate control over the volume. I fixed mine by making a simple PCB and mounting an ALPs Log pot of the same value and I can use the volume knob all the way up 3 o'clock. I had posted this mod on one of the previous threads and I'm happy to assist anyone who would like to get this simple mod done to their 336i.

Now back to comments/impressions by Chesebert. Sure the sound of the 336i is not the last word in detail or soundstage, but if you have compared it's performance with any of the other Chinese designed/made tube headphone amps out there, you'll find it "blitzs" most of them bar a few.

May I be as BOLD to say that many of us who have been toying/playing with Hi Fi / Head Fi would dearly love an amp that has the performance and sonic virues of both solid state and valve in the one device.

My 336i is my second rig in my study for when I'm just on the computer responding to emails and doing stuff on the net and need some good tunes in my head. For my main critical listening and overall enjoyment, I always use my MAD Ear + Purist which has the better soundstage and faster/more articulate bass response than the 336i.

 

[chesebert]

finally got my 332 today. Couples things I have noticed:
1. The tube protectors are now black instead of the original blue.
2. I don't know if the linear pod issues has been curred cuz I usually don't listen very loud (82db peak for spkr listening), and my K701 is hovering at 9:30 position.
And to "laxx" I have tried to turn the volume up to 11:00 without blowing my head off

Anyone wants to sell me some nice tubes? Russian Ulyanovsk 6S19P-V/B would be a good start

 

[Azure]

Ooh, I'm really interested in your impressions of 336i vs. 332. I'm in the market for a tube amp for my DT990s, but I don't know if I should get the 336i or the 332.

Pictures of the 332 would be nice; would you say it looks worse at night than the 336i (the 336i has larger tubes, but 332 has more tubes, so I'm not sure which looks nicer at night)?