[budx3385]

Quote:

Have any of you found that the 6N1P driver to take a long time to smooth out?
 
I ask because I have an assortment of used 6BQ7A tubes.  All of them sound "better" to me than the 6N1P.  The "tone"/"liquidity" of the 6N1P on classical and rock guitar music (Julian Bream, Mark Knopfler and David Gilmour, mainly). is just "wrong" compared to the 6BQ7A.  It's treble on female country music singers is jagged, sound almost sibilant.  It seems to lack "the drive" of the 6BQ7A everywhere in its frequency range.  The tube is more detailed than the 6BQ7A, but not greatly more so.
 
Now, if you compare the construction of various versions of both in almost every case the 6BQ7A looks exactly likely what is, a cheap TV tube of dubious quality, while the 6N1P has a much more complicated structure and (with the exception of a couple of mil spec 6BQ7As) looks like what it is - a durable military signal amplifier.  (I'm not exactly sure how it fitted into the Soviet arsenal).
 
So, has anyone noticed that the Russian tube takes a long time to settle in?  I'm getting impatient.
 
By the way, the 6BQ7A is not an exact electrical drop-in for the 6N1P, but i see that the heater current is the same, which is NOT the case for 6DJ7/ECC88.  My understanding is that Donald has OKed the use of this tube as a replacement, meaning to me it will do no electrical damage.
 
Finally, I was surprised that the driver could make such an audible difference.

 
Hi. If you dig back in the early pages of this thread, you will find my comments on this question. Basically, I found the cryo'd 6BQ7a that I purchased for $25/2 from tubeworld to be much more transparent, detailed and true to timbre than the stock driver that came with mine. But, if I recall correctly, there were others who felt that the 6N1P-DR is a better tube, especially if made in some city they named. I assume they found it on ebay.
 
Yes, Donald did OK this swap. Rolling all three tube types made an audible difference here.

 

[Frihed89]

I think this is an outstanding amplifier.  It is uncolored: distortion is low.  It is very fast in all registers and can keep up with any music i throw at it.  The treble is extended and pure, but the degree will depend on your 2A3 tubes.  The bass is outstanding for its definition of the low notes coming from different instruments: piano, bass, bassoon, contra-bassoon and various percussion instruments, etc. The mid-range is "exact" and has no color to it. It is neutral.  All this with a pair of headphones that are not the last word: K-701s.  (The Audeze, I have decided, are just too dark for me).
 
My enjoyment of the music that this amplifier reproduces is due, overall, to its transparency:  it is without color.  Now that i seem to have the driver broken in, my "lust" for the 6BQ7A has died down a bit. These tubes have turned out to be just too romantic for me (compared to the stock driver), although on some music that calls for romance, such as solo cello pieces played in the French style, both the GE and RCA 6BQ7A does warm my soul.
 
So, does this sound like a transistor amp?  No, it sounds like a very neutral DHT amp, of which there are not many.  DHT's have tonal texture all their own and reducing distortion only makes that more pronounced, less obscured by colorations (another word for distortion). The only regret, and it's only a "maybe" regret, is that it's not a 45 amp.  The only thing that could make it sound appreciably better as a 2A3 amp. would be a very high-end, carefully chosen, custom OPT, which would double the price at least.  Donald had stated this himself  (in his own, less dramatic words), so I am not talking heresy. The OPTs that he does use are first-rate for their construction and materials.
 
The enjoyment I am getting from this instrument far exceeds the price I would have been willing to pay.  
 
Next up is to find some headphone cables that are as transparent as the Crimson cables I am using as ICs.  I don't think that will be easy. 

 

[budx3385]

^^^
 
WOW, Frihed89, what an articulate and lucid account of your evaluation of the DNA Stratus, well-burned-in. I am very happy for you that you have found it is more than you had expected or hoped for.
 
And I certainly agree with you -- the Stratus is a wonderful headphone amplifier.
 
I hope you find the headphone + cable + tube combinations that will help fulfill your deep appreciation of music and give you many years of listening enjoyment with your new Stratus!!!
 
YaY !!!

 

[drheadphone]

Quote:

Have any of you found that the 6N1P driver to take a long time to smooth out?

 
Which type of 6N1P are you using? Regular or EV? Year, factory, plate color?
 
I myself can vouch for the Voskhod 6N1P-EV from the 70s. Much more smooth sounding than the stock Sovtek 6N1P and the RCA black-plate 6BQ7A.
 
Some people with more particular ears than mine say the 6N1P-EV has a wide range of sound compared to the Sovtek 6N1P.

 

[Frank I]

If anyone interested I have nine 6N1P brand new I am selling for 22.00 shipped. I have no amps for them any more.
 
7 russian military
2 Voshod

 

[fejnomit]

Quote:

Next up is to find some headphone cables that are as transparent as the Crimson cables I am using as ICs.  I don't think that will be easy.

 
Stefan Audio Art.  Hands down.  Give them a try.  They will match or exceed the Crimsons.

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

 
Which type of 6N1P are you using? Regular or EV? Year, factory, plate color?
 
I myself can vouch for the Voskhod 6N1P-EV from the 70s. Much more smooth sounding than the stock Sovtek 6N1P and the RCA black-plate 6BQ7A.
 
Some people with more particular ears than mine say the 6N1P-EV has a wide range of sound compared to the Sovtek 6N1P.

I have so far just used the one that came with the amp.  Somewhere in my stash, I have some ' 73-vintage kokshod factory tubes, but i can't seem to locate them.
 
On a more interesting note, I found out there's also a curse to owning an amp that as quiet and as detailed as the Stratus.  On some songs on some albums, It's now easy to pick out different tracks on recordings, for example a soloist one one track and the band on another.  It's actually rather disconcerting.
 
Another observation: as i pour over cable reviews and comments on this site, it is clear to me that there are very few people who can explain why they prefer a certain cable in terms of its sonic characteristics.  Is this because all cables sound the same?  I have found that many do, but some don't.  If not, then why so little information?

 

[fejnomit]

For me there is an astounding difference between cables.   And it has everything to do with how they are made.  Stefan AudioArt uses diaphanously thin copper ribbon with no dielectric and ultra-minimalist single-metal connectors for their ICs and power cables.  Their headphones cables take off from there and land somewhere else, but with the same principle of radical minimalism guiding them.  I won't get into details here on the DNA thread but feel free to PM me if you want to know the science/construction underpinnings of my preference for Stefan AudioArt.  It's not a subtle difference.  Pictures help as well, which I am happy to provide.
 
Now, the caveat - as with discussions of tubes as well - there is no absolute.  It would be foolish for me to say SAA makes the *best*cables or Ken Rad military dual box plate 2A3s are the *best* 2A3s.  It depends what YOU like and HOW you listen and WHAT you listen to, etc.  For me, the more revealing, the more detailed, the more direct and visceral the better.  This is certainly not the case for everyone.  I just had a friend over to hear my new Lamhorns and he found them far TOO revealing - he didn't like hearing the imperfections you mention - and there can be many, especially on vintage vinyl.  Other cables have more of a veil - and again this is not a criticism - a veil can be very seductive.  I spent a long time trying out many of the cables out there and landed where I landed.  I find the Stratus to be within my wheelhouse - revealing, multi-layered. detailed, punchy, fun, visceral.  Especially with the K1000 which is my current favorite combination.  Can't stop listening. I also choose to listen to the recordings I know are themselves the most revealing and detailed.  This is what I like from source to synapse.  At least most of the time.  There are moments when I turn on my dark, beguiling Wright Sound AU-215-I and my D7000s and get lost in the deep swampy bass of some blues or funk. 
 
If you love the sound of your Crimsons, why not see if they can modify a speaker wire to be a headphone cable - or an IC - depends how they are made.  I find smaller, more boutique makers are often happy to try out new things.

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

If you love the sound of your Crimsons, why not see if they can modify a speaker wire to be a headphone cable - or an IC - depends how they are made.  I find smaller, more boutique makers are often happy to try out new things.

I did, but Creston at Austin Audio said it wasn't possible because the construction, a small number of fairly thick copper wires woven together, makes the not only pretty inflexible, but too hard to terminate on the headphone end.  (That may not be the only reason, but that was the one I got. I have cut open one end of an IC of theirs and it was unspeakably hard to re-terminate correctly to even an RCA plug.)
 
The thing is that their cables are moderately priced (go to www.austinhifi.com), compared to SAA.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

thinking about buying stratus again 

 

[magiccabbage]

Quote:

thinking about buying stratus again 

I know how you feel. This amp has grown on me. Its just so sexy. I did not realise that it could power the HE6. I had the WA5 in my head for ages because of the speaker option but now i'm not too pushed on speakers and i think ill just stick with headphone's for the long hall. 
 
This is probably a question that has been asked before but can anyone say what the stratus is like powering the HE6 compared to the WA5 or maybe the Darkstar? i am aware that the darkstar is a bit up the ladder on the pricing side of things but i thought i'd ask anyway. 

 

[drheadphone]

Just do it! Dub step sounds sweet on an EML'd Stratus.

 

[santacore]

I switched over to a 5U4GB rectifier and am enjoying tighter bass and slightly punchier sound. I get a tiny bit of buzz(probably the tube), but it's well worth the benefits!!
 

 

[third_eye]

Quote:

I know how you feel. This amp has grown on me. Its just so sexy. I did not realise that it could power the HE6. I had the WA5 in my head for ages because of the speaker option but now i'm not too pushed on speakers and i think ill just stick with headphone's for the long hall. 
 
This is probably a question that has been asked before but can anyone say what the stratus is like powering the HE6 compared to the WA5 or maybe the Darkstar? i am aware that the darkstar is a bit up the ladder on the pricing side of things but i thought i'd ask anyway. 

 
We had my Stratus and an RSA Darkstar at the LA meet sided by side for a whole day and the HE-6 in my (and a few other's) opinion was not optimally driven by either. I don't think the WA5 would be much different. Which is not to say that they sounded bad, just likely not at their full potential. On the other hand these amps are reference level for most if not all other flagships.

 

[Frank I]

I never tried the he6 with the Stratus while it was here because i did not have one in house to try. I been listening to the hE6 on the WA5 for almost two months now and I can give the combination an enthusiastic thumbs up. For the torture test I use the Reference recording Label's Copland disc which the hE6 took out the resistors on the Taboo MK11 I owned and the WA5 sails through the disc and I cant listen past the 10am setting on the dial that how much power is provided to the he6   I listen mostly on the 8:30-9 setting on the dial and I can honestly say the HE6 is a 5 star performer with the Woo WA5.
 
I have not heard the HE6 on the other two amps but will be bringing this combo to the Philadelphia meet in October for others to hear and comment on. I have never heard the WA5LE with the HE6 and would think that the 1.5W would not be able to drive them properly but the AKG1000 XLR on the WA5  drives them effortlessly.