6BQ7A, 6N1P, 6N1P-EV. I've been bargain shopping and have acquired about 40 - in round numbers - of these tubes from many mfrs and vintages. (I still see some types for sale, i don't own, but I have become pretty blasé about getting more, unless i discover some type of holy grail). I haven't been terribly selective, and often the cheap buys include a few of the same tubes. They all work! I have drawn only one conclusion, so far: "many" sound different, some by a lot. I haven't even begun to listen for differences, because I have to live with a given set-up for a couple of months before I am able to discern if I like it and how it might different from the previous set-up. But I have noted some of these tubes lean toward darkness, some are bright, some are strident, some are very detailed and balanced, some are a little dark and detailed, and so on. They don't all sound the same. I can confirm, however, that the tubes that Douglas ships are well balanced and detailed, but for me lack a littl something, which i will just call a small dose of intimacy.
Headphones. My K-701s with Moon copper cables sound much better to me than my first generation LCD-2's with Norsk (?) cables. I know the 701s aren't the last word transparency and tonal balance, but they are very very good all-rounder at a good price. But I am totally befuddled by the area of "high-end" cans available and their prices. And cables: forget it. Head-Fi cable mfrs and owners I have come into contact with are not nearly as articulate or wise as the small group of people I interact with on the subject of ICs and speaker cables. Sadly, none of them is a headphone devotee. So, as it stands now, I think I'll go with Moon copper cables, which I already own for K701s and are reasonably priced. My experience with ICs in general is that price and sound quality don't correlate closely, at least to my brain's computer and my body's sound sensors. Unfortunately, the mfr. of my beloved ICs won't make me a pair of headphone cables, as their construction makes them very difficult to successfully terminate for headphones.
Right now, I am leaning toward the HE-500s, but can't find any to listen to in my area of the world. My understanding is that they are balanced, detailed, give good channel separation, good bass-mid-treble freq. integration and have no great weaknesses, except they are not comfy. The HD800s? Too costly, no matter what they can do. Famous last words!
The amp itself - still divine! My impressions are now stable.
