[SleepyOne]

Quote:

The Moth 2A3 is probably similar to the EC 2A3 in some ways, however it's going to be in another league in others. Moth Audio was more about making no-holds-barred one-offs and so they went all out in parts. The newer EC stuff is good no doubt, but Craig wants to keep costs down, so the parts are going to not be nearly as fancy. That's not to knock the newer stuff, just to say the priorities are different.

 
You could always ask to up the output transformers and volume pot   If only Craig would also offer upgrade option on the other parts too that would be perfect

 

[witness]

Hi everyone,
May i ask the best driver tube option for hd800?
 
I am currently using zana deux se (balanced version) with hd800. (With hiface two and hegel hd20 dac)
As far as i know, mullard's and tungsol 6su7 best options. I just want to warmer sound especially on upper mids.
 
Thanks.

 

[ValentinHogea]

Quote:

Hi everyone,
May i ask the best driver tube option for hd800?
 
I am currently using zana deux se (balanced version) with hd800. (With hiface two and hegel hd20 dac)
As far as i know, mullard's and tungsol 6su7 best options. I just want to warmer sound especially on upper mids.
 
Thanks.

Best and best, that's a good question.
Out of 1940's RCA VT-229, 1940's Ken-Rad VT-229 and 1950's Mullard ECC35, I prefer the Mullard.
 
A bit warmer and more forward mids. More extended bass. A bit wider and higher sound stage.
However I should be honest, not so huge differences when rolling the driver tube as I've had with other amps. Which is a good thing. It's either fantastic or a bit more fantastic.
 
Add a good DAC + mod your HD800 and it's a very transparent and neutral presentation.

 

[witness]

Thanks for your reply ValentinHogea.
It seems that mullard is the best choice for me.
Bu it's also considerable expensive. If anyone who wants to sell please pm me.
 
Actually Hegel Hd20 has warm sound and deep soundstage. After Benchmark Dac1,
it was great improvement for me.
 
I love the sound of zana deux. With balanced mode, you get better soundstage and
instrument separation. But sometimes i wonder if  is there anyway to minimized the 6 khz peak of hd800.

 

[Blackmore]

Get another amp, good SS one will do the job, such as Graham Slee Solo UltraLinear or Lehmann Black Cube Linear will do the trick. There is another one that is very good with it, still pretty unknown up here, but does fantastic job to, I got my few days ago, you can read some up here, if you like of course.
 
Tubes make tonality differ, but they will not change the basics or some flaws of amp or headphones. There are 2 differ types of ECC35 Mullards, one with tall bottle and small base and one with short bottle and fat brown base. The one with short bottle is truly high end, the one with tall bottle is warmish and dont offer the goods, at least I never found them to be worth USD 200 that some asking for them. I believe you already have nice tubes, so, just see if your interconntect cables can be improved, maybe even power cable will make a huge difference.
I owned Zana, but very first run, not SE, however the basic signature, probably, still the same, so, I know when you say things about it.
 
 
 
Quote:

 
I love the sound of zana deux. With balanced mode, you get better soundstage and
instrument separation. But sometimes i wonder if  is there anyway to minimized the 6 khz peak of hd800.

 

[witness]

Oh Thank you Blackmore,
you always help me with your detailed answers.

 
After i pm you, i bought dh labs power plus power cables both for my zana and dac. It was very nice upgrade for my system.
Also maple and abony bases help me a lot. Also i am trying silverfi balanced and rca cables which are tonally balanced and
very realistic cables.
 
You told me before this little great amp and as i see in your review, great choice for hd800.
Also do you think that lehmann black cube has better synergy with hd 800 when you compare zana deux?

 

[BournePerfect]

I don't recall who recommended this tube (Sophia Electric 6SL7), but I'm loving it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160977792340. It is more dynamic than both my NOS Tung sol black/round, and my NOS Brimar. I can confidently say that in my rig, it has noticeably better bass impact, and is the first tube than I am extremely happy with for modern pop/rock in my system. It has a very balance sound, and pretty much sounds like the Brimar, but with better impact. The Brimar seemed to sound a little bit more transparent-but now that the Sophia has around 100 hours on it I'd say they are neck and neck now in that department. I still prefer female vocals with the tungsol-but it's not a very good all around tube imo. Been listening to Private Investigations these past couple of nights, and I can't imagine things ever sounding much better than this on my rig.
 
-Daniel

 

[ValentinHogea]

Quote:

I don't recall who recommended this tube (Sophia Electric 6SL7), but I'm loving it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160977792340. It is more dynamic than both my NOS Tung sol black/round, and my NOS Brimar. I can confidently say that in my rig, it has noticeably better bass impact, and is the first tube than I am extremely happy with for modern pop/rock in my system. It has a very balance sound, and pretty much sounds like the Brimar, but with better impact. The Brimar seemed to sound a little bit more transparent-but now that the Sophia has around 100 hours on it I'd say they are neck and neck now in that department. I still prefer female vocals with the tungsol-but it's not a very good all around tube imo. Been listening to Private Investigations these past couple of nights, and I can't imagine things ever sounding much better than this on my rig.
 
-Daniel

Interesting!
 
I've been scouting around for tubes for a future Electra, and a quad of Sophia Electrics 6SN7's were at the top of the 6SN7-list especially due to what I read in the thread regarding their 6SL7. However, after checking with Stavros, he said that the 6SN7's weren't all that compared to cheaper NOS ones.
 
Maybe the 6SL7-scene is a bit different...
 
I'm enjoying my Tall Black Base ECC35's on first place and Short Brown Base ECC35 as a second with Anax 2.0 HD800's.
 
/V

 

[ValentinHogea]

If anyone's interested. I'm selling some single 6SL7's in the FS-forum. A short base brown Mullard ECC35, RCA VT-229 and Ken-Rad VT-229.

I've decided to stick with the tall black base ECC35 and trim down the collection. Gladly sell to another ZDSE-owner. Bliss!

 

[cradon]

Quote:

Thanks for suggestions, I'm very appreciate.
 
When I read your suggestions, I must say: great minds think alike.These three ss amps which I think over before, especially GS-X V2.
But it's a little over my budget and must wait for quite a long time(over 12 weeks).
 
I really like the Zana Deux amp, it can push almost every headphone to the edge, especially with HD800.
But it's  too hot! I just want to find a ss amp which can drive most headphones very well, like Zana Deux.
I think I will consider the BHA-1 or find second hand GS-X.But in my mind,the Zana Deux is always in the first place.

I had the BHA-1 and sold it when I got the ZDSE. I just didn't enjoy music with the Bryston, always felt like something was missing + it was fatiguing. The ZDSE with stock driver tube was disappointing so I bought a Sophia Electric 6SL7. I was blown away by the improvements it made. Now I've been staying up late every night enjoying my music collection.

 

[BournePerfect]

+1 on the Sophia. My only minor gripe with it was that the bass tended to cover up a few details in the mids-but other than that it was a major improvement over all my other tubes-and was the first tube that I could 'rock' to through the ZDSE...
 
-Daniel

 

[cradon]

+1 on the Sophia. My only minor gripe with it was that the bass tended to cover up a few details in the mids-but other than that it was a major improvement over all my other tubes-and was the first tube that I could 'rock' to through the ZDSE...

-Daniel

I got the Sophia because of your comments on it Daniel. Thanks! Anything else worth having? Also did you or anyone else try upgrading the power cable?

 

[BournePerfect]

The Brimar was pretty good and possibly more neutral-but I preferred the bass from the Sophia and it's broader soundstage as well. I LOVED the NOS tung-sol round black glass for soft vocals, but it's dynamics, soundstage and everything else pretty much fell short of the Sophia. I've heard good things about the more expensive Mullards and Valvos but never tried them.
 
I only used my Decware power cords with the ZDSE so I can't say how they compare to a standard iec, but with various dacs I've tried both and the Decware opened up and soundstage and clarity quite a bit to my ears. YMMV.
 
-Daniel

 

[Clayton SF]

I am enjoying my ZDSE with a Tung-Sol BGRP. I've also enjoyed it with the Adzam nickle plates. I'm using the Emotiva power cord.

 

[m2man]

Here's the procedure to match the ZD rectifiers by ear.

Quoting Craig;

I match the rectifiers when the amp burns in. I look at the first filter after the rectifiers. This wave form should be 120Hz sort of triangle looking with even peaks. If the peaks are not even the tubes don't match. This is the best test because the tubes are loaded with the actual current the amp is running steady state.

You can test by ear. Power the amp up, and with the volume full counterclockwise listen for background noise. You will need sensitive headphones, like the RS-1's. Pull one rectifier and listen. You will hear a pronounced 60Hz hum in both ears. A tube mismatch will be between this level, and no hum. If you hear a hum with one rectifier, but not with both, they are matched close enough.


Before you guys ask, this procedure is all done with the amp on. I let the amp warm up for 30 minutes. Use a pot holder to remove the tube (don't remove any tube except the rectifier, either one will do). When Craig says that you'll need a sensitive pair of phones to hear the hum, he ain't kidding! This is one quiet power supply! The rectifiers are real cheap so the best thing to do is buy 4 and find the best two pairs among them.

Can anyone verify that when matching by ear you turn the volume all the way down (CCW). I barely hear anything at full volume.

Craig is OOF so I figured I'd just ask here.
Thanks