[muckyfingers]

Nice job. Mahogany or walnut stain is going to look good on this type of plain wood, it will certainly add character to it.

Thank you, it was my first time staining. I might go back and make it even darker in the future, but for now I'm enjoying the color and the new sound of the 6922 tubes.

 

[Grumpy Old Git]

This is HARD. I'm trying to compare the H7M I've just acquired fitted with Premium Matched Pair 6080WA 6080 6AS7G NOS Thomson csf France tubes, and matched 6n1p Voskhod 1979 year, against a Earmax SE headphone amp with two Philips tubes and a Mullard tube.

There is little to pick between them, depending on the genre of music you are listening to. With the limited time I've had so far doing the comparison I find the H7M to have the better bass weight and extension, the Earmax SE has more forward vocals.
The Earmax is a known quantity with the Hi-Fi community, so is the H7M a bargain 'hidden gem' in comparison?
There is a sizable price differential between the two, so is the Earmax pitched at the right price, or is it over priced?
Frankly, I'd be happy with either, I need to do some more in depth listening.
In the end I will have to decide which one to keep, and if this evenings session is anything to go off it looks like I will have a difficult choice.

 

[Grumpy Old Git]

I'm leaning toward the Earmax SE, bass not quite as deep but firmer and more controlled. SE vocals are more forward and drums and cymbals are more realistic, although the H7M has a wider sound stage. Obviously this could all be down to the tube selection.

Just a little shot of my desk top, to illustrate how the Earmax SE is dwarfed by the H7M!

 

[Slade01]

I'm leaning toward the Earmax SE, bass not quite as deep but firmer and more controlled. SE vocals are more forward and drums and cymbals are more realistic, although the H7M has a wider sound stage. Obviously this could all be down to the tube selection.

I was going to suggest that you try using something like a pair of Brimar CV2492 or driver tubes that are typically more mid-forward to give it fair competition.

 

[Grumpy Old Git]

I was going to suggest that you try using something like a pair of Brimar CV2492 or driver tubes that are typically more mid-forward to give it fair competition.

Thanks for the suggestion. The dilemma I have is do I spend more on tubes for one of the amps now, or make a decision on which amp to keep first?
I don't want to spend on tubes if I can't recoup that money when I decide which amp to sell, and I don't want to spend too much either.

Reading up on suitable tubes for the Earmax, the suggestion is replacing the two Philips ECC88's with Mullard tubes, ideally E88CC's.
And Maybe a Pair of 6AS7G Svetlana's for the H7M in place of the 6080 Thompson's?
I've yet to try swapping the Phllips and Voskhod's between the two amps to see what that yields.

 

[muckyfingers]

I picked up a new volume knob, that I prefer, and painted the 6922 adapter black.

Volume Knob HERE

 

[tubebuyer2020]

A different one on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313689639119

Interesting that it comes with an early square-getter 6n5s and an early-ish Foton 6n8s - both more rare than typical 80s 6n13s and Reflector/Nevz 6n8s.

 

[Grumpy Old Git]

A different one on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313689639119

Interesting that it comes with an early square-getter 6n5s and an early-ish Foton 6n8s - both more rare than typical 80s 6n13s and Reflector/Nevz 6n8s.

Not been able to find any info on it. It looks well built, and that is a very low starting price....

 

[Slade01]

I picked up a new volume knob, that I prefer, and painted the 6922 adapter black.

Volume Knob HERE

That is a nice looking knob upgrade. I'm still waiting on my H5, stuck in customs right now. I could probably order parts for it and come before I take delivery of the amp.

 

[Deceneu808]

That is a nice looking knob upgrade. I'm still waiting on my H5, stuck in customs right now. I could probably order parts for it and come before I take delivery of the amp.

Hopefully you will get it soon.

A quick update on my bent top plate. Wieslaw told me to send the amp back for a sheet replacement but at this point I don't know if it's worth it considering the shipping back and forth just for a plate replacement. It has more personality this way lol

 

[bpiotrow13]

Well actually I just asked what Wieslaw recommended for my Verite and he mentioned that he was working on this. It uses toroidal transformers which is why they are hidden.
You can see that the potentiometer is a 10 o’clock, I haven’t gone much higher than that. It works wonderfully with the zmf’s especially the Verite is more enjoyable to listen too, not as fatiguing as with the v280

Wow this looks stunning So this is the amp specifically recommended by Wieslaw for Verite? Have You considered his other amps? Why You choosed h22m and how it sounds? I have just bought Verite open so I would be grateful for sharing Your impressions

 

[bpiotrow13]

I recall Wieslaw mentioning H9M when H12G was being build. He thought very highly of 6E5P as triode-strapped output tube in that amp. In H12G it funtions as driver tube, though, and I am not sure it does as good a job there, at least not in this particular design.

Just going through the thread. Very interesting. Could somebody share more info on H12g? There seem to be no further discussion on how this amp performs, while it looks wonderful Is there any other amp at Eufonika with triode sound?

 

[kvik]

A different one on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313689639119

Interesting that it comes with an early square-getter 6n5s and an early-ish Foton 6n8s - both more rare than typical 80s 6n13s and Reflector/Nevz 6n8s.

Had another look, the amp has only 1 signal-in jack, must be one half of a dual chassis design like the one shown earlier in this thread.
In other words not of much use to the buyer without the other mono block amp.

 

[tubebuyer2020]

I have received a new amp about a week ago - latest Eufonika model named H5DS (H5 Dual-Selectable).
It's a customised/new version of the well-known H5 with the following distinctive features:

1) Driver tube: 6V/12V heater voltage selection.
2) Driver tube: automatic bias/support of different gain tubes - 6SN7/6C8G/6SL7 and 12SN7/12SL7.
3) Gain level switch for additional vol pot flexibility.
4) Perpendicular tube placement.
5) Reserved space and four pre-drilled holes around tubes to enable installing DIY tube protection if needed.
6) RCA sockets relocated to rear side.

Standard H5 features preserved, including:

1) Class A, zero global negative feedback, OTL.
2) Separate power supplies with chokes.
3) Start-up protection, fused power inlet.
4) Output RCA sockets.
5) Design and case materials.

Unconfirmed, but H5DS may also contain some additional minor nice-to-have internal improvements around rectification and filtering.

-----

Some time ago, I asked Wieslaw if it's possible to customise the standard H5 design for more versatility. It sounded like the work on H5MK2 had already been ongoing at the time - and in a very similar direction.
The motivation and requests were straightforward:
1) Ability to roll more reasonably-priced driver tubes, given the rising prices and dwindling selection.
2) Slightly different, desk-friendly layout and presentation, with some option to protect tubes via a DIY cage if needed.
3) Classic Eufonika mid-century industrial look and feel.

A few months later - following design, implementation and testing - it was finally ready! Shipping took some time, but the box arrived completely unharmed. There was a lot of bubble wrap inside for extra protection and it was handled well during transit.
The package contents were: amplifier, 6N8S driver tube, 6N13S power tube, power cable.

Here is how it looks (turned off):

Front switch is for low/high gain selection and the rear switch (small one next to transformer) is for driver tube heater selection (larger LED indicates 12V and smaller LED indicates 6V). The wood was promptly waxed as per @Grumpy Old Git 's recommendation. I think the very slightly darker/semi-gloss texture achieved is just perfect!

-----

Tube types rolled:
1) Power: 6N5S, 6N13S, 6AS7, 6080.
2) Driver: 6SN7/6N8S, 6C8G, 6SL7, 12SN7, 12SL7.

All worked quite well technically, apart from a couple of tubes that just obviously went bad. Since this is a true tube amp, it will highlight any pre-existing concrete tube issues like microphonics, self-capacitance, rusty pins etc. - as expected.

Listening impressions:
1) A lot of spare volume - I keep 9 o'clock on vol pot (which is of high-quality with balanced channels across travel range);
2) Broad soundstage; no strict A/B testing was performed but it felt like H5DS drove my headphones better than my other sources/amps;
3) Base, treble and mids are all balanced and nothing is lacking or exaggerated.

I have used mid-range high-impedance dynamic headphones: DT880, HD6xx. They worked very well with H5DS and sound signatures were characteristic of respective models. My preference will be using Beyerdynamic DT880 for now.

Overall, I am very pleased!

 

[tubebuyer2020]

Had another look, the amp has only 1 signal-in jack, must be one half of a dual chassis design like the one shown earlier in this thread.
In other words not of much use to the buyer without the other mono block amp.

It could be some form of a single-jack stereo-input, maybe a coaxial input for an internal DAC?