Sorry about the rambling below, but I really owe this thread a few posts, and this is the first chance I've had to post for a while....
I seem to be cursed when it comes to getting some quality time with my Elise. Firstly, I lose my job the day I was going to place my order - and end up ordering it just before the price increase, with fingers crossed that the interview I had that morning went as well as I hoped (it did, fortunately). And now I've broken my foot, thereby disrupting my plans to make a proper space for the Elise where my “nice” gear sits.
The net result of all this, is that I feel derelict in my posting to this thread, and I have only had a few hours listening with the Elise - and then only with my portable sources (yes, H1, the X3 has been pressed into emergency service again!).
With my new job, I have a much longer commute, and much longer hours, so I’m not going to have enough time for any serious tube-rolling. Therefore I’ve elected to stick (so far) with just trying driver tubes which are currently in production. I have the stock drivers, some Tung Sol re-issues and some Electro-Harmonix (not the gold ones).
I won an ifi micro iCAN in a forum competition and I liked it so much that I got a complete ifi stack to celebrate when my new job was confirmed (as you can see in my avatar). I got a bit worried at this point that the Elise would end up disappointing because I *really* like the ifi, and also because ifi goes to extraordinary lengths to suppress noise - to the extent that even the power supply has active noise cancellation built-in! Any hum or static from the Elise was going to be a black mark against it. My Little Dot has never been noisy, but silent it was not! So I don’t really expect a black background from a tube amp. Well, when I turned on the Elise, I thought it was broken - the silence was deafening! No hum, no static, nothing. So, step one passed
.
Next, how does it sound? Well, at first listen, with the stock drivers, it was a little disappointing - after the high expectations and the long wait to get it. There was nothing wrong with it (apart from the usual slight roughness around about the frequency where you get sibilance - which I always get with unburnt in tubes) but it wasn’t *special*. Kind of like the O2 - totally competent but lacking in “magic” or character (in the case of the O2 this is a good thing, but it isn’t what I want from my tubes!). I’m pretty sure that some burn-in will bring out the magic in the stock tubes, but I had the Tung Sols already waiting. Time to pop them in.
w00t! Magic in abundance! The bottom end filled out, and so did the “tubiness” I love. My AKG K702s never sounded so good!
A day or so later, the EHs arrived. And, again, magic aplenty
. The K702s became a bit too bright, in comparison, but my HD600s were perfect.
So, Tung Sol for the AKGs, and Electro-Harmonix for the Senns. I couldn’t be happier
. Both sets of tubes have the lush mids that I look for from a tube amp, and both have a good solid punch to the bass without any leakage into the mids - another thing I look for. But the EHs are more forward at the top end - which suits the Senns, but are a bit much with the naturally brighter AKGs. I slightly prefer the Tung Sols overall, because they amplify a little less, and that puts the volume control of the Elise more into the sweet spot at the volumes I listen at. Most people listen louder than I do, so YMMV. Also, I plan to use the AKGs more with the Elise, and the Senns with the ifi, so the synergy with the headphones works a little better.
Bear in mind that *nothing* is burned in yet, and that my source was just my, albeit very good, portable player, and things can only get better.
The really good news, is that the Elise can sound fantastic without exotic tubes. Anyone with limited time, or a limited budget, will still get excellent results with the Tung Sols (which are now the stock drivers, I believe). And the EHs also give excellent results so for very little extra expenditure you can get two amps for the price of one (signature-wise).
Edit: Just found this comparison which includes the TSs and EHs. I pretty much agree with everything he says (but in the context of the Elise), except that I liked the EHs a *little* better (with the right headphones):
http://singaporehifi.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/6sn7-comparisons.html
