Doug2507
Headphoneus Supremus
Very nice. What type of tube are these based on?
https://www.monoandstereo.com/thomas-mayer-the-one-tube/Very nice. What type of tube are these based on?
Yes, clean power is fundamental to the entire audio chain. You cannot make up/compensate for lower quality power filtration and cords later in the chain. I remember NAIM Audio talking about this back in the 1980's. Here is a more recent explanation (in English):The WE300b was a big jump for me, I realized that i have to change the xlr cables and the power cords to hear the jump
100% give them plenty of time before writing them off. I know someone else who thought the same and sold them, he's just bought another pair and going to give them the proper run time before coming to a conclusion again.
Once the rest of your system has settled in, maybe time to try some different driver tubes.
I'd just ride it out for now, get some proper hours in the whole system then have a rethink.
Edit: What music do you listen to?
Oh, and I listen to jazz, acoustic guitar based things, pop rock, vocal oriented stuff and house EDM the most, I'd say.Ok, thanks everyone. I guess I was expecting them to be like the Takatsuki 2a3s in my WA23 - the effect was immediately obvious with no burn-in and no change to cords, etc.
I will definitely burn them in for much longer though and it's good to know that they are very much improved with more hours!
On the note of power cords and cables - I got sent a headphone cable by a nice guy (Rob Fritz of Audio Art Cables) and I love it. I prefer it over my Meze upgraded cable that I had been using before. I'm in talks with him about getting some new XLR and RCA cables. I think this will definitely help.
When you guys say power cord, you mean the IEC cable going from Envy to the iFi PowerStation (in my case)? This will help improve things? Maybe I should get a better one from Audio Art Cables.
What about the Weiss DAC502?What's interesting is that the Innuos Zenith and May made the Envy jump into "whoa!" territory when I first put started playing stuff through it where I was struggling to enjoy it as much before. It filled out the midrange a bit more which I felt was missing too much for me before, and everything else - texture, bass, layering, details were all so much better than the DAP/Chord Qutest or iFi Pro iDSD Signature chain I had going with it before. Everything finally sounded right and truly flagship to my ears.
It sounded great, but didn't quite give it the flavor that I was missing. I think it's in the midrange and the realism of the May that puts the Envy there for me. I was listening to a Bennie Maupin Quartet album (Early Reflections) and A/B/C-ing with the Envy, Woo WA23 and the ZMF/LOrdGwyn Aegis and the Envy was ahead (with Innuos/May) as far as textured detail and realism went. It was astonishingly awesome. His baritone sax sounded so lifelike, like you're there. The other two amps are great in their ways, but weren't there in that category.What about the Weiss DAC502?