[shafat777]

First off thanks for responding. I have a few pairs of headphones and none of them are great. I can't afford a real good pair but i have a pair of Monoprice Retros with Brainwave XXL pads, a pair of OneOdio Dj pro, and debating getting a pair of Skullcandy Crusher Evos.

I am not really expecting a great sound improvement i just want the extra power from the balanced input. I just got my Fiio BTR5 today and was kind of disappointed in how loud and punchy they are. I have a Topping NX1s and that at 70 percent would shake my head with my headphones but the Fiio i can go full vol on phone and amp and its not super loud? I am using it through Bluetooth so that may be why? I have a cord on the way to connect it directly and hope it helps. Thanks again for your help.

I think the easiest way for you to get great sound out of your existing gear would be to get a pair of Hd6xx or 650. You can get them dirt cheap used or decent price new ($150-$200). Both of those headphones allow balanced connection and they would sound great with your Fiio. They even sound great with single ended output too.

Btw lets not derail this amp/tuba thread talking about headphones. Either pm me or post a enquiry in the headphone section and a lot more peeps can help you.

 

[thebigcanman]

Very interested to hear about the amperex tubes

Did you happen to compare them to EI tubes? I found a pair of EI tubes but honestly didn’t like them as much as the stock mullards

 

[hikaru12]

It's a terrific pairing with the Focal Stellia.

Thanks for posting this! I was trying to find a good low impedance OTL and they're hard to come by especially in a small form factor like the Tuba! I plan on placing an order tomorrow!

 

[shafat777]

Very interested to hear about the amperex tubes

Did you happen to compare them to EI tubes? I found a pair of EI tubes but honestly didn’t like them as much as the stock mullards

I actually really liked the EI tubes. I picked up a pair from Upscale Audio. Those are amazing mids. Real smooth top end with tons of air. Those worked wonders with my Focal clears at the moment. But when i came to my ZMF auteur, the EI lacked bass for my taste. The Amperex fixed that, otherwise i would have kept the EIs. Matter of fact, i still have my pair of amperex and EI, i think. Let me know if you or anyone is interested in these.

 

[Marutks]

Thanks for posting this! I was trying to find a good low impedance OTL and they're hard to come by especially in a small form factor like the Tuba!

The Tuba is not OTL as far as I know. I think all OTL amplifiers have high output impedance.

 

[Aech]

The Tuba is not OTL as far as I know. I think all OTL amplifiers have high output impedance.

Yeah the tuba is transformer coupled I believe. Thats why it plays so well with low impedance as well.

 

[thebigcanman]

I'm loving my Tuba. Sounds really good with Audeze LCD-2C as well as my Grados and Senns.

I'm wondering if anybody has tried an outboard power supply with it? The brick says 15v/1.67A

Is there anything out there that anybody knows about that would work? I'm had good results upgrading the power supply with amps before and am eager to try it

 

[hikaru12]

I'm loving my Tuba. Sounds really good with Audeze LCD-2C as well as my Grados and Senns.

I'm wondering if anybody has tried an outboard power supply with it? The brick says 15v/1.67A

Is there anything out there that anybody knows about that would work? I'm had good results upgrading the power supply with amps before and am eager to try it

Off topic but do you know how long it took you get yours? And also for designs like this they’re already designed with low noise in mind. I don’t think you’d gain any extra benefit of any real quality by upgrading an LPS but I’ll let someone speak to that who may have physically tried it.

 

[Aech]

Off topic but do you know how long it took you get yours? And also for designs like this they’re already designed with low noise in mind. I don’t think you’d gain any extra benefit of any real quality by upgrading an LPS but I’ll let someone speak to that who may have physically tried it.

when I ordered mine back in may or April last year, it took less than a week to come in. I think it was closer to about 3 days. He ships them out super fast. I ordered mine at like 1 am and I had a shipping notification by the time I woke up basically lol. Damn late night drunk orders lol.

 

[thebigcanman]

Off topic but do you know how long it took you get yours? And also for designs like this they’re already designed with low noise in mind. I don’t think you’d gain any extra benefit of any real quality by upgrading an LPS but I’ll let someone speak to that who may have physically tried it.

I bought mine second hand so I can't comment on the wait time.

 

[robo24]

Just took the plunge since I have no idea when the Glenn OTL I ordered is ever going to arrive and can sell this to pay my last payment on the Glenn. I'll mostly be using this with ZMFs, so should be a great match!

Given the lack of much of anything audio-wise in Hawaii, I was also happy to support a builder here.

 

[Aech]

Just took the plunge since I have no idea when the Glenn OTL I ordered is ever going to arrive and can sell this to pay my last payment on the Glenn. I'll mostly be using this with ZMFs, so should be a great match!

Given the lack of much of anything audio-wise in Hawaii, I was also happy to support a builder here.

It is definitely a great match. I have it paired with the bifrost 2 and it’s my favorite amp for my Aeolus easily. I swap in between this and the echo with the eikons that I just got in a few weeks ago.

 

[robo24]

It is definitely a great match. I have it paired with the bifrost 2 and it’s my favorite amp for my Aeolus easily. I swap in between this and the echo with the eikons that I just got in a few weeks ago.

Cool thanks! I got them too just last week. Mine will be paired with a TT2. Already have 2 other sets of tubes on the way, the Ei 84 from upscale audio and the 1959 Amperex D getters in case the stock tubes don't wow me.

 

[FYFL]

That's a good looking amp from a guy that knows a thing or two about designing tube gear. That Trumpet phono looks interesting as well. Good stuff guys.

 

[Aech]

Cool thanks! I got them too just last week. Mine will be paired with a TT2. Already have 2 other sets of tubes on the way, the Ei 84 from upscale audio and the 1959 Amperex D getters in case the stock tubes don't wow me.

The stock tubes do well enough but some nos tubes are definitely a worthwhile investment. I started with some soviet tubes that are pretty decent for their price, then some rca 7189’s. I want to try the ei as well.