[TTNK]

Hello,
 
So I have the Emotiva a 100 and he 5 le, using a centrence dacport lx. I posted about it here a while ago here. I tried putting a music hall ph25.2 in place of the emotiva and I really liked the sound. I felt that the positioning was more accurate, had a better noise floor, and of course, the tube part of the amp was really great to listen to. The music hall dosen't have quite enough power to drive the le's to their potential, as I am getting less bass and a smaller soundstage (like really small). All in all, I feel that the music hall sounded overall better to my ears. Maybe its the tube. I dunno. This is my first time listening to tubes. But the small soundstage is a deal breaker for me.
 
So what I am wondering is...
 
Is there an option to get a tube-like sound and still have the power to drive an he 5 le? I know the Lyr is an obvious choice, but I have heard that people claim the emotiva sounds better than it. I am not only looking for a more tubey sound, but also comparable (or better) sound quality to the emotiva. Is the emotiva truely a better amp vs the Lyr? 

 

[davidsh]

It is discussed earlier in the thread that you can use a tube buffer or preamp with the emo.

 

[Sonido]

That music hall ph25.2 looks to be a tube preamp on it's own. Just hook it up to the Emotiva. Report back how it sounds

 

[Nimzerz]

@Sonido anyways, how's that going? Is the quickie going to arrive soon?

 

[Sonido]

It looks like I ordered 2 days too late for the current shipment. May be another month before they ship my batch.

 

[preproman]

  Hello,
 
So I have the Emotiva a 100 and he 5 le, using a centrence dacport lx. I posted about it here a while ago here. I tried putting a music hall ph25.2 in place of the emotiva and I really liked the sound. I felt that the positioning was more accurate, had a better noise floor, and of course, the tube part of the amp was really great to listen to. The music hall dosen't have quite enough power to drive the le's to their potential, as I am getting less bass and a smaller soundstage (like really small). All in all, I feel that the music hall sounded overall better to my ears. Maybe its the tube. I dunno. This is my first time listening to tubes. But the small soundstage is a deal breaker for me.
 
So what I am wondering is...
 
Is there an option to get a tube-like sound and still have the power to drive an he 5 le? I know the Lyr is an obvious choice, but I have heard that people claim the emotiva sounds better than it. I am not only looking for a more tubey sound, but also comparable (or better) sound quality to the emotiva. Is the emotiva truely a better amp vs the Lyr? 

 
Or maybe try a tube DAC
 
http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tubemagic_d2
 
 
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/stockholm2.htm
 
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/havana.htm
 
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/mhdt%20dac%20families.htm
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/657908/mhdt-havana-dac-improved-with-high-quality-components-bendix-6385-others
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/310441/mhdt-havana-dac

 

[daerron]

One day when I have a bit of spare cash around I'd definitely like to try the Grant Fidelity Tubedac 11 and see what it does in combination with the Mini-X using the DAC tube output. Its the one thing I'm really missing from my Project Sunrise 2 amp, but the Mini-X does sound a whole lot better.

 

[Grado77]

   
I hooked up my balanced SR80i to my Emotiva, and maxed the volume on my pre-amp and the emotiva unit.
 
The Grado no longer sounds the same.
 
It was a sacrifice, for science.
 
Very best,

 Did you put the toasty little fella back in its' pizza box and bury it in the back yard? LOL
 
R.I.P.B. (rest in pizza box)

 

[mohdkhamsya]

The emotiva stealth dc-1 looks really really interesting! Wonder how the amp section would compare to the mini.

 

[nehcrow]

So how does Audio gd products compare to the Emotiva in terms of how well they drive the HE-500?
Thinking about NFB-11.32, 15.32, 12, 10.32 etc.

 

[preproman]

  So how does Audio gd products compare to the Emotiva in terms of how well they drive the HE-500?
Thinking about NFB-11.32, 15.32, 12, 10.32 etc.

 
Just as good, if not better. I'll go with better.

 

[nehcrow]

   
Just as good, if not better. I'll go with better.

Sorry, which is possibly better? Emotiva or audio-gd? just a little confused haha

 

[preproman]

  Sorry, which is possibly better? Emotiva or audio-gd? just a little confused haha

 

  So how does Audio gd products compare to the Emotiva in terms of how well they drive the HE-500?

 
Quote:

   
Just as good, if not better. I'll go with better.

 

[nehcrow]

   
 
Quote:

   
Just as good, if not better. I'll go with better.

Sorry it's getting late here haha
I'm thinking I might as get a cheap used Audio-gd dac/amp then, might be a better solution in my case
So Emotiva amp is probably more useful for the HE-6 I take it?

 

[preproman]

It's good with both, and to some a lot of other headphones as well like the LCDs..  It's a speaker amp.  So for those headphones that don't require that much power - a headphone amp may be best for them.  "In some cases"