[ladavid]

I have been using HifiMan Anandas with my LTA Ultralinear for night time listening and to be honest a little underwhelmed.
The amp is fabulous with speakers (Zu) but has me thinking a) the headphone amp section is not great or b) the Anandas are not the best match for this amp. Not much bass, not great dynamics, detail just okay - you get my drift.

Have read elsewhere here the Focal Utopia 22's are a great match but these are way out of my league unless I got a crazy black friday deal. Any one have this amp - must admit haven't used headphones much til now but was excited about its headphone capability when I purchased it.

 

[ladavid]

probably not the forum to discuss this but played around with Roon Equalizer program today - input the Oratory 1990 specs recommended by some for the Ananda. Made a pretty good difference with lower end, detail, and top end air. Really quite like it not a subtle difference although only listening to Joni Mitchell at this point - so need to give it more challenging music before I rave too much.

 

[Clemmaster]

The Ananda are beneath it. You might consider upgrading (Arya organic, HEKSE or Susvara).

 

[ladavid]

Yes think I will be on search for something new - will probably watch what deals come up towards Black Friday. Not necessarily stuck on Hifiman though - wondering what else is nice match for the Ultralinear +.

 

[Clemmaster]

The ZMF Atrium sounds sublime with the Z10 integrated. I would expect the Ultralinear will be the same?

 

[Atriya]

The ZMF Atrium sounds sublime with the Z10 integrated. I would expect the Ultralinear will be the same?

I'm hoping better! Planning to order either the Z10 or the UL+ for headphone use (Utopia 22).

 

[PaisleyUnderground]

I have been using HifiMan Anandas with my LTA Ultralinear for night time listening and to be honest a little underwhelmed.
The amp is fabulous with speakers (Zu) but has me thinking a) the headphone amp section is not great or b) the Anandas are not the best match for this amp. Not much bass, not great dynamics, detail just okay - you get my drift.

Have read elsewhere here the Focal Utopia 22's are a great match but these are way out of my league unless I got a crazy black friday deal. Any one have this amp - must admit haven't used headphones much til now but was excited about its headphone capability when I purchased it.

I just stumbled upon your post. If you like it with your speakers, it sounds like a synergy problem with the Anandas.

I haven't used Anandas before, but from what I've read, they should be fairly easy to drive. My Ultralinear+ sounds great IMO with my ZMF Caldera and RAD-0 (similarly easy to drive planars), and both headphones have tons of high quality bass and dynamics. I also borrowed a Meze Elite and enjoyed it with this amp, so it has plenty of current for these planars.

I've found it to be a good match for both Utopias (OG and 22) in addition to high impedance ZMFs like the Atrium Open, Atrium Closed, Verite Open and Auteur Classic.

If I sound like I'm saying it sounds great with all my headphones, that's exactly what I'm saying and as a result, I've started selling my other amps (LTA MZ3 and ZMF Pendant have been sold so far), because the Ultralinear+ has become my default amp. The only headphones I haven't tried are power hungry planars like a Susvara, which I suspect would not be a good fit.

One thing that helped improve the bass of my Ultralinear+ was to tube roll. What tubes are you using?

Right now, I'm using a pair of CBS 12BH7s in the preamp section (instead of 12AU7), Sylvania 5814 Black Plates in the splitter section and Sylvania 5751 Black Plates replacing the 12AX7's and the bass is both deep and tight. I think 12BH7's are much better value for money than 12AU7. My CBS tubes are pretty hard to find, but I've really liked the much more common RCA 12BH7s too.

 

[Atriya]

I just stumbled upon your post. If you like it with your speakers, it sounds like a synergy problem with the Anandas.

I haven't used Anandas before, but from what I've read, they should be fairly easy to drive. My Ultralinear+ sounds great IMO with my ZMF Caldera and RAD-0 (similarly easy to drive planars), and both headphones have tons of high quality bass and dynamics. I also borrowed a Meze Elite and enjoyed it with this amp, so it has plenty of current for these planars.

I've found it to be a good match for both Utopias (OG and 22) in addition to high impedance ZMFs like the Atrium Open, Atrium Closed, Verite Open and Auteur Classic.

If I sound like I'm saying it sounds great with all my headphones, that's exactly what I'm saying and as a result, I've started selling my other amps (LTA MZ3 and ZMF Pendant have been sold so far), because the Ultralinear+ has become my default amp. The only headphones I haven't tried are power hungry planars like a Susvara, which I suspect would not be a good fit.

One thing that helped improve the bass of my Ultralinear+ was to tube roll. What tubes are you using?

Right now, I'm using a pair of CBS 12BH7s in the preamp section (instead of 12AU7), Sylvania 5814 Black Plates in the splitter section and Sylvania 5751 Black Plates replacing the 12AX7's and the bass is both deep and tight. I think 12BH7's are much better value for money than 12AU7. My CBS tubes are pretty hard to find, but I've really liked the much more common RCA 12BH7s too.

I noticed that the gain factor of the 5751 is lower (70) than the 12AX7 (100). Do you find this reduces gain? In my case, this might be a good thing (Utopia 2022).

That said, I'm not even sure if the 12AX7 affects the headphone output gain at all, or just the speaker output.

My Ultralinear+ is on order.

 

[PaisleyUnderground]

I noticed that the gain factor of the 5751 is lower (70) than the 12AX7 (100). Do you find this reduces gain? In my case, this might be a good thing (Utopia 2022).

That said, I'm not even sure if the 12AX7 affects the headphone output gain at all, or just the speaker output.

My Ultralinear+ is on order.

I haven't noticed a reduction in gain, but I wasn't paying attention either. I've been in the same 20-30 range on volume with both 5751 and 12AX7.