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Icon Audio HP8/MP 3
Nov 25, 2019 at 6:38 PM Post #511 of 1,468
Well guys, with the bass boosted under 100hz with the eq and the gold lion 12AX7 I'm in heaven. I couldn't stop listening. I'm floored by how good this amp is. I'm officially a tube headphone convert.
Edit: I received the .5 meter kimber silver streak today as well which is between the benchmark and hp8. Simply glorious sounding.

So what is the best 12AX7 out there to put in the icon? The gold lion is so good I want to keep going.
 
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Nov 25, 2019 at 8:06 PM Post #512 of 1,468
The gold lion tubes are very good. Certainly as far as new tubes go, they are as good as any and very reliable, based on my experience..

The NOS options for 12ax7'are almost endless, but my favourite tube with this amp is a 60's Telefunken Tube that I picked up a few years ago (actually a pair)

Second would be a tungsram. I have a pair of these from I believe the early 70s, and they are almost as good as the Telefunken.

It's not night and day Vs the gold lion, but they just offer something more in terms of clarity/ midrange and bass. I find them especially great for classical music or jazz.

Another great tube is a vintage Millard cv4004 (12ax7).

Upscale audio carry most of these tubes and have some great write ups and videos explaining some of the characteristics if you haven't already visited the site.

Happy listening

Stuart
 
Nov 25, 2019 at 10:10 PM Post #513 of 1,468
stuart1927 said:
The gold lion tubes are very good. Certainly as far as new tubes go, they are as good as any and very reliable, based on my experience..

The NOS options for 12ax7'are almost endless, but my favourite tube with this amp is a 60's Telefunken Tube that I picked up a few years ago (actually a pair)

Second would be a tungsram. I have a pair of these from I believe the early 70s, and they are almost as good as the Telefunken.

It's not night and day Vs the gold lion, but they just offer something more in terms of clarity/ midrange and bass. I find them especially great for classical music or jazz.

Another great tube is a vintage Millard cv4004 (12ax7).

Upscale audio carry most of these tubes and have some great write ups and videos explaining some of the characteristics if you haven't already visited the site.

Happy listening

Stuart
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Thanks Stuart. Well, looking at those other tubes, the gold lion is definitely the cheapest and it sounds fantastic.
 
Nov 25, 2019 at 10:21 PM Post #514 of 1,468
Like most things, it's the law of diminishing returns for sure. A few years ago I spent a small fortune on NOS tubes for my amps. It was when I was on an expat assignment to the US, so had quite a bit more cash than I have now!

I'm actually more focused on value hifi these days, and seek out high quality and less known products...mainly from China. I've just bought a Kingko amp from Hong Kong that I'm really excited about. It's actually a push/pull integrated amp that uses el84 tubes. It has 12 w per channel so you can drive efficient speakers but it also has a killer headphone amp on board too. I left my icon in the UK so needed to build a system here in China where I'll be spending half my time!
 
Nov 26, 2019 at 3:56 PM Post #515 of 1,468
stuart1927 said:
Like most things, it's the law of diminishing returns for sure. A few years ago I spent a small fortune on NOS tubes for my amps. It was when I was on an expat assignment to the US, so had quite a bit more cash than I have now!

I'm actually more focused on value hifi these days, and seek out high quality and less known products...mainly from China. I've just bought a Kingko amp from Hong Kong that I'm really excited about. It's actually a push/pull integrated amp that uses el84 tubes. It has 12 w per channel so you can drive efficient speakers but it also has a killer headphone amp on board too. I left my icon in the UK so needed to build a system here in China where I'll be spending half my time!
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I m noticing very similar taste in valve preferences :wink: so I d like to ask what your preference on the EL84s lies towards. I also run a really good EL84 amp as a head amp and overall so far it’s again the Gold Lion that do the trick. I ve tried some Siemens too, they sounded good for about 200 hours and then lost their magic, could have had been used or who knows ...
 
Nov 26, 2019 at 7:37 PM Post #516 of 1,468
Nik74 said:
I m noticing very similar taste in valve preferences :wink: so I d like to ask what your preference on the EL84s lies towards. I also run a really good EL84 amp as a head amp and overall so far it’s again the Gold Lion that do the trick. I ve tried some Siemens too, they sounded good for about 200 hours and then lost their magic, could have had been used or who knows ...
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For me again it was the Telefunken El84's. I got a NOS pair for a Doge 6210 headphone amp and the sound out of that cheap little amp was frankly sublime. Unfortunately the Doge died! Not the fault of the amp....it was a 115v unit that I got in the US and I fed it 230v by mistake!

Anyway, fortunately I didn't have the Telefunkens in place when that happened as they cost more than the amp.

I sourced about 10 EL84's marked "EI" around the same time. These were apparently made in the Telefunken factory and look very similar in terms of tube architecture. These certainly sound similar to the Telefunken's. That's why I was on the lookout for an EL84 amp as I wanted a home for the tubes! The Kingko amp takes 4 of them.

I haven't tried any other EL84's yet, but I would certainly try the gold lions as they are great tubes at a fair price.

Stuart
 
Nov 26, 2019 at 9:11 PM Post #518 of 1,468
My bad....the EI tubes I mentioned above were actually from the Tungsram factory....not Telefunken. The Tungsram EL84's are also rated as amongst the very best out there.
 
Nov 27, 2019 at 6:08 PM Post #519 of 1,468
-Darkstar- said:
I'm still enjoying mine with my Fostex TH900 MK2's. I've found this combo to be highly resolving and dynamic sounding. I settled on EH Gold pin 6sn7's and a Gold Lion 12ax7. I think these tubes extended the highs, improved clarity in the midrange and added more impact in the bass over the stock tubes.
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the
ELECTRO-HARMONIX 6SN7 GOLD?
https://www.thetubestore.com/electro-harmonix-6sn7-gold
 
Nov 28, 2019 at 2:30 PM Post #521 of 1,468
Dec 2, 2019 at 7:58 AM Post #522 of 1,468
stuart1927 said:
My bad....the EI tubes I mentioned above were actually from the Tungsram factory....not Telefunken. The Tungsram EL84's are also rated as amongst the very best out there.
Click to expand...

I have a Tungsram ECC83 that I agree sounds reminiscent of Telefunken so I d be very keen on trying their EL84s. One of my Gold Lion EL84s spectacularly died on the weekend so I m using a quad of Siemens that sound wonderful and very extended and solid down in the sub 100hz region!
 
Dec 6, 2019 at 8:47 AM Post #524 of 1,468
New cans for the hp8! 15755945737707548909389542958773.jpg
 
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