[mrarroyo]

Quote:

What do you recommend as far as tuberolling? I can't wait
 
 

I would first burn in the unit using the stock tubes, this to stabilize the unit plus have a baseline of how the unit sounds. I am partial to the Sylvania  or GE 6922 or the Russian 6H23-EB tubes. You could also try the 7DJ8 which can be used here and cost less. Good luck.
 

 

[gjgman]

 
 
Has anyone used the E88CC / 6922 Amperex white PQ white label, Holland  Pinch waist??
Pinch waist?? 
ppppppppiiBrent Jessie has a pair for $600. Just wondering if the'd be worth it? 

 

[TMoney]

 
Quote:

Has anyone used the E88CC / 6922 Amperex white PQ white label, Holland  Pinch waist??
Pinch waist?? 
ppppppppiiBrent Jessie has a pair for $600. Just wondering if the'd be worth it? 

Heh, I actually ordered that exact pair as well as a second pair of Siemens CCAs to compare them to yesterday to try in my "new toy." I'll post impressions once I've got them all burned in.
 
You might want to call Brent, though. I'm not sure he is selling singles of this tube. I bought a pair because the Isabella uses two, but the Isabellina only needs a single.

 

[TMoney]

Quote:

Has anyone used the E88CC / 6922 Amperex white PQ white label, Holland  Pinch waist??

One more thing... it looks from this picture from the impressions forums that Vinnie used the pinched-waist amperex tube in the prototype balanced Isabellina HPA that was on display at the New York head-fi meet last month. I hear the prototype got rave reviews. Maybe the premium tube had something to do with it?
 

 
Anyone know what that little ring is around the tube?
 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Quote:

One more thing... it looks from this picture from the impressions forums that Vinnie used the pinched-waist amperex tube in the prototype balanced Isabellina HPA that was on display at the New York head-fi meet last month. I hear the prototype got rave reviews. Maybe the premium tube had something to do with it?
 

 
Anyone know what that little ring is around the tube?
 

Tube dampener.  Keeps mechanical vibrations out of the tube and thus out of the music.
 

 

[Eee Pee]

Quote:

 
Anyone know what that little ring is around the tube?
 

These:  http://herbiesaudiolab.net/tube.htm

 

[TMoney]

I've been a month without my Isabellina HPA. In that time, my ears have suffered greatly. Outside of a mini-meet a few weeks ago, I've been reduced to listening directly out of the mini jack on my laptop or the 1/4" in jack on my CD player. The horror. The horror.
 
It looks like the postman brought me something today that will cure my withdrawl pains from not having great sounding music. It is an Isabella, not an Isabellina, but as this thread seems to be the de-facto Red Wine thread I figured I'd post it here. Check it out!
 
Front:
 

 
Back:
 

 
Look closely. Notice anything different? Look again!
 

 
The first balanced Isabella is out in the wild!
 
How does she look on the inside?
 

 
Classic Vinnie Rossi. Man does he do clean builds or what!?
 
Didn't the Isabella formerly ship with two batteries? It looks like the balanced headphone output stage necessitated removing one of them.
 

 
Ah! The Isabellina DAC chip all of us Red Wine owners all know and love! From the picture you can see Isabellina DAC is practically soldered directly on to the Isabella chip. No one can say Vinnie doesn't like his short signal paths.
 

 
The pre-production balanced headphone stage. It's literally in that box.
 

 
Time for a little off-the-grid listening through balanced Senn HD800s and LCD2s. Off-the-grid balanced! You gotta love it!
 
Impressions to come! 
 
 

 

[MrQ]

I knew this was going to happen. My previous upgrade list has now been made redundant. With all the fixins the standard Isabella comes to $6000. So how much will this be going for?

 

[TMoney]

Quote:

I knew this was going to happen. My previous upgrade list has now been made redundant. With all the fixins the standard Isabella comes to $6000. So how much will this be going for?

You'd have to contact RWA. This is literally the first one off the assembly line. I even sent my HD800s to RWA for a couple weeks so they could use them to help voice the thing.
 

 

[MrQ]

Quote:

You'd have to contact RWA. 

Done. 
 
When you say 'voice', are you talking about your Isabella or the whole range. It just that in my opinion the HD800 isn't the most... er, how can I put this, neutral of headphones to use as a baseline. 
 

 

[TMoney]

Quote:

 
When you say 'voice', are you talking about your Isabella or the whole range. It just that in my opinion the HD800 isn't the most... er, how can I put this, neutral of headphones to use as a baseline. 
 

100% Agreed with the HD800s not being the most neutral sounding can.
 
Vinnie at RWA has most of the top of the line cans himself to test with (LCD2, Sony R10, Senn 600/650, etc). He didn't have the HD800 so I let him borrow mine to see how it meshed with the new balanced headphone output stage. Presumably he has tested the new stage on his entire "stable" of headphones, but I don't pretend to speak for him.
 
The HD800 were one of my favorite headphones out of the Isabellina HPA I traded up from, so I didn't want to move to the new stage unless they sounded great together.

 

[MrQ]

Fair enough. Nice to see such thoroughness. 
 
I wonder if he has the HE6?

 

[brasewel]

Waiting for your impressions on this stunning amp. I was blown away in the 30minutes I was privileged to listen to it.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

This is intriguing. 

 

[winzzz]

the inside looks nothing exceptional...whats so special about this amp ?