[Mambosenior]

Well, I went ahead and further strained my fragile 32-year matrimonial union by acquiring the Audio-gd NFB-3 to feed the LF 339. So far, after only 2 days, listening with the HD-800 has been pure bliss. The HD-600 is so damn close in sound to the 800, through the LF 339, that it borders on the ridiculous. (I can't praise this little brother high enough.)
 
I know I'll be the odd-man out with the following, but here it goes anyway: I just love the sound of the Chinese 6N13P! So much so that I ordered 8 more to have a permanent stock for the foreseeable future. I found both the Svetlana and RCA power tubes I tried to lack the fullness and richness that pleases me about this amp. For driver tubes, my current favorites are the Telefunken EF 800 (w/adapters) and the GE 6AC7 as a close second. I also added two Pangea AC-14 power cords to the LF 339 which were worth the small capital investment.
 
Next move will probably be a M2tech Evo or the Audio-gd DI. (Looking forward to my tzarina blowing a piroshky on this one.)

 

[Graphicism]

Why so much love for the 339?
What does this amp do that the 336 can't?

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

Why so much love for the 339?
What does this amp do that the 336 can't?

In Skylabs opinion, which is well respected here, he placed the 336se on the 17th spot in his ranking. The 337 has the 6th position. (so the 339 should be up there at least)
I Quote Skylab: "Again, I personally think the 337 is a SIGNIFICANT step above the 336i. Soundstage, bass, transparency - lots of ways. The 336i is a very good amp. The 337 is a world-class amp"
 
You can find Skylabs reviews here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/402585/review-summary-a-ranking-of-29-tube-and-tube-hybrid-headphone-amps . That should help answer your questions.
 
Unless you want to start a new "An amp is an amp and they are all the same" discussion
 

 

[alvin sawdust]

Another alternative to the EF80 is the EF860 which supposedly has similar qualities to the EF800, i.e. low microphonics and very long life.

 

[realmassy]

Quote:

In Skylabs opinion, which is well respected here, he placed the 336se on the 17th spot in his ranking. The 337 has the 6th position. (so the 339 should be up there at least)
I Quote Skylab: "Again, I personally think the 337 is a SIGNIFICANT step above the 336i. Soundstage, bass, transparency - lots of ways. The 336i is a very good amp. The 337 is a world-class amp"
 
You can find Skylabs reviews here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/402585/review-summary-a-ranking-of-29-tube-and-tube-hybrid-headphone-amps . That should help answer your questions.
 
Unless you want to start a new "An amp is an amp and they are all the same" discussion
 

Please stop it mate!! Just kidding, I'm trying not to buy this amp 

If I look at that ranking my WA3 is well behind 

 

 

[realmassy]

Quote:

I know I'll be the odd-man out with the following, but here it goes anyway: I just love the sound of the Chinese 6N13P!

I never used these replacements on my OTL, just placed an order for a pair. 
Have you ever tried the Tungsol 5998?
 
 

 

[phiero]

Well..I just think that a lightly modded HD650 (with a weathered over-the-ear cushion, and those little foam inserts behind the driver, as well as in front of the drivers removed) is the perfect combo for this amp.

I found it to be a lot more powerful at the bottom end, not too bright at the top end (which is a good thing), compared to the HD800. It may not match up in the airiness of the vocals, but it just feels more musical than the HD800 with this amp.

I find my DT990 600Ohms too boomy with this amp.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

Please stop it mate!! Just kidding, I'm trying not to buy this amp 

If I look at that ranking my WA3 is well behind 

 

 
There's no way to resist really, you just have to buy this amp, it's the only cure. The WA2 + import taxes is just over the top
 
 

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

In Skylabs opinion, which is well respected here, he placed the 336se on the 17th spot in his ranking. The 337 has the 6th position. (so the 339 should be up there at least)
I Quote Skylab: "Again, I personally think the 337 is a SIGNIFICANT step above the 336i. Soundstage, bass, transparency - lots of ways. The 336i is a very good amp. The 337 is a world-class amp"
 
You can find Skylabs reviews here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/402585/review-summary-a-ranking-of-29-tube-and-tube-hybrid-headphone-amps . That should help answer your questions.
 
Unless you want to start a new "An amp is an amp and they are all the same" discussion

Thanks for the linked review, I hadn't seen that before. I suppose with tube amps I'd ask if you're hearing the tube config more so than the actual amp... thus the better tubes the better sounding? The same with solid state op-amp based amps, surely if you match the op-amps they will sound the same. My 336i is a completely different amp compared to stock and/or coupled with non favorable Electro-Harmonix tubes and the likes.
 
Well I'm always looking for an excuse to upgrade, I'll do some research on the 339 tube configs.
 

 

[sluker]

So since no one could answer my question regarding the HE5-LE's synergy with the 339 I feel the need to comment on it here as well.
After the first couple of hours I have to say that this is the best headphone in my collection. The soundstage rivals the 701's and the base is comparable to the D7000. The synergy with the 339 is much better than the M-stage. The 339 gives a deeper and wider soundstage and reaches lows that the M-stage only hints at.
The Cowboy Junkies cover of Blue Mood off of the Trinity Sessions is one of my reference tracks for bass and the detail provided by the HE5-LE I have only heard from the 701's however the force is comparable to the D7000's which do not give the clarity that is required to tell that what you are hearing are the vibrations of the old church's wooden floors not the kick drum.
If the D7000's were not "closed" for late night listening and easily driven by portable amps, they might have been on their way out. 
Now I really want to hear the LCD-2's (my poor wallet).

 

[timoki]

Received last week a matched pair of RCA 6080 and using them together with the stock caps right now. But frankly, not too happy about it. They seem kinda flat and lacking the nicer "oomph" which even the stock tubes had (almost feeling bad of writing that).
After 30hrs of burn in they have become bit better, but still find them kind flat and the sound stage seems narrow then before. Today might get a nice pair of Tung-sol 5998 (matched NOS&NIB), which I'm really looking forward to try after reading so many comments about it. Also gonna see if they gonna match nicely with the EF80 which I just got few days ago but didn't have a chance to use so far. 
 
Did anybody ever try using the EF86 (or even 806)? Because I got a converter for these too.  How do they compare to the EF80 (800)? 
 

Oh and not sure if it was posted before, but LaFigaro has own homepage now http://www.yuking09.com  Just thought let you guys know 

 

[Ultrainferno]

I'm waiting for news from Yuking, them I'm ordering. Can't wait.
Now I just have to convince Realmassy to get one as well

 

[RedBull]

Quote:

Beyerdynamic T1's!  They do very well with big OTL amps like the 339.  I have not heard the combo myself, but having owned the DV337, I believe this would be a great choice. 
 
I never had the DV337 and LCD-2 at the same time, and it might work OK, hard to say.  I'm not sure how much power the 337/339 will output at 50 ohms.

I still have my DV337 and LCD-2, I like BCL -> LCD-2 pairing better than DV337 -> LCD-2, I like the 'warmer', more detail, more intimate mids, of the BCL with LCD-2.  I feel like BCL has more control at lower volume, but DV337 can be louder.
 
Quote:

The T1's are a little more than I wanted to spend, but....  They are awfully tempting and at some point in the future I will probably end up upgrading to something in that ballpark.  So, I could rationalize buying them now as actually saving me money by avoiding the cost of incremental upgrades.  Definately food for thought.

Quote:

Beyerdynamic T1's arrive tomorrow! Can't wait to hear them with the 339. This stuff really is quite addicting.

Ehem, "little more than you want to spend" eh? 

 

[alvin sawdust]

Quote:

   
Did anybody ever try using the EF86 (or even 806)? Because I got a converter for these too.  How do they compare to the EF80 (800)? 
 
 

I'm pretty sure EF86 are not compatible.

 

[timoki]

Quote:

I'm pretty sure EF86 are not compatible.

  They are compatible with a converter. For the LaFigaro 339 exist two converter so far, one is for EF80 one is for EF86, you can get them from yuking directly.