[T.F.O.A]

ooo.... now i'm in trouble for real... dac first? amp first? or lcd-2 first?

 

[telecaster]

You got HD650 so amp first! Then DAC! LCD 2 is a lot of dough if you don't have good  amp and DAC , I don't think you will use it well IMHO...
 

 

[T.F.O.A]

True, my amp right now is the Solo SRG II, but my dac is even lower the audinst mx-1... which one first?

 

[telecaster]

Hmm, your amp retail 1000$.. What you don't like about it? What do you want more? Your DAC is not expensive, but if it works well no need to change! Best is you take your set and compare with gear you wanna buy!
LF339 is pretty sweet but I'm not sure HD650 will sound that much better than with your amp. Personnally I love tube amp and with HD650 I wouldn't go SS, but if I already had a good SS I'm not sure I would have gone LF339, but YMMV.
In my experience DAC is fine tuning the sound but at the same time it's the source so it is the ultimate limiting factor in SQ. HP and amp is far more decisive soundwise. Maybe all you need is LCD2 or HE500 if you graham is able to drive them, but it's not in this thread ;p

 

[T.F.O.A]

Just curious of how tube amp would sound my Solo SRG II drives the hd650 just fine, i'm actually pretty happy with it, i know for sure it can't drive the he-500. The only thing is that i feel the sound can still improve, i just don't know which part to change either dac or amp... and then came the 339, which looks cool, but 4 tubes rolling...

 

[telecaster]

Well you may just bite the bullet and try the LF339 then, I was pretty shocked when I received mine withe HD650, it was downright amazing even with the stock tubes. Searching for better is lot of money and stock tubes are overall very good! I ended up with lots of tubes which is fun in itself... but lots of money hehe!
 

 

[T.F.O.A]

yeah, that's the main issue here, tubes rolling... my wallet is going to file for a divorce, oh well, i'll do some more thinking before i decide which one i'm getting. Thanks!

 

[dercius]

Quote:

ooo.... now i'm in trouble for real... dac first? amp first? or lcd-2 first?

 
I would say it depends on how much you ultimately intend to spend. For my speaker setup, I intended to spend say xxxxx dollars over say a 1 year period. With this given budget, I would spend on the DAC and AMP first and then try and get the best speakers/headphones you can so maybe save for an LCD-3?

 

[telecaster]

Quote:

yeah, that's the main issue here, tubes rolling... my wallet is going to file for a divorce, oh well, i'll do some more thinking before i decide which one i'm getting. Thanks!

It's not that expensive and could be seen as cheap when you are in the same time considering to buy a 1000$ pair of headphones! A pair of rare tube will set you 50 bux and will last years!

 

[telecaster]

New kid on the block the 6080 GEC aka CV2984! Love it, I will judge the sound in a little while, the time it burns in and I get to know it better but I can tell you that I love it already! Very open sound, dynamic and nice bass control. Imaging is awesome, I love the timbre in classical and rock music. It's a very open and all around tube with extra ordinary airy highs never harsh!
 
Also the Mullards EF80, very nice tubes, nice bass and nice air, very very good!

 
 

 
 
Also got my long awaited pair of Visseaux 6SJ7MGT, rare bird, the seller was a douchxxx! Had to wait two month for it... But the wait was worth it, they are very nice tubes, sound is more refined than every single metal 6SJ7 I tried. The material used by the french is said to be of higher quality of the US alternative at the time.
 

 

[keph]

Quote:

New kid on the block the 6080 GEC aka CV2984! Love it, I will judge the sound in a little while, the time it burns in and I get to know it better but I can tell you that I love it already! Very open sound, dynamic and nice bass control. Imaging is awesome, I love the timbre in classical and rock music. It's a very open and all around tube with extra ordinary airy highs never harsh!
 
Also the Mullards EF80, very nice tubes, nice bass and nice air, very very good!

 
 

 
 
Also got my long awaited pair of Visseaux 6SJ7MGT, rare bird, the seller was a douchxxx! Had to wait two month for it... But the wait was worth it, they are very nice tubes, sound is more refined than every single 6SJ7 I tried. The material used by the french is said to be of higher quality of the US alternative at the time.
 

 
 
Great Tubes u got there..but i never liked the 6080 series for the 339...
 
wow im surprised that u listen up to 12 o'clock volume knob position with ur HD650... I thought im deaf at 10-11..hehe

 

[telecaster]

Yeah all the bad rap about the 6080 made me avoid every single 6080, but when I found the Bendix tube for a good price I jumped on it! Well I found that the sound to be very nice and not like everyone says... I like the Bendix so much that when I found the GEC it was hard to resist. Also the GEC 6080 has the same internal construction as the rare and loved 6AS7G GEC so those 6080s are not your regular 6080! Love the GEC so much!
It must be said that it is in my setup I loved them so much, of course YMMV!
I switched to the stock tubes 6N5P and 6*4 to see if I wasn't drinking too much tea or deluding myself and no the stock tubes are really crappy in comparaison! Compared to telefunken EF800 with RCA 6AS7G black plate, the british combo is also miles ahead! Weird isn't it! 6AS7G sound laid back and distant, imaging is poorer and bass undefined. GEC 6080 has more slam and more live to the sound!
 
My dac is a digital preamp and I set my volume there, I found sweet to lower the DAC volume and to up the 339, is sounds slightly sweeter to my ears!

 

[Ultrainferno]

I love the 6080 Tung-Sol with the crack. Might try some in the 339!

 

[telecaster]

Good to know

, are those 6080 or 6080WA? I've never seen regular TS 6080 only the WA model.
 

 

[T.F.O.A]

Those tubes do look good. But i thought tubes are more ex than $50.