[Th3Drizzl3]

id also love to find just one d getter if anyone sees ones and wants to let me know. thats one im lacking for this amp for sure.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Well, an embarrassment of riches for me today.
A second package from Brent Jesse of bargain stuff.

WH 6SN7 GT Staggered Plates -------- WH 6SN7 GTB Staggered Plates "D" Getter ------- Matched Pair / Baldwin Organ / 6SN7 GTB Angled T-Plates, Halo Getters

I have a couple of the Baldwin Tubes as well, haven't tried them yet, so I'm looking forward to reading your impressions. I finally pulled the ”Bad Boy” out, love that tube, I currently have a Ken Rad VT231 in the Lyr. You all were spot on about the bass, the clarity also seems to be improved. It wasn't warmed up, so I'll wait before writing anything definitive.

 

[Guidostrunk]

If you guys can source one of these. You'll have the very best 6sn7 variant. A few years ago I had a Woo Wa6. I spent months rolling all the greats. This tube is so many levels above the "great" tubes.
Second best is a toss up between the
Brimar CV1988
Marconi B65
All subjective though.
Cheers
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/153103998890
Edit: Check with Jason to see if his amp can handle these tubes. They were fine in my Woo.

 

[exdmd]

If you guys can source one of these. You'll have the very best 6sn7 variant. A few years ago I had a Woo Wa6. I spent months rolling all the greats. This tube is so many levels above the "great" tubes.
Second best is a toss up between the
Brimar CV1988
Marconi B65
All subjective though.
Cheers
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/153103998890
Edit: Check with Jason to see if his amp can handle these tubes. They were fine in my Woo.

Excellent NOS 1950's Mullard CV181 ECC32 tubes (black base, black plates) usually go for about $330 from reputable tube vendors. I would be careful buying off eBay.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Bought 100's of tubes off of eBay. Never had any issues. It is important to understand codes of tubes though. I will admit some sellers are clueless , and sometimes dishonest in their listings.

Tubes of this caliber , that I've mentioned. I've never had a bad experience in the 6 years of purchasing them. Besides, there's always PayPal protections.
I'm not the only one on here that has dealt with ebay. You can ask my friends in the other Lyr(1&2) rolling threads, as well as the Woo rolling threads.
If you want to save money rolling, either the for sale section here or ebay is the way to go.
Cheers.

Excellent NOS 1950's Mullard CV181 ECC32 tubes (black base, black plates) usually go for about $330 from reputable tube vendors. I would be careful buying off eBay.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Not sure if these are still available. I'm sure 2 ppl from this thread could snag 1 each or of course buy both and be set forever with your lyr3. Lol
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-mullard-cv181-ecc32-single-or-pair.879681/

 

[Guidostrunk]

Be sure to ask Jason about the MU ratings though folks. The CV181 I believe has a slightly higher MU.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Giving the HiFiMan Sundara a go for a few days with the Lyr 3 / Mimby. (Normal headphone is the ZMF Eikon.) Someone loaned them to me, so they'll be going back at the end of the week.

Initial impressions:

It lacks sub-bass. It's not terrible, but EDM fans are going to be disappointed. Even rolling in some different tubes (like the KenRad VT231 black plate / clear glass) doesn't really help this much. I don't use EQ much, if ever, so I can't comment on how it responds to that.

There is a detail veil to this, and a slight treble etch. Similar to the HD650 veil on a bad audio chain, but this one isn't getting better going to better gear. (Lyr 3/Mimby to BW2/Gumby.) In short - it lacks on micro-detail quite a bit. For example, no matter what tube I used in the Lyr, I couldn't get these headphones to bring across the hum of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Marshall stack on his track "Tin Pan Alley". It gives such character to the song, and it's just missing on these headphones. It is readily presented on the ZMF Eikon. Another track where detail is glossed over is Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem". If I recall correctly, the entire band and Rebecca recorded that track together in the same room in the studio. You can hear the bass player lift the upright bass and reposition it in the recording, as it makes a distinct 'clack' early on in the track. Right before the drummer starts playing, you can hear him pick up his sticks. None of this was audible on the Sundara. D- to the Sundara on detail retrieval. It would be a complete F were it not for cymbals being fairly close to natural sounding with a adequate amount of decay.

Imaging is rather hazy and indistinct. Staging is 2 dimensional. It presents a very in-your-head, blob like stage.

The ear pads are uncomfortable. I'm bald, and find them hot and itchy after several hours. They are also too small. I have to shoehorn the top and back of my earlobes into the ear holes. This is a personal pet peeve of mine - I don't like it when pads touch the ears.

The stock cable is utter crap. It feels like two of the smallest headphone wires ever used to connect a transducer were sleeved in some flimsy fish tank tubing. It is rubbery, and springy, and while it doesn't resist bending much, it loves to spring back into a straight line. It also gets to the point where it stops bending, and it just kinks. It's just awkward. Add to that the 90 degree 3.5mm TRS plug on the amp end and you have one of the worst cables I've ever come across from an OEM. Re-read that . I said 3.5mm... as in, the little plug, not the standard 1/4" TRS plug. These are open back planars. Who would be dumb enough (other than Raif at InnerFidelity) to take these on the go?! I've met some bad cables before, but this HFM cable makes them look like top end Nordost cables. It is that bad. To my knowledge, HFM didn't even have the decency to include a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter, as I had to use my own.

On the other side of the coin... They are light. The headband is fairly comfortable. They seem better built than other HFM headphones I've tried. By that I mean: It doesn't feel like I'm holding a 3000 year old historical artifact that is sure to crumble to dust at any moment, and if it does I know I can't afford to replace it.

Other than the lack of sub-bass, tonally, this is a good sounding headphone. Something in the lower to middle-mids do sound a wee bit recessed, but the rest of the FR seems nicely done. Treble is clear. I've not had a sibilance issue, even using brighter tubes. Cymbals sound decent, as stated above. Vocals seem well placed in the FR - neither over emphasized nor recessed. I can see quite a few people really enjoying how these sound.

In short - Treble heads and bass heads need not apply. They're kind of a different flavor on the HD650 in some ways. The Sundara will have a slight edge in treble extension, but they don't scale very well with better sources like the HD650. I feel the HD650 has more mid-bass impact. The HD650 does mids better. HD650 does detail retrieval better too.

VS the Eikons, the Sundara are very much not good.

Enjoy.

 

[Ripper2860]

 

[ProfFalkin]

You like the Sundara?

 

[Ripper2860]

Take a look at my signature.

IMHO, they outperform the HD6XX/650 and puch well above their class. I never knew what the Sennheiser veil was until I got the Hifmans and then it was apparent. Of course my ears, my music, and my sonic preferences could be a big differentiator in my liking the Sundaras.

And the fact that Sundara unseated the HD650 from Tyll's Wall of Fame has to count for something.

 

[FLTWS]

I spent a week with the HEK in August 2016, and checking my notes I'm pretty much aligned with a lot of your impressions of Sundara. The one thing that I remember distinctly was that there was some coloration or lack of transparency that blurred some detailing with the HEK that always had me saying "almost", "almost"! I had no problem with the bass end and they were comfortable but had a flimsy feel, but for the money, I felt I was getting a better window on the sound with my HD800 (and my mostly classical music). This was also several months before auditioning the original Abyss 1266 which I wasn't crazy about either. Still can't figure how my impression of the Phi a year later changed the game for me, and the CC pads were the finishing touch. To each,their own. Transducer sound is a bona-fide, big-time, personal preference thing with me and my preferences in music and I would never argue against somebody else's preference for a different sounding HP.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Take a look at my signature.

IMHO, they outperform the HD6XX/650 and puch well above their class. I never knew what the Sennheiser veil was until I got the Hifmans and then it was apparent. Of course my ears, my music, and my sonic preferences could be a big differentiator in my liking the Sundaras.

And the fact that Sundara unseated the HD650 from Tyll's Wall of Fame has to count for something.

Anything could unseat something from the WOF. Hell, no offense to Tyll - I've had lunch with him and he's a kick ass dude - but he basically called the Ether Flow C an overpriced M50x and did NOT put them on the WOF. Dan threw the mother of all hissy fits and next thing you know they're on the WOF. Tyll even had to do a 2nd video, a kind of retraction article if you will, putting them up on the WOF and explaining why. The WOF is a lie. Besides, Raif killed the WOF, so it's a lie and it's dead.

Anyway... keep in mind, my preferences are 100% in the Eikon camp. I don't even listen to my HD650s much anymore, although they were my favs for 8+ years. So, baseline everything about the Sundara against the Eikons. Eikons = Better bass in every way. Better detail retrieval. Better headstage and imaging. etc...

The Eikons also cost me 3 times more than what the Sundara cost.

I would be recommending the Sundara as an alternative to the HD650 to everyone I knew if they were only slightly more expensive than the HD6XX. Overall they sound very good, but they are ~ 2x the price of an HD650/XX, so I don't consider them a value pick in the mid-fi category. Especially when you can KISS mod the 650.

 

[ProfFalkin]

Transducer sound is a bona-fide, big-time, personal preference thing with me and my preferences in music and I would never argue against somebody else's preference for a different sounding HP.

That's 100% true every time. I like what I like. You like what you like. It's not a slight against you if I don't like your headphones. It just means I just don't like your headphones. hehe.

 

[FLTWS]

I also really, really dislike the color yellow in anything but flowers and sunsets. No cars, no clothes, no schiit!