[Sonic Steven]

The first few times I heard the Z1R, I was not a fan. But after hearing them again recently, I have begun to warm up to them a little more and now find them to be 'enjoyable' but far from perfect. I still think my TH-X00 EB with Dakoni Hybrid pads and rings are an overall better sounding headphone, they're just not as comfortable or well made. But at 1/4 the price of the Z1R, I'm not complaining!

As far as the amp is concerned, your Magni 2U is definitely the weakest link in your system. I think my Lyr 2 sounds noticeably better than my Jot, and the Lyr 3 would be even better still. It will really raise your system's SQ up a big notch!

I liked my foster headphones so much, but at the end of the day, comfort of the stock pads killed it for me. One thing I can say about them is that they sound great from less expensive sources. The problem with them is that they don't really scale well as you go up the amp food chain.

That's where I think the Z1R is different. It does scale well, and yet isn't as picky about amp pairing as the HD800. The Lyr 3 might be a fantastic amp for the Z1R as it has tons of power, has amazing impact and control, and better staging than almost all other Schiit amps I've heard. I'd be very interested to hear this combo.

Thanks for the responses. I’ll have to continue to research and perhaps give this schiit a try! I think the Z1R’s will benefit from a hybrid like the Lyr 3, cause they are quite the “smooth” headphone, so the detail retrieval from the Lyr 3, plus its slight “soul” from a bit of tube influence sounds like a good combo - especially at the price point. I wasn’t quite ready to drop $1,500-$2,000 on an unheard amp at this point (like the new Sony offering, a Wells Milo, or a Woo WA8, all 3 supposedly sounding good with the Z1R’s).

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Threw the Tung-Sol 6sn7gtb back in today and thought I would get some shots tonight with it. Just remember these are just crappy phone pics.

Beautiful, and dutifully pointed towards Durham.

 

[FLTWS]

Did some listening last night with a Raytheon 6SN7GT - 1940's vintage, for the first time. This is one great sounding headphone amp.
Wasn't expecting much difference between the stock Tung-Sol and the Raytheon but was pleasantly surprised.
The midrange with the Raytheon was a bit more "there", and the highs a bit more extended but never harsh or brittle.
The bass is all there and in nice quantity and control but maybe the Tung-Sol's overall balance favors the lower frequencies giving the impression that
it's more prominent than with the Raytheon.

I've got a Ken-Rad on the way, I think that will be my next non-stock listen-to before I dive into the others I have.

 

[antoramp]

So I ended up ordering the Lyr 3 (230V) through the US Schiit Website... I hope not to get busted with the custom clearance’s taxes... then I ordered a couple of Ken-Rad VT-231 Black glass... I’ve only a question: the seller said that the tubes have 3.5/3.6 and 3.6/3.6 as parameters ( with standard 2.6/2.6 )... what do this numbers mean? Are those related to the quality of the tube? Thank you

 

[FLTWS]

So I ended up ordering the Lyr 3 (230V) through the US Schiit Website... I hope not to get busted with the custom clearance’s taxes... then I ordered a couple of Ken-Rad VT-231 Black glass... I’ve only a question: the seller said that the tubes have 3.5/3.6 and 3.6/3.6 as parameters ( with standard 2.6/2.6 )... what do this numbers mean? Are those related to the quality of the tube? Thank you

I'd guess as these are twin triodes (I think) the numbers on either side of the slash (/) might have something to do with the electrical performance / matching of each half of the tube.
I also have a number of 6DJ8's and 12AU7's as well as few 6SN7's that have T1 and T2 numbers like T1 =28000 T2= 28300 which looks like the same sort of thing. Maybe helpful for sellers putting together matched pairs.

But ask the seller, it would be interesting to know. I'm also sure there are some tube guys here that know all that stuff; book, chapter and verse.

 

[bcowen]

So I ended up ordering the Lyr 3 (230V) through the US Schiit Website... I hope not to get busted with the custom clearance’s taxes... then I ordered a couple of Ken-Rad VT-231 Black glass... I’ve only a question: the seller said that the tubes have 3.5/3.6 and 3.6/3.6 as parameters ( with standard 2.6/2.6 )... what do this numbers mean? Are those related to the quality of the tube? Thank you

Without knowing what tester the seller is using, it's hard to know if those are emissions values or gM (transconductance) values. gM is a better test than emission, and I'm guessing (but only guessing) that numbers like that are probably emissions values. As a super-simplified explanation, the values (whether emission or gM) represent the amount of gain the tube has. Most testers give either new values (the value a new tube should have), or alternatively minimum values (the minimum numbers a tube should have to be considered a good tube). The sellers numbers are 'minimum good,' meaning the tubes are not worn out. What you can't determine from those numbers is what a new tube should be. Is 3.6 close to a new value? Or is a new tube 15? Hard to know unless you can get the seller to fill you in. The numbers on either side of the slash are the values for the two triodes in the tube. As our beloved Lyr 3 only uses one tube, it uses one triode in the tube for the left channel, and the other triode for the right channel, so it's important to get a tube with those two numbers as close together as possible, if not matched perfectly (which very few tubes are). From that standpoint you're in good shape, as the "gain" on both triodes in each tube is extremely close.

 

[Motocrossman24]

So I ended up ordering the Lyr 3 (230V) through the US Schiit Website... I hope not to get busted with the custom clearance’s taxes... then I ordered a couple of Ken-Rad VT-231 Black glass... I’ve only a question: the seller said that the tubes have 3.5/3.6 and 3.6/3.6 as parameters ( with standard 2.6/2.6 )... what do this numbers mean? Are those related to the quality of the tube? Thank you

It probably means he faked the numbers or doesn’t quite know how to work his tester/didn’t set it up for the tubes specs...that’s wayyyyy above a factory new tubes values...doesn’t mean it’s not possible, but I’m always Leary seeing tubes rated at 150% life.

 

[bcowen]

It probably means he faked the numbers or doesn’t quite know how to work his tester/didn’t set it up for the tubes specs...that’s wayyyyy above a factory new tubes values...doesn’t mean it’s not possible, but I’m always Leary seeing tubes rated at 150% life.

From the description of "standard 2.6/2.6" it's impossible to know if that refers to a new tube reading or a minimum good reading. If the former, then yes the test numbers are highly suspect. If the latter, then there's nothing particularly suspicious, but we still don't know from that what a new tube should measure. My Hickok provides only minimum good numbers -- for a 6SN7, it's 400 micromohs, and most of the NOS tubes I test measure in the 750 - 800 range.

 

[Motocrossman24]

From the description of "standard 2.6/2.6" it's impossible to know if that refers to a new tube reading or a minimum good reading. If the former, then yes the test numbers are highly suspect. If the latter, then there's nothing particularly suspicious, but we still don't know from that what a new tube should measure. My Hickok provides only minimum good numbers -- for a 6SN7, it's 400 micromohs, and most of the NOS tubes I test measure in the 750 - 800 range.

2600 is the average manufacture given gm value for a nos tube. Not impossible, just some quick google.

 

[bcowen]

2600 is the average manufacture given gm value for a nos tube. Not impossible, just some quick google.

2600 is not a universal number. With the manufacturer's specified settings on my 752A tester, 2600 would be 1100 beyond the max meter travel. It's 1640 for a Hickok 539C. I had a B&K in the past that was somewhere in the 10k range (been a while). It depends on what tester is being used and what scale that tester operates on, and the numbers are irrelevant without that information.

 

[antoramp]

2600 is not a universal number. With the manufacturer's specified settings on my 752A tester, 2600 would be 1100 beyond the max meter travel. It's 1640 for a Hickok 539C. I had a B&K in the past that was somewhere in the 10k range (been a while). It depends on what tester is being used and what scale that tester operates on, and the numbers are irrelevant without that information.

He said that the tester used was an Avo Meter... I don’t know if that is sufficient

 

[Motocrossman24]

He said that the tester used was an Avo Meter... I don’t know if that is sufficient

I wouldn’t worry about it honestly...if you bought from a reputable tube vendor online then your fine, and if they suck they’ll let you return them...if you bought on eBay, it’s a gamble regardless who you go through. There just isn’t anyone holding anyone accountable on eBay, and people can write what they want whether they tested something or not. If you did your research and the tubes look real, even if they’re not brand new they’ll be nice. Hopefully the guy u bought from has a good return policy if something doesn’t seem right to you, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.

 

[antoramp]

I wouldn’t worry about it honestly...if you bought from a reputable tube vendor online then your fine, and if they suck they’ll let you return them...if you bought on eBay, it’s a gamble regardless who you go through. There just isn’t anyone holding anyone accountable on eBay, and people can write what they want whether they tested something or not. If you did your research and the tubes look real, even if they’re not brand new they’ll be nice. Hopefully the guy u bought from has a good return policy if something doesn’t seem right to you, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.

I bought them on eBay... from a 100% feedback seller ( he’s selling only vintage audio systems or tubes or vintage spare parts... ) If they’re broken or for somewhat they aren’t what I’ve payed for ( more or less 230$ ) I’ll use the PayPal return policy... in photos they look the same as the standard Ken-Rad VT-231... so hope for the best p.s. You calmed me a lot with this latest message...

 

[Motocrossman24]

If you plan to “roll” more tubes I would highly recommend finding a tube vendor in your country or somewhere u won’t get nailed by customs...while there are decent deals on eBay every now and then, you really have to do you homework and know what is what, and how much everything should cost. There’s a lot of price gowgers on eBay. Most the time I find better deals and better quality from online vendors with an actual website.

 

[antoramp]

If you plan to “roll” more tubes I would highly recommend finding a tube vendor in your country or somewhere u won’t get nailed by customs...while there are decent deals on eBay every now and then, you really have to do you homework and know what is what, and how much everything should cost. There’s a lot of price gowgers on eBay. Most the time I find better deals and better quality from online vendors with an actual website.

Ok ok I heard about Brent Jesse... many say that he has good stuff... but the problem was that summing up shipment and customs, I needed to pay more or less 140-150$ for a single tube... while with this eBay seller I don’t need to pay any custom taxes because he’s in Europe... so I compared the prices per tube ( 90$ from Jesse and 110$ from this seller ), I checked the feedbacks and I thought that those tubes could be original and good ( also he said that they were NOS ) ... I’ll let you now when both tubes and Lyr 3 arrive