[bmichels]

Also just placed my order for Alpha, with booth 1/4 & XLR cables. Now wait begin....

 

[adpo]

Anyone have suggestions for cheap-ish tubes I should try on the lyr+ADs?

 

[F700]

Good choice Bmichels! I'm listening to the alpha dogs right now on my main system (Creek Destiny 2, Exposure DAC and Violectric V200) and I can tell you that the wait deserves it. You'll get one of the best headphones available on the market today for the price. 

 

[Law87]

Anyone have suggestions for cheap-ish tubes I should try on the lyr+ADs?

stick to the stock 6BZ7. What I did is source --> dragonfly 1.2 --> BSG cmoy AD712 --->schiit lyr, its a cheaper way to change the sound characteristic by changing the cmoy op-amp, I think the tubes cost too much. I read somewhere that tubes only change at most 10% of the sound characteristic.

 

[MattTCG]

Anyone have suggestions for cheap-ish tubes I should try on the lyr+ADs?

 
Stock GE's really are not bad with some burn in. 

 

[jaywillin]

  Just bought an Alpha Dog! Nervous!!! 

congrats, you're in for a treat !!

 

[Skyyyeman]

Leather Conditioner
The Alpha Dogs have ear pads with lambskin leather, which, like all leathers, requires application of a conditioner to help keep the leather from deteriorating.  But, what conditioner should be used, since lambskin is thinner, finer and more delicate than other leathers, and could be damaged by a conditioner intended for regular leather?
 
First, Lexol, in a recent phone call, related to me that Lexol should not be used on lambskin since it will likely be “overabsorbed”, i.e., it will make the lambskin excessively soft and probably degrade it.
 
So, how about some of the other conditioners mentioned in various posts, such as CSL, Chelsea, Zaino, Tumi, and Meltonian, some of which are available at shoe stores or online.  (Note: saddle soap should never be used.)
 
But, I could find nothing about whether these are suitable for lambskin, and whether they are “skin safe”, as per the Alpha Dog instructions.  So, what to do?
 
Solution – Audeze.  It occurred to me that Audeze sells a leather conditioner for its own lambskin ear pads. Surely, this conditioner would be both suitable for lambskin and be skin safe, removing any uncertainty.
 
So, I bought some and it is excellent.  Problem solved.  It left the Alpha Pads soft and clean.  The price was only $10 (free shipping in the U.S.) for a 2fl bottle about 4 inches tall (incl. cap).  It’s a light colored plant based cream made from natural ingredients including lanolin, aloe vera, beeswax and carnauba wax, with no harsh or toxic chemicals.  It's not greasy and has a pleasant light orange smell from some orange oil used in the cream that disappears after a few hours.  Audeze sources it from a local California company and also provides two very fine cloths for application.  It's the only conditioner I'll be using on my Alpha Pads.
 
Here’s the link:
 
http://www.audeze.com/products/accessories/custom-leather-care-kit 

 

[LoveKnight]

Nice and thank you for your recommended solution. I bookmarked that link and save it for another next purchase with America

.

 

[Glam Bash]

Anyone have suggestions for cheap-ish tubes I should try on the lyr+ADs?

If you like the stock 6BZ7 try the GE 6DJ8 smokies-I like them a lot for vocal music. Amperex orange globes are cheap and very musical too. No more than 50-60$ per pair for either. Electro harmonix are decent current production tubes, much better than the stock JJ's.
  Oh wait, this is an alpha dogs thread. Was good to see Dan at Axpona today. He had black dogs, but they didn't look like the shiny new metallic ones. Maybe too many fingerprints on them.

 

[sunneebear]

When I had the LCD2 back when that thread was on fire, the most like leather product was this:
 

Cleans, conditions, not greasy or smelly because it does not contain oils.  I still use this today for my sofa, shoes and belts.

 

[murrays]

  Also just placed my order for Alpha, with booth 1/4 & XLR cables. Now wait begin....

 
Let's hope you get your desired level of isolation and lack of leakage.  If it is up to scratch for you, then I may well follow too...

 

[kugino]

   
Let's hope you get your desired level of isolation and lack of leakage.  If it is up to scratch for you, then I may well follow too...

i wasn't a big fan of the ADs (which is why i sold them), but it wasn't because of leakage/isolation problems. they are probably the best isolating headphones i've ever worn. they clamped well onto my small dome, but they don't hurt. if there was one thing i loved about the ADs, it's that they isolated very very well. i don't think leakage will be a problem at all.

 

[MattTCG]

  When I had the LCD2 back when that thread was on fire, the most like leather product was this:
 
 
Cleans, conditions, not greasy or smelly because it does not contain oils.  I still use this today for my sofa, shoes and belts.

I wonder if this would be good for all leather pads. 

 

[mrspeakers]

  If you like the stock 6BZ7 try the GE 6DJ8 smokies-I like them a lot for vocal music. Amperex orange globes are cheap and very musical too. No more than 50-60$ per pair for either. Electro harmonix are decent current production tubes, much better than the stock JJ's.
  Oh wait, this is an alpha dogs thread. Was good to see Dan at Axpona today. He had black dogs, but they didn't look like the shiny new metallic ones. Maybe too many fingerprints on them.

 
Actuallly we have both black here, the "unobtanium" edition and the production gloss finish.  Come by again if you want to see...  

 

[Shawnb]

How backed up are they for upgrades? I put in my request back in December and still havn't heard nothing