[Wildcatsare1]

My lyr 2 and alpha dogs sound great together. I listen to all types of music, and the lyr 2 makes the sound stage on the AD'S seem more spacious and the treble wand bass more detailed. I
Was going to start rolling tubes but do to a accident, I will have to wait another month before I roll tubes. Please have a great night., I need to t a key my meds and try to get some sleep..

Sorry to hear about your accident Reddog, hope all is well, enjoy your Lyr 2 & Alpha Dogs!

 

[reddog]

Sorry to hear about your accident Reddog, hope all is well, enjoy your Lyr 2 & Alpha Dogs!

Thanks Wildcatstare1 I took a fall on a ladder, and in the fall, I cut open my left forearm and hit my head. I feel loopy but I shall recover I shall go enjoy the alpha dogs and Lyr 2, and let the sound heal me.

 

[Phonelaf]

Switched back to the stock tubes because my Orange Globes are noisy from about 12 o´clock in low gain (in high gain all over).
Do you have probs with the Orange Globes or is it bad luck?
Maybe I will get Bugle Boys next month.

 

[reddog]

Switched back to the stock tubes because my Orange Globes are noisy from about 12 o´clock in low gain (in high gain all over).
Do you have probs with the Orange Globes or is it bad luck?
Maybe I will get Bugle Boys next month.

Hello I had a guy tell me the gold lions were a good tube to roll in the lyr 2, because it brought out the bass more in his alpha dogs. I hope to get a set of gold lions and telefunken E88CC, but not for another month. Please have a great day.
P.s how is the weather in Germany, are you having a warm summer?

 

[Phonelaf]

Hi,
after a warm and sunny weekend (34°) it rained the whole Monday. Today it´s dry but cloudy untill now. Hope the sun comes out later.
I also had a look on the Telefunkens but they are very expensive. Are they a kind of endgame tubes?
Regards and get well soon.

 

[jamato8]

Should have the Lyr 2 tomorrow. I have my A frames, PQ, Siemens 6922 and one I forgot I had here. A Amperex branded tube after Amperex stopped producing their own tubes but would fill orders from other manufactures. I lucked into these, buying around 12 pairs. They are the best measuring and closest of all my tubes of the 6DJ8 and sound better than anything else I have tried and this when using them in my analog stage of my home Dac, which is based on a high end Audio Note UK Dac. 1000 dollar output transformers and pure silver input digital transformer for the coax. The tubes are made in the USSR, though not branded as such, just branded by Amperex in the early 80's. The purity of sound, solid bass, beautiful clean highs and mids that flesh out the human voice so well, you can be transfixed. So I ordered some Telefunken from Upscale Audio to see how they fair compared to my special Amperex in the Lyr 2. 
 
Seems like the USSR Amperex hit twice as hard in the bass. Not overblown or unnatural, just solid, noted, and visceral impact. 

 

[Wildcatsare1]

^I am interested in how your Russian Amperexs fair against Upscale's Tele's, are your Russian Tubes hard to find/expensive?

 

[Henry Gukas]

Hi! 
I have a few of questions about the pairing of the HD700 with the Lyr 2 that I am hoping you could really help me out on!
 
1) Do you think this amp would be a signifiant upgrade over the  FiiOE12 paired with the HD700?
 
2) Is there another amp, from your own experience, that you would reccomend within the same price range (+/- $100) that might be a bit more suitable with the HD700?
 
3) Which tubes would you recommend for the HD700?
 
I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!
 
- Henry 

 

[daerron]

  Hi! 
I have a few of questions about the pairing of the HD700 with the Lyr 2 that I am hoping you could really help me out on!
 
1) Do you think this amp would be a signifiant upgrade over the  FiiOE12 paired with the HD700?
 
2) Is there another amp, from your own experience, that you would reccomend within the same price range (+/- $100) that might be a bit more suitable with the HD700?
 
3) Which tubes would you recommend for the HD700?
 
I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!
 
- Henry 

 
I would prefer a valve only amp with the HD700, though the gain settings on the Lyr 2 makes it much more versatile amp. Check out the Valhalla 2 and the Bottlehead Crack also seems well recommended.

 

[Mark-sf]

  Hi! 
I have a few of questions about the pairing of the HD700 with the Lyr 2 that I am hoping you could really help me out on!
 
1) Do you think this amp would be a signifiant upgrade over the  FiiOE12 paired with the HD700?
 
2) Is there another amp, from your own experience, that you would reccomend within the same price range (+/- $100) that might be a bit more suitable with the HD700?
 
3) Which tubes would you recommend for the HD700?
 
I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!
 
- Henry 

While the E12 will power your HD700's just fine and is a nice portable amp, if you want to get the full potential out of the 700's, a desktop amp is called for. I am running the Lyr2+HD700 combination for the last month and I had been running the Lyr for a year prior. I also have a very fine portable DAC/Amp in the Practical Devices XM6 that I have used with the 700's as well as time with the Asgard 2. All of these amps make the 700's sound very good with full bass thru treble extension. I haven't found any major frequency response variations among them when the Lyr or Lyr2 is running with its stock tubes.  In fact if I had only ever hear the Lyr in this way I would have kept the Asgard 2 as it is quieter and $200 cheaper.  
 
However, one hasn't really heard the Lyr or its new version unless you have tried it with premium NOS tubes!  Where all the amps above present detailed, extended ear-to-ear reproduction, it is largely dimensionally flat in the plane of your head unless one is listening to binaural or sounded recordings. With the premium tubes that I have (Lorenz Stuttgart 6922, and Voshod Rockets 6N23P) the presentation changes dramatically. Quality stereo mic'd recordings that have an acoustic cause the presentation to expand forward of your head. In addition the instruments start appearing. What I mean by that is in "flat mode" you hear the notes, strings, skins, etc but, they are disembodied. With these tubes they link up so that you actually hear the instruments along with their music as a whole making the performance deeply satisfying in the way live music is.  Now there are differences in the two tube sets and I found the Lorenz has a bit less extended treble compared to the VRs. But this is subtle compared to the change in dimensionality and coherence.  I simply find the stock tubes too "in your head" and prefer a more conductor/audience presentation for dedicated listening sessions.  
 
I know others here enjoy the new Valhalla 2 which can now accommodate the efficiency of the 700's. I have not heard that combination. I preferred the Lyr over the original Valhalla at the frequency extremes and do not feel the Class A MOSFET output stage imparts any grain or harshness. I come from using Stax for years, so am particularly sensitive to clean treble presentation.  Finally, I do not have extended experience with other tube or hybrid amps, but I don't believe you would second guess yourself if you went with the Lyr 2. 

 

[Henry Gukas]

While the E12 will power your HD700's just fine and is a nice portable amp, if you want to get the full potential out of the 700's, a desktop amp is called for. I am running the Lyr2+HD700 combination for the last month and I had been running the Lyr for a year prior. I also have a very fine portable DAC/Amp in the Practical Devices XM6 that I have used with the 700's as well as time with the Asgard 2. All of these amps make the 700's sound very good with full bass thru treble extension. I haven't found any major frequency response variations among them when the Lyr or Lyr2 is running with its stock tubes.  In fact if I had only ever hear the Lyr in this way I would have kept the Asgard 2 as it is quieter and $200 cheaper.  

However, one hasn't really heard the Lyr or its new version unless you have tried it with premium NOS tubes!  Where all the amps above present detailed, extended ear-to-ear reproduction, it is largely dimensionally flat in the plane of your head unless one is listening to binaural or sounded recordings. With the premium tubes that I have (Lorenz Stuttgart 6922, and Voshod Rockets 6N23P) the presentation changes dramatically. Quality stereo mic'd recordings that have an acoustic cause the presentation to expand forward of your head. In addition the instruments start appearing. What I mean by that is in "flat mode" you hear the notes, strings, skins, etc but, they are disembodied. With these tubes they link up so that you actually hear the instruments along with their music as a whole making the performance deeply satisfying in the way live music is.  Now there are differences in the two tube sets and I found the Lorenz has a bit less extended treble compared to the VRs. But this is subtle compared to the change in dimensionality and coherence.  I simply find the stock tubes too "in your head" and prefer a more conductor/audience presentation for dedicated listening sessions.  

I know others here enjoy the new Valhalla 2 which can now accommodate the efficiency of the 700's. I have not heard that combination. I preferred the Lyr over the original Valhalla at the frequency extremes and do not feel the Class A MOSFET output stage imparts any grain or harshness. I come from using Stax for years, so am particularly sensitive to clean treble presentation.  Finally, I do not have extended experience with other tube or hybrid amps, but I don't believe you would second guess yourself if you went with the Lyr 2. 

I really appreciate your quick reply great advice. How do the two tubes you mentioned perform when it comes to both bass quantity and quality?

I'm also looking at the ALO Audio RX MK3. Any thoughts on that pairing with the hd700?

Thank you,

- Henry

 

[Mark-sf]

I really appreciate your quick reply great advice. How do the two tubes you mentioned perform when it comes to both bass quantity and quality?

I'm also looking at the ALO Audio RX MK3. Any thoughts on that pairing with the hd700?

Thank you,

- Henry

Using the Lyr 2 I do not note a change in bass between the tubes in either quantity or quality. This may be influenced by the new regulated power supplies in the Lyr 2. Please note that I do not like emphasized bass and do not enjoy and bass overhang in either my speakers or my headphones.  I have no experience with ALO products but it seems to me that given its $649 price that unless you needed both balanced and battery support, your money could be better spent as unbalanced it is rather anemic in its price category. That being said I believe in selecting an amp that can support a full range of headphones as I have multiple.   

 

[john57]

So are you saying that there is not as much noticeable differences between tubes as compared to the Lyr 1?

 

[jamato8]

^I am interested in how your Russian Amperexs fair against Upscale's Tele's, are your Russian Tubes hard to find/expensive?

I have over 3,000 tubes and used to even buy tubes from Germany and a few other places and these are the only ones I have found. They are marked made in Germany but I know better and the bottle size all appears to be USSR but they do have normal pins, not the smaller Russian type that are often silver in color, which is the only odd thing. Yes, they are very hard to find. I don't think Amerex did many of these. 
 
Listening to the Lyr 2 now with my Amperex USSR tubes. It needs to burn in thought but so far nice, sweet sounding and a great bass foundation through the Hifiman 560's. I should have the Teles early next week. Have plenty of tubes to play with up till then. The Tele's cost as much as the amp but then tubes are circuits and well worth the price. Like getting a car off of the lot and then realizing to really get what you want, you need better tires. 

 

[jamato8]

Ok, got the Lyr 2 going more. Love the notes, like when I used to play guitar, you can hear those notes hang and decay. Using the ESW10 Jpn right now, and they sound great. Sweet. And what's is like with 100 hours or so on it? Great deal for the sound, that is for sure.