[dcguy73]

I will go on record here that the Pathos clips and distorts on certain tracks and recordings especially those with high dynamic range, should you feed it anything higher than the rated 4.4VRMS input.
My May outputs at 5.8VRMS on XLR and I thought I had a faulty unit which I had sent back to my distributor to verify and it was confirmed that the Pathos doesn't do well with higher voltages.

That said, I'm glad to have it back and it works fine off RCA from my May. While it was away, I had more time with my Studio Six. While it is a great amp in its own right, the Pathos has that layering of sound which I've only heard it do on any headphone system thus far.

It drives my HE6SE very well with room to spare as at 125 volume, it's loud enough for my musical enjoyment without harassing my wife next to me hahaha
Sometimes I get carried away and crank it up a bit and suddenly I can feel death staring at me haha

Thank goodness you posted this! I just reached out to Tim at Kitsune Hifi to see if it was possible to get the voltage adjusted so I don't run into the same clipping problem as you do with balanced connections. My Holo May KTE unit hasn't been built yet, so hopefully this is an option. I guess I'll find out...

 

[chaZZZy007]

Well speaking of tubes, the Upscale Audio guy also suggested Amperex 7308 tubes might provide the "best bass" from the Inpol ear, and that makes me wonder whether any forum members have rolled these Amperex tubes on their units. I wonder what this "best bass" does or might do to the remainder of the frequency spectrum. I enjoy great bass, but it all depends on what means by "great bass." I do not necessarily consider myself to be a bass-head, and I am interested in getting a lot more than just the "best bass" out of this unit.

I would like to hear from any forum member who has some live experience with these Amperex tubes before actually considering to buy any.

In the meantime, I am going to start rolling Some Telefunken NOS tubes from the 1950s with gold pins and gold rods, as well as my Reflektor Holy Grails from 1975. Those should get me going,

Here's one question already: These tubes have already seen some extensive "burn in" time on my Liquid platinum, so am I also required to take them through another burn-in process with the Pathos? Is it not possible for me to use say, my Golden Lions (which sound better than the EH tubes) for the Pathos burn-in, and then bring out the "big guns" once the initial burn in is over... What I am calling "the big guns" are the NOS tubes that sounded best to me on the Liquid Platinum. If I can spare them another "burn-in" dry run in order to save a few hundred hours of their projected "natural" lifespans, that would be swell., For me, "burn-in" often means leaving the amp and system on to play for several days non-stop without even listening to the music most of the time. For that purpose, the Golden Lions will do just fine, if I do not have to burn in my "big gun"

Hey Sahme,
Do not let Upscale sell you tubes. You already have much better 6922's than anything they have in their entire inventory....BY FAR!

Which tube, the Reflektor or the Telefunken is better for you is going to depend on what is upstream in your system. I have Nordost Tyr 2 as XLR's and Coaxial. Tyr 2 is know for being a bit rich in the mids so to my ears, in my system the Reflektors are perfect. If I wanted a bit more warmth 50's or early 60's Telefunken e188cc's/7308's would be my first choice to replace them. You have amazing NOS tubes. If anything take a listen to the EV's for an hour before you roll in the NOS tubes just to see the difference they make. Let us all know what you hear.

I have some Siemens 1964 CCa grey shields but the Reflektors are so good I never even think of rolling them in. YMMV.

Enjoy the Pathos when it arrives.
Keep in mind it need about 500 hours to fully settle in. Kevin Deal spoke about this in one of his videos. He said 3 weeks 24/7 for one of the other Pathos amps.

 

[dcguy73]

Thank goodness you posted this! I just reached out to Tim at Kitsune Hifi to see if it was possible to get the voltage adjusted so I don't run into the same clipping problem as you do with balanced connections. My Holo May KTE unit hasn't been built yet, so hopefully this is an option. I guess I'll find out...

Thankfully, Tim at Kitsune let me cancel my order for the Holo Audio May DAC. That would have been a poor investment if the Pathos can only handle 4.4VRMS input. The InPol is a pretty delicate amp, I guess.

Not sure what I should do now. Post-canceled-purchase blues.

 

[carboncopy]

Thankfully, Tim at Kitsune let me cancel my order for the Holo Audio May DAC. That would have been a poor investment if the Pathos can only handle 4.4VRMS input. The InPol is a pretty delicate amp, I guess.

Not sure what I should do now. Post-canceled-purchase blues.

I used it with a fellow italian, the Aqua LaScala (has 2.2 V output). Both the single ended and balanced out was splendid! (SE being a bit better in this case). I can highly recommend it.

 

[chaZZZy007]

I used it with a fellow italian, the Aqua LaScala (has 2.2 V output). Both the single ended and balanced out was splendid! (SE being a bit better in this case). I can highly recommend it.

Your system is absolutely
The new Aries Cerat system

 

[xtr4]

Thankfully, Tim at Kitsune let me cancel my order for the Holo Audio May DAC. That would have been a poor investment if the Pathos can only handle 4.4VRMS input. The InPol is a pretty delicate amp, I guess.

Not sure what I should do now. Post-canceled-purchase blues.

Tell me about it. Although the RCA out is just as good but knowing that I can't take advantage of the XLR out just bums me out.

On the bright side, the distributor loaned me the Mola Mola Tambaqui to try at home. Though dear me, I'm not sure that's a good thing any more

 

[chaZZZy007]

Tell me about it. Although the RCA out is just as good but knowing that I can't take advantage of the XLR out just bums me out.

On the bright side, the distributor loaned me the Mola Mola Tambaqui to try at home. Though dear me, I'm not sure that's a good thing any more

Thankfully, Tim at Kitsune let me cancel my order for the Holo Audio May DAC. That would have been a poor investment if the Pathos can only handle 4.4VRMS input. The InPol is a pretty delicate amp, I guess.

Not sure what I should do now. Post-canceled-purchase blues.

Whatever you do, DO NOT share the 2nd video link with xtr4. Someone already sent him the Darko review link and the new review may just send him over the edge. Shhhhhh...

 

[xtr4]

Whatever you do, DO NOT share the 2nd video link with xtr4. Someone already sent him the Darko review link and the new review may just send him over the edge. Shhhhhh...

I think I forgot to mention the distributor also carries Aeries Cerat

 

[chaZZZy007]

I think I forgot to mention the distributor also carries Aeries Cerat

Oh my!!!!
You weren't supposed to see that video.
Hang in there dear friend!

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Thank you for the tip carboncopy I will try it tomorrow.

Tried the Inpol Ear both with XLR balanced and RCA single ended from the Dave to the Ear and found I liked the XLR balanced more.
Also the same for my Aura Phono Stage

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Can't wait to hear my Susvara and LCD-4 sing on this unit. How does the Matte black version look?

It looks great especially with the silver heat sinks, silver volume control and tube rings

 

[sahmen]

Okay, let's see if I have understood this passage of the OP clearly :

"in fact, the Inseguitore Pompa Lineare circuit was patented when the company was founded – but its use has mainly been in integrated amplifiers and power amplifiers for the traditional two-channel loudspeaker world. The InPol Ear represents the first time this unique hybrid circuit crosses over into the headphone world."

What really happens in the "crossover" referenced here? Is the InPol Ear really a two-channel "loudspeaker amp" at heart that has been simply repurposed for headphones (with the appropriate headphone outputs) or did they completely re-engineer the original loudspeaker amp topology in order to render the InPol ear a lot more "tame" for loudspeakers? It seems worth asking since, I am interested in the "high-current" credentials that are touted on the speaker-amp versions. Also, the InPol ear is still equipped with a pre-amp stage that is meant to feed speaker amps.

By the way, how does the pre-amp sound with speaker amps, if I may ask?

PS : It looks like there is an answer to one of my questions in that OP:

"InPol Ear Headphone Amplifier
In essence, Pathos has built an amplifier designed for loudspeakers in headphone-sized form. This means the InPol Ear has some extremely impressive specifications, like the ability to deliver up to 10W into a 32Ω balanced headphone load (unbalanced at 3W in 32Ω)."

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

By the way, how does the pre-amp sound with speaker amps, if I may ask?

In Steve Gutttenberg's review he had this very brief description agains his Pass Labs XP-30 preamp (after about 10 sec of the video).

 

[thecrow]

Hi guys.
just saw this thread as i was driving past.

i noticed there is discussion on 6922 tubes and the thread that talks about reflektor tubes as the “holy grail”. That was one man’s opinions

having tried (bought and sold) a pair of these and many others i personally did not have them as anything close to a holy grail in my amp - woo wa2.

note that i have never heard this pathos amp and have only listened and tube rolled with my wa2.

(if you haven’t already) look at the woo wa2 thread and the lyr tube rolling thread. You’ll get a lot more views in those - imho the lyr tube rolling is a bit over the top with all sorts of tubes and adapters thrown into the discussion.

personally i found the ”holy grails” a bit too linear for me but having bought them for about $100-$120 they were not over priced

personally i generally gravitate to the holland tubes and their warm overtones.
My favs were the pinched waist but found good value in e188cc and e88cc.
i found bugle boys and ecc88 a bit ordinary. Red labeled valvos are great value in the middle of them all. d getters in that even better from memory.

The tele188cc were very detailed and neutral, slightly in the bright side.

siemens cca were great punchy lively detailed tubes with great extension. The most punchy out of all these.

and the usa pq military 6922 and sone 7308 i owned were well balanced quite neutral great “middle of the road sound”. Touch of air up high and touch of warmth in the mids and low too.

also more views pop up if you look at brent jessee website and joe’s tube lore

http://www.audiotubes.com/6dj8.htm

https://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/d.pl?audio/faq/joes-tubes.html

a couple of final tips when it comes to buying/rolling/selling tubes:

go for quality over quantity as you probably will settle on 1-3 tubes that suit you best;

if you hear consensus between members on certain tubes it’s probably accurate;

imho no need to get too fancy with adapters and every tube and tube design and year under the sun (unless that is your thing); and,

you may end up having to sell a few during your search as you find your sound and that is ok and it shouldn’t end up costing that much in that regard



sorry to butt in but i hope this might help a bit. It certainly helped me when @Dubstep Girl helped me with tubes when i was new with the wa2

all the best

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Thank you for stopping by and share your experiences.

True, one man's opinion should not be taken as a Bible, since all of us have different tastes.

But thanks to persons like you, Rob or Dubstep Girl, which have shared their experiences on this hobby that made our audiophile life much easier.

In this hobby of ours have taught me many lessons.. And in this journey it made me realize to ask myself this question: "Are you here to listen music or to listen your equipment"?

Therefore now I limit myself in further searching that elusive 1%, by changing equipments, tubes etc. Playing the same test tracks all over again and again.. And focus to what I have missed all along: MUSIC.

Interesting this hobby of ours. It's like life:
Sometimes you learn and then take the test. And sometimes you take the test and learn...