[orrman]

Planning to check out any e180cc/7072 (no adaptors) or ecc40 with adaptors?

From memory 70% of the gain of the 12at7 which will give you a bit more usable volume range

I'm not a fan of adaptors, I've heard some horror stories about tube rolling with them (not in Riviera but enough to keep me away).
Will take a look at the other suggestion, this first round is based on recommendations from my tube expert

 

[fdsa654hg]

I'm using a Mullard M8136 right now, but the midrange, especially with vocals, still isn't hitting the mark for me – they sound very recessed, almost nasal.
This is with my 1266TC on the standard cables. I'm thinking about trying out the Tara Labs Omega Live or JPS headphone cables. Has anyone tried these or have other suggestions to improve the sound?

 

[eskamobob1]

I just switched back from my Mullard CV 4003 to my Tesla ECC 802 S after several month and it is quite a revelation. More transparent, brighter, airier. I didn’t remember such a contrast the last time I changed the tube. Great, it almost feels like a new amp .

Hahaha. I like to do this as well. Ever couple of months just go to a different ube for a week or two as a change of pace

 

[eskamobob1]

I'm using a Mullard M8136 right now, but the midrange, especially with vocals, still isn't hitting the mark for me – they sound very recessed, almost nasal.
This is with my 1266TC on the standard cables. I'm thinking about trying out the Tara Labs Omega Live or JPS headphone cables. Has anyone tried these or have other suggestions to improve the sound?

Honestly, this is just a fact of the 1266. You can try dhc c15, super conductor, or maybe a lazuli, but I doubt anything will fix 1266s vocals. It's easily their biggest flaw as a can

 

[number1sixerfan]

Currently borrowing aic-10 from @msq123 . This amp sounds absolutely incredible, so euphoric. This and masskobo 465 for me takes the cake for best amp for susvara. I will be borrowing a wavedream signature balanced soon to pair with it Which i'm sure will be a better match. Will post my thoughts once I've spent time with both 1266, sus, rolling tubes and trying different dacs but yeh just wow. Currently using g73r for sus.

I know you shared a few thoughts in this thread and others. Any final impressions? Any other updates against the Mass Kobo?

 

[fdsa654hg]

Honestly, this is just a fact of the 1266. You can try dhc c15, super conductor, or maybe a lazuli, but I doubt anything will fix 1266s vocals. It's easily their biggest flaw as a can

I've switched up some power cables, changed the interconnects from XLR to RCA, and even tried different headphone cables. These changes really did help with the sound.
But now, I've run into another issue – the screws on the lid of my AIC-10 just won’t tighten up properly.

 

[DJJEZ]

I know you shared a few thoughts in this thread and others. Any final impressions? Any other updates against the Mass Kobo?

Gimme some more time. I'm picking up a rockna wavedream signature balanced to try with it today.

 

[walterboss]

Yes red label and black label. They’re hard enough to source anyway, so get whichever you can find to start.

I do recommend reading this thread from beginning to end you’ll benefit from it quite a bit, much of the info you want you will find (at least, I have).

Can I just chime in to say that even though I don't have an AIC-10 (or will anytime soon) there is a ton of valuable posts here on all sorts of summit-fi topics. I'd love to try one someday, but for now it's actually really cool hearing others' impressions and opinions. Cheers!

 

[walterboss]

the midrange, especially with vocals, still isn't hitting the mark for me – they sound very recessed, almost nasal.
This is with my 1266TC on the standard cables. I'm thinking about trying out the Tara Labs Omega Live or JPS headphone cables. Has anyone tried these or have other suggestions to improve the sound?

Honestly, this is just a fact of the 1266. You can try dhc c15, super conductor, or maybe a lazuli, but I doubt anything will fix 1266s vocals. It's easily their biggest flaw as a can

Superconductor helps a TON with the mids on 1266.

I'm also waiting on an adapter from DHC to try out my Chimera (currently used with my Sus) with the 1266. I have no idea what it will do for it. Maybe it will be wretched. But I've never found any impressions on it, so worth a punt for $150. Will post impressions to 1266 thread in next week or two.

 

[TDinCali]

Gimme some more time. I'm picking up a rockna wavedream signature balanced to try with it today.

Hopefully that wavedream has a good amount of hours on it already. Get it nice and warm.

 

[DJJEZ]

Hopefully that wavedream has a good amount of hours on it already. Get it nice and warm.

Yes I'm just borrowing it from a buddy. It's fully broken in

 

[DJJEZ]

Wavedream signature balanced is REALLY good with aic-10

 

[eskamobob1]

Wavedream signature is REALLY good with aic-10

Hahaha. I'm glad you are enjoying a new found synergy!

 

[kawhia]

I am curious what you all think about organizing a library. Do you stream only, or do you buy digital albums? I use Roon and every once in a while I ask myself if I should buy the albums that I have been listening lately over streaming qobuz -> roon.
But I am much less attached to albums I buy digitally than I used to when I bought CDs. I ripped all my 1000 CDs many years ago and store them, but only stream them via Roon now. And I cannot make out any differences in SQ between a ripped CD and a stream. So there is not much of an incentive to buy digital downloads, especially with the hassle of downloading, copying, and having several backups etc.
I sometimes miss the days when I bought new CDs in town and was anticipating playing them at home over my CD player. now I have everything at my fingertips, but the joy of anticipation is somewhat gone. In that sense streaming music over Roon has changed the way I consume music, and not just to the best. And even though Roon is a great software I don’t have the same pride in collecting music and building a library. Because it is just so easy and doesn’t cost to add to my library.
I like the idea of building a library of music I like and understand it as my journey through music and life, basically. My library represents my musical journey and development and is very valuable as such to me. But adding an album in Roon is not the same as putting it on my shelf and seeing the library grow. And buying digital downloads hasn’t really make up for it.
How do you go about it?

 

[theveterans]

Build an analog rig