[corndog71]

I considered buying one of the two Bottlehead models but I absolutely abhor plugging cables into their top plate and having them poke straight up. It makes for an easy design, everything on one plate but I would have to do some drastic cabinet and top plate changes to be happy. I will be working on a turntable plinth and dust cover very soon, I suppose I could try to match that. I will be using birdseye rock maple.

While Mani-2 was an improvement over my other solid state phono preamps, my Bottlehead Reduction ( with Integration upgrade) is still the king. Even more so after upgrading the interstage and output caps.



You could always make your own top plate sans power cutout.

 

[Paladin79]

While Mani-2 was an improvement over my other solid state phono preamps, my Bottlehead Reduction ( with Integration upgrade) is still the king. Even more so after upgrading the interstage and output caps.



You could always make your own top plate sans power cutout.

Most likely I would put the IEC jack on the back side and maybe RCA Jacks on the front. As I did on my variation of a Bottlehead Crack. The only things I like to leave on the top are tubes and the transformer. I also build a taller case to allow for most any size capacitor. Not this tall though for a phono stage.

No offense intended toward your build of course, I knew the changes I would make to a BH Crack before I received my first one. I got the top plate size and ordered 1/8 inch copper and started on that plate before I received the kit. It is just how I think.

 

[JLoud]

Didn't feel a thing up here (~20mi N of the Golden Gate).

That’s what she said. (The Office)

 

[OldRoadToad]

Most likely I would put the IEC jack on the back side and maybe RCA Jacks on the front. As I did on my variation of a Bottlehead Crack. The only things I like to leave on the top are tubes and the transformer. I also build a taller case to allow for most any size capacitor. Not this tall though for a phono stage.

No offense intended toward your build of course, I knew the changes I would make to a BH Crack before I received my first one. I got the top plate size and ordered 1/8 inch copper and started on that plate before I received the kit. It is just how I think.

TwiinTube powers...ACTIVATE!

That looks toadish, nay...Make that very toadish. Well done, maestro!

ORT

 

[45longcolt]

I considered buying one of the two Bottlehead models but I absolutely abhor plugging cables into their top plate and having them poke straight up. It makes for an easy design, everything on one plate but I would have to do some drastic cabinet and top plate changes to be happy. I will be working on a turntable plinth and dust cover very soon, I suppose I could try to match that. I will be using birdseye rock maple.

Oooohhh, wood porn...
Wait, that doesn't sound right...grain porn...
And speaking of porn, that WE 91 is pure tube porn...
Wait, pure porn? Why do I start these things?
Anyway, I'd have a WE 91 just to look at, to display on my Nakashima end table next to the Eames chair in the living room of my mid-century modern ranch house....if only I was a billionaire.

 

[Paladin79]

Oooohhh, wood porn...
Wait, that doesn't sound right...grain porn...
And speaking of porn, that WE 91 is pure tube porn...
Wait, pure porn? Why do I start these things?
Anyway, I'd have a WE 91 just to look at, to display on my Nakashima end table next to the Eames chair in the living room of my mid-century modern ranch house....if only I was a billionaire.

Lol then you would need efficient speakers like some of the Klipsch models. I found it easier to go with tube amps with 35-100 watts per channel and much better specs. (Under 1% THD) .4 being typical.

 

[45longcolt]

Lol then you would need efficient speakers like some of the Klipsch models. I found it easier to go with tube amps with 35-100 watts per channel and much better specs. (Under 1% THD) .4 being typical.

Umm, who said anything about listening to it - have you seen thoseTHD figures?!? (See, even I occasionally let my brain dictate to my ears what they will hear.)
No, I would treat the tube-porn WE 91 the same way I'd treat any lady porn star I might encounter - look but don't touch. (Mom's voice in my ear, admonishing, "Don't play with that, you don't know where it's been.")

Then again, the WE 91 could be mated - as it were - with period-appropriate speakers like the near-refrigerator-size Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theatre, with its high efficiency, 15-inch woofer and imposing multi-cell horn. For some, these vintage behemoths are speaker porn.

BTW, did you know that the Lansing in Altec-Lansing was James B. Lansing, whose initials were...yep, JBL. He ended up living in north San Diego County, in the then-small community of San Marcos. Where he took his own life in 1949 after a series of business reverses.

I briefly considered buying a pair of the re-popped JBL L-100s, just for the sheer nostalgia. Until I learned they are made in China. Call me jingoistic and parochial, but JBL speakers should be Made in America. Like other Good Schiit.

Signing off before this post expands to Armchair Philosopher length...

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I've been living with Folkvangr more or less exclusively for the past two months or so.
It's a truly fantastic headphone amp.
5.0 lush and euphonic stars out of 5.0 lush and euphonic stars.

But it's now time to rotate back to Mjolnir 2 for a little while.
Oh my! Yeah, I missed that.
5.0 detailed and soundstagey stars out of 5.0 detailed and soundstagey stars.

Both are equally fantastic, just in very different ways.

If Jason decided to retire tomorrow, I'd be fine with that.

But since he probably won't, and since he always complains that he's got nothing else that needs getting done… How about a fully balanced headphone amp with choke input and a Lyr+-esque, LISST-based gain stage to complete the headphone amp legacy trifecta with one that proves that something entirely solid state can sound actually fantastic, too?

I obviously have no idea if a choke input would make a similarly mind-blowing difference in a headphone amp as it very much makes in Tyr, but I'd love to hear one some day just out of pure curiosity. But while a choke input may or may not work out in an headphone amp, the LISST-based gain stage in a solid state amp is almost no longer optional for my ears.
There's why:
Back at last month's SchiitrMeet, I spent some quality time with a Lyr+ — and I was seriously impressed by how hard the solid state mode is kicking the tube mode's a$$. And that's coming from a tube guy, mind you.
Granted, the 6SN7 that Schiit usually includes just aren't all that great. They're good enough to get things going right out of the box, but they sure don't help much to showcase what Schiit's 6SN7-based (pre-)amps are capable of. That obviously put the tube mode at a disadvantage right out of the gate. But I have a feeling that even with a considerably nicer tube, it would probably still have a hard time beating the sonic properties of that amp's solid state mode. It sounds THAT good. And I wasn't the only one with that impression.
Which is also why I ultimately decided against taking one home with me. I'm not sure it's worth paying "extra" for the tube mode if it seems pretty clear upfront that I would probably use the amp in solid state mode only for most, if not all of its lifetime.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Umm, who said anything about listening to it - have you seen thoseTHD figures?!? (See, even I occasionally let my brain dictate to my ears what they will hear.)
No, I would treat the tube-porn WE 91 the same way I'd treat any lady porn star I might encounter - look but don't touch. (Mom's voice in my ear, admonishing, "Don't play with that, you don't know where it's been.")

Then again, the WE 91 could be mated - as it were - with period-appropriate speakers like the near-refrigerator-size Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theatre, with its high efficiency, 15-inch woofer and imposing multi-cell horn. For some, these vintage behemoths are speaker porn.

BTW, did you know that the Lansing in Altec-Lansing was James B. Lansing, whose initials were...yep, JBL. He ended up living in north San Diego County, in the then-small community of San Marcos. Where he took his own life in 1949 after a series of business reverses.

I briefly considered buying a pair of the re-popped JBL L-100s, just for the sheer nostalgia. Until I learned they are made in China. Call me jingoistic and parochial, but JBL speakers should be Made in America. Like other Good Schiit.

Signing off before this post expands to Armchair Philosopher length...

+1 for speaker porn!


JC

 

[Paladin79]

Umm, who said anything about listening to it - have you seen thoseTHD figures?!? (See, even I occasionally let my brain dictate to my ears what they will hear.)
No, I would treat the tube-porn WE 91 the same way I'd treat any lady porn star I might encounter - look but don't touch. (Mom's voice in my ear, admonishing, "Don't play with that, you don't know where it's been.")

Then again, the WE 91 could be mated - as it were - with period-appropriate speakers like the near-refrigerator-size Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theatre, with its high efficiency, 15-inch woofer and imposing multi-cell horn. For some, these vintage behemoths are speaker porn.

BTW, did you know that the Lansing in Altec-Lansing was James B. Lansing, whose initials were...yep, JBL. He ended up living in north San Diego County, in the then-small community of San Marcos. Where he took his own life in 1949 after a series of business reverses.

I briefly considered buying a pair of the re-popped JBL L-100s, just for the sheer nostalgia. Until I learned they are made in China. Call me jingoistic and parochial, but JBL speakers should be Made in America. Like other Good Schiit.

Signing off before this post expands to Armchair Philosopher length...

Lol, God forbid and I had read the history of JBL.

More tube porn

 

[OldRoadToad]

Lol, God forbid and I had read the history of JBL.

More tube porn

Looking rather priapic (rarely does one get to use that term, LOL!). For me, tubes just look cool (especially when they are glowing!) and if they did not?

Not buying. But fortunately they usually do look pretty righteous!

ORT

 

[Paladin79]

Looking rather priapic (rarely does one get to use that term, LOL!). For me, tubes just look cool (especially when they are glowing!) and if they did not?

Not buying. But fortunately they usually do look pretty righteous!

ORT

I was heading out to dinner so no time for firing up the amps lol. Later I will have the sound down on the NFL game and sort through some disks in search of this years eerie Halloween music. Wagner for sure, and maybe Bach.

Maybe Tubular Bells.

 

[FLTWS]

 

[Paladin79]

Maybe I own that lol, I will look later on. Toccata I should have. Maybe Fugue in D minor.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

The album on Qobuz that has more tracks than you listed. Thanks for the recommendation! Perfect for the season.