[reg66]

To the folks out there with the tung sol 6sn7gtb tubes - how long did you guys find they needed to be burned in for before they sounded best?

iirc the general rule of thumb if you go the burn in route, about 100 hours.

If you do fancy trying some old tubes to compare to your new productions I would for sure recommend 1940's Ken Rad VT231 black glass and [using adapter] Brimar 1955-57 CV4033 triple micas, round or square getter [apparently the square getter version is slightly better sounding, although I cannot confirm this] (ideally Footscray KB/FB) --- (although the Brimar CV4024 12AT7 ECC81 Triple Mica Square Getter can be had for MUCH cheaper on ebay etc)

CV4033 Flying Lead is a Premium Grade, High Reliability Long Life version of CV4024
(NOTE: I am using Lyr3, but can't see why they wouldn't pair well with Lyr+)

EDIT: Just to note, I have amassed a fair collection of tubes but always find myself going back to the old K-R VT231 for pretty much all acoustics etc, love it! Still prefer SS (Schiit Lisst) for electro/EDM etc though

 

[Giangi]

Lyr3 or Lyr+ could be used with two Y rca adapter to join together active speakers and a sub? (sub couldn't be joined with speakers) thanks

 

[mchuckp]

My experience is that this amp is one of the best I've heard (so far). Prior to this, I've heard the DX7/DX7S/DX7Pro/TH788/Audio Wells Milo/Valhalla2/Darkvoice/Burson Conductor 3XR/Jotunheim 2/DCS LINA & Bartok/IFI Pro IDSD and many others .... Bottom line.. at least for "me" there is a point where amps get so good that I can no longer tell where any improvement may be. The Lyr+ falls into this category EASILY. It is such a wonderfully musical amp. I legitimately LOVE to run it in Tube AND SS mode. SS is fantastic... super clean, detailed, rich and neutral. Tube is just as wonderful.. but adds warmth, euphonics, and colors things in the most pleasing way (to my ears). I use BOTH and it all just depends on my mood honestly. This amp is soooooo much bang for your buck (IMO).. When I got the $2000+ Burson Conductor XR, I thought that was really good. The caveat is that the volume scaling SUCKED and that thing ONLY sounded good to me in HIGH gain. It was awful to use with low impedance gear and made half my headphones sound lifeless (sterile) or too bright (like my Focal Clear). The Lyr+ doesn't have that issue because of how it's implemented. Both low and high gains sound equally good. The volume scaling is amazing and this works sooooo much better with my low impedance gear. Additionally, it has life/soul and richness to it. This thing honestly sounds better than the Burson Conductor ever did (at a significantly lower price point). I think you'll be very happy with this amp in your arsenal. I replaced my Burson Conductor 3XR with this and it has been such a big improvement honestly. Just last night, I was listening to my LCDX and HD800S and it was so good that it actually made me feel emotional enough to cry. That's something new to me.. Yeah it's THAT good..

Setup - Topping DX7 DAC > Lyr + (Tung Sol 6SN7GBT, PSVane UK-6SN7 and Shuguang CV181-z Treasure tubes). I plan on buying a Bifrost as soon as I gather some funds and will report how things change/improve.

Thanks for your comments on this. This is where I’m struggling. I’ve been a speaker guy for years and just now getting into cans and loving it. Current set up is a Bifrost/Lyr+/HFM HE1000 V2 and it is incredible. Im savjng up to buy another set up so that I can have a set up in another room as well and been going back and forth on what to buy. Part of me says just get another Lyr+ or maybe a Jotunheim. But part of me wants to get something different and looking heavily at a Burson Soloist (used). I really like a bit of tube in my chain and concerned the Burson is gonna be to analytical for me. Plus if I didn’t spend $900-$1000 for that used I could more easily afford another DAC. Likely another BiFrost.

So yeah your thoughts is what has been going around my head. Is it worth spending that much more on amp or is it better spent elsewhere.

 

[jnak00]

What advantage Is the Sonos Port if I can connect my iPad or IPhone to the back of the DAC? Internal components better? I don’t have multiple Sonos speakers. Just the Arc.

The main advantage is convenience. With the Port your device isn't tethered to the DAC, and whatever you do on your phone/tablet isn't played through your headphones. If you're fine with using USB from your phone/tablet, just do that.

 

[emorrison33]

Thanks for your comments on this. This is where I’m struggling. I’ve been a speaker guy for years and just now getting into cans and loving it. Current set up is a Bifrost/Lyr+/HFM HE1000 V2 and it is incredible. Im savjng up to buy another set up so that I can have a set up in another room as well and been going back and forth on what to buy. Part of me says just get another Lyr+ or maybe a Jotunheim. But part of me wants to get something different and looking heavily at a Burson Soloist (used). I really like a bit of tube in my chain and concerned the Burson is gonna be to analytical for me. Plus if I didn’t spend $900-$1000 for that used I could more easily afford another DAC. Likely another BiFrost.

So yeah your thoughts is what has been going around my head. Is it worth spending that much more on amp or is it better spent elsewhere.

I have the Lyr 3, Jot 2 & the Soloist. Stick with the Schiit amps, your not missing out on anytyhing. Not that I don't like the Soloist, but you can get a Schiit amp for much cheaper, and it's on par with the Soloist. Too analytical? I don't think so, but with better headphones it's more revealing, IMO. The only thing about the Soloist is yu can swap out the op-amps for a different "flavor" if you want.

 

[mchuckp]

Thanks. The thing I’m thinking through is how bad do I want a remote. For where I’d be putting this amp is a long sitting distance and a remote sure would be nice. That would limit my Schiit option to only getting another Lyr+. If i can deal w no remote, considering a Jot….but sure like me some tubes.

 

[XGeneX88]

Thanks for your comments on this. This is where I’m struggling. I’ve been a speaker guy for years and just now getting into cans and loving it. Current set up is a Bifrost/Lyr+/HFM HE1000 V2 and it is incredible. Im savjng up to buy another set up so that I can have a set up in another room as well and been going back and forth on what to buy. Part of me says just get another Lyr+ or maybe a Jotunheim. But part of me wants to get something different and looking heavily at a Burson Soloist (used). I really like a bit of tube in my chain and concerned the Burson is gonna be to analytical for me. Plus if I didn’t spend $900-$1000 for that used I could more easily afford another DAC. Likely another BiFrost.

So yeah your thoughts is what has been going around my head. Is it worth spending that much more on amp or is it better spent elsewhere.

Glad my thoughts could help someone. Personally I don’t think I could go back to Burson after trying the Lyr. I can’t speak for the Soloist but I think the Lyr+ is a better amp than the Conductor 3 XR regardless whether you run it in tube or SS mode. If you want to try another setup, maybe id suggest something like a liquid platinum cavalli amp.. they’re affordable and sound fantastic! I prefer Lyr for certain reasons but it’s still such a good amp (and can be found for about $400 used).

I actually tried the Jotunheim 2 and didn’t like it. It was too smooth for me and really lacked treble sparkle, dynamics and everything just sounded bland. I actually had suspicions that I may have received a bad unit & sent it back. Tried it with a few dacs and it all just sounded bad. My old Magni 2 Uber sounded significantly better.. ymmv? Lol

 

[Author]

My experience is that this amp is one of the best I've heard (so far). Prior to this, I've heard the DX7/DX7S/DX7Pro/TH788/Audio Wells Milo/Valhalla2/Darkvoice/Burson Conductor 3XR/Jotunheim 2/DCS LINA & Bartok/IFI Pro IDSD and many others .... Bottom line.. at least for "me" there is a point where amps get so good that I can no longer tell where any improvement may be. The Lyr+ falls into this category EASILY. It is such a wonderfully musical amp. I legitimately LOVE to run it in Tube AND SS mode. SS is fantastic... super clean, detailed, rich and neutral. Tube is just as wonderful.. but adds warmth, euphonics, and colors things in the most pleasing way (to my ears). I use BOTH and it all just depends on my mood honestly. This amp is soooooo much bang for your buck (IMO).. When I got the $2000+ Burson Conductor XR, I thought that was really good. The caveat is that the volume scaling SUCKED and that thing ONLY sounded good to me in HIGH gain. It was awful to use with low impedance gear and made half my headphones sound lifeless (sterile) or too bright (like my Focal Clear). The Lyr+ doesn't have that issue because of how it's implemented. Both low and high gains sound equally good. The volume scaling is amazing and this works sooooo much better with my low impedance gear. Additionally, it has life/soul and richness to it. This thing honestly sounds better than the Burson Conductor ever did (at a significantly lower price point). I think you'll be very happy with this amp in your arsenal. I replaced my Burson Conductor 3XR with this and it has been such a big improvement honestly. Just last night, I was listening to my LCDX and HD800S and it was so good that it actually made me feel emotional enough to cry. That's something new to me.. Yeah it's THAT good..

Setup - Topping DX7 DAC > Lyr + (Tung Sol 6SN7GBT, PSVane UK-6SN7 and Shuguang CV181-z Treasure tubes). I plan on buying a Bifrost as soon as I gather some funds and will report how things change/improve.

What a wonderful write-up and in line with what I gleaned from a recent YouTube review by Wave Theory. I think he thinks HE was playing it close to the vest, but his Lyr+ review, followed by the $600 amp shootout, and his body language, told a different story. He really liked that Lake People amp, but he loved that Lyr+ amp. Not only did he love it, he was surprised by it. I also trusted his integrity. He was not afraid to be critical of the Jot 2, in a separate review, for example.

I’ve been lurking in Head Fi and other Forums, and Schiit product research, for years. It was time for me to get more serious. His enthusiasm seemed genuine for both SS and tube.

My highest tier headphones are the 600 series Senns. Except I don’t own the actual 600! Time to branch out to $1000+ with this new gear.

BTW, he also mentioned Bifrost 2/24 pairs well with the Lyr+, but not a surprise there I suppose.

 

[ThurstonX]

Glad my thoughts could help someone. Personally I don’t think I could go back to Burson after trying the Lyr. I can’t speak for the Soloist but I think the Lyr+ is a better amp than the Conductor 3 XR regardless whether you run it in tube or SS mode. If you want to try another setup, maybe id suggest something like a liquid platinum cavalli amp.. they’re affordable and sound fantastic! I prefer Lyr for certain reasons but it’s still such a good amp (and can be found for about $400 used).

I actually tried the Jotunheim 2 and didn’t like it. It was too smooth for me and really lacked treble sparkle, dynamics and everything just sounded bland. I actually had suspicions that I may have received a bad unit & sent it back. Tried it with a few dacs and it all just sounded bad. My old Magni 2 Uber sounded significantly better.. ymmv? Lol

You can get a Liquid Platinum new for $500

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33305

 

[Reputator]

Look who's back!!

 

[ThurstonX]

Look who's back!!

Nice feet on your Stack o' Schiit. Can you share the brand?

Arya Stealth + that Stack o' Schiit = tasty, am I right

 

[Reputator]

Nice feet on your Stack o' Schiit. Can you share the brand?

Arya Stealth + that Stack o' Schiit = tasty, am I right

They ain't aaanything special lol.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7S8F3T/
Looks like they're out of stock but there's tons like em.

Schiit has been AMAZING through all of this. Earlier this week they said they didn't have any in stock and that my unit would have be repaired once they received it. The next day I got a shipping notification, which I found really confusing. Two days later I got this one, and it is NOT the same unit I sent them. The serial number is different. So I guess they found one somewhere for me.

And again, they didn't charge me a THING for this. They could have easily told me to go up the creek and pay up for inserting the tube wrong. But they didn't.

Mmmm listening to some synthwave on my vintage Stanton Dynaphase Sixty. Heaven.

 

[Reputator]

What I find remarkable about the sound out of the Lyr+ is the sheer sense of size and depth. This is apparent in SS mode, but moreso with a tube. The stereo separation (width, I guess) is enormous, but it's also throwing out more sounds further out beyond the foreground. It's picking up on so much more "air" and "space" in the recording than I've heard before. You get much more decay, in other words, but everything sounds larger and more open. It almost makes the drivers of the headphone appear bigger, as ridiculous as that sounds.

It definitely makes my old amp, which was NO slouch for a SS amp, seem boxed in by comparison, which I certainly wasn't expecting.

 

[JanMc]

Yep I think that’s what I’m going to do. Sorta. I honestly don’t really know what’s going to happen. I have a Sonos Arc sound bar. Do you foresee any issues getting music through the DAC/AMP? To the sound bar?

I can see plenty of possible issues with sound.

1. Apple TV hooked up to TV. HDMI
2. Sonos Arc hooked up to TV. HDMI
3. I plan to use optical out from TV to DAC. Opt Out

Do Optical Outs have their own input “channels” like HDMI? I don’t think they do. I need the TV on to see the ATV and get to Apple Music. Will I get sound AND video? What if I just want to watch TV?

It really is a pain when you’re trying to access sound through something other than wireless.

Ugh.

You should be able to set the software on the TV to send sound out the optical port and not play sound. Then you just need to turn the stereo on any time you watch TV or listen to music. I do this in my living room. Anything that would play thru the TV will play thru your Schiit stack.

Also, I use my Lyr mostly as a preamp to an Aegir to my Zu Omen IIs. It is much louder in high gain but either provides enough gain for the Aegir to drive my speakers. In all honesty, the only time my Lyr gets put in low gain is to listen to my IEMs, which I will do sometimes while watching TV because my headphones have started to hurt my head/ears. So far, without spending hundreds on a tube, the Psvane 6SN7GT is my favorite tube. I'd still like to try the cv181.

 

[Reputator]

10 days after receiving my replacement unit, it broke again, and this time all on its own.

I was listening to some classic rock. About 30 minutes into it, one of the times I went to adjust the volume up, it got QUIETER. And then as I moved it, it got more and more quiet, until I could barely hear it. I turned it off and back on, and then the relay wouldn't even kick on, and I couldn't hear anything.

Turned it off again, unplugged it, and noticed it was REALLY hot all over the chassis. I stuck a fan in front of it and let it cool off, then I plugged it back in and switched it on. It kicked on this time, but now the right channel has static and crackling noise. The behavior is really similar to last time when I inserted the tube wrong, except affecting the opposite channel.

Now I'm just baffled. It shouldn't arbitrarily fail like this during normal usage.