[mikerobe]

I'm starting to pry open window blinds to see if the cops are coming.
 
Seriously, I feel like a drug addict with this thing.  Again, I made the jump to a beautiful DAC at the same time, so I screwed up the Scientific Method (by changing more than one variable).  And, at the start of Day 2, I have rolled two more sets of tubes.  @Jason, you are so right about tube rolling.  I have no small-handed people on... hand... to aid.  After my first tube roll, I noticed some "dust" around the holes.  It wasn't until rolling this morning that I realized it was from my fingernails!  Those are some sharp edges.
 
So, yeah, day 2 is turning out just like day 1.  Headphones have been on for way too long already, and it's only 8:41.  The same thing as yesterday is being noticed as well.  I play one of the go-to tracks from a certain artist and just get so lost that I end up listening to nearly the whole album.  I mean, it's becoming addictive.  I need it.  Funny thing is, with all this talk of how much power the Lyr can deliver, I have noticed that I can finally listen to my LCD-2s at much lower volumes than before.  It was one of the selling points for those headphones, the fact that they did well at low volumes.  The Lyr, I have no doubt, has helped me realize that.  Still so much detail at low volumes. 
 
Which brings me to the question of volume control.  I have not turned it much past 11:30, usually below 11 (not a Spinal Tap reference).  I think there was question as to any loss of fine-tuning due to how low the volume is kept.  In that roughly 80 degrees of motion, the volume control knob (I know there is some fancier term, the "pot" or something?) gives me plenty of fine-tuning.  It's nothing like a shower control knob where the difference between freeze-your-nVts-off cold and ****-off hot is a few micrometers.  I would also say that the knob has a nice tension to it, as in it's not too easy to turn.
 
Amperex tubes ftw!  Not surprising for me, I had already fallen in love with them before.  I will second what was said before, the stock tubes are nothing to scoff at.  I'm gonna stop rambling about this again.  Anyone who had pulled the trigger on a pre-order, I think you won't regret it.  Anyone waiting to pull the trigger, go for it.  If you are looking at the Lyr, chances are you are a mid-fi'er like myself.  I can safely say this amp has to be perfect for people in that category.  It truly is butter-smooth.  It has enough power to drive any headphone (right?).  Somewhere else on this forum is a great thread about A/B ing amps.  With the info gleaned from that thread and the abilities of the Lyr, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last headphone amp I buy.
 
Thanks Jason and all your Schiity co-workers.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

 
Quote:

With the info gleaned from that thread and the abilities of the Lyr, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last headphone amp I buy.  

Exactly my mind set. I'm still incredibly happy with my E9, but if and when I want something like the HE-6, the Lyr wil be the only one I look at, unless another company makes another contender with the same power and similar or lower price point.

 

[HK_sends]

Funny thing is, with all this talk of how much power the Lyr can deliver, I have noticed that I can finally listen to my LCD-2s at much lower volumes than before.  It was one of the selling points for those headphones, the fact that they did well at low volumes.  The Lyr, I have no doubt, has helped me realize that.  Still so much detail at low volumes. 
 

 
Amperex tubes ftw!  Not surprising for me, I had already fallen in love with them before.  I will second what was said before, the stock tubes are nothing to scoff at. 
 
Thanks Jason and all your Schiity co-workers.

I think that describes my impression as well; lower volume yet with a more full sound. Maybe the power is working for me.

I missed the reference to the Amprex tubes, which type are they and where can I find them?

Thanks!

Cheers!
-HK sends

 

[leesure]

Amperex tubes are British made tubes renown for their musicallity.  They are tough to find and expensive, but well regarded.

 

[mikerobe]

HK,
 
First, I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw your signature.  I have since stolen it and used it as a facecrack status and have been getting likes and comments left and right.  Friggin' classic.
 
Secondly, I have tried (in addition to stock):
 
GE Smoked Glass
Sylvania
Amperex
 
These were all purchased from 32 Ohm Audio, which I did for ease and because I trust and dig those guys.
 
The SQ from each of the tubes were minimally different.  The Amperex is just wonderfully warm, seems to have a smidge more clarity, and costs a little more (so be wary of me wanting it to sound better).  I was not disappointed with the stock ones, but I already had these tubes laying around.  They are all 6922/6DJ8/ECC88 equivalents.  I'm not sure which the Amperex are and don't want to lose any more fingernail trying to remove it.  Next time I roll, I'll double check.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Amperex tubes are British made tubes renown for their musicallity.  They are tough to find and expensive, but well regarded.

Amperex itself never made tubes in the UK.  They did sometimes rebrand tubes that were made by others in the UK.  Amperex made tubes in the US when it was a US company, and when it was bought by Philips, it made tubes in Holland.  Many of these US and Dutch tubes were very highly regarded, indeed.
 

 

[leesure]

Thanks for the corrected info Skylab!
 

 

[tunarat]

 
Quote:

Amperex tubes are British made tubes renown for their musicallity.  They are tough to find and expensive, but well regarded.

Actually the majority of Amperex were Holland made, and yes those are great musical all around tubes. I prefer the German made tubes in general, but they are not "warm" ...more airy. The sylvania 6922 is a good tube for a reasonable price and seems to appeal to a lot of folks.
 
oops, Skylab beat me to the correction...
 
 

 

[mindofnomind]

I've probably checked this thread five times already today as I await the arrival of my Lyr tomorrow. Keep the impressions comin, fellas!

 

[ninjikiran]

Curious how it compares with the concerto on the LCD-2's. 

 

[Unilhexium]

I have a question on tube rolling the Lyr- Can you replace the 6DJ8 tubes with 7DJ8 tubes? Is the amp capable of handling the 7v heater? Where do you think this tube type (sonically) fits into the 6DJ8 / 6922 / 7308 / cca / (etc. etc. ad nauseum) pantheon?
 
Or, more specifically, are there any tubes from this family that we should definitely NOT use?

 

[sferic]

Noise level with Denon D5000 - none at all. One nice thing about Audirvana on Mac is "hog mode". No system sounds or other programs are given access. As others have said, at any non-deafening sound level I can't hear a whit of self-noise with either the Denons or my Grado PS1000's.
 
Thru the D5000 with nothing on and knob all the way to the right at 6:00 max (definitely deafening levels, god help me if I accidentally put some signal thru) I hear a smidge of hiss, and if I press the ear cups in, a very faint ac hum, but that could be dimmers etc. At 2:00 or less, dead silence. Typically I'm listening at 9:00, MAYBE 11:00 max, and that's with Audirvana's software output at -3 db. This thing is amazingly silent.

 

[Carlsan]

Set this up about an hour ago.
Funny story - tube fell into amp, bit of a bitch to get it out, LOL!
 
So far so good, wow, impressed. T1 sounds excellent with this amp.
Have to go to bed, and let this burn in a bit.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Can anyone take pics of the 1/4 to 3.5mm adapter? I ask because I have a D7000 that didn't come with one. I'm using a nice gold plated one bought off Amazon...

I'll probably get the Lyr in April or May.

 

[GTL]

I am very interested in that as well!
 
Quote:

Curious how it compares with the concerto on the LCD-2's.