Appreciate all the input guys! It's been a while since I've been any type of active on here, so it's a nice welcome back
. Also, prepare for some noob questions considering I'm completely new to tube amps
.
I don't have a LD-mk3 but and I don't know if the driver tube equivalents are similar but I've found most Amperex and Mullard driver tubes tend to be on the warmer side in the 6922/ECC88/6JD8/12AXX series used in my Ember, BH Crack and Lyr2. Agree with you about the Asgard2 not being a great match for my HD700 due to the pairing being a little on the bright side but there are SS amps like the Liquid Carbon, G-109, HD-501 and Polaris that do pair nicely with the HD700 for those that don't want to deal with tubes.
Cool, I'll check Mullard and Amperex out. I'm familiar with the names for sure (along with Western Electric, Tung-Sol, etc.) but always strayed away from actually learning what I should about tubes
.
I'll be curious to throw my Asgard 2 back into the loop to see how it fairs, but from my earlier dealings with Schiit, the Asgard 2 at the time was probably the warmest sounding SS amp they made.
I am enjoying the LD quite a bit. It's doing the HD700 justice (obviously more than the Asgard 2 did
) and it's quite beautiful. It's not the prettiest thing (i.e. the WA7 Fireflies has always been a gorgeous amp, IMO), but it looks better in person than pictures make it seem.
For now, though, I'm perfectly happy going down the path of tubes as I'm eager and willing to roll tubes now (I've at least got a better budget to do so
). That and after hearing the HD800 years ago, hearing it out of the WA7 that was driving it was the most satisfying I remember that headphone sounding to me (I literally disliked it on every other amp at the meet
).
I'll go back to my Spotify collection soon enough, but I feel like I've noticed for the first time that high quality audio files can make or break this headphone. My unfounded guess is that treble gets compressed quite a bit in lower-quality files and that's what can cause the treble here to be quite awful. Going through even the worst produced stuff I have in my music collection, it's all pleasant so long as it's my ALAC files.
pez:
I also have both. Yes the Little Dot MK III does a slightly better job with the 150 ohm HD700's than the Asgard 2. However the Darkvoice drives the HD 700's better than the Little Dot MK III
See below for one of the best tube combos for the Little Dot MK III:
See below for one of the best tube combos for the Darkvoice:
Alright, so here are my nooby questions. I think I've located each of the tubes for the LD MKIII that you recommended, and possibly even the adapters. However, I'm wondering where is the best place to purchase from? I've come across a few sites, but like every hobby, I know people have their special sites and places to order from.