[Lorspeaker]

 
ANy love for the Darkvoice336SE...? All of my cans work with this lush/bodacious amp, cept the HE6. 

 

[hodgjy]

Darkvoice makes some very nice amps.

 

[Solrighal]

ANy love for the Darkvoice336SE...? All of my cans work with this lush/bodacious amp, cept the HE6. 

I could probably grow to love it. Does it pair well?

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

 
 
ANy love for the Darkvoice336SE...? All of my cans work with this lush/bodacious amp, cept the HE6. 

Let me hold it and I will let you know...

 

[Lorspeaker]

I could probably grow to love it. Does it pair well?

Lots of inexpensive tubes to try..for diff genres n moods

 

[B-Dawk20]

I hope my headphones come in tomorrow, this wait is tough  @_@

 

[ccash]

Mine should arrive tomorrow as well.
 
I bought a Darkvoice 336 a couple weeks ago and Beyer DT-800s just before that (600 ohm). I really love their air, but the upper-mids and treble grate on me with some music, so I'm going to give the 650s a try.
 
Convenient that I have a nice amp for it, although the RCA tubes I have in right now are probably going to make everything way too warm. We'll see tomorrow!

 

[B-Dawk20]

Ah, nice! I don't have any nice amp yet but I think it'll be awhile before I really want one....unless I make some snap decision purchase

 

[connieflyer]

This is directed to those of you that use a tube amp, I have an Ember amp.  I have rolled many tubes and really like most of them.  Always felt this amp was a good value.  Reading on a high end audio forum, they were discussing using a product called deoxit.  http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f .... I purchased a "survival kit" that had several of their products and info on their other products.  When the kit arrived I cleaned all the male connections going back to the pc and the power supply for the amp.  I also sprayed the deoxit on the pins of one of my tubes.  It was obvious the amount of crude "corrsion" that came off the tube pins.  Waited the two minutes for the deoxit to clean and seal the pins, wiped it off and reinserted the tube in the amp. Now I am at a lose. I swear I can hear a little more detail in the upper registers, and the music "seems" a little more open.  Tried it on another tube this morning and the same results.  Just wondered if any of you had tried this or not, and if so what your conclusions were.

 

[mcandmar]

It does sound like a good idea to clean up NOS tubes that have oxidized pins, usual problems being static noise or other random artifacts. The simple act of removing and reinserting the tube will usually clean up the contact but i have heard deoxit can help stop that problem from reoccurring. I should really buy some and try it..

 

[connieflyer]

I was told about inserting and reinserting tubes would clean off contacts also.  I am former Navy electronics tech, from back in the early sixties, everthing back then was tube, ss was just coming out, so I have changed many tubes, some tube pins did come a little cleaner, if we ran out of cleaner in flight we would insert and out several times and it usually made enough contact to get back to base where we could better clean the pins with a solvent or emery cloth.  Also we found that sometimes inserting the tube or taking it out caused the glass around the pins to crack and the tube to fail after that.  Not always but it was something to take care with, not to apply to much force on the tube when removing it. Found using the deOxit the tubes slide in a little better also.  Forgot about doing that until just now, wow, old age is catching up.

 

[JamieMcC]

For those small 9 pins tubes 12au7 e80cc etc one of those magic erasers work reasonably well just push the pins in and out a half a dozens times I expect adding a little deoxit to the eraser would do an even better job of it.. I also use them for cleaning the stylus on my record player by lowering the needle on to the eraser gently.

 

[mcandmar]

  I was told about inserting and reinserting tubes would clean off contacts also.  I am former Navy electronics tech, from back in the early sixties, everthing back then was tube, ss was just coming out, so I have changed many tubes, some tube pins did come a little cleaner, if we ran out of cleaner in flight we would insert and out several times and it usually made enough contact to get back to base where we could better clean the pins with a solvent or emery cloth.  Also we found that sometimes inserting the tube or taking it out caused the glass around the pins to crack and the tube to fail after that.  Not always but it was something to take care with, not to apply to much force on the tube when removing it. Found using the deOxit the tubes slide in a little better also.  Forgot about doing that until just now, wow, old age is catching up.

 
Navy guy eh, speaking of Navy these where one of the most oxidized tubes i have seen, hardly surprising though given their age. Note the markings on the box

 

 

[Stoney]

 
Headphonia made mention of the treble of the Valhalla:
 
"The Valhalla actually had a clearer sound with more sparkle in the low treble. It had a more solid state-like clarity and sparkle, but it’s not exactly dry sounding. It actually reminds me a lot of the sparkly treble in the Grace m902 amplifier section, which is a chip-based solid state headphone amp (I know, it’s totally unrelated, chip amps and tube amps). But I definitely won’t describe the Valhalla as having the traditional “tubey” sound. The Lyr has a thick lower mid-upper bass area, which progresses to a fairly lean treble section." 
 
There was something similar in the 6moons review.  I think everything that you said is spot on theory wise and was very helpful.  I made mention of the treble characteristics as it is what swayed me in the direction of the Valhalla (650 and Valhalla sitting in a tree m-a-t-i-n-g).  I hope I made the right choice and I will get mine tomorrow and see for myself.  I appreciate the time you took to answer my question and it reinforced some things I knew and added perspective.

 
Sure, I'm glad you are getting one, particularly given the (IIRC) return policy... can't be disappointed either way. If by "sparkle" they mean extension, clarity, presence of treble detail, then we're fully in sync. That and midrange naturalness are what first struck me. I switched to the Fireflies and felt they were a bit foggy and relatively coarse.  
 
FWIW, I feel both thanked and dismissed a bit because I'm usually as good as the reviews if I give it the time (was a reviewer at times myself), and I have listened to that combo a long time. The points I made were not from "theory" but an attempt to communicate in shorthand what I heard in a way that others might get a quick feel for. I have amps that switch from ultralinear to triode and find similar changes, so I relate to that.  And I've had OTL amps (SA-4). So I appreciate the virtues but the slight limitations depending on pairing.  Hope you enjoy!  

 

[Lorspeaker]

 
i found one of these snake oils in a thrift shop.... "carbon diatonic" , paid 5bucks for it...
wakes up my tubes to diatonic levels too.
Deoxit is fine.