[Monsterzero]

Very helpful clarifications, and I am now duly insipired! Thank you for the good info and the photos of the impressive setup! I had never heard of Wells Audio or Glenn- which on this forum usually means it's great gear. So much stuff I want to try now... sheesh.

Wells Audio makes some killer gear! The Dragon shown above can drive any non e-stat headphone on the planet, including very sensitive IEMs, all the way up to the Susvara, Abyss 1266 and everything in between and still maintain a velvety black background. It is truly an impressive amp.

The Glenn is a custom OTL made by a guy named Glenn. Unfortunately, he hasnt made an amp in well over three years due to declining health, and im not sure if he ever will again.

 

[Wes S]

@ScornDefeat beat me to it, and is correct.

 

[Monsterzero]

@ScornDefeat beat me to it, and is correct.

Yep, I really should avoid posting after 3am.

 

[Wes S]

Yep, I really should avoid posting after 3am.

LOL and 3am? Let me guess. . .the Atrium had a big part in staying up that late.

 

[Monsterzero]

LOL and 3am? Let me guess. . .the Atrium had a big part in staying up that late.

yeah, the sound of the Atrium out of the Glenn is very intoxicating. 3Dness for days. Out of the Dragon its not quite as holographic sounding, but it has more attack and speed, resulting in a more direct sound, which sounds killer for rock and metal.

 

[tlite]

Just to clarify, the Pendant is not an OTL design, it's an Ultralinear SET design.

As such, the Pendant works much more favorably with Planars than OTL designs typically do, and will work amazingly with his HD6XX but also quite well with his Sundara/others.

I am officially hitting amp topology overload. Which is kind of great, but now I have much more reading to do on the matter.

So... we tried the high and low-z output of the Pendant SE with the Sundaras, Beyerdynamic DT 990's, Fostex X00 Ebony's and also DCA Aeon X's (and my buddy's ZMF Verite Closed which was pretty impressive). All of us felt the Sundaras sounded thin through the Pendant compared to a plain old Schiit Magni. Wonder if it was a tube choice thing if the amp itself should've sounded good with them. I just remember the HD6XX's came alive vs. the Magni and sounded better in every way than I'd ever heard them before.

Thanks for the insights- super helpful!

 

[Wes S]

I am officially hitting amp topology overload. Which is kind of great, but now I have much more reading to do on the matter.

So... we tried the high and low-z output of the Pendant SE with the Sundaras, Beyerdynamic DT 990's, Fostex X00 Ebony's and also DCA Aeon X's (and my buddy's ZMF Verite Closed which was pretty impressive). All of us felt the Sundaras sounded thin through the Pendant compared to a plain old Schiit Magni. Wonder if it was a tube choice thing if the amp itself should've sounded good with them. I just remember the HD6XX's came alive vs. the Magni and sounded better in every way than I'd ever heard them before.

Thanks for the insights- super helpful!

I would bet the tubes could be the culprit for the thin sounding Sundara, and as someone who has rolled literally hundreds of tubes in the Pendant, you can get more weight to the sound with certain tube combos. That being said, I am not sure what tube combo was in the amp you heard. . .

 

[ScornDefeat]

I am officially hitting amp topology overload. Which is kind of great, but now I have much more reading to do on the matter.

So... we tried the high and low-z output of the Pendant SE with the Sundaras, Beyerdynamic DT 990's, Fostex X00 Ebony's and also DCA Aeon X's (and my buddy's ZMF Verite Closed which was pretty impressive). All of us felt the Sundaras sounded thin through the Pendant compared to a plain old Schiit Magni. Wonder if it was a tube choice thing if the amp itself should've sounded good with them. I just remember the HD6XX's came alive vs. the Magni and sounded better in every way than I'd ever heard them before.

Thanks for the insights- super helpful!

Happy to help!

While I do believe the Pendant (and other Transformer-coupled tube amps) can work quite well with Planars (the Pendant sure has the output power and low-z tap for it), my personal preference with Planars tends to lean towards SS designs, as well. But its also quite dependent on the specific Planar; for example, the 60-ohm Final D8000 worked really well with the Pendant, while I find the 29-ohm Rosson RAD-0 to be a little too loose in the low-end on the Pendant vs the SS options I've tested with it.

 

[tlite]

I would bet the tubes could be the culprit for the thin sounding Sundara, and as someone who has rolled literally hundreds of tubes…That being said, I am not sure what tube combo was in the amp you heard. . .

Ok. My friend with the pendant just replied with the tube info FWIW:

“…the tubes were: Ez81/6CA4 (rectifier) was a nos RFT. EL84/6BQ5 (power tube) were two nos Baldwins (made by Raytheon, I think). 12AX7 (input) was a used Telefunken. They say the input tube makes the largest sound difference in the Pendant.”

 

[Monsterzero]

12AX7 (input) was a used Telefunken.

theres your culprit. Telefunkens are quite bright, forward sounding, with less than average bass. Great for warm headphones, not so much for neutral or bass light headphones.

They pair up real well with Mullard and RCA tubes, both of which are warm and rich aka very tubey sounding

 

[Wes S]

Ok. My friend with the pendant just replied with the tube info FWIW:

“…the tubes were: Ez81/6CA4 (rectifier) was a nos RFT. EL84/6BQ5 (power tube) were two nos Baldwins (made by Raytheon, I think). 12AX7 (input) was a used Telefunken. They say the input tube makes the largest sound difference in the Pendant.”

Like @Monsterzero said the Telefunken is a lean sounding tube, and so is the RFT rectifier. As for which tube type has the biggest effect on the sound, all three have an equal impact in the Pendant SE. I have confirmed this by rolling a ton of tubes, and I am quite confident in saying I think I have rolled more tubes than any other Pendant owner. There is an art to rolling with 3 different tube types, and it just takes experience and trying a bunch of different ones to get a feel for how they each effect the sound.

I have documented my tube rolling journey with the Pendant in this thread linked below, and I highly suggest checking it out for further detail on tube rolling with that amp. There is a lot to read, as I have gotten quite carried away with rolling in the Pendant . . .In fact, I have been continually rolling new tubes for the past year (I am not kidding when I say I have rolled a ton of tubes ), and have found some really killer ones as of late.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf...olling-and-general-discussions.939249/page-79

 

[tlite]

Also, found a Bottlehead Crack w/Speedball here on the classifieds. Too many recommendations for that HD6XX pairing on this thread and elsewhere to ignore. Pulled the trigger and looking forward to trying it out in a few days.

 

[Wes S]

Also, found a Bottlehead Crack w/Speedball here on the classifieds. Too many recommendations for that HD6XX pairing on this thread and elsewhere to ignore. Pulled the trigger and looking forward to trying it out in a few days.

You have chosen wisely! The BHC is a match made in heaven with the HD6XX. I remember the first time I heard that combo, and will never forget it. Within seconds of the music playing my jaw dropped and I immediately knew why that headphone and amp pairing is so revered.

My favorite tube combo for that pairing was the Bendix 6080WB Graphite Plate for power tube, and the Brimar CV4003 for the input tube.

 

[tlite]

Got the Bottlehead Crack 1.1 with Speedball. It does indeed sound great with the HD6XX. While I still want to try out all these options, I'm very happy with this amp. Thanks all for the help!