[Roasty]

hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Anyone have experience using a passive pre + tube active stage? does the tube stage impart all the tubey goodness that a tube preamp would?

I was looking at the Hattor The Big + Hattor tube active stage

https://www.hattor.com/dualmono_preamp_the_big.html
https://www.hattor.com/tubeactivestage.html

 

[BassicScience]

hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Anyone have experience using a passive pre + tube active stage? does the tube stage impart all the tubey goodness that a tube preamp would?

I was looking at the Hattor The Big + Hattor tube active stage

https://www.hattor.com/dualmono_preamp_the_big.html
https://www.hattor.com/tubeactivestage.html

Hey Roasty,

I've never used or auditioned such a configuration, but putting passive attenuation in a separate box shouldn't really impact how much tubey goodness (tm) you'll experience as much as the specific circuit and tubes used in the active stage. FWIW.

 

[Roasty]

Hey Roasty,

I've never used or auditioned such a configuration, but putting passive attenuation in a separate box shouldn't really impact how much tubey goodness (tm) you'll experience as much as the specific circuit and tubes used in the active stage. FWIW.

Yep so what I was thinking was to try the Big passive pre first.. and if it sounded too sterile/dry (as per what I've read some passives sound), I'd have an option to add a tube stage (for the tubey goodness).

seems the price is decent. and I like the aesthetic of the Hattor units. otherwise, it'll be a Primaluna 400 pre (which would be a bit more expensive). the upside of the Primaluna is, one less box, and local dealer support.

 

[Spawn300Z]

Yep so what I was thinking was to try the Big passive pre first.. and if it sounded too sterile/dry (as per what I've read some passives sound), I'd have an option to add a tube stage (for the tubey goodness).

seems the price is decent. and I like the aesthetic of the Hattor units. otherwise, it'll be a Primaluna 400 pre (which would be a bit more expensive). the upside of the Primaluna is, one less box, and local dealer support.

You might look on Audiogin and US Audio Mart. They have a few Primaluna 400s for sale.

 

[GOKYO]

I'll let someone more technical jump in, but yes, I would use a resistor box with a tube amp, it's widely accepted that there's risk with using headphones with tube amps directly. I use Raal's interface box with really good results.

cary 805 c>akg1000/threshold t-200>he-6&lcd-4/VAC signature> lcd-4.....presently using Airtight ATM 300 with lcd-4.....no resistors......FYI

 

[smodtactical]

What tube integrated speaker amps are quiet enough for sensitive dynamic headphones like HD800S?

I know elekit tu8600 is.

 

[Roasty]

I caved and bought another tube pre.



I can't believe how good this Primaluna Evo 400 pre amp is! I thought the musical paradise was fantastic, but this is even better.

the clarity, separation, that full mids and whomping punchy bass is sublime. and the topping on the cake is, it has a completely silent black background (exactly what I was missing with the MParadise pre and what I was longing for). i can use my Utopia with it too (Zynsonix adaptor box and attenuation) and it's pitch black. this is definitely going to give the wa33 some serious competition, so much so I'm beginning to think whether I need the wa33 anymore.

always figured a pre was important, had some solid state pres, and tried a cheap tube pre, and now this wow this just blows me away.

I've had it running continuously for several hours now and it is barely warm to the touch. the thing weighs a fair bit (almost hurt my back lifting it out of the box) and the build quality is fantastic.

 

[John Wimberley]

What tube integrated speaker amps are quiet enough for sensitive dynamic headphones like HD800S?

I know elekit tu8600 is.

My PrimaLuna Premium Prologue sounds great through HD800S.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I caved and bought another tube pre.



I can't believe how good this Primaluna Evo 400 pre amp is! I thought the musical paradise was fantastic, but this is even better.

the clarity, separation, that full mids and whomping punchy bass is sublime. and the topping on the cake is, it has a completely silent black background (exactly what I was missing with the MParadise pre and what I was longing for). i can use my Utopia with it too (Zynsonix adaptor box and attenuation) and it's pitch black. this is definitely going to give the wa33 some serious competition, so much so I'm beginning to think whether I need the wa33 anymore.

always figured a pre was important, had some solid state pres, and tried a cheap tube pre, and now this wow this just blows me away.

I've had it running continuously for several hours now and it is barely warm to the touch. the thing weighs a fair bit (almost hurt my back lifting it out of the box) and the build quality is fantastic.

Whenever your "should I sell the Wa33" thoughts become more serious, shoot me a pm

... take your time

 

[smodtactical]

I caved and bought another tube pre.



I can't believe how good this Primaluna Evo 400 pre amp is! I thought the musical paradise was fantastic, but this is even better.

the clarity, separation, that full mids and whomping punchy bass is sublime. and the topping on the cake is, it has a completely silent black background (exactly what I was missing with the MParadise pre and what I was longing for). i can use my Utopia with it too (Zynsonix adaptor box and attenuation) and it's pitch black. this is definitely going to give the wa33 some serious competition, so much so I'm beginning to think whether I need the wa33 anymore.

always figured a pre was important, had some solid state pres, and tried a cheap tube pre, and now this wow this just blows me away.

I've had it running continuously for several hours now and it is barely warm to the touch. the thing weighs a fair bit (almost hurt my back lifting it out of the box) and the build quality is fantastic.

Interested in more of your thoughts about the evo400 vs wa33.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I caved and bought another tube pre.



I can't believe how good this Primaluna Evo 400 pre amp is! I thought the musical paradise was fantastic, but this is even better.

the clarity, separation, that full mids and whomping punchy bass is sublime. and the topping on the cake is, it has a completely silent black background (exactly what I was missing with the MParadise pre and what I was longing for). i can use my Utopia with it too (Zynsonix adaptor box and attenuation) and it's pitch black. this is definitely going to give the wa33 some serious competition, so much so I'm beginning to think whether I need the wa33 anymore.

always figured a pre was important, had some solid state pres, and tried a cheap tube pre, and now this wow this just blows me away.

I've had it running continuously for several hours now and it is barely warm to the touch. the thing weighs a fair bit (almost hurt my back lifting it out of the box) and the build quality is fantastic.

The musicality of the EVO amps while also still being very technically accurate is really amazing. I was enamored with the Evo 400 the very first time I fired it up. Interesting that your pre doesn't get hot. The full integrated is a full blown space heater lol. Assuming you're still on the default tubes? I kind of wish I got the pre instead, as I think it would be best paired with a SS amp for most of the cans I owned.

Also, I only got rid of the WA33 due to the Evo 400. It ended up being slightly more enjoyable to me with most headphones.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Interested in more of your thoughts about the evo400 vs wa33.

He could even run the evo 400 into the Wa33...

 

[Roasty]

Whenever your "should I sell the Wa33" thoughts become more serious, shoot me a pm

... take your time

Lol I do not think u want to foot the shipping from Singapore to Germany for that heavy beast!

Interesting that your pre doesn't get hot. The full integrated is a full blown space heater lol. Assuming you're still on the default tubes?

Yep still on default tubes. they sound pretty good to me, already better than whatever I had before, so will run them in and use them for longer before I decide to switch things up. had another listening session and touched the chassis, and yep, still just mildly luke warm..

and I did consider the integrated Evo but I prefer having separates and, like you, really like running a tube pre into a solid state amp. I find the M7 kinki has a rather "muscular and chiselled" sound which complements a tube pre.

Interested in more of your thoughts about the evo400 vs wa33.

it is still quite early on and the pre improves even more with some running in, plus I'm getting new toy syndrome. but what I'm hearing right now (with the Utopia, since that's my primary hp with the Wa33) is that there is much more space in between, central imaging and vocals are stronger and there is less smear between the mid and upper range, and the low end is tighter and at the same time I'm feeling more punchiness. these are the most obvious differences. there is also just enough bite and sharpness to the leading edges to not make it sound overly smooth to border on boring (for eg what I felt with tube amp + empyrean).

the overall meatiness and tonal density, in addition to the added space and clarity is simply addictive on this pre. the front back depth is better on the wa33 though, so far.

using the Zynsonix adaptor box, with zero attenuation, I'm at about 9-10 o'clock on the volume knob with the Abyss, about 10 o'clock on the Susvara. Using -17dB attenuation, abyss around 11, susvara 12, and utopia around 9 o'clock.

the Evo 400 pre has a 10dB gain. it is dead quiet with headphones, despite an additional 26db gain from the power amp, and in comparison to the 12db gain on the MP pre.

 

[Mataugust]

I have used HE1000, GS1000, K872, T1 on Luxman LV107u, NAD302 & Shiit Ragnarok I. Attenuation acording to Robroninette 16.8 db.
All sound fine, though Luxman imo is clearly the best of those amps. Even the 25W from Nad was enough to make HE1000 sing.

 

[Mataugust]

Take a look at this https://robrobinette.com/HeadphoneResistorNetworkCalculator.htm

I made one with values 6.8 and 1.2 ohm. supposed to be 16.8 db. Works great with Luxman LV107u, Nad 302 and a Shiit Ragnarok.
I hav two boxes, one with Jantzen resistors, one with Mills resistors, and I can't tell the difference. First attempt was with Vishay 6.8 and Mills 1.2, but they couldn't really work together.