[AudioPowerHead]

DON’T experiment with tubes too much, and you will save a lot of $.

There is wisdom in your statement there. But FOMO has driven me to sink in few grands already in recent navigation within the tubes maze. Well, we don’t know what we don’t know, right ?…. Am nonetheless happy with where I have landed to-date on tubes and no regrets at all. All part of the fun(cost) of owning a tube amp.

 

[jonathan c]

We're all a bunch of enablers around here. You'll rarely hear someone say, "Don't get a tube amp!"

…unless it precedes, “Get several! Each has its own sonic ‘flavour’.” …

 

[Contrails]

I have the option of buying an used A&S Kenzie Encore. It has the input Trafos and capacitor upgrade. For the same price, I can also get a brand new Cayin HA-3A. This is for a Verite Open. Any recommendations?

 

[goldwerger]

Hey all,

While I await Zach to ship my gorgeous Atriums...
These: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1k840tp22rx2h3p/Atrium_244.jpg?dl=0

..I've been obsessing if I should get a tube amp or not. In the past, I had a Cary tube amp for my speaker set up and really miss it but I just don't listen to speakers much any more so let it go. I've read/seen a few reviews that say the Atriums don't benefit as much from tubes as other ZMF headphones. I currently have two set ups with a Burson Soloist GT w Schitt Bifrost 2 OG and a Burson Soloist 3XP w a Bifrost 2/64. I've seen comments that the Atrium will do really well on a neutral SS amp and have seen the Soloist listed in that group. But if tubes really makes them something special, I'd really like to try that out. But also don't want to spend a ton of money if not really needed.

Few questions:
Any thoughts from those with tubes and Atriums if they do indeed benefit less from tubes or is that just an opinion of a few?

Also, anyone using/liking the Feliks Echo?

Lastly, I also have the HifiMan HE1000v2 which I need to evaluate if I want to keep after getting the Atriums. Anyone having luck playing something like that with a tube amp? Seems planars are hit or miss. If I need/want to spend more than maybe $1200-$1400ish, I'd have to sell my HFM to fund the amp.

Thanks!

I agree with everything @Monsterzero said so no need for me to do anything but echo tha

As far as my personal preference, I like all my ZMF headphones most on my TC tube amp, except the Atrium - I’ve found that its slow decay and lushness is best complemented for me with a good SS amp that helps “tighten it up” a bit, and add a touch of air that really works well with it.

 

[Marutks]

lushness is best complemented for me with a good SS amp that helps “tighten it up” a bit, and add a touch of air that really works well with it.

Is RME-ADI 2 DAC good enough in your opinion? HM-1 might be better, of course, but I am not sure I want to pay 7k for a SS amp.

 

[goldwerger]

Is RME-ADI 2 DAC good enough in your opinion? HM-1 might be better, of course, but I am not sure I want to pay 7k for a SS amp.

I’ve never heard it so I can’t comment on that one in specific. But the Atrium isn’t very hard to drive, I’d imagine any good desktop amp will serve you well. But again I don’t know this one specifically, sorry

 

[heyguyslol]

Hey all,

While I await Zach to ship my gorgeous Atriums...
These: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1k840tp22rx2h3p/Atrium_244.jpg?dl=0

..I've been obsessing if I should get a tube amp or not. In the past, I had a Cary tube amp for my speaker set up and really miss it but I just don't listen to speakers much any more so let it go. I've read/seen a few reviews that say the Atriums don't benefit as much from tubes as other ZMF headphones. I currently have two set ups with a Burson Soloist GT w Schitt Bifrost 2 OG and a Burson Soloist 3XP w a Bifrost 2/64. I've seen comments that the Atrium will do really well on a neutral SS amp and have seen the Soloist listed in that group. But if tubes really makes them something special, I'd really like to try that out. But also don't want to spend a ton of money if not really needed.

Few questions:
Any thoughts from those with tubes and Atriums if they do indeed benefit less from tubes or is that just an opinion of a few?

Also, anyone using/liking the Feliks Echo?

Lastly, I also have the HifiMan HE1000v2 which I need to evaluate if I want to keep after getting the Atriums. Anyone having luck playing something like that with a tube amp? Seems planars are hit or miss. If I need/want to spend more than maybe $1200-$1400ish, I'd have to sell my HFM to fund the amp.

Thanks!

I find the Atriums to be highly flexible when it comes to gear chain and imo you don't need a tube amp to get the most out of them. However, the Atriums do still benefit from a good tube amp; its just not required. The ZMF Vérité's on the other hand imo I feel tubes are required. I personally can't listen to my Vérité's on a SS.

Based on the gear you listed I would hold off on buying anything else for your Atriums until you've run your tests as you may find that they perform quite well w/ what you have.

 

[George Hincapie]

Is RME-ADI 2 DAC good enough in your opinion? HM-1 might be better, of course, but I am not sure I want to pay 7k for a SS amp.

Buy Bliss then.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Is RME-ADI 2 DAC good enough in your opinion? HM-1 might be better, of course, but I am not sure I want to pay 7k for a SS amp.

I have tube amps (one transformer-coupled & the other OTL), and they both sound wonderful on any ZMF dynamics I own or had on loan.

I have a number of SS amps and found consistently over the years that the Violectric "house sound" is ideal for me. I have yet to hear any headphone sound less than its best on the V281 (which I use 99% of the time from the balanced output); for years I had the single-ended Lake People G109-A (LP owns Violectric), and that amp worked wonders with ZMF dynamics, too.

Violectric has 2 relatively affordable (<$1,500) new models, the V202 (single-ended) and V222 (balanced; w/onboard DAC it's the V226), described as being throwbacks to the much-loved SS sound of the V281. Above these two are several somewhat larger and more expensive amps said to exhibit a new "Violectric/neutral" sound. The least expensive of these is the HPA-340 (~$2,200). You can find rave reviews of all these models here and elsewhere.

I get subtle, wonderful sonic qualities from tubes that I don't quite get from even my best SS; and other sonic goodies from SS that I don't quite get from tubes. At least for me, I have to have both for ZMF dynamics.

 

[raindownthunda]

Blue Halo+ by @A2029 of 1101 Audio (head-fi thread)

Been listening with my VC and Aeolus this past week and can confidently say this is a true end-game OTL amp that slays with ZMF headphones.

 

[Monsterzero]

Blue Halo+ by @A2029 of 1101 Audio (head-fi thread)

Been listening with my VC and Aeolus this past week and can confidently say this is a true end-game OTL amp that slays with ZMF headphones.

Sexy AF! Congrats.
I like how the VU meters change colors. Do you control that or does it do it randomly? How is the noise on this amp and what tube types does it take?

 

[raindownthunda]

Sexy AF! Congrats.
I like how the VU meters change colors. Do you control that or does it do it randomly?

Thanks! The VU meters are totally custom made by me (not available to order). I modded a set of S45 VU meters to use individually addressable RGB LED's, found an RGB power switch, set up a controller circuit, and sent the setup to @A2029 for a custom addition during the build process.

Here's a post I wrote in the 1101 thread with more info on the LED setup.

In short, there are 19 total RGB LED's (including the power button LED) that can be set individually or together in groups. The ethernet port in the back connects to my home network so I can control the lights from any web browser and also an app on my phone. There's literally hundreds of different dynamic effects (in addition to just solid colors). I can also have the lights sync with a visualizer on my computer to create audio-reactive effects. Admittedly I have been spending more time listening to the amp than playing with lighting effects so far

I did a few quick experiments to get a taste of the audio-reactive effects:

How is the noise on this amp

Still early days, but I believe this is an impressively low noise OTL amp. Noise floor seems to depend on the output mode used:

In BH output mode the noise floor varies a bit by how noisy the tubes are. MOST 6J5 and 6SN7 I've rolled in have been very, very quiet with no hum or interference noises - just a very faint hiss without music playing on my VC. I did try one pair of Fivre 6C5G pair I knew to be super noisy (unusable in my Bottlehead Crack OTL) and could still hear the noise but it was less severe. I'm currently listening to a Melz 1578 by itself in BH mode and there is just the very faintest perceivable hiss with no music playing. I tried some Mullard CV1932/6J5G tubes that were practically silent.

In BH+ output mode I'm finding the noise floor is generally significantly lower and practically imperceptible, especially with 6080/6AS7G tubes. The very faint hiss with the Melz 1578 was basically gone when used with 4x 6N5S in BH+ mode. The only power tubes I've found to raise the noise floor to perceptible levels have been a set of 6x 6BXL's. I need to try some other 6BL7 to see if it was just the tubes I had in or the amp circuit using those family of tubes.

Relative to my Bottlehead Crack: BH mode is noticeably quieter. BH+ mode so far seems to be (usually) close to dead silent.

what tube types does it take?

POWER TUBES
6x octal sockets than can take the following:

Tube family	Quantity (Total)	Output impedance (Ohm)
6080/6AS7G	2	60-70
6080/6AS7G	4	~35
6080/6AS7G	6 (Caution: Reduces amp life)	~25
5998/421A	2	35-40
5998/421A	4	20-23
5998/421A	6 (Caution: Reduces amp life)	14-15
6BL7/6BX7	2	75
6BL7/6BX7	4	40
6BL7/6BX7	6	27
6336/6258	2*	~35
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	2 (Caution: Fast Tube Wear)	90-100
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	4	45-50
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	6	30-35

DRIVER TUBES
2x 6J5 and 1x 6SN7 socket

6V / 12V switch for the driver tubes is standard. The drivers can also be run together as "triplets".

The way @A2029 designed the circuit there are a HUGE number of driver tubes that can be used with adapters. Here's the full list of adapters currently offered by @A2029:

These are the adapters I'm going to try when I get bored of 6/12J5 & 6/12SN7 families:

• 1x 12AU7 -> 6SN7
• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7
• 2x 6J7 -> 6J5
• 2x 12BY7 -> 6J5
• 2x C3G -> 6J5
• 2x 6922 -> 6J5
• 2x EL34 -> 6J5

There are basically endless combinations between driver/power tube rolling. In that sense I think it is kind of like a spiritual successor to the GOTL with more modern circuit design. That being said, I don't think you need to do a ton of rolling to find something that sounds good. The baseline is just that good that even with the cheapest tubes it sounds phenomenal. I just had in a quad of cheap Svetlana 6H5C power tubes with NU 12J5GT's and was in heaven. Listening to just the 12J5GT by themselves in BH was just as enjoyable, just a different presentation.

With BH/BH+ mode and CCS/Resistor switch for BH+ mode there are really like 3 amps in one. It's been fun to try using only the driver tubes in BH mode = more clarity/less distortion. Once getting a sense of how the driver tube sounds in isolation, then trying out those same drivers in BH+ mode with the added power tubes = more harmonic distortion. Resistor mode has even more distortion and makes for a more relaxed listen but with less detail.

I hope to be able to try the Caldera some day. Using the "Low ohm" mode allows most headphones down to ~20 ohm to be used with good bass so theoretically should pair quite well?

Here's the full list of build options for the amp

@A2029 has been a dream to work with. Can't recommend the Blue Halo+ enough!

 

[Wes S]

Thanks! The VU meters are totally custom made by me (not available to order). I modded a set of S45 VU meters to use individually addressable RGB LED's, found an RGB power switch, set up a controller circuit, and sent the setup to @A2029 for a custom addition during the build process.

Here's a post I wrote in the 1101 thread with more info on the LED setup.

In short, there are 19 total RGB LED's (including the power button LED) that can be set individually or together in groups. The ethernet port in the back connects to my home network so I can control the lights from any web browser and also an app on my phone. There's literally hundreds of different dynamic effects (in addition to just solid colors). I can also have the lights sync with a visualizer on my computer to create audio-reactive effects. Admittedly I have been spending more time listening to the amp than playing with lighting effects so far

I did a few quick experiments to get a taste of the audio-reactive effects:






Still early days, but I believe this is an impressively low noise OTL amp. Noise floor seems to depend on the output mode used:

In BH output mode the noise floor varies a bit by how noisy the tubes are. MOST 6J5 and 6SN7 I've rolled in have been very, very quiet with no hum or interference noises - just a very faint hiss without music playing on my VC. I did try one pair of Fivre 6C5G pair I knew to be super noisy (unusable in my Bottlehead Crack OTL) and could still hear the noise but it was less severe. I'm currently listening to a Melz 1578 by itself in BH mode and there is just the very faintest perceivable hiss with no music playing. I tried some Mullard CV1932/6J5G tubes that were practically silent.

In BH+ output mode I'm finding the noise floor is generally significantly lower and practically imperceptible, especially with 6080/6AS7G tubes. The very faint hiss with the Melz 1578 was basically gone when used with 4x 6N5S in BH+ mode. The only power tubes I've found to raise the noise floor to perceptible levels have been a set of 6x 6BXL's. I need to try some other 6BL7 to see if it was just the tubes I had in or the amp circuit using those family of tubes.

Relative to my Bottlehead Crack: BH mode is noticeably quieter. BH+ mode so far seems to be (usually) close to dead silent.



POWER TUBES
6x octal sockets than can take the following:

Tube family	Quantity (Total)	Output impedance (Ohm)
6080/6AS7G	2	60-70
6080/6AS7G	4	~35
6080/6AS7G	6 (Caution: Reduces amp life)	~25
5998/421A	2	35-40
5998/421A	4	20-23
5998/421A	6 (Caution: Reduces amp life)	14-15
6BL7/6BX7	2	75
6BL7/6BX7	4	40
6BL7/6BX7	6	27
6336/6258	2*	~35
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	2 (Caution: Fast Tube Wear)	90-100
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	4	45-50
**EL34/KT66/KT77/KT88/6V6/6L6GC	6	30-35

DRIVER TUBES
2x 6J5 and 1x 6SN7 socket

6V / 12V switch for the driver tubes is standard. The drivers can also be run together as "triplets".

The way @A2029 designed the circuit there are a HUGE number of driver tubes that can be used with adapters. Here's the full list of adapters currently offered by @A2029:

These are the adapters I'm going to try when I get bored of 6/12J5 & 6/12SN7 families:

• 1x 12AU7 -> 6SN7
• 1x 6080 -> 6SN7
• 2x 6J7 -> 6J5
• 2x 12BY7 -> 6J5
• 2x C3G -> 6J5
• 2x 6922 -> 6J5
• 2x EL34 -> 6J5

There are basically endless combinations between driver/power tube rolling. In that sense I think it is kind of like a spiritual successor to the GOTL with more modern circuit design. That being said, I don't think you need to do a ton of rolling to find something that sounds good. The baseline is just that good that even with the cheapest tubes it sounds phenomenal. I just had in a quad of cheap Svetlana 6H5C power tubes with NU 12J5GT's and was in heaven. Listening to just the 12J5GT by themselves in BH was just as enjoyable, just a different presentation.

With BH/BH+ mode and CCS/Resistor switch for BH+ mode there are really like 3 amps in one. It's been fun to try using only the driver tubes in BH mode = more clarity/less distortion. Once getting a sense of how the driver tube sounds in isolation, then trying out those same drivers in BH+ mode with the added power tubes = more harmonic distortion. Resistor mode has even more distortion and makes for a more relaxed listen but with less detail.

I hope to be able to try the Caldera some day. Using the "Low ohm" mode allows most headphones down to ~20 ohm to be used with good bass so theoretically should pair quite well?

Here's the full list of build options for the amp

@A2029 has been a dream to work with. Can't recommend the Blue Halo+ enough!

My head is spinning with all those tube choices! Wow man, that should keep you busy for life.

 

[marie 1947]

Reporting live…

Most reviews seem to recommend Otl , i see u have same amp as me ,why is OTL always suggested?

 

[goldwerger]

Most reviews seem to recommend Otl , i see u have same amp as me ,why is OTL always suggested?

OTLs are (on average) much cheaper and more accessible. They usually work best with high impedance dynamic headphones (like ZMF’s 300 headphones).

OTL amps not have transformers to reduce output impedance following their output stage, so in theory their signal path is more direct. Though TC amps can have super clean signal paths depending on quality of components.

You will get lower damping factor with OTL give its higher output impedance, which may have a sound that may feel euphonic and “tuby”. But so many factors can affect sound it’s hard to generalize.

In you want to drive such headphones they are a great gateway to tube amps, and can be your only amp. There are some amazing OTL amps.

If you also want to drive lower impedance or planar headphones, then a TC amp will offer the versatility to drive all. And typically have more linear amplification (again, really depends on the model).