[Wes S]

Someone with ZMF's looking for a tube amp should jump on this! I just saw this in the classifieds, and I have never heard a DNA amp before, but I know many ZMF fans love them.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/dna-starlett-for-sale.44415/

 

[whirlwind]

I was wondering if my Glen OTL could drive the Caldera and what tube configuration would be needed ? I purchased a Questyle CMA 15 which is high current drive amp specifically for planar headphones. Just wondering if could I roll some tubes for a different sound with my Glen?

I will be attending Can Jam Chicago this year to check what is new in headphones. I hope to see a bunch of you guys there.

Nice to see you around.

 

[AudioDuck]

Someone with ZMF's looking for a tube amp should jump on this! I just saw this in the classifieds, and I have never heard a DNA amp before, but I know many ZMF fans love them.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/dna-starlett-for-sale.44415/

Yep, that went fast! Great to see a nice DNA amp getting a new home… hopefully the buyer has some ZMFs to enjoy with it.

 

[Monsterzero]

Interesting read

https://www.wired.com/story/one-man...2ppuPv_dY50UyQZ5zy8L_JmegTLpQ&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

 

[kumar402]

Interesting read

https://www.wired.com/story/one-man...2ppuPv_dY50UyQZ5zy8L_JmegTLpQ&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Just went over the thread about warranty issue with Western Electric in super best audio friends. I guess they have a rule to send back a physical form to enable warranty beyond 90 days.

 

[buke9]

I was wondering if my Glen OTL could drive the Caldera and what tube configuration would be needed ? I purchased a Questyle CMA 15 which is high current drive amp specifically for planar headphones. Just wondering if could I roll some tubes for a different sound with my Glen?

I will be attending Can Jam Chicago this year to check what is new in headphones. I hope to see a bunch of you guys there.

It’s been awhile hope to see you in Chicago.

 

[eTHE2]

I had read this article in past few days.
Hoping he can really pull it off. Buying American.. even at a slight premium, would be great! Has anyone tried the 300B’s that are available? Curious what impressions are out there compared to NOS and foreign made ones.

 

[pravous]

Interesting read

https://www.wired.com/story/one-man...2ppuPv_dY50UyQZ5zy8L_JmegTLpQ&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

It seems that they are primarily focused on the guitar amp market but there is always hope they revive the 421a.

 

[robo24]

I had read this article in past few days.
Hoping he can really pull it off. Buying American.. even at a slight premium, would be great! Has anyone tried the 300B’s that are available? Curious what impressions are out there compared to NOS and foreign made ones.

They're the best of the few I own, which are the only ones I've heard. I got them after Zach mentioned using them in the Envy was as good as any amp he's heard. 2 models of Elrogs seem to have many fans, but I'm so happy with the WE ones I've not pursued them. That said I have some barely used Sophia Electric ones which are knock off designs and they're quite similar for 1/2 the price or less.

I think having to send in a card within 10 days of ordering them just to get the warranty is annoying and clearly easy for many people to miss that info. Though personally I can't imagine spending $1600 on tubes without seeking out everything I could find about them. Having done that I saw many times that one had to send a registration card by snail mail to get the 5 year warranty. For that the least they can do is send an email confirmation once received. I bought direct from them and they also have my email on the registration cards so it's just poor customer service.

Abyss does something similar with their headphones, requiring registration to get the full warranty which from the 1266 thread was missed by many and they only got 1 year. For $6000 that's poor customer service when other planar makers have automatic warranties, and in ZMF's case a lifetime one on the drivers for the original buyer.

 

[ItHz]

Interesting read

https://www.wired.com/story/one-man...2ppuPv_dY50UyQZ5zy8L_JmegTLpQ&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

I look forward to trying their 12AX7! The 300B's have been very enjoyable.

For anyone curious about the warranty service:
Recently, one of my matched pair of 300B's developed some intermittent whistles and static. I called WE support, the support representative was friendly and emphasized that they want to take care of customers then issued a RMA. About a week later I got an email update from WE with the results of their investigation: the tube tested very well with no sign of problems. Next they went the extra-mile, IMO, and plugged the tube into an amp and had a listen! They confirmed the offending noises and immediately sent out a replacement tube.

The warranty exchange went as quickly and painlessly as I could ask for

 

[LongSong]

Hi Folks, I'm pretty new to the whole hifi thing and looking for some pointers please. I mostly listen to electronic music but also like most other modern music styles. I've found my way to some LCD-XC's with a Burson Soloist 3XP and was quite happy with it for electronic music but wanted more in other genre's space so bought some VC's and built a bottlehead crack kit with speedball. Excitedly plugged my new VC's into the Burson and found them not as good as the Audeze's but when running the VC's in the crack they really come alive, I'm guessing the synergy between VC and soloist is just not there. Interesting thing though is I'm actually listening to my electronic music through the VC's and crack and like it a lot more than the LCD-soloist combo which I didn't expect. I really like the detail, separation and bass texture of the planar/solid state combo but the VC's on BHC don't leave me wanting too much in that space plus the dynamics is just too much to walk away from. So that brings me to where I need some pointers. For my electronic music I'd like to keep the dynamics of the VC/BHC combo but also try to get some more detail, separation and bass texture. Should I be looking to tube roll's on my BHC for this and if so can anyone recommend good tube combo's for electronic music that are not crazy expensive? Or should I be looking for a different solid state amp? I see the chats in here about Vioelectric but it's not clear to me if that would be best for electronic music. For gear, I'll be looking to buy in the second hand market so will start building a list of preferred approaches then let the second hand sales dictate what I try next from within that list. Any help or feedback is much appreciated.

 

[eTHE2]

They're the best of the few I own, which are the only ones I've heard. I got them after Zach mentioned using them in the Envy was as good as any amp he's heard. 2 models of Elrogs seem to have many fans, but I'm so happy with the WE ones I've not pursued them. That said I have some barely used Sophia Electric ones which are knock off designs and they're quite similar for 1/2 the price or less.

I think having to send in a card within 10 days of ordering them just to get the warranty is annoying and clearly easy for many people to miss that info. Though personally I can't imagine spending $1600 on tubes without seeking out everything I could find about them. Having done that I saw many times that one had to send a registration card by snail mail to get the 5 year warranty. For that the least they can do is send an email confirmation once received. I bought direct from them and they also have my email on the registration cards so it's just poor customer service.

Abyss does something similar with their headphones, requiring registration to get the full warranty which from the 1266 thread was missed by many and they only got 1 year. For $6000 that's poor customer service when other planar makers have automatic warranties, and in ZMF's case a lifetime one on the drivers for the original buyer.

I’m curious if the mail in warranty activation issue has been discussed with WE? Given it’s a bit of a re‘startup’ in the US, the article seems to indicate the owner knows he has to be a differentiator between his products and all the others in marketplace. Perhaps he’s open to some minor changes to the process that would provide a better end to end experience. OTOH, perhaps his business model counts on some not being warranted.

 

[jonathan c]

Hi Folks, I'm pretty new to the whole hifi thing and looking for some pointers please. I mostly listen to electronic music but also like most other modern music styles. I've found my way to some LCD-XC's with a Burson Soloist 3XP and was quite happy with it for electronic music but wanted more in other genre's space so bought some VC's and built a bottlehead crack kit with speedball. Excitedly plugged my new VC's into the Burson and found them not as good as the Audeze's but when running the VC's in the crack they really come alive, I'm guessing the synergy between VC and soloist is just not there. Interesting thing though is I'm actually listening to my electronic music through the VC's and crack and like it a lot more than the LCD-soloist combo which I didn't expect. I really like the detail, separation and bass texture of the planar/solid state combo but the VC's on BHC don't leave me wanting too much in that space plus the dynamics is just too much to walk away from. So that brings me to where I need some pointers. For my electronic music I'd like to keep the dynamics of the VC/BHC combo but also try to get some more detail, separation and bass texture. Should I be looking to tube roll's on my BHC for this and if so can anyone recommend good tube combo's for electronic music that are not crazy expensive? Or should I be looking for a different solid state amp? I see the chats in here about Vioelectric but it's not clear to me if that would be best for electronic music. For gear, I'll be looking to buy in the second hand market so will start building a list of preferred approaches then let the second hand sales dictate what I try next from within that list. Any help or feedback is much appreciated.

First / second: Welcome to Head-Fi and congratulations on building BHC+SB !! Which specific tubes are you using in BHC? Before ‘eyeing’ a different headphone amplifier, some judicious tube ‘rolling’ could give you a better idea of BHC’s outer capabilities. Those might satisfy you, period. My tube suggestions are power tube: Raytheon 6080WC; input tube: Brimar CV491, Mullard CV4003, RCA ‘clear top’ 12AU7, RFT ECC82 (‘halo’ or ‘foil’ getter). Head-Fiers …. chime in !

 

[goldwerger]

Hi Folks, I'm pretty new to the whole hifi thing and looking for some pointers please. I mostly listen to electronic music but also like most other modern music styles. I've found my way to some LCD-XC's with a Burson Soloist 3XP and was quite happy with it for electronic music but wanted more in other genre's space so bought some VC's and built a bottlehead crack kit with speedball. Excitedly plugged my new VC's into the Burson and found them not as good as the Audeze's but when running the VC's in the crack they really come alive, I'm guessing the synergy between VC and soloist is just not there. Interesting thing though is I'm actually listening to my electronic music through the VC's and crack and like it a lot more than the LCD-soloist combo which I didn't expect. I really like the detail, separation and bass texture of the planar/solid state combo but the VC's on BHC don't leave me wanting too much in that space plus the dynamics is just too much to walk away from. So that brings me to where I need some pointers. For my electronic music I'd like to keep the dynamics of the VC/BHC combo but also try to get some more detail, separation and bass texture. Should I be looking to tube roll's on my BHC for this and if so can anyone recommend good tube combo's for electronic music that are not crazy expensive? Or should I be looking for a different solid state amp? I see the chats in here about Vioelectric but it's not clear to me if that would be best for electronic music. For gear, I'll be looking to buy in the second hand market so will start building a list of preferred approaches then let the second hand sales dictate what I try next from within that list. Any help or feedback is much appreciated.

I'm not sure about tube rolling since I never had the BHC myself, I'm sure others will chime in on that.

But it seems like what you're enjoying is the sound of an OTL amp with the ZMF high impedenace headphone (a classic combo) so I would recommend you stick with the OTL route rather than get another SS amp.

 

[pravous]

Bottlehead tube rolling thread
6080/6as7g rolling thread
Two good places to start. First listen on a BHC that you made yourself is a blast.