[cdf294]

Not that anyone has asked but I've tried quite a few pairs of vintage and new tubes in this amp and found that my preferred tube thus far has been the triple mica black plate CRP 5814A Raytheon. I only mention this because I scored the matched pair for $40 but I've also seen them selling for well over that cost.
The easiest solution is to pick up a matched pair of late 50's Baldwin (yellow label) black plate Raytheons for around $30 and call it good. IMO, newly manufactured tubes for the same money can't touch them.

Of course I suppose it's possible that I could prefer something other than the Raytheons if I were using a different set of headphones.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Anyone have an experience about the TA-20 compared to the Cavalli CTH ?

 

[HTSkywalker]

Seems like I want to buy xduoo TA-20 for my Hifiman Ananda, but I can't try it before buying. Did anyone listened to this combination? I'm curious if there is any hiss / background noise?

I read a lot about the TA-20 and the Cavalli CTH and possible mating with the Ananda (which I have along with Focal Elear) and ended up ordering the CTH, will update you on the mating once received, please update me if you were able to try the TA-20 Ananda combination.

 

[smoothb0re]

I purchased a used TA-20 some time ago and every time I think about upgrading to a different amp, I question why I need an upgrade.
The TA-20 has been one of the most enjoyable inexpensive purchases I've made in this hobby in a long time and I don't feel that it does a disservice to my planars in any way.

Agreed - especially with proper tubes the TA-20 punches way above its price bracket. I mean I'd even say I see no reason to "upgrade" to a Liquid Plat, as I don't think it's much better sound-wise. That's remarkable for a 300€ amp - even if the tubes were an additional 50-100€ it's still cheap for the performance you get. How on earth did Xduoo manage that?

 

[cdf294]

I decided to do a little tube rolling on the TA-20 tonight since something unexpected happened that will result in some tube swapping in the near future.
I don't know if it is a good or bad thing but I stumbled into 3 pairs of tested Raytheons for $30 shipped- 2 pair of black plates and a pair of gray plates. I figure this means that I will pretty much be using Raytheons for the life of this amp, not that I am complaining if they sound anything like the 2 pair of Raytheons that I already have. In addition to the 5814, I also have a pair of Baldwin labeled black plates so I would think the 2 pair of black plates should be very similar although they will have halo getters instead of the square getters on the Baldwins. It's the gray plates that I am really wondering about since I already know I like black plates. For the price, I just couldn't walk away.

For a change of pace, I plugged in some 1950's lightning logo Sylvania black plates that will stay installed until the tubes I purchased today show up early next week.

 

[kvad]

Am considering a Hybrid amp as well for my Ananda and both the Cavalli CTH and TA-20 are on my radar, any ideas about the CTH mating ? maybe you tried it before deciding on TA-20 ? are you using balanced input and output ?

Completely missed your question, sorry about that. I see in the meantime you went for the CTH, don't have any experience with that one.

I've been using the TA-20 with balanced output to the Ananda. It in turn is fed by a Musician Pegasus DAC via the record out of a Rega Elex-R (driving speakers) using regular RCA cables. I'll test with XLR cables directly from the DAC one of these days.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Completely missed your question, sorry about that. I see in the meantime you went for the CTH, don't have any experience with that one.

I've been using the TA-20 with balanced output to the Ananda. It in turn is fed by a Musician Pegasus DAC via the record out of a Rega Elex-R (driving speakers) using regular RCA cables. I'll test with XLR cables directly from the DAC one of these days.

And how about your impressions about that combination ?

 

[synfinatic]

I'm using some socket savers in my TA-20 so 3D printed some risers for the guards.

On a side note, I discovered the ground wire in the case which mounts to the PCB was not tight. The bolt holding it was too long for the hole. Ended up cutting the screw shorter so I could have a solid ground connection.

Anyways, I'm still looking for tubes I like. The stock tubes are way to sterile and flat for me. I tried some RCA clear tops, but with my LCD-2C's it makes the music painful to listen to and gives me a headache after 5-10 minutes. The feeling I get is when you listen to podcaster who doesn't know what they're doing and doesn't use a pop filter.

Currently have some Mullards in which are better than the other two.

 

[kvad]

And how about your impressions about that combination ?

The Pegasus came before the TA-20/Ananda replacing a Chord Mojo. Tested the Mojo and Pegasus head to head with the Rega Elex-R driving a pair of Guru Junior speakers. It was a substantial improvement. Previously it had been slightly harsh, sometimes a bit fatiguing. That went away, while also feeling more detailed and adding a better sense of space. Right out of the box the Pegasus was very impressive, but had too much energy in the high frequencies. Thankfully that calmed down after about a day of use.

 

[Wiljen]

MT-601 and 602 arrived in my collection about a week ago now. Working on getting reviews finished and some of the tube rolling started but the spoiler is both are worth an audition. Both are hybrid with the 601 using a 6922 followed by a pair of IRF630N mosfets while the 602 uses a pair of 6ak5 ahead of a quad of D882M BJT for power amplification. The 601 is somewhat limited on output power so best used with 150 Ω or so over-ears or iems. The 602 has better than 1 watt output power and handles most of my stuff with ease. Not too bad for a couple of Sub-$100 models.

 

[HTSkywalker]

MT-601 and 602 arrived in my collection about a week ago now. Working on getting reviews finished and some of the tube rolling started but the spoiler is both are worth an audition. Both are hybrid with the 601 using a 6922 followed by a pair of IRF630N mosfets while the 602 uses a pair of 6ak5 ahead of a quad of D882M BJT for power amplification. The 601 is somewhat limited on output power so best used with 150 Ω or so over-ears or iems. The 602 has better than 1 watt output power and handles most of my stuff with ease. Not too bad for a couple of Sub-$100 models.

Was thinking of using the 602 as a pre-amp but probably the stock tubes should be upgraded adding an $80

 

[Wiljen]

Was thinking of using the 602 as a pre-amp but probably the stock tubes should be upgraded adding an $80

Yep, I like your thinking and with a pair of JAN Sylvania 5654's it sings.

 

[FyxeHexyz]

MT-601 and 602 arrived in my collection about a week ago now. Working on getting reviews finished and some of the tube rolling started but the spoiler is both are worth an audition. Both are hybrid with the 601 using a 6922 followed by a pair of IRF630N mosfets while the 602 uses a pair of 6ak5 ahead of a quad of D882M BJT for power amplification. The 601 is somewhat limited on output power so best used with 150 Ω or so over-ears or iems. The 602 has better than 1 watt output power and handles most of my stuff with ease. Not too bad for a couple of Sub-$100 models.

Looking forward to a review and the tube-rolling series with these bois I just got my 602 today and I'm already loving it (my first tube amp, or even hybrid in the first place).
Do you have any starting tube recommendation? I love the original tube so far but I'm looking for something that has slightly more sub-bass and soundstage

 

[HTSkywalker]

Looking forward to a review and the tube-rolling series with these bois I just got my 602 today and I'm already loving it (my first tube amp, or even hybrid in the first place).
Do you have any starting tube recommendation? I love the original tube so far but I'm looking for something that has slightly more sub-bass and soundstage

yeah let us know about your impressions, are you using it as an amp or pre-amp ? did you try with planars ?

 

[FyxeHexyz]

yeah let us know about your impressions, are you using it as an amp or pre-amp ? did you try with planars ?

I'm unsure as to how to describe it but I'll try anyways.

I paired mine with the XD-05+ running as the DAC. Used Acoustune HS1695ti iem and Hifiman Sundara. There is a channel imbalance area near the bottom with right side being louder, I think it is around... 7 - 8 o'clock (the first bar from minimum)

The lows are there but it's only "enough"... At least for me. It's really clean though but it won't be a good kick. I call it a clean bass since it doesn't linger long.

Mids are warm-ish and very clear

The highs are there and it doesn't hurt my ears at least but it sparkles.

All in all.... It sounds like a balanced solid-state with refined highs and lows with more body to it. Although at times it can be thin-ish but accurate though reminded me of the stock XD-05+ but with a larger soundstage, better imaging and clarity, less sub-bass, refined highs, good warmth in the mids n lows. Typical XDuoo house sound if you've listened to most of their stuff.

P.S. Definitely worth it for a $100 and could be endgame for most people who just wanted something simple n good. My 6J1 toobs haven't reached the 50 hours proper warm up yet but the lows n mids definitely is getting thicker and kicking more

P.S.S. Any slightly warmer toobs recommendation? I love the 6j1 sound but I want it to be slight warm-ish. I'm used to the XD-05+ with Burson V5i