shwnwllms
1000+ Head-Fier
BB is going to have more tube rolling options, it will take anything you can throw at it including power hungry planars. Thick mids and tons of slamI can get a Bigger Ben for a decent price. Is it worth it to try and find an Agartha instead? Justin just told me there's also a Rockwell. Apparently all 3 are the same level. Sigh.
Agartha is that “live music” sound. Stage is vast and wide, notes trail off into the distance and seem to dance in the holographic stage surrounding you, painting a canvas with the music. You are simply “there”. It’s a very unique sound, esp with vocals and acoustic music. SET amp + 300B (and the ability to power high efficiency speakers is end game)
Rockwell is the “thinking man’s amp” according to Justin. Tubes are cheap but still has a lush romantic sound. Nothing as exotic as KT-88s or 300Bs to drive up the cost of ownership
I actually prefer the Rev 1 with Octals. You can always run Novals with an adapter. Rev 1 means more tube rolling options for drivers where I usually prefer to run single triodes with an adapter anyway (which also brings down the noise on the 300 Ohm tap and sound better than Novals IMO)
Agartha’s rarely come up. BB is a more direct upgrade path from the Pendant (even if you leapfrogged a step or two). Also Agartha has a slightly higher noise floor due to the 300B circuitry.
Speed run for the top. Buy the BB (you’ll be looking at a bigger desk and a Nautilus next week at this pace)
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