I picked up a Diana V2, so I can kind of answer my own question here. With the Diana, the high and low outputs basically feel like high and low gain settings, with the high-impedance output seeming to drive the Diana a bit harder. So yeah, not sure if this extends to planars in general, but I prefer running the Diana off of the high-impedance.
I currently have a stable of six headphones (HD600, Elex, Eikon, Gjallarhorn, Diana, MYSPHERE), and after trying all of them, the Eikon and Elex are literally the only ones that buzz/hum on the high-impedance output for me. (Note that the Elex buzzes significantly less than the Eikon, but it’s not like you would normally use a high-impedance output to listen to an Elex anyway.)
This makes zero sense to me, like, the Gjallarhorn has a sensitivity of 116 db and 33 ohm impedance and I don’t hear any buzzing at all. Then again, if I swap between the Eikon and the Gjallarhorn on the high-output, the Eikon’s volume is significantly louder than the Gjallarhorn at the same setting, so like… I’m at a loss on this one. o.o
For what it’s worth, I still use the high-impedance output to listen to the Eikon anyway.
Still using the RCA tubes, still enjoying them! I haven’t tried the GE pair yet, and I probably won’t get around to it for another two weeks with everything else going on.
Also, thanks for the link to the video! This is really cool.
Same. When I use the ie900 on hi-imp I get no buzz but through the utopia the buzz is audible.
Oh well, I don’t use those on hi-imp anyway, but it just has me scratching my head.
I’m working on a write-up (slowly but surely) with the stock, GE, RCA, and Sylvania tubes on hand. Oddly enough, I like the stock ones the most but one of my stock tubes is bad so right now I’m hunting down a pair. I’m trying to figure out what brand they are because they come with 1 westinghouse and 1 zenith. Are yours both zenith?
And just some quick-word impressions on the tubes…
You’d hear asymmetry in the sound, might just sound louder in one channel, won’t hurt the amp.
Short version is you usually replace both, but you can swap one out in a pinch, some tubes do change quite significantly over the first 200 hours of use though, so it can be a bit more of an issue with new tubes.
Outside some of the soviet era stuff tubes advertised as NOS are rarely actually New anymore, they just test reasonably, so there is little in the way of break-in, if they have similar measurements to the one you lost all the better. But buying used there is generally no guarantee that the tubes in the pair have similar hours on them.
I really didn’t want to tube roll but, alas, this is what happens when you get one bad tube…you buy xx (yes, there’s more coming ) pairs to replace em! lol
Anyway…
Stock (Zenith?) 6EM7Pretty balanced overall imo. Has a little bit of all the qualities of the other tubes. Nice extension, not too sweet, decent stage, good detail although not as textured as the others, and not too warm. Not as refined but probably the most engaging of the bunch, which I like. I still like these the most overall.
Sylvania 6EM7Tilts the sound closer to the leaner, more analytical side of things. I feel it sounds dryer and less sweet than stock. It also lacks in tonal expression I find (first time using that term but sounds right lol). It probably has the most extension out of all of these. Sometimes lacks body, especially in the bass but not in terms of extension, rather, weight. These are my least favorite.
RCA 6EM7Overall warmer than stock by just a bit. Everything is just a bit more laid-back and disengaged which likely attributes to its grander stage. Feels like more texture does come through and I think these are the “best” out of all of them BUT they lack engagement. The days I had these in I wondered why I didn’t feel like listening to music; might be why. Feels easy to get lost in the music but can never get involved with it. YMMV as I do prioritize on that engagement factor.
GE 6EM7A rich and pleasing sound overall. Brings the mids up to your face, tilting it to a more intimate and close-up kind of sound without being claustrophobic. In addition, it does have a slight mid-bass boost making it warmer overall. Staging is front-row seat kind of staging. Also found it to be more forgiving because of the smoother and richer mids. Just insinuating here, but this might be awesome on the mysphere hearing its strength is in the midrange @rgdelato. The downside, I find, is its lack of extension compared to the other tubes. If you love mids, this is your tube.
More to come! Dumont, Westinghouse (USA), and Westinghouse (Japan) on the way…
Dang, you’ve already likely done more swapping on this amp than I’ve seen anyone else do lol, will be curious how those pan out. Also really like the summaries for the tubes, very well conveyed
Damn it! The other set of tubes came in but one of them broke. I think it came that way as I haven’t touched them until today. Hoping for a refund/replacement.
Finally getting in some time with the GE tubes! After letting them burn in overnight, my first impression is that they’re a little more smooth/soft than I’d prefer, but they’re growing on me quite a bit, so we’ll see how I feel in a few more days. I definitely agree with hifiDJ that it’s a more forgiving sound.
Westinghouse 6EM7 (JPN)Not really worth looking at imo. They’re decent but not as good as the aforementioned, so I wouldn’t really consider it personally.
Westinghouse 6EM7 (USA)Broken…ain’t buying another one. lol
Dumont 6EM7Honestly haven’t tried due to laziness but I doubt it will be better than the aforementioned.
By chance, does anyone have experience with the Allnic-brand cables? Was thinking about their power cables in particular since I’m presuming they’ll synergize well with my amp, so I thought I’d ask how people like them!
Oh wow, that’s funny. I needed a longer cable so I was looking at the used section and pops up the allnic zl3000. Apparently they don’t come up used often as I’ve heard good things about them. Anyway, mine’s coming this week. lol
Some random thoughts: I heard somewhere recently that single-ended might have a lower inherent noise floor than balanced because there are less active lines, so just to give it a test, I hooked up the HPA-3000 GT over both XLR and RCA, plugged my Eikon into the high-impedance out, and toggled between the two inputs. The hum is the same over both inputs /and/ it’s also the same over both the XLR and 1/4" outputs in any combination.
So yeah, no dice, but it seemed worth a shot, and may as well pass on the findings.
) pairs to replace em! lol
