I have been kind of in the background on these forums for a while now and rarely post anything of any purpose but thought I would try, I do not really have the experience that some do here nor do I know the words but here goes.
I currently run or stream Amazon HD from my PC and out through my Denafrips Iris DDC via usb then from there via i2s to my Denafrips Pontus 2 Dac. Out of that I run balanced XLR to a 4 port XLR switch witch. This allows me to run various
different amps. First (SW1)is my Bryston BHA-1 Solid state amp that I use for headphones as well as my Desktop Monitors (Kali LP6s) Second (SW2)is a Monoprice Liquid platinum, 3rd SW3)is the newest which is the Quicksilver Tube headphone amp and
finally 4th (SW4) is my Feliks Audio Echo tube amp.
Headphones are as follows, ZMF Auteur, Eikon, Aeolus, Atticus, Kennerton Gjallarhorn, Audeze LCD2 PF, Hifiman HEX v2, Sennheiser 650, Drop Focal Elex, KOSS ksc75s, KPH30s, Portapro’s, Audioquest OG Nighthawks, DCA Aeon 2 open, as well as a few others… I have yet to try all of these
cans on all of the amps but am slowly working on it.
Favorite ways to listen,
First the Bryston, For a SS amp I could not ask for anything better to my limited knowledge. Tonality, power and finesse would be the things that really stand out to me and the options available whether it is SE, Balanced xlr or dual 3 pin I can run any can I choose to very nicely.
Running my monitors is quite nice and it has a crap ton of power for semi nearfield listening. Clean, Clear and crisp. My Daily driver when I just want to listen to 2 channel so to speak, Using the headphone section requires a switchbox as the XLRs and headphone out are both running at the same time.
Favorite headphones on this one are the LCD2 and Gjallarhorn, although the Atticus and Hex are quite good as well
Next is the Quicksilver amp. This thing is amazing and I just recently purchased this one and received a variety of great tubes with it, Screaming deal that I could not pass up. I have sinced purchased more tubes and will be just rolling my brains out as I am shocked at what they do to the sound presentation, There is a fellow
member ( Thanks as always @Hazi59!) who has been so much help in finding the right combo’s for my ears so to speak. I always thought a tube amp was going to be a sound I would not enjoy but I have been proven totally wrong. I learned that the higher tier you go the cleaner the sound
Favorite Cans on this amp are just about any of my headphones as this thing makes them all sound great. Aeolus, Eikon, Auteur, Hex, Senn 650 all work beautifully on here.The Aeolus is kind of mindblowing as it really works with this tube combo and comes alive on it ore than other amps.
Following these two would be the Feliks echo. For the longest time there was a little disappointment with this amp as it had a lot of background noise and I semi assumed this was a tube amp thing. Thanks to others I since learned it was my router causing the interference. Since
moving the router about 12 feet away this thing is dead quiet now and it is like a new amp. I have rolled some really nice tubes into it to find just the right texture and tonality for my ears. My Senn 650s live on this amp most of the time.
Fourth is the MLP which is a great hybrid tube amp that does what it does very well and can run all my headphones without working up a sweat. Hex is really good on this amp as well. Have not tried all the rest on it yet. My first Tube experience was this amp.
Now comparing the Feliks with the Quicksilver, Approx 600 dollar difference in price so there is that but, I am finding they are much closer in performance than you might think. really hard to compare as they are both apples but one is red and one green so to speak.
Quicksilver with the tubes being different is a little more dynamic and wider sounding. The Feliks is no slouch but not as vibrant to my ears. Both are dead quiet in between and both are punchy as hell but different tubes run these two amps. Not sure how else to put this.
and I do not know whether I could or want them the same so to speak I understand what I am saying but readers may not. Of course one is transformer coupled and one is a OTL,
Both are great ! Neither can be compared to the MLP as that is a hybrid. Best of both worlds?? As for the Bryston well that is totally the opposite direction being SS.
All of the tube amps have had the tubes swapped to fine tune them to what my ears like and what gives me great peace and my escape after a long day. Each is unique and utilized depending on my day and what I am listening to of course.
Am I at “Endgame” probably not but I truly wonder how much better it can get! Happy with my setup is a serious understatement! I have been a music nut all my life but never really heard what is possible until I arrived on the forums and met great fellow members who have given of their time and experience in
helping me get from running itunes straight out of my PC to a pair of Edifier 1280db monitors to acquiring what I have today. Sure I have made a few purchases along the way that were not what I thought but each taught me a little and helped narrow down my preferences.
We all have done this to varying extent.
Most of my purchases whether amps,headphones or Dac’s have been through forum members and/or suggested by the same and who have been incredibly helpful in the journey and to those I thank you. @Hazi59 , @M0N , @PolygonHell . There are many more but these members have always been there to answer any question I have had.
We won’t go into IEMs as that list is even more crazy!, I also have a sim rig in another room that I run that also has a overkill system containing my BF2, Asgard 3 feeding 2 Adam T5Vs and a sub.
Apologies for the ramble here but wanted to say something about all this.
