Jakkal
valued member
Posts: 19
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Post by Jakkal on Feb 27, 2015 13:06:17 GMT
I'm listening the Ember now, thanks to Frans and Gordon. My first impression was that the Ember looks really stunning, kudos to Jeremy. I think even like it a bit more than the Polaris and I love the Polaris look. I also really like what I am hearing so far. Will share more impressions soon. And I have one question for Frans (as usual ) Is it possible for tube amp like Ember to have lower gain options like the Polaris or that will affect the sound?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2015 13:41:05 GMT
Hi Simeon. Good to see you're enjoying the Ember. No doubt Frank and/or Jeremy will give you the technical answer but it will amount to Yes.
I'm guessing you're having a problem with the lack of travel at the volume pot? I know your headphones are of relatively low impedance & I can see how you'd have a problem. Even with my HD 650 and on low gain the travel is not ideal. To this end I've had discussions with both Frank & Jeremy and it can be dealt with at the buying stage or later on too.
Have you tried by-passing the input capacitors yet?
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Jakkal
valued member
Posts: 19
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Post by Jakkal on Feb 27, 2015 17:32:17 GMT
Yes, it a bit more powerful even on low gain for my headphones, but that was expected. All of my listening is with by-passing the input capacitors on.
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z3d
quite active
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Post by z3d on Feb 27, 2015 21:50:51 GMT
Wonderful picture
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Post by musicman on Feb 28, 2015 1:52:30 GMT
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solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
Posts: 4,882
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Post by solderdude on Feb 28, 2015 8:40:41 GMT
Is it possible for tube amp like Ember to have lower gain options like the Polaris or that will affect the sound? The gain of the amplifier is determined by the gain of the tube. As this amp doesn't have overall feedback the gain is a bit on the high side. In the Ember the gain jumper in the rear can only 'switch' between high and low gain. The low gain setting is 'fixed' however but can be changed by replacing 2 resistors or ask for a lower gain when ordering. The upcoming revision of the Ember board will have built-in supercharger + gain modules (like Polaris) which are easy to change. Another 'thing' comes down the corner though and that may be the noise floor. This is tube dependent. Another thing that may become problematic when using high sensitivity headphones and low power rating headphones might be possible damage to them while they are lying around somewhere and the music is accidentally turned up very high. The Ember (and Polaris) can provide lots of power. The gain module will not help against noise floor issues and may partly help with the power problem. For that reason there will be a (low impedance) attenuator that will fit between the headphone out of the amp and the sensitive headphone. This lowers the noise floor and reduces the maximum power output to safer levels. It also will give more 'tube goodness' as the amp will have a higher internal voltage swing as a 'bonus'. This still needs to see the light of day and we want the lowest possible output R because some sensitive IEM's require this to sound good.
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Post by johan71 on Feb 28, 2015 9:32:59 GMT
@ musicman. I thought I had found my inner peace with my 12bh7a setup. Stayed away from head-fi and DIY-AH for a while and focused on my oddwatt monoblocks building. Yeah that went out well. .. Spent last night reading up on 6sn7 family and ordered my adapter from Jeremy. Woke up this morning and had won 3 more auctions on fleabay :-)
You are a dangerous man, I should stay away from you ;-)
I'm a tubeohollic and I'm proud of it.
Thanks for the good links and the big hole in my pockets. ..
Johan
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Jakkal
valued member
Posts: 19
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Post by Jakkal on Feb 28, 2015 10:18:08 GMT
Is it possible for tube amp like Ember to have lower gain options like the Polaris or that will affect the sound? The gain of the amplifier is determined by the gain of the tube. As this amp doesn't have overall feedback the gain is a bit on the high side. In the Ember the gain jumper in the rear can only 'switch' between high and low gain. The low gain setting is 'fixed' however but can be changed by replacing 2 resistors or ask for a lower gain when ordering. The upcoming revision of the Ember board will have built-in supercharger + gain modules (like Polaris) which are easy to change.
Another 'thing' comes down the corner though and that may be the noise floor. This is tube dependent. Another thing that may become problematic when using high sensitivity headphones and low power rating headphones might be possible damage to them while they are lying around somewhere and the music is accidentally turned up very high. The Ember (and Polaris) can provide lots of power. The gain module will not help against noise floor issues and may partly help with the power problem. For that reason there will be a (low impedance) attenuator that will fit between the headphone out of the amp and the sensitive headphone. This lowers the noise floor and reduces the maximum power output to safer levels. It also will give more 'tube goodness' as the amp will have a higher internal voltage swing as a 'bonus'.This still needs to see the light of day and we want the lowest possible output R because some sensitive IEM's require this to sound good. Thanks Frans, those are really great news. I'm looking forward to buy this attenuator.
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Post by musicman on Feb 28, 2015 15:39:30 GMT
Johan71, I am glad you finally realized I am a super salesman for the tube industry!!! I don't get any money from them just free tubes! Wishful thinking, I know what you mean about tube rolling, always searching for that last little bit of goodness. Unless, something changes about the Ember, I think the 6SN7's will finally be the last of the tube rolling, of course, there just might be an ultimate 6SN7 that is just waiting around the next corner, I think we should put the blame squarely where it belongs, on Solderdude and Jeremy's shoulders! All the best, Don
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Post by musicman on Mar 1, 2015 2:30:24 GMT
Next time I buy a tube, I will not complain about the price, just look what one man does to make his own triodes.........
thank you EBAY!
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solderdude
Administrator
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Post by solderdude on Mar 1, 2015 7:45:49 GMT
You could ask Jeremy to make a converter socket...
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Post by richard51 on Mar 1, 2015 23:29:49 GMT
i am in love with one of these amp...... guess which!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 0:02:36 GMT
There can be only one!
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Post by richard51 on Mar 2, 2015 1:55:13 GMT
you bet! the ember is the real diamond ...
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Jakkal
valued member
Posts: 19
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Post by Jakkal on Mar 2, 2015 19:27:28 GMT
I've been listening the Ember with the default tube for a couple of days now and I'm very impressed by it. The look, the features and the sound are just astonishing. When I first plugged in the Ember and start listening, I have immediately notice big sound improvement compared to the Polaris I own. The sound was more fuller, warm, euphoric and energetic sounding, the soundstage was bigger as well. Then I began to switching between the Ember and the Polaris to compare them, but the switching was taking me long time, because I had to switch power cable, RCA cable and headphones. So I kept hearing all of the sound improvements and there was a clear difference between the amps in favor of Ember or that's what my brain thought. I think this is what you call expectation bias. Then I decide that I need them properly connected side by side, so I can switch between them faster. Found another power and RCA cable and plugged both amps in to my FiiO headphone switcher. Now the switching between the both amps became milliseconds and with the volume matched all of the huge differences I was hearing suddenly disappear. After comparing them for couple of days with different types of music I think that the difference in sound between the both amps are very subtle. The Ember is a bit more pleasant, smooth and euphoric sounding and maybe just a tiny bit more warm. Maybe with better and more power hungry headphones the differences will be more noticeable, but still in my opinion the Ember is more pleasant and smooth sounding, even by a bit. On the other hand The Polaris is very very close in terms of performance and sound, but also provide more customizable options, handles low impedance headphones better and has blacker background. So I definitely want to have them both. My first upgrade will be the headphones and then I can start think for the Ember, which I'm sure will shine even more with better headphones. I really like both amps very much and I think with all of the features, sound and wonderful design, they hit way above their price range. I want to thank again to Frans for the opportunity to hear the Ember. Please let me know where to send it next.
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