|
|
Post by Thujone on Sept 17, 2015 12:35:37 GMT
I use Bifrost Uber. I've had the chance to try a few with Ember (Maverick D1 Plus, E17, and Gamma2) and I enjoyed the Bifrost and Gamma2 the most. E17 seems too polite, not dynamic. D1 Plus was... very tubey (syrupy warm). Gamma2 is really dynamic but Bifrost seems to have higher resolution? DAC comparisons are hard to do/perceive.
|
|
|
|
Post by skyline on Sept 17, 2015 13:03:10 GMT
Got the 6N6P Gold Grid from Jeremy yesterday. I've only got 3 hours of listning on it, so it'll take some time for me to get a real handle on the sound.
But, the immediate standout feature to me is that it sounds very realistic in terms of texture and ambiance. Hand claps sound like actual hand claps and so on an so forth. It was pretty striking on a few songs.
Looking forward to giving it some more time...
Is it typical for the sound of a tube to change as it gets more playtime?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 16:19:32 GMT
I'm sure it's one of those things that divides opinion but I feel tubes do change when you put some hours on them (assuming they're NOS and not already 'burnt in'). Some more evidently than others.
|
|
howie
quite active
Posts: 158 
|
Post by howie on Sept 17, 2015 16:52:50 GMT
I'm sure it's one of those things that divides opinion but I feel tubes do change when you put some hours on them (assuming they're NOS and not already 'burnt in'). Some more evidently than others. It's also been my experience that they change-if they have never been used maybe 24 -48 hours to 'burn -in'. Thereafter, they still seem to benefit each time I switch the amp on for the first 10-20 minutes or so-I say 'seem' because this is very subjective, as with all audio perception. |
|
|
|
Post by skyline on Sept 17, 2015 17:29:29 GMT
I'm sure it's one of those things that divides opinion but I feel tubes do change when you put some hours on them (assuming they're NOS and not already 'burnt in'). Some more evidently than others. It's also been my experience that they change-if they have never been used maybe 24 -48 hours to 'burn -in'. Thereafter, they still seem to benefit each time I switch the amp on for the first 10-20 minutes or so-I say 'seem' because this is very subjective, as with all audio perception. My subjective observations are in line with yours regarding the 10-20 minute warmup time. My initial impression, while I liked the sound, was that it was extremely laid back and lacked bite/energy. I walked away for a bit to put my little girl to bed, sat back down, and that impression vanished instantly. |
|
oldson
extremely active
Posts: 1,678
|
Post by oldson on Sept 17, 2015 18:41:37 GMT
oldson: how do you find the LCD-2 with the Ember? If I ever rob a bank I may jump on those (from my he400i) :-) they sound wonderful to me. mine are filtered which takes the edge off the renowned darker sound signature. i assume there are plenty available 2nd hand? |
|
Crispy
very active
Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
Posts: 779
|
Post by Crispy on Sept 17, 2015 19:30:59 GMT
I'm sure it's one of those things that divides opinion but I feel tubes do change when you put some hours on them (assuming they're NOS and not already 'burnt in'). Some more evidently than others. Mark, my experience with tubes changing was the most aparant when auditioning the Ember. I only had about 4 tubes to play with, but one in particular stood out as being a bit bright and edgy and I almost dissmissed it because of that. Later on when upgrading my XCanV1 I tried it again but left it playing for a while. After about 30mins the bright edgy sound disapeared and it sounded very good - infact these tubes are still in my V1 and sound really good to my cloth ears  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 21:21:27 GMT
howie / skyline. I'm with you guys with regards 10-20 mins warm up. After that I don't notice any discernible difference. I remember a fellow Lyr owner saying he wouldn't contemplate doing any critical listening until he'd allowed at least 2 but ideally 4 hrs of warm up time. He clearly wasn't a spontaneous sort of bloke and must have had keener hearing than me. Mark, my experience with tubes changing was the most aparant when auditioning the Ember. I only had about 4 tubes to play with, but one in particular stood out as being a bit bright and edgy and I almost dissmissed it because of that. Later on when upgrading my XCanV1 I tried it again but left it playing for a while. After about 30mins the bright edgy sound disapeared and it sounded very good - infact these tubes are still in my V1 and sound really good to my cloth ears All the tubes I've used with the Ember are ones that I carried over from an old amp so didn't really get to experience that. I do recall with the Lyr a pair of NOS Brimars being almost schizophrenic in nature for the first 5-10 hours. Left them burning in over the course of the day and checked in every hour or so. They were all over the place but they actually turned out pretty good. Joe has them now so he may disagree  |
|
|
|
Post by tunkejazz on Sept 17, 2015 22:30:47 GMT
oldson: how do you find the LCD-2 with the Ember? If I ever rob a bank I may jump on those (from my he400i) :-) they sound wonderful to me. mine are filtered which takes the edge off the renowned darker sound signature. i assume there are plenty available 2nd hand? Yes! That is my best bet. I am just not sure how much of an upgrade they will be over my current ones ones (the he400i). |
|
howie
quite active
Posts: 158
|
Post by howie on Sept 18, 2015 6:51:28 GMT
It's also been my experience that they change-if they have never been used maybe 24 -48 hours to 'burn -in'. Thereafter, they still seem to benefit each time I switch the amp on for the first 10-20 minutes or so-I say 'seem' because this is very subjective, as with all audio perception. My subjective observations are in line with yours regarding the 10-20 minute warmup time. My initial impression, while I liked the sound, was that it was extremely laid back and lacked bite/energy. I walked away for a bit to put my little girl to bed, sat back down, and that impression vanished instantly. Actually, thinking overnight about this, I have noticed with the Horizon and Starlight, which are manually biased, that the tube bias voltage always changes in the first 10-15 minutes of use. So there may well be a scientific basis for a small audible change. |
|
solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
Posts: 4,886
|
Post by solderdude on Sept 18, 2015 9:36:37 GMT
It takes about 15 minutes for the cathode of indirect heated tubes (which these are) to reach their final temperature and maximum 'emission' of electrons. The heater temperature is about similar to the e-curve of the charge in a capacitor. Of course the time scale of 5 seconds in this plot would probably be a 5 minutes scale for the heater itself.  The heater reaches its final temperature a fair bit sooner than the cathode it must heat. It takes some extra time before the cathode reaches the same temperature as the heater. This is why in the manuals it is mentioned to check the bias after 30 mins (wide safety margin) for a few hours. When nothing changes after 30mins the tube is O.K. For Ember and Solstice the bias is adjusted automatically so you can't really monitor it that easy unless you know what voltage to measure at which component. Still the tube does increase its electron output over the first 15 minutes or so. |
|
|
|
Post by tommo21 on Sept 18, 2015 11:17:19 GMT
First few hours with my Ember II, it's even better than I can remember my Ember I was....but difficult to compare since I use different tube and headphones, as well as it's over a year ago since I sold the Ember I. I'm using the Schiit Modi 2(USB Only) and also the Wyrd from my computer. You can see them in the back. ![]() I'm not sure why the link don't work, but the picture is here if you want to see it: Ember !! |
|
|
|
Post by tunkejazz on Sept 18, 2015 16:40:27 GMT
I have to admit that the metal chasis of the Ember looks terrific!
|
|
|
|
Post by tommo21 on Sept 18, 2015 17:37:42 GMT
It's pretty stunning yes. I also changed the volumeknob to something that's almost the same style as the thumbscrews on top. With the 6sn7 adapter on there's not much use of the led lighting, so I'll turn it off later. First tube I'm trying is the GE 6SN7GTB with the glowing wire on top.
Played around with the resitance a little bit, got a little more bass at low setting, but also a little bit off hiss when no music played, so I settled for medium so far. Only tried with the Nad Viso HP50. They should be around 36ohm as measured by Tyll at Innerfidelity.
|
|
Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,091
|
Post by Rabbit on Sept 18, 2015 17:40:43 GMT
Try high input gain and low output gain with low impedance headphones. You'll lose the hiss. I sometimes connect a Momentum which will hiss at high output. The K550 also needs low output.
|
|
