I haven’t tried the susvara on a pendant, but the pendant has more power than you would think behind it, the he1000se was pretty nice on the pendant, I would imagine the susvara being pretty good as well 
I would agree lol
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I’ve experienced a combo that you haven’t? Is that worth a merit badge of some kind? 
Absolutely! Thankfully, it has put to rest all anxieties about running my Susvaras off of speaker taps. Whatever gains may be possible don’t seem worth the relative hassles.
Ironically, I bought my Pendant with the intention of exploring euphonic listening with ZMF heapdhones. At the time I wasn’t dreaming that I might pick up Susvara, much less worrying about power output of the Pendant.
When I did grab Susvara (most unexpectedly, after finding a deal I couldn’t refuse), I recalled all the times I’ve read that tubes and planars don’t mix. I just assumed the Pendant wouldn’t be a good match. But then reviewing the design and the purpose of the Hi Z / Low Z taps gave me pause. Finally, after getting a mini baseline from the A90, I gave it a go, and here we are.
I can hear nothing off or lacking in this presentation. I can’t even imaging how to improve this sound. This has completely redefined what’s possible from headphones.
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I still think it’s worth a try, but yes the susvara can be effectively run off normal headphone amps for the most part lol. I did try a he6 off a pendant and it was meh tho lol, so still speaker amp preference there, but they actually made the susvara usable lol. But generally I do think that the more power the better with the susvara (as long as you don’t sacrifice quality for quantity)
This is a general good rule in the lower end side of things, but honestly once you get an actually high end tube amp, even otl at times, they can run planar with ease. Most of the amps I run planar on are tube these days tbh
That’s something you can find out later on lol
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I haven’t found a good “tube rolling” thread for the Pendant anywhere yet, so I figured I would ask here if anyone had any thoughts. What tubes have you guys been using with your Pendant, and what tubes do you think are worth keeping an eye out for?
I have a Pendant incoming with the stock and ZMF selection NOS tubes, and my plan is to stick with those for a while to get a feel for the amp and it’s sound before playing with other NOS tubes. Having said that, I’d love to hear thoughts on some of your favorite tubes!
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I settled on an RCA rectifier (can’t remeber which one ), a Mullard 12 AU7 and a pair of Tunsgram EL84’s.
I liked the PSVane EL84’s, didn’t like the PSVane 12AU7.
RCA EL84’s were OK
RCA 12AU7’s were OK
The one Brimar 12AU7 I have is noisy, but OK.
Didn’t really like any of the “cheap” new issue EL84’s, the JJ’s were the best of the bunch, the Mullards the worst
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That’s interesting re: the EL84s. Candidly I think the power tubes are the one I’m most curious about because it seems like there’s a sea of fun options for the input tubes but less so for the EL84. I’ll have the stock JJs and whatever Zach sends me for the NOS pair, and I have a NOS GE and Mullard pair on hand, though neither are the versions I think people tend to chase down. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on favorite EL84s (or viable alternatives)
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I haven’t tried it in a pendant, RCA 7189 tilted getters are pretty impressive for neutral with lots of control and good spatial recreation
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There was a significant discussion on EL84’s in the Haggerman Tuba thread, different amp, but my experience is the generalities remain the same.
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Thanks for the heads up! That sent me down a rabbit hole both here and on the Head-Fi version of that thread.
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That’s also what I ordered and how I have been proceeding. I still haven’t made it beyond the first set of tubes.
What I have installed now are all Baldwin (Sylvania) green-labeled tubes that came in plain white boxes. The input is a 12AU7A, Recitfier is an EZ81, and the output tubes are a pair of 6BQ5s. I believe these are the NOS tubes.
Here are the other tubes that came with my Pendant:
The JJ set are an ECC802S, an EZ81 and a pair of matched EL84s. These seem to be modern production (they’re readily available at any rate); I suspect they’re the “stock” tubes. In addition, there are a couple extra input tubes: a Baldwin 12AX7 and a Westinghouse 12AT7 (more NOS options).
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I am a total tube noob still at this point; I don’t really know a thing beyond blind experimentation, and I’ve done very little of that.
I can offer that I instantly fell in love with the tube combo I picked. They breathed stunning life into my 600 ohm 880s, turning them into a fairly endgame-level experience. They’ve also been an easy favorite over SS chains for most source material on both Susvara and VC.
The general effect I’m getting from Pendant with this tube set is enhanced staging and spatial reproduction with a touch of warmth in the mids and a lovely smooth delivery. I’ve found these differences to be consistent across 880s, Susvara and VC. One of the things that most impressed me with Susvaras was how much very dynamic percussion (drums and cymbals) sound live and in the room. The tubes blunt that effect somewhat, but it’s really only something I notice or care about with very exciting and dynamic orchestral / score music. For virtually everything else I much prefer the captivating sense of space and naturalness conveyed by Pendant.
If you have an amp and some desk speakers nearby the Pendant try it out as a pre-amp too. Great spatial recreation, wide soundstage, nice depth on one of ky set-ups. I really enjoyed it in the signal chain, extra versatility. Happy listening !
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I’m currently torn on whether to integrate Pendant into my loudspeaker setup or leave it on my desk. It’s going to be the latter for the near-term at least. I don’t have desk speakers, because my desk is set up in the same room as my loudspeakers (which have a McIntosh C2600 tube preamp). If I want to use the Pendant as a pre-amp it has to come off my desk, and that will complicate ease of listening.
Probably the next major change on the horizon for me will be picking up a Holo May, which will definitely go in the loudspeaker chain. However, I’d hate to miss out on also using that for headphones, and that’s a pretty strong argument for integrating Pendant into the mix. That will likely lead to the Pendant joining the “elite crew” so I can pair it with May for headphones and/or use it as a preamp for speakers. However, the tradeoff will be less convenient placement for long-term listening (read: I’ll need longer cables or temporary closer seating, like a beanbag chair).
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Sometimes I just pull my Pendant off my desk for a week, drop it into my 2 channel system and then put it back on the desk after i’ve had a chance to enjoy it. I know it’s a pain in the ass and takes a bit of tuning to get things right but i can’t stand knowing i have multiple nice pieces and not using them. I also plug it in and out of the desktop speaker chain every few weeks. It sucks not being able to settle down and pick one set-up🤪
Anyway, try it with yoUr stereo to see if there is any synergy, just so you at least know…nobody says you need to keep it there👍
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I’m sure it will happen eventually, but it’s more than just a quick move. I’d have to relocate several things to make room and probably rework some of the cabling. The space where the Pendant would fit most easily would require a long RCA run, and I don’t have cables of that length. The probably-optimal configuration would require moving several more things and possibly extensive re-cabling (since one of the moved-things would be my HDMI matrix, which acts as a hub for all the video stuff).
Once the May joins the party it will be worth the pain to reorganize. Before then, notsomuch. Besides, with the Pendant on my desk now, I get to listen as much as I want. And the loudspeaker setup isn’t hurting without it.
I’ll also have to deal with the fact that the Pendant pre-outs are RCA and my amp only has XLR inputs, lol. So, not trivial.
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Took delivery of my Pendant today, which is hooked up to a Holo Audio Spring 2 KTE. This is my first tube amp, so I can only compare it to SS amps I own or have owned.
Before I ordered it I couldn’t find the dimensions anywhere, so for the benefit of those who might want to know, it has a footprint of about 9.5 inches by 12.5 inches.
I tried the stock tubes first. In all fairness, it’s currently sitting right next to my computer and I know that some tubes can pick up on electric interference, but there was a very slight hiss at high volumes, though nothing that would have affected listening at normal levels. I found the sound to be incredibly neutral, with less of a bright-leaning signature than my GS-X Mini and more thickness and impact to the bass. My immediate impression was that it sounded a bit more narrow (this is with the Verite by the way), but the stock tubes are brand new and perhaps they need a bit of running-in.
Switching to the added NOS tubes, the slight hiss was gone. Dead silent, even with the volume maxed-out. These tubes look like they’ve fallen to Earth from outer space, and widened the stage noticeably.
In addition the sense of added heft to the low end, there’s just as much detail (to my ear) as my GS-X Mini produces, but without the slightly harsh edge that sometimes sees me turning the volume down. It’s a more laid-back sound, but not at the expense of resolution.
My new issue is that I only have the ZMF stock cable for the Verite - not even the OFC. It’s noticeably less resolving than my balanced cable from Periapt which is what I’ve used up until now, which is excellent. I also use a Periapt cable with my Arya. I’ve ordered a ZMF compatible 6.35 jack cable to supersede the stock one, but it won’t be here for a month at the earliest.
Also just worth noting that I love how the HD800S sounds with this amp.
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The next day, and the stock JJ tubes (2 EL84s, and ECC82 and an EZ81) still softly hiss if I turn the volume all the way up on high gain, but why would I ever do that? They sound much better today, and the soundstage breadth is there.
With the Verite, the high gain adds quite a bit of extra bass and warmth to a headphone that’s already quite warm and bassy, but there’s something quite luxurious about it. At low gain, it’s a very neutral experience and doesn’t sound too dissimilar to the GS-X Mini, but definitely doesn’t have the same cutting edge that can be fatiguing. It’s an easier listen. However, the added warmth and impact at high gain takes the HD800S to another level for me, and I absolutely love what this amp does to those headphones.
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All the tube talk lately brings me back to my guitar amp days. I wonder how my kt77s would sound in an audiophile application. Those things sizzled!
I’ve heard a few and they can sound great (along with other kt variants) also aren’t kt77 similar to el34 (since there are a fair amount of amps that take those as well)
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iirc, el34, 6L6, and kt77 are interchangable. These are normally used for the 50-100 watt guitar amps so they may be too much for headphones but im sure we can write that off as headroom.
They’re electically identical, my Quicksilver power amps take either EL34 or KT88’s, 6L6 or 6550’s.
I prefer it with EL34’s.
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