Yup that guy was me!!
Would I lie to you!!! 
I didnt want to spend $140 to $200 for a real set of Mullards, which I was given a pair and since then one of them went south!!
The EIās are greatā¦IMO very open and transparent over the stock Mullards or reissues from the USSR.
Alex
Everything is relative. This amp is about $1,100.00, landed in Canada. FAR from a āvalueā proposition to most people. I bought an amp that was a little bit cheaper, and is still the most expensive I ever bought, by far. More than $1K for a headphone amp is a REALLY tiny market. 
99.999% of the public thinks that $499.00 for a pair of headphones is insane. 
We are a unique group.
Agree. Unfortunately availability to ship to certain locations certainly can remove any value. But the 10 year warranty is something that drew me to buying a Tuba as well. You probably got much more value buying from Maple Tree Audio since they are in Canada. MTA has some really nice looking ampsā¦I considered them as well when I was window shopping for a tube amp. 
I am VERY happy with my amp, but those Tubaās are really nice looking. Iād love to hear one.
If had told me two years ago that I would be dropping $1K a piece on headphones and an amp, I would have said you were an idiot!
And yet, here we are.
I have heard it a fair amount of times before, but I am excited to get it in and really see how it differs from some of my other high end tube amps. I have a feeling I will like it just as much as when I first heard it lol
Absolutely feel the same way about Maple Tree Audio amps, bet they sound great. 6 years ago when I bought my HD558, I never would have dreamed to spend what I have in my gear. I guess the music lover in all of us won out eventually, lol.
The Tuba has given my HD650 more life. So impressed still by how much better Sennheiser HD600 and HD650 sound on a proper tube amp. Without the Tuba, I would have probably sold my HD650. Now Iām considering buying an HD600 again, lol.
The engineers that are looking for that last db of noise reduction do pick out some fairly exotic or just very well made things like low noise resistors etcā¦to take care of the Johnson noise etcā¦
Got my EI tubes in today and have been listening with the Eikon for the last few hours. So far Iāve noticed a bit of extra warmth and better bass control and quality. Also sounds a little smoother in the mids and treble regions. So far I would say these are a worthy upgrade over the stock mullards.
My two sets of EIās I placed on my tube tester, one set has a higher rating than the otherā¦and IMO I can hear the difference. or I though I could. Could be subjective biasā¦now that I know how the two sets actually measure on a tube testerā¦
Both play well, one requires a silghtly different volume position to achiece the same level of sound.
Alex
For the past two weeks I have been playing with a new set of Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Opensā¦and lots of my ampsā¦this am I put all that away and picked up the Focal Clears and plugged them into the Tuba!
WOW!!
Its a startling difference in sound.
When I want a real clear, open, transparent, almost perfect tonalityā¦amazing details or articulation of the minutiae in a recordingā¦this is it for meā¦
No soggy, bloated bass, inaccurate piano, strings, vocals etcā¦just really great soundā¦so accurateā¦this is a wonderful combination
Its almost like a gold standard for meā¦
Put good stuff in and it comes out GREATā¦put el crapo in and its GREAT el crapo out!!
:>)
Alex
The way it should be lol, I want to hear my poor recordings in all of their crappy glory
I think thatās what makes ZMF so popular, they tend to make everything pleasurable. Kind of like Porta Pros.
Agreed, one of the tricks the Verite pulls off is while resolving a pretty silly ammount of detail, and making good recordings soud phenomenal, it still seems to make average to bad recordings sound OK.
I also want gooey, less harsh tube sound. Have focal elear, senns hd6xx, m1060, fostex h-xx. My jutenheim is piercing to my overly treble sensative ears. Never had tubes , budget is $1k or less. I dont anticipate tube rolling. Suggestions please. Zeos like the xlr balanced $960 tor, but Iāve not seen anyone else talk about it, few details listed on the tor web site. I respect beezerās t4, but its $2k. Guys, help
Well, something to think about is that the m1060, fostex, and the elear arenāt ideal on a tube imo, but it could be done pretty decently, if you really wanted a warmer thicker tube amp that would work well with most of your headphones I would steer you towards the cayin ha-1a mk2, but otherwise I actually might say the monolith liquid platinum if you were willing to recable to support a balanced amp (because the single ended output isnāt all that great)
Hmmmā¦Bottlehead Crackā¦high impedanceā¦euphonic classic tube soundā¦
Thatās very true, but it will only sound good with the 6xx, it will sound like ass with the focals, fostex, and monoprice from my experience imo
Ok them try the BH Mainlineā¦one tact is a best size fits all or a really good amp for a good headphoneā¦too many choices!
Iām really thinking of getting this amp. I have the Dark Voice and i really like what it does. I like the idea of tube amps also cause i dont like really bright headphones and i though maybe a tube amp would be the best kind of amp to bring down the treble since they can be a little dark. But when i compare the Dark Voice to my RNHP its just gets shown up so bad. The RNHP sounds so good compared. I want a better tube amp. One that i could use with Planars too. Good idea?