I have 6 sets of EL84’s, and the EI’s are my favorite, the Mullards I have are the real deal and the difference between the EI’s and the Mullards are slight…and I only think I can hear differences with the Focal Clears and not any lesser cans.
IMO, paying $200 for a set of old Mullards are just too much for me…
I would pay $50-$70 for a pair, but no more. Call me cheap, but there are tubes that can get you 99% there IMO at a lesser cost…
Enjoy the music!
Alex
For NOS, I prefer my RCA 7189, and Soviet 6P14P-EV. The Genalex Gold Lion N709 are my favorite reissued tubes.
Has anyone else tried the Sendy Aiva on the Tuba with stock tubes? Does anyone even still use the stock tubes lol. I’m finding them to be a surprisingly good pairing. With the EI tubes, not so much.
I think what you are hearing could be because the Stock Mullard Reissue tubes are very mid forward…the Aiva’s have recessed mids, so that probably is why.
It’s not really ideal for Planars like the Sendy’s, but if the stock tubes work for you go for it.
I found the stock tubes to be very thin on the bottom end with limited Sound Stage, but that might play well with low impedance headphones like the Sendies.
Yeah I didn’t think they did much at all for the soundstage and low end either. But I do actually like the Clear’s on the stock tubes as well. But the EI tubes are much better for the HD800s and Grado’s. So I will have to switch back to them later. Have you ever seen anyone DIY a tube switch? It’d be great if I could just flip a switch to go back and forth. I looked into it and the only suitable switches I could find were some very expensive military grade rotary switches.
I’ve never seen a switch like that, it has the potential to damage some amps, since it would skip any soft start.
I don’t have clears, but I’m not a fan of the Elex on the tuba or any other tube amp I own, takes too much of what they do well away. But some people do seem to like the increase in Bass they get from tubes.
I generally stick to higher impedance headphones on tubes.
So instead of asking about specific dacs, id like to know what attributes im looking for to pair with this and the BHC, i have the senns and grado hemp, clears in future, just not quite sure where to go with a dac
Generally I would say something on the neutral or slightly warmer leaning side pairs well, and something that isn’t too forward or sharp. Something that has at least decent spatial recreation and other technicalities are desirable lol
Thank you, i was specifically looking at the Earman Donald first because of the usb c in, this would be for my bedside hard wired from an ipad pro, just wasn’t sure the pairing because of the chip, obviously implementation matters, just dont see much about the chip or the dac. I know its a way lower tier but im looking at functionality first then moving up…if that makes sense…
It’s pretty solid for the price imo, that would actually be a good pairing for the price range ofc
ok good to hear, im just needing the functionality first for the use case. I also have a D50s, same answer?
I might actually prefer the Donald dac in some ways to the d50s lol, but I would say that it would be a decent pairing
awesome, thank you as always
Ive run both my Soekris dac1321 and Bifrost 2 through the Tuba. I like both dacs with the Tuba for totally different reasons.
The 1321 gives a neutral analytical sound, whereas the Bifrost 2 gives a spacious and warm sound.
I feel it depends on the sound you’re shooting for. The Tuba is a very clean tube amp, so if you want a more clean response, go for a neutral DAC. If you want a more tubey laid back sound, go for a warm DAC like the bf2.
right on thank you for the detail, did you stick with the stock tubes or go all out?
Interesting, I didn’t prefer the soerkis with the tuba, but it was still a solid pairing, the bf2 is prob my favorite with the tuba in the price range
i was afraid of this, i just cant’ get behind Schiits aesthetic, i know i know
Lol, as hazi said if you are going for something more neutral imo slightly analytical leaning the soekris would def not be a bad choice (although I like the soekris less on the crack since you mentioned you were after something for both), also check out the ares ii dac, that would be a somewhat alternative to the bifrost 2 imo
for some reason nothing from them appeals to me aesthetically which i know shouldn’t matter but i have issues… yes the Ares caught my eye as well as the Aquila II. at least i have some good starting points, now to decide which first as the Feliks is staring at me as well