To start I currently have a magni 3+/modi stack for my HD660s. I bought this setup off of reddit suggestions to start off the hobby and well with those and a couple gb’s of flac playing on foobar im more than hooked to this hobby… I’d say full blown addiction.
Here is my question -
I want to move into the realm of tube amps, and from everything I’ve read the schitt valhalla isn’t “tubey” enough. I’m really looking for the warmest and most optimal tube amp for the setup I currently have. So as a result of my research (as wrong as it may be) I was going to purchase a Darkvoice 336se and some new tubes for it. I was also going to purchase new dakoni pads and maybe if its suggested here the dakoni balanced cable. The point of this long winded introduction is 1. is the darkvoice the best choice for a sub $550 tube amp? 2. is the modi the most optimal dac for this setup? 3. Will the pads and cable be a smart purchase?
Again I want to reiterate that this hobby is amazing and is constantly blowing my mind. I bought this setup a year ago and I am constantly being amazed! Thanks in advance for any advice given!
To answer your question about tube amps, I’d suggest skipping the dark voice and going for something like the Bottlehead Crack (they may be a bit more expensive brand new but worth the difference). Other amps to look at in the same sort of performance range as the bhc are:
Hagerman Tuba
Feliks Echo 2
ZDT JR
SW51+
Tor Roger
You might need to look at some used deals, but that’ll mean you just get more amp for your money.
For the Modi, which model is it? It should be fine for now, if it’s a modi 3+ then I’d probably say that you’ll be fine until you want to look at dacs in the $700 or so range. There is also the Allo Revolution dac which I have seen suggested which is supposed to be pretty good for the price (€279 without upgraded psu).
It’s generally recommended to not use aftermarket pads on the hd6?? Series since they tend to change the sound for the worse from what I’ve heard about pad swaps. As for the cable, I’d say its worth getting a nice cable upgrade if you intend on keeping the headphone for a while (or if it uses common cables). I’d say that the Dekoni cable seems to be a bit expensive for what it is, I’d suggest looking at custom cables for that sort of money, Capistrano cables makes some very nice stuff, there’s also Hart cables which are also very nice and convenient.
if it’s upwards of $500, the Bottlehead Crack with Speedball upgrade is very very popular and readily recommended. for a similar price, there is the Maple Tree Audio Ear+ HD II.
note, these are OTL amps, so they will only work with headphones that have high impedance; like the 300 ohms y our HD660s are. if you want to use a tube amp with low impedance headphones, you need to get a hybrid tube amp, which is tubes paired with a solid state portion. these can drive both high and low impedance headphones at the expense of not being as tubey as an OTL.
so if you need a hybrid, then I’d recommend looking at the Monolith Liquid Platinum or the Schiit Lyr 3.
I just plan on using the HD660s, they’re my desktop headphones and what I primarily use. The bottlehead crack + speedball really seems like what I’ll be getting. The diy aspect of it looks fun! Thanks for the info
I was in your situation recently. I didnt really know what tubes would do or even where to start. Eventually decided on the Darkvoice 336se. Its nice…But almost too powerful for my HD6xx. I can barely move the knob from 7 to 9 o’clock without it being too loud. It sounds good though dont get me wrong. Having never heard a tube headphone amp before I imagined this big grand change in sound, In reality what the tubes did was soften the sound and make things just a bit nicer to listen to. Totally envisioned a different sound kinda like a guitar tube amp turning on. So for the price and the added benefit of being able to tube roll/ tube swap; I would say its a good option for a first tube amp.
For the goal of something specifically warmer and fun overall, I would really go crack + speedball here, as other options higher up aren’t going to be as fun and will be more neutral leaning, and something like the darkvoice is going to sacrifice more technical performance than the bhc+sb will. For a dac for it, you could stick with the modi for now, but you could upgrade to an allo revolution dac with nirvana smps and that’s a noticable step forward and can be set to maintain the more fun sound. If you could move to a bifrost 2 that pairs really well with the crack but is more expensive (but imo worthwhile).
Another alternative might be finding a massdrop zdt jr as that will also be more warmer thicker leaning overall. Stuff like a hagerman tuba or sw51 will be neutral cleaner dryer leaning which doesn’t seem like what you are after, a feliks echo is more warm smooth but I wouldn’t call it fun. The tor rodger is thicker and warmer, more than some other options so it’s worth consideration but isn’t going to be as fun as the crack or the jr
Yea I think the bhc+sb will be my choice, it seems to be the best option for what I’m looking for. Now I just have to get a soldering iron and get some practice in.
I listen to a very wide range of music, from black sabbath to gucci mane and back to nirvana. Generally I listen to everything excluding some more mainstream country although I have been listening to a lot of colter wall and marcus king lately, but I cant find their music as flac files so thats a bummer.
There are a few people who will make them for you to a pretty high quality standard if you don’t have the time or find it too daunting, but that will add a hundred or few to the cost most likely
