I love EL34 amps and have owned many. Favorites are the VAC Avatar SE integrated, and the Air Tight ATM3 Monos. Least favorite amp was the Wavac 845. My 6550 based amps were hit or miss. Currently rocking Woo WA5 Integrated and headphone amps, using 330b’s, and a Woo WA22 headphone amp. Really love the higher end Woo amps.
My EAR 834P phono stage isn’t shabby either, nor is a seldom used but wonderfully sounding TriVista 21 DAC using Raytheon trivistor tubes in the output stage.
I prefer KT88 amps over EL34 amps. Specifically, I like my Don Sachs Kootenay 120 amp which I use along with a Don Sachs Model 2 preamp with Tekton Design Double Impact speakers.
Manley Snappers here. I played about with 6CA7s but went back to EL34s.
I have a Woo Audio WA2 that sits in the box unused. It hums at higher volume which is a NO for me. Woo checked it out and said it’s performing perfectly. Now, why is that?
I prefer Solid State - Benchmark DAC3 HGC. Dead silent.
I know, I know, tubes can be dead black quiet, but mine isn’t. I’ll never try tubes again. Just my opinion. Instead, my next direction is going from Sennheiser HD800S to Audeze. Probabaly LCD-4s.
Sounds like a bad tube? I have a WA3 that is dead quiet and I just ordered a WA2 to replace it, so I can move my WA3 to my office (assuming I can ever go back to my office…).
PrimaLuna Evo 400 Pre-amp
Upgraded tubes -
Next upgrade -
Benchmark DAC3 HGC is a nice amp. Make sure you comfort test anything Audeze. They can be a bit heavy. Sold my LCD-X headset. Just too heavy.
I have a few old ones -
2 Mullard 10W kit amps built in 1966 both lightly used and with original valves but recapped.
Stereomaster receiver from the '70s. Certainly not what you’d call hi-fi but geez it sounds fine.
and some newer ones -
Earle Weston Troubadour, made in Oz and Earle winds his own transformers. A fantastic amp.
Miniwatt N3 with 2 x 1960’s Mullard long plate EL84’s and a 1950’s NOS Amperex Bugle Boy ECC83 driver.
The Miniwatt gets the most use, remarkable value plus it just sings with my Klipschorns.
Well, I am really impressed by the looks of the Woo Audio headphone amps, but I’m fond of the perfection of modern solid state amps. I was thinking of setting up a big Woo rig, and then behind it I hide a Drop THX AAA 789 amp, a tiny black box, and route some wiring so I get the sound of the 789 and the looks of the Woo, and nobody the wiser…
Nah, that would be dishonest.
It’s all about the glow… 
Not entirely… it’s really about the distortion, which can be very pleasing to the ears and brain.
Schiit Mjolnir 2. Know it’s a hybrid, but love it.
Favorite tubes:
EDIT: there’s actually one for sale right now for a screaming price:
The best tubes I ever used in my Mjolnir 2 were Western Electric 396A/JW 2C51 tubes. You have to use a 2C51 to 6922 adapter. Thee tubes were better than the super expensive Siemens Halske CCA and Telefunken CCA 6922 tubes by a good margin…
I have that setup and have used it in my Woo WA2 and WA3. Yes, they are great sounding, but not the best driver tubes I have.
That’s nice. The question was about the Mjolnir 2, not the Woo WA2 or WA3. The Western Electric 396A/JW 2C51 tubes are the best I ever heard in the Mjolnir 2 and tried everything from a $600 set of tubes down to $10 set of tubes. The Woo stuff is quite a bit different than the Schiit stuff…
Audio Note Kit Interstage MonoBlock Parallel 300B Quad C-Core Amps
and
StereoCoffee LDR Passive Preamp Volume Control
Klipsch Forte 3 Speakers
Chord Qutest DAC
6BZ7 is the stock tube. $5 each.
The 6DJ8 family upgrade sounds very good too. The Bugle Boys were used in oscilloscopes. My brother found me several of them at a surplus shop. The price was right. Some were good as new, some were in fairly good shape, but obviously used based on the readings.
I never tried running 12A_7 series tubes in the MJ2. I do use them in my ampsandsounds gear from time to time. I have several of those 6201 that came out of a HP computer. They are branded HP.
Definitely get the adapter if you’re going to run 12A_7 in the Mjolnir 2- I’m sure you know this, but just in case… two of the pins have to be bridged because the voltage is different. There are a couple of good threads at HeadFi and SBAF. The tubemonger ones are great, but $2 ones from China on eBay are fine if not as polished.
Thanks. MJ2 was sold, but good to know info…
