Lyr 3 Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by neogeosnk, Mar 20, 2018.

  1. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Thanks. Glad for the confirmation. At least I'm not crazy. (Much)

    ;)
     
  2. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Any other new production 6SN7's worth considering?
     
  3. econaut

    econaut Almost "Made"

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    Watch that placement in a corner, it will give you bloated bass ;)

    I see you have Saga, Lyr 3 and JBL LSR30X. Is there any possibility that you compare the preouts? I have Saga, Jot and LSR305s in my office and I am thinking about switching Saga + Jot for Lyr 3, but I would lose the Saga preouts and the Jot's balanced headphone out...
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2018
  4. Darren G

    Darren G Friend

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    Had the same impression of the MJ2 amp in high/low gain, good to know it's explainable ;)
     
  5. Carlos CPA

    Carlos CPA Friend

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    Sadly, I just received my LSR30Xs last week, and they are still in the box. Personally, I am curious to see whether there is any difference in running them straight out of the Saga (Bifrost Multibit -> Saga -> LSR30X) vs. running them out of the Joti’s balanced pre-outs (Bifrost Multibit -> Saga -> Joti -> LSR30X). I suspect that straight out of Saga will sound best.

    I’d have to bring my Lyr 3 home to test, but I will try to do so sometime soon in order to compare its pre outs to those on the Saga.
     
  6. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    I mean there's only really 4-5

    New Sensor (Sovtek, Elektro Harmonix, Tung-Sol, Genalex, Svetlana, Mullard) seems to be making only one 6SN7 for all is brands (they make 2 KT88s)
    JJ (JJ, Black Sable, Telefunken) which are pretty good and cheap.
    PSVane which are expensive. They make cheap ones but as far as I can tell these are actually rebranded Shugang, only the expensive ones are made by themselves.
    Shugang (hundreds of brands) which are a crapshoot.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2018
  7. econaut

    econaut Almost "Made"

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    A shootout between all three would be greatly appreciated :D
     
  8. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    Unpopular opinion time:

    I like the stock tube better than the TS*.

    I'm hearing more top-end sparkle and shimmer, which helps open up the sound**. OR, it could be that the bass feels cleaner, which makes the rest of the sound more obvious to me. I'm not sure. Either way, it's my current preference.

    *This opinion is only true with the AFO. The HD650 may be a different story. Also, tube variance is a thing...maybe my TS is not as good as it could be.

    **My ears are quite possibly broken and I'm not a very skilled listener so take this all with a giant grain of salt.
     
  9. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    On high gain, I'm starting to lean this way to. It does have a competitor though. This Raytheon 6SN7gtb is very comparable, but has a touch more presence in the mids. I like it a wee bit more. Pretty cheap too.

    IMG_20180404_090425.jpg
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'm generally preferring the stock new production Tung-Sol over most run of mill vintage tubes with the exception of certain exotic now unavailable ones.

    (Trying to get folks on HF to spend $2500 on tubes when they could have gotten a better amp).
     
  11. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    Did you ever try the stock NOS tube?
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The Russian one? Not on this amp, but generally too lean and dry for my tastes and gear pairings.
     
  13. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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    That jives with what I'm hearing. The AFO doesn't suffer from those particular qualities, so I think that's why it's working for me at this point.

    I'll spend more time with the TS. This is my end-game amp, so I've certainly got the time for long term comparisons. |\/|
     
  14. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I like the Westinghouse 6SN7 for my HD650s. Tall bottle, chrome top, rectangle getter at top, offset dark grey or black flat plates. I've found a lot of 6SN7 tubes fall into the airy, spacious, nuanced, resolving, but ultimately too light footed and lean, or lush and warm, but ultimately too forward, lacking in air, and often too bloated, veiled, or grainy sounding. Actually, a lot of 6SN7 tubes have a sort of etched, grainy nature to them. It's hard to find that balance without sounding veiled up top. This is obviously amp dependent too.

    The Westinghouse is somewhere in the middle. Slight hint of warmth, decent amount of a sense of power, fairly clean bass, good macro and micro dynamics, some sharpness without sounding bright, lean, or grainy, and so on. It doesn't work well in every amp or with every headphone. Kind of true to source but with a bit of tube flair. Definitely not slow and boring, and not aloof. Sounds engaged. Synergizes well with the 650 and the Lyr 3.

    For headphones like the AFO, which can benefit from having the treble tamed a bit, I like my Ken Rad 6SN7. VT231, offset flat plates, bottom getter, chrome at bottom.

    This tube was what I expected RCA tube would be like. Instead, RCA tubes have overly bloated mid-bass and are rather grainy in the mids and treble. The Ken Rad definitely has some extra bass and lower-mid presence, but, really, what I like is it has a more "lush" presentation and gentler treble without sounding god awful. For the HD650, this is too much of a good thing. The HD650 needs something to wake it up a bit. The AFO needs something to calm it down a bit and add some oomph to the low end, because I don't think the AFO sounds as slamming and dynamic as the HD650 primarily due to the bass presentation (despite lower distortion, better extension, and even similar mid-bass hump).

    The downside to the Ken Rad is that they're too expensive. Westinghouse tubes are still reasonable, last I checked. Your best hope for getting something like a Ken Rad and not spending a ton of money is getting lucky with rebranded tubes. Even then, they're not guaranteed to be the same or sound the same. (Gets worse when you know you can find identical tubes, and some just sound worse than others.)
     
  15. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I'm seeing lots of Westinghouse 6SN7s out there which generally fit your description. Is this it?
     
  16. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Close, but not quite. The getter on mine is basically attached to the upper mica but sticks up at an angle. May or may not make a difference. Bright yellow font, 337 production code, made in USA, reliatron.
     
  17. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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  18. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Not enough pictures and angles to tell. Maybe the first one. But don't go spending $50 on one of these, please...

    I'm also not saying the particular one I have is "the" one to have. It could be those with other getters or styles could sound better. And some, most, or all of these may be rebrands of some kind anyway.
     
  19. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    How tall does the Lyr3 measure with tube inserted?
    Details on Schiit website: 9 x 6 x 2.25 inches, but I'm guessing 2.25" doesn't include the tube.

    May need to get RCA cables longer than the 6" PYST ones I currently have, since the shelf Gungnir Multibit is on only has about 3" of remaining clearance and not enough on the sides.
     
  20. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    Different tubes are different heights, but with the new prod Tung Sol you'll have another inch and a half of tube sticking out above the chassis.
     

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