Noob questions about Lyr 2

Thanks to some advice received on this forum, I picked up a Lyr 2 and some NOS Amperex Orange Globes as well as Bifrost Multibit. Here's my setup now:




This is my first tube amp, and I have a couple questions:

-Is there any way to know that I pushed the tubes in far enough? I pushed them in as firmly as I felt like I could do without risking breaking them. They are both glowing, and the amp sounds wonderful. Does that mean all is well?

-How do I know when the tubes are not good any more? Just replace them when the amp doesn't sound good any more?

-Both lo gain and hi gain are plenty loud with my headphones (HD600 and HE-560). Both sound good as well. Is one of those settings preferable to the other for any reason?

I've done some searching and found some answers but would appreciate any info from other members all the same.

Thanks,
KP

 

If it sounds good, and the tubes are in the correct position (hard to make a mistake here since there are 9 pins and the tenth pin is missing so the tubes should only slot in one direction), then you're good to go.

Use whichever of high and low gain sounds better to you, or if they sound the same, use low as it offers more control over the volume.

I'll let someone else answer the question of tube life.

 

Thanks! I guess low gain it is, which surprises me since I read that the HE-560 benefits from a relatively powerful amp. Maybe I don't listen as loud as some other people.

 

Kind of, I know when my preamp does not seem to have the life it once did, like dynamics becoming less, highs less open, bass more woolly, then it is time to swap in another triode driver. Those conditions on my amp indicate a tube coming near the end of its useful life. Other indicators can be ticks or pops at low level indicating a malfunction or that a major fault may occur. Then again some tubes exhibit this on turn on and warm up and then are fine. You'll know when it might be time to replace.

And it may take years and years for some tubes to eventually give up the ghost and others like my Chinese TJ Full Music took only 6 months of moderate use before it started sounding soft, dull, etc.

 

I've got to say, I absolutely love the sound of the Lyr 2 with these tubes. I was hoping I'd like the Violectric more, because I didn't want to have to deal with tubes going bad, etc. But there's just a bit of etched quality to the treble from my headphones with the V200. The Lyr 2 just sounds that little bit more natural and less fatiguing.

Listening to Abbey Road right now through tubes made in the same year (1969). Tidal > Bifrost Multibit > Lyr 2 > HE-560. Have never heard it sound this good before.

 

Good to hear; I'm thinking of getting the Lyr 2 for my HE-560 eventually. Can I ask where you sourced your tubes?

 

I bought them from this guy: http://www.ebay.com/usr/mercedesman6572

 

I also have bought tubes from Mercedes man with good results. Slippery slope chasing the perfect set of tubes.

I bought some new pairs from the tube store and they were very professional.

 

I'm curious.. Which are the better tube amps to match with HD650 with a budget of 1k? In balanced set up Mjolnir2 is good I heard..

 

I have a Lyr 2 myself, and I do believe it is a pretty fantastic little amp with a good tube. Unless you want to go balanced which I'm starting to question whether that is really necessary; otherwise, this is probably one of the more versatile amps. The next step up in Schiit's line up would be the Mjolnir 2, but that would require all of your headphones to have balanced connections. Even if the Mjolnir 2 has a single ended connection, most report that it is mostly provided for utility purposes only. In addition, having balanced connections on your headphones might be expense for some if they are not handy with making their own cables or have headphones that can be easily adapted to balanced. Nonetheless, I have several planar magnetic and various high and low impedance dynamic headphones, and I found that the Lyr 2 induces too much distortion with the high gain setting for any headphone that I have tried. I would highly recommend using the low gain for any tube, and the HE-560 is fairly efficient so you shouldn't need to go much past the 12 to 1 o'clock position on the volume dial anyway. I haven't tested high gain with LISST, so I can't comment on that just yet. This is in part because I like the tubes so much better than LISST that I just haven't gotten around to checking that out.

 

I'm not sure about this. I love the Valhalla 2 and the 650 is certainly the best match for that amp. But as much as I like the pairing, I'd have to go with the Crack w/sb for best performance and value.

 

^^ I agree that the Crack even with speedball has less control than the Valhalla 2 and not just with regard to bass response but in the mids as well to a lesser degree. BUT...it's still a really damn fine sound coming from Crack/650. More romantic and lush than Val 2...where Val 2 is more accurate and has better transient response.

But sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind...just listen to the music and see what moves you more. I listen to a lot of vocal centric music. Lot's of jazz and folk and pop. The Crack and 650 can reproduce vocals in a way that just memorizing.

 

I have NAD M51 as DAC which has balanced outputs. So if want to choose a SE system choose Valhalla2. Which are the recommended Tube amps in a balanced set up other than Mojo2 for HD650?

 

I've been thinking about new tubes for my Lyr 2, are there good pairs in the under 100 buck/euro range (I could go slightly above, if necessary)? Right now I have the stock ones and LISSTs. The latter have a brighter sound. Maybe there's a pair with very sweet mids and, heck, maybe even a darker tone? Normally I'm all about flat amping, but why not try what else is out there. Orange Globes get lots of hype...

I'm pretty much set on buying inside the EU, so hints of good shops are very welcome. Cheers!

BTW, what's wrong with transistors in the signal path? Isn't that what audio-pros making the music have in their systems, most of the time?

The other thing that puzzles me, is how much do mere pre-amp tubes do in a hybrid hp-amp? I come from guitar amps, where pre-amp tubes are basically used to create distortion - and they do matter lots.

 

My personal favorites in that price range are:

Amperex Bugle Boys / Orange Globes
Philips Miniwatts

I have a Brimar I really like with the Vali 2, also.

 

Miniwatts are great if you can find them reasonably priced.