PutPineappleOnPizza t1_j0hxe22 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 7:41 PM

Ah yes, the solid state sound tube amp, how do you like it? I am thinking about selling mine to get something that distorts everything a little bit more.

RayceManyon OP t1_j0i2rng wrote on December 16, 2022 at 8:17 PM

I mostly listen with 58X or 6XX and it smooths sound out and adds a little weight to music, which I like. Not a huge difference, but just a little. And for $320 it's a great first tube amp. I feed it with the SMSL M200 DAC. I keep the tube volume at 50% and use the M200 to control volume. I don't know if this is necessary, but that's what I do. Oh, last comment, I'm on my second pair of 6XX... this new one sounds much better than my previous version which I sold because I didn't care for it. I wonder if I'm making that up or are there really variations in 6XX sound.

PutPineappleOnPizza t1_j0i4zn2 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 8:32 PM

>this new one sounds much better than my previous version

I have aboslutely no idea lol, I love mine. For me the Xduoo doesn't do much different in comparison to my FiiO K5 pro ESS, maybe due to the ESS chip, who knows. I will most likely sell my Xduoo soon to get a Eufonika H5, that is if I can even get rid of it. Swapped to potentiometer and now I have a black knob TA-26 (I bet there are people who want exactly that though, maybe I am lucky).

It's a great amp for sure, but I want more tube sound.

ku1185 t1_j0ilivm wrote on December 16, 2022 at 10:28 PM

>adds a little weight to music, which I like.

stop tempting me, please for the love of god and solvency.

RayceManyon OP t1_j0j1tqt wrote on December 17, 2022 at 12:32 AM

OMG! Tube amps give off the most amazing smell! The best I can describe it is "burning electrical heat". It's the best

Razhi3l t1_j0jc8g4 wrote on December 17, 2022 at 1:58 AM

It smooths out my 650s so so much, it is legitimately heavenly. There's a bit of warmth I can detect but you're right it isn't much. Still very much worth the cash.

jingle1996 t1_j0ipf4z wrote on December 16, 2022 at 10:57 PM

I think with tube rolling you can get a pretty distorted sound on the TA-26

PutPineappleOnPizza t1_j0is7gq wrote on December 16, 2022 at 11:18 PM

I've rolled a lot of tubes with next to no success, from Tung-Sol to black base NOS RCA, EH6SN7 Gold, a few Foton 6H8C's from the 60s, German 6SN7 TAD and after that I stopped because it makes no sense hunting super rare tubes that could break or decide to go microphonic at any time.

All tubes I've tested sound great, but they are all very, very similar to each other in that amp. In fact, they're so similar that any noticeable change could be placebo. Heck even testing things in the evening makes things sound different compared to during the day and that creates some bias towards certain tubes, but in a blind test I most likely couldn't tell them apart.

The TA-26 is absolutely amazing, clean, no buzzing or humming, looks stunning, but tbh, I don't get what many reviews are talking about. There is next to no tube sound, maybe some more dynamics, a little bit more bass, that's it. Even something like the Fosi audio T3 I've tested gave me more distortion. I prefer the TA-26 by a lot, but it's not a game changer when coming from solid state.

RayceManyon OP t1_j0j28gi wrote on December 17, 2022 at 12:36 AM

You are 100% correct. I have this sonafabitch plugged into a power strip and there is no hiss, hum, or noise.