New addition to the stable.
I made the decision to take advantage of the $600. price on the HiFiMan Arya Stealth, here pictured with the Meze 109 Pro. I think 2025 is going to be a really uneventful year so far as new purchases. I've also upgraded my Fiio BTR7 to the newly released BTR17 and I purchased the Earmen stack which consists of Amplifier, Linear PS, DAC & Streamer.
Dec 19, 2024
With tube amps, especially ones with output transformers, two things matters the most:
Tubes: Swap in a good set of tubes can mean the difference of night and day. Kinda like the engine in your car.
Transformers: Everything goes through the transformer before it goes to your headphone/speaker... so kinda like your car's transmission.
That said, this is assuming the topology and setup is done correctly. (like the car's chassis).
http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aaa0037.htm http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aag0108.htm