First valve amp - Icon HP8 MKII help with valve choices

[bryan76]

Hello all

After years of hankering after a valve amplifier, and wondering what all the fuss is about, I have finally managed to get my hands on one – an Icon Audio HP8 MKII. To say the wait was worthwhile is an understatement....I am absolutely delighted with it, and this after only a few decent listening sessions.

I am still getting an idea of the sound and how it differs from my previous setup, but initially what strikes me the most is how fluid the music now sounds. Even with faster and more complex pieces of music, the Icon presents it in such a smooth and effortless way, yet still retaining the excitement.

I’m planning on taking some photos of my humble system for ‘The Gallery’ when I get chance, but wondered if I could ask some advice on which valves might suit my setup better. Overall the sound is very ‘bright’, some recording unlistenable because of sibilance in the vocals. Is it possible to ‘tune’ the sound by rolling the valves?? The amplifier is using: 1 x ECC83 (it says 7025) and 2 x 6SN7GT . All made by Shuguang.

I suspect that these valves are actually quite good, the sound quality certainly is, and just because they are ‘made in China’ doesn’t put me off them necessarily. Having searched a fair bit though, it’s the NOS valves that get most of the praise. So where should I start! What would be a good website/stockist to source these from?

Thanks for any help! :)

[Macca]

Hi Bryan

Can't help with the valve rolling but if you a have any other interconnects try swapping them in for your Belkin interconnects - I have found the Belkin can be a bit surgical sounding with some combinations of kit. This could be why it all sounds a bit bright as I am guessing the Rega DAC takes no prisoners in that regard.

Just a thought.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Think of it as being like cooking - the boxes are the ingredients & the valves and cables are the seasoning.
I'd be making sure that the ingredients are all doing what they're supposed to do. Then start thinking of adding the seasoning.

[selfaddict]

I cannot agree more, well said :)/


Think of it as being like cooking - the boxes are the ingredients & the valves and cables are the seasoning.
I'd be making sure that the ingredients are all doing what they're supposed to do. Then start thinking of adding the seasoning.

Could be something to do with impedance mismatch. Have you checked what nominal impedance on your speakers is and if this corresponds with the amplifiers speaker tab impedance? If you have two or more pairs of speaker tabs on your, amp you could try changing the impedance, if this make sound more to your liking.

[selfaddict]

Sorry, I didn't realize that Icon Audio HP8 MKII is a headphone amp :doh:.

Just ignore my post.

[bryan76]

Thanks for the comments so far.

Martin, that’s a great place to start. I’ve emailed Mark Grant to see if they have a cable that might work in this situation.

Chris, love the analogy, and I think that’s pretty much the way I’m thinking. A lot of the time I’m really happy with the sound, it’s just on some occasions that if there was a way of taming the highs a bit, well so much the better. I guess there could be an argument that the laptop is a ‘weak link’ (it's old and needs replacing), though having played around with pretty much most media players, and even then with mac (iTunes) and windows, my personal preference is for linux –and not knowing the first thing about linux vortexbox is ideal :rolleyes:!

Juha, thanks for your comments. Impedance matching the headphones was a major consideration! The Icon amplifier has a specific setting for 600ohm headphones, which the Beyerdynamics are.....not by chance and not cheap either:mental:!

[HighFidelityGuy]

If the amp is brand new then that could explain it sounding slightly harsh. It'll take a good week or two running to bed in. If it's second hand or if after the burn in period it's still sounding a bit harsh then I'd look at tube rolling with some NOS valves. :)

[Ali Tait]

Could also be the amp being transparent to the recording. A lot of modern stuff is very compressed and can sound harsh.