[xneakers]

First pic with the bigger (0.47) mundorf silver supreme I saved from the phono stage on the 8550 pre.. it didnt fit the 8900 by a smudge, the board underneath didnt let all close in. Had to swap to the Audyn Copper Max 0.1
Other upgrades include silver solders, Allen Bradley / Dale resistors and a few capacitors; Im not the builder. I did buy a wrong potentiometer and furutech NFC plugs that also wouldnt fit.
Am playing mostly with speakers with some good new 300B but already tested with the HD800 and wow!! Also will need to test with the supposedly better NOS 2a3. Will need much more time with it for burn in and to further compare with my beloved CFA3. However, this is 220v and the 8900 is 115v, so a side by side is really unlikely in the short term

how do you find the upgrade on Audyn? I guess should be a jump vs original caps?
And which 300B you are using?

 

[Maven86]

After nearly eight years of seeing off all contenders and reigning supreme with a system built around them my hd800 have been sat in the corner gathering dust I honestly can't remember the last time I used them.

I swear when I looked at them today they were giving me the evil eye back!

Hifiman HE-6 and TU-8900 have dethroned them.

The king is dead, long live the king....

What do you like more about the HE-6 combination that was lacking with the HD800?

 

[lsantista]

how do you find the upgrade on Audyn? I guess should be a jump vs original caps?
And which 300B you are using?

Sorry but wont be able to help! it was built like this, he first tried to fit the Mundorf and it seemed it would be ok, but it wasnt in the end. A bit frustrating but well, it was the 0.47uf Ive bought for the 8550 pre anyway
also, Ive never heard any other 300b before, Im a newbie here..
But so far Ive enjoying it a lot, about 100hrs now
But this was mainly built for using with speakers, and I dont have sensitive speakers (ended up getting very insenstive speakers), so not sure the route this will take

 

[jamato8]

Sorry but wont be able to help! it was built like this, he first tried to fit the Mundorf and it seemed it would be ok, but it wasnt in the end. A bit frustrating but well, it was the 0.47uf Ive bought for the 8550 pre anyway
also, Ive never heard any other 300b before, Im a newbie here..
But so far Ive enjoying it a lot, about 100hrs now
But this was mainly built for using with speakers, and I dont have sensitive speakers (ended up getting very insenstive speakers), so not sure the route this will take

You have to use the right value. The bass and frequencies will be wrong otherwise.

 

[JamieMcC]

What do you like more about the HE-6 combination that was lacking with the HD800?

I've always enjoyed listening to both hd 800 and He-6 and have owned both for over seven years now and am a huge fan of the hd800.

The TU-8900 he-6 combo at the moment is sneaking ahead and is delivering the more engaging listening experience for me it's one I'm finding that is very immersive.

Fantastic timbre, bags of vibrant details vocals are just amazing then there is the speed and punch to the dynamics that hit fast and hard when required.

I find myself putting the he-6 on and feeling immediately engaged and immersed in the music.

 

[xneakers]

You have to use the right value. The bass and frequencies will be wrong otherwise.

higher uF will give lower bass extension.... not really a big problem...

 

[jamato8]

higher uF will give lower bass extension.... not really a big problem...

I am aware of what it does but it can also mess with frequency response.

 

[lsantista]

this is what my builder said when I question him upon seeing the mundorfs there, and I quote from a quick message that he sent while actually working on it, so he might have hushed on the explanation:
"it won't make a difference in this case the higher value because bass is limited by the cathode capacitors"

 

[JamieMcC]

Herb seem enthusiast about the TU-8900 on Steve Guttenbergs YouTube channel where he talks about his current system towards the end of the latest video

 

[Whitigir]

5-6 grands is an understatement. The kit he shows is only at a mid-level upgrade. Once you upgrade everything about it, it easily tackle 10K systems IME, and I have heard others who stated that it could even be compatible to the 20K stereos systems. Never had such system in my life, but I did have Stax once which were into that range, and by driving HD800S with this thing, I can agree that it may be comparison to those of 20K systems

 

[xneakers]

5-6 grands is an understatement. The kit he shows is only at a mid-level upgrade. Once you upgrade everything about it, it easily tackle 10K systems IME, and I have heard others who stated that it could even be compatible to the 20K stereos systems. Never had such system in my life, but I did have Stax once which were into that range, and by driving HD800S with this thing, I can agree that it may be comparison to those of 20K systems

Silver OPT, Silver Capacitor, Silver Tantalum 2W...

 

[Whitigir]

Idk about silver OPT…that thing is like 8K lol!

 

[Maven86]

Elekit just needs to make a bigger, more upgrade friendly chassis for their next project if people are going HAM like this with upgrades.

 

[JamieMcC]

After reading about the Audionote silver foil capacitors and noticing they uses a Mylar dielectric it reminded me of another capacitor I've used in the past that also uses Mylar and that had a pretty unique sonic signature so just for giggles I've ordered some 0.1uf Russian K75-10 capacitors to go in the TU-8900 they are coming from Ukraine so delivery time might be interesting.

I'm going to bypass them with the utterly fantastic Duelund JDM silver foil bypass caps just for a bit of fun to play about and mix things up a bit. Should make for a very different presentation from the Vcap Cutf!

John L absolutely nails the sonics in his review of the K75-10

"I can report that K75-10 sounds extremely unique, quite different from K40Y PIO and any other true PIO one cares to mention, including Vitamin Q, Jensen, and AmpOhm. It has a very saturated, colorful, textured, and detailed midrange that is thick and juicy. While PIO’s are known for their natural and smooth midrange, K75 seems to add some jest, pop, and color to the proceedings, yielding an apparently more detailed and forceful presentation. Treble and bass is pretty good, especially for an oil cap, but the leading edges are not razor-sharp and precise like premium film caps. Since the midrange is so involving and palpable, the lack of equal force in treble makes it seem a bit dark overall, but as one increases the volume, this becomes less of an issue, and poorly-recorded music is much more tolerable at higher volume.

The sound is rather addicting in its presentation and can even be called delicious in what it does well, kind of reminiscent of biting into a ripe peach. The line dividing “colorful” and “colored” is thin, and while K75-10 likely leans a bit to the latter, I quite enjoy its substantial sound and prefer it to the thin, plasticky sound many other capacitors represent."

Fwiw I posted the above on Jan 11th coincidentally on Feb 11th I took the pic below after swapping out the V-Cap Cutf caps for the K75-10 two months later they are still in !

 

[Galapac]

Fwiw I posted the above on Jan 11th coincidentally on Feb 11th I took the pic below after swapping out the V-Cap Cutf caps for the K75-10 two months later they are still in !

So that means you like them? I have the TU-8600 model and use Audio Note Coppers and I really like those but different architecture than the TU-8900.