I’ll give it a go.
1. Icon HP205D w/NOS WE205Ds — 11/10. Best tube amp I’ve ever heard. Infectious rumble and textured bass, very sweet mids, and detailed and crisp but not overly splashy treble. Near perfect balance of medium-fast transients and tubey warmth. Imparts 3-dimensional body to the instruments rather than just layering walls of sound at different distances.
2. Icon HP205D w/Psvane 205Ds — 8.5-9/10. Similar to above but everything is dialed back to move it down from epic to very good.
3. Icon HP205D w/Elrog-MOs — 8/10. As noted in an earlier post above, this pairing was too aggressive for me but many may like it.
4. Icon HP205D w/Taks — 9-9.5/10. Very nice and closely riding the tail lights of the Eddie Current.
5. Eddie Current Studio B w/Taks, WE396A, U50 rectifier — 10/10. Best tube amp I’d heard before I acquired the Icon. Very fast (SS level fast) transients. Dry and very clear with wide and deep staging (not necessarily tall) depending on the track. I rolled through 4 or 5 NOS rectifiers before I found one or two which added a bit more wetness to the presentation. Good bass rumble, sweet mids, and extended treble. A good middle ground between the classic WE300B presentation and more modern Elrog house sound.
6. DNA Stratus v4 w/NOS single plate RCA 2a3s — 6(10)/10. While highly regarded, this amp’s voicing was not to my tastes thus the lower score but if its presentation fits your preferences, there is likely nothing better (short of a Stellaris which I have not heard). Very detailed and very wet with those slow transients like a clear sky on a hot, very humid day. The juxtaposition of very high detail and slow attack was too jarring for me. Others may (and do) love it. That said, particularly with the single-plates, the treble is just awesome - very present and extended in the mix w/o ever being harsh or shrill. Bass is textured and very good (but 300B, 45, and 205D have more rumble in my view). Mids were a bit forward for me but very pleasant.
7. Andix Audio HPA-45 DHT — 8/10. This diminutive Japanese 45-based dac/amp is surprisingly great (it is nestled between the two sections of the Icon in the pictures). The DAC is “ok” but it takes analog in so I feed it from the T+A DAC200 and this little amp just rocks. Detail and noise floor are not summit-tier by any means but the 45 has very, very punchy bass, mids which cut through the mix well, and crisp treble but not to the level of the 205D or 2a3 in the highs. Stage depth is very good. Width is good but not noteworthy. If you can find one outside of Japan, give it a try. The amp manages to impart some low end weight to the HD800S which is quite interesting.
8. LTA MZ3 — 7.5/10. Caveat that I’m going on fairly distant memory on this one. Very open and airy sounding particularly in mids and treble. Bass had texture and detail but not enough note weight for my tastes. While I’m not typically focused on maximizing wattage when evaluating amps, at 1W max output, it really needed more headroom.
I’m embarrassed to say 37 HPs and 25 amps.
