Hello,
I’ve been reading the forum a lot and would like to thank everybody for sharing their knowledge/experience. I’m looking at a Verite Closed, and might eventually add other headphones down the line. I intend on buying 1 amp and be done for a while.
- Has anybody compared the Pendant, GlennOTL, and Ampandsound Mogwai SE? If yes, could you please share your thoughts on their general sound profile? I read Ian’s review and watched Andrew’s video about the Pendant, and they were extremely helpful.
- How would these amps differ when used with a Verite Closed?
- Which is a more versatile amp and works better with a wide range of planar/dynamic headphones, which could be of low/high impedance?
- Should I consider any other amps around the 1.5-2.5K price point – new or used?
- Are these amps a huge step up from a Schiit Lyr 3 with a good tube?
FYI,
- I might end up with one of these DACs – Lampizator, MHDT Orchid, Schiit Bifrost 2. Other suggestions are welcome.
- I prefer a musical sound with good detail, speed, resolution, holographic nature, soundstage, texture, smooth and open midrange, treble with a bit of air/sparkle, control in bass with good slam.
- My tube knowledge is basic at best, and so won’t be doing a lot of tube rolling. I’ll try the top combos based on forums and settle down with what works for me.
Thank you!
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General impressions of each:
Pendant = Nicely neutral, expansive staging, nicely tunable a bit with tube rolling.
GOTL = Warm-ish. Entirely dependent on the tubes you put in it. More upgrade options than you can shake a stick at, some of which are questionable value wise.
Mogwai = Warmbutt and kinda sloppy. (The one I heard was, anyway.) Not a fan. Kind of the antithesis of what I thought the Pendant was. I’m not sure what is different about these two amps design wise, but the Pendant kicks the Mog’s butt across the entire dojo.
The Pendant. Planar and low impedance really won’t do well on the Glenn (or any other OTL for that matter). Mog I just don’t care for, so…
My suggestions from highest to lowest would be:
EC ZDS / Aficionado.
Pendant.
Donald North Stellaris/Stratus.
Woo WA22.
Glenn OTL.
…
…
…
…
…
Magni 3
…
…
…
Mogwai.
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You just convinced me to skip an amp and save for the Pendant. 
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It kind of depends upon the sound you are looking for as well. DNA has a house sound, the Pendant is going for a certain sound. There is a fair bit in that price range. You probably wouldnt have an issue with most well reviewed tube amps at that price range.
I have never read anything bad about the Pendant - ampsandsound has a lifetime warranty and Zach will back up his product as well if there are issues.
There is also the ECP T4 which gets decent reviews.
Keep in mind upkeep costs related to tubes or if you plan on tube rolling - that can add up pretty quick. The Pendant tubes are relatively inexpensive but 2A3 or 300B tubes can be $$.
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I probably should have put the T4 in the list. I have the 3F.
The T4 has a few issues though. (None of which are related to sound quality.)
First, It doesn’t look like a typical tube amp. It doesn’t have 8 transformer shrouds towering above the various 32 tubes displayed prominently at the front of the amp. Somehow, that makes convincing people into believing it sounds just as good if not better than many other amps quite difficult.
Second, it only uses two inexpensive tubes. People want to drop fortunes into tube rolling, because… well, that’s what you do when you buy a tube amp, isn’t it? If one can’t brag about their $500 lightbulbs, what good is it?
Third, it’s much more compact and desk friendly than the others. Despite the many gorgeous woods Doug uses, it just doesn’t take up the majority of my desk like the ZDS does. If an amp isn’t so big you can’t help but notice it, it probably doesn’t sound good.
/Sarcasm Off
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It’s still between the T4 and the new Cayin for me…
For exactly the reasons you mention here lol…my inner Rooster wants the pretty and big Cayin, but my practical modern(ish) side wants the T4…
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As long as the amp is reliable, I’m happy. And the lesser $$ I have to spend on tubes, the better.
How would you compare the sound of T4 to Pendant?
Any idea about the wait times for T4? I checked Beezar.com but it wasn’t clear.
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Last I heard Tom was just tallying up the orders for the next batch. Would be a good time to shoot him an email and ask.
As for sound, I haven’t enough first hand experience that I’d want to make any kind of detailed comparison to the Pendant. Impressions are it’s a slightly warmer and more tube-ish sounding 3F. This greatly excites me, as the 3F is the best SS amp for ZMF headphones I’ve ever heard and I’m in love with mine.
I might marry it, put it in my will, and die a happy man.
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I might marry it, put it in my will, and die a happy man.
Impressions are it’s a slightly warmer and more tube-ish sounding 3F.
In that case, how would you compare the 3F to Pendant?
Maybe I could tube roll the Pendant and bring in some warmth (if needed) without loosing it’s overall traits?
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The Pendent is not sterile. I would rate my from most to least sterile,
- THX 887 (sold it)
- TCA HPA-1
- SPL Phonitor X
- HeadAMP GC-X Mini.
- Zmf/Amp&sound Pendent
Also, I would put them in that order of enjoyment.
I can share tubes with my daily guitar amp Benson Earhart also EL84 based. Replacing tubes in my Marshall JMP ( 100 Watt - 4 EL34) and Two Rock Classic Reverb Signature ( 100 Watt 4 6L6) does put a dent in the pocketbook.
I am sure the T4 is good, but you really need to once in your life a Tube Amp with Tube-based Pre-section and Tube in Power section with a Tube-based rectifier with output transformers.
There is nothing wrong with Dick Denney amp designs
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Sarcasm appreciated and there are some good points here.
I went for a tube amp that specifically was built to sound good regardless of tube quality ie tube rolling makes very slight differences. My choice was also influenced by relative cost and relative life span of the tubes and also the size of the amp. Plus what I could gather about sonic performance.
I almost purchased a Pendant, it was my 1b choice. I ultimately chose a DNA Starlet. It was essentially just a gut feeling. I like supporting small boutique manufacturers who support their customers and the hobby/enthusiast community - both DNA and ZMF fall in to that category, as well as other companies on your list. Zach will still be seeing more of my money down the road so I dont feel too bad about it.
I would have been happy with a Pendant.
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Edited to be lazy.
T4 could be 4.5 or 5.3 depending on tube. Pendant can shift places too depending on tube. Zach’s NOS tube selection is like… 5.2-ish, but sound freaking amazeballs.
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The full tube amp… Actually the T4 is a hybrid isnt it?
Yep.
The T4 combines tubes with a fully differential solid-state output, feeding into custom-manufacture Lundahl output transformers for the finest single-ended, zero-feedback output.
So, to horribly oversimplify it (Doug and Jason will hate me for this) it’s like taking two Lyr 3s - one for each channel- and outputting that into custom Lundahl transformers.
The circuit used isn’t anything like a Lyr 3 in truth, but as I said, it’s a horribly oversimplified analogy.
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Yes, the T4 is a hybrid—tube in the Pre Amp section, and solid-state power amp section.
You can get Tube in the pre-amp and power section, and still have a solid-state rectifier section. Some Marshell’s are setup this way
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Also, from the designer Doug:
The DSHA3F and the T4 have very similar output stages. The primary difference is that the '3F runs at low voltage and high current while the T4 runs at high voltage and low current (there are other differences that are not germane here). The T4 then uses a stepdown transformer to trade voltage for current.
The output impedance of the '3F is just a few Ohms. The output impedance of the T4 is the circuit impedance stepped down by the impedance ratio of the OPT + the primary DCR of the OPT stepped down by the OPT impedance ratio + the secondary DCR. The ratio is 100:1, the circuit adds just a few ohms (divided by 100, so it is negligible, less than 1/2 an ohm). The primary DCR is ~250 ohms which becomes 2.5 ohms while the secondary DCR is 2.2 ohms. When you total it up, the output impedance is about 5 Ohms, just a bit higher than the 3F.
Keeping the impedance contribution of the OPT low was a primary consideration in how we had them designed as this is very beneficial for the Focals.
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This is other AMP&SOUND Amp I was interested in hearing the Bigger Ben
- Input tube: 6SL7 or equivalent
- Output tubes: 6L6GC, EL34s, KT66, KT77, KT88, 6550s and KT90s
- Cathode Bias/automatic bias allows for easy tube changes without adjustment.
- Compatible with 32ohm-300ohm headphones using the labeled 1/4″ jack.
Power as measured with KT88 power tubes and 5AR4 rectifier
- 8ohm power: 8Watts RMS @ 1khz
- Noise on 8ohm tapp @ 320uV RMS
- 300ohm power: 5Watts RMS @ 1khz
- Noise on 300ohm tapp @ 480uVV RMS
- 4 headphone inputs 8/16/32/100/300 Ohms
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I have two Amps and Sounds amps. Kenzie and Kenzie Encore.
The stock tubes are inexpensive. Single 12SL7 input and dual 1626 output tubes. There are variants of course, but the basic tube compliment is readily available.
As long as your not running demanding cans, there is plenty of power.
I really like Justin’s stuff and recently replaced and added a second Kenzie to replace a Schiit Mjolnir2. Stayed with the same amp family for easy cross use of tubes.
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A&S amps have been noted to be a bit noisy, outside of the Pendant and maybe the Mogwai SE newest version. For the expense that is something that is a no go for me but may not bother others if they like the sound. A&S have a lot of fans though so it is obviously not bothersome to a lot of folks.
The Pendant is supposed to be a black background and reviews have stated as much. When I was researching amps in this tier Zach said he would take back the amp if it generated any noise. He is highly confident that the Pendant is silent. Any issues that have been had are usually due to outside sources or are easily solved.
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