So after recently sending in my CSP2+ to Decware for the inspection of a potential internal issue and warranty transfer… I had a conversation with STEVE about my Grado GS1000 headphones.  Due to the low ohm requirement on my headphones only being 32 ohms,  they are unfortunately not a good pairing with the CSP2+ due to the headphone section being an OTL.  While I already knew that… I was inquiring away to quiet  down the buzz I was getting at the halfway point. STEVE said the only thing I could do was swap out the stepped attenuator on the CSP for a smooth action control.  Since I did not want to give that up… my only two other options were to seek out a separate headphone amp or sell my current Grado’s and buy a better set of headphones.

So for the time being… I have decided to search out a separate headphone amp that would work with my Grado’s.  Needless to say I went down a huge rabbit hole and I’ve spent the past several days reading chat forums to try and get some more info.  Sifting  through all of the posts of how people said that a certain headphone amp worked great… I needed something more than the basic recommendation.  I wanted to know the reason why in technical terms one was better than the other.  

I came to find out that the Grado’s have a high damping coefficient on their drivers.  When you pair them with a headphone amp that has a low impedance output… It over dampens the driver and makes the sound more harsh.  This results in a more muddled sound where you get blobs of music in both ears throwing off the Equilibrium that you expect with a good set of headphones.  So the key is to find a headphone amp that has a higher impedance output. Almost all of the solid State headphone amps out there have an impedance output of .1 or .2.   The Grado’s work very well with tubes… And with a tube headphone amp you will get a higher impedance output as opposed to solid State.  So trying to be budget friendly I went over to the Schiit Line….. and landed on the Vali 3, which is a tube hybrid.  On the low setting the output impedance is .5 ohms, and on the high gain setting the output impedance is 1.8 ohms. Because these are easy to drive headphones… They don’t require a lot of power anyway so while at first I was a bit concerned with the 1.5 W of output at 32 ohms… I realize that the synergy means more than having a higher wattage output headphone amp like some others in the lineup.  The headphone amp ships with a 6N3P tube… So I will look forward to tube rolling with this headphone amp.  I should receive the amp by the end of the week… So I will post my impressions after I start to use it.  

The more logical choice would be to sell off my Grado’s, and buy a pair of headphones that work better with the CSP… But for now I was looking for a low-cost option so this what is the route I decided to take.  Separately…there is a synergy with the type of DAC used.  DAC’s that have a more analog sound work  better than ones that are too clinical…but that’s a whole another topic of conversation.  

Here’s a good article that depicts some of the information I referenced…

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/need-advice-for-an-amp-for-grado-phones.958930/

Thanks James….Schiit Had a $20 up charge to jump from an unknown brand 6N3P  to a Sylvania 5670.  When I looked around online for pricing… I felt I could do better on my own seeking out a better tube.  I did briefly look at the WE 396A, but they are fetching a higher price tag with balanced sections.  Thanks for the info on the 6N3P variations….I’ll start to dig further online.  

I do have a red tipped 6N5P that I acquired from an eBay that originated from Decware…so that will be the first tube roll after unit breaks in a bit.  Since it has a bit of lower gain than the 3P…it will be interesting To hear how it sounds when I play with the high and low settings.  

I did see the GE triple Mica black plates….and that piqued my interest.  I just got notification from Decware that my CSP2 plus amp should arrive at my doorstep sometime tomorrow afternoon. So I’m looking forward to getting my system back on track.  

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Yes…. I am partial to the Teslas. 😀.  A good 6CC42 pinched waist is going for like $120 bucks.  All of them though will be coming from the CZECH Republic.  

No typo… yes I do have a 6N5P.  It came out of use in a Decware amp.  Thanks for the info on adapter.  I think I already have an adapter…..I may be the same one I use for 6SN7 ….need to find that in the basement

$16 for 6CC42s is indeed a great price. I've bought a lot of tubes from tubes-store.com and never had any problems, but they are in Russia if it matters to you. Also FWIW all the 6CC42s I have came from the Czech Republic, which makes sense because that's where the Tesla factory was.

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Yes, pinched waist crossed swords. It's been years and I don't really remember the details of the comparison but do remember thinking they were worth the premium price at the time. And the pinched waist were the most expensive input tubes I bought. I'll say if you love the $16 dollar Teslas I would certainly consider the upgrade, but perhaps try the 3 mica GE 5670s first. They are really good too and less dough.

Of course all of the above is based on my experience in the UFO amps so I'm not even sure how that will match your headphone amp. I had the Teslas in my UFO25s for a while and they were good there too, but it seems like the '25s prefer 7 volt tubes like PCC88 and PCC189. I haven't rolled tubes in the amps for a while, I probably ought to revisit some of these.

So I’m finally listening to the Vali 3 through my system.   First impressions out of gate…it’s quiet.  No hum or buzz at all.  This is by far a way better pairing than with my CSP2+; and rightfully so due to a better impedance matching with these headphones.  

I will say that it does come off a bit dry and clinical depending on the genre….but the detail is very good!   I’m hoping that once the internal caps break it, the sound will warm up a bit.  Also…it’s not as tubey as I anticipated…I expected a fatter sound and not as edgy.  

Right now I’m using the single ended output from my DAC directly into the Vali3.  In the upcoming days..I plan to go through the balanced outputs, through the ZBIT and my ZROCK2, so I’m curious to see how the addition of the those two devices integrate with the Vali3.  I just need to be careful not to overdrive the Vali3 with too much gain.  

Looking forward to doing some tube rolling with tubes I acquired from CAJames.  I’ll keep everyone posted with updates.