aikido vs ehha question

[pidesd]

hi everyone,

i m torn between building an ehha and an aikido and the lack of info about them(especially aikido) has led me to ask for a comparison between the two.

i d be using the ehha with a sigma22 and the aikido would be broskie latest octal lsa/hpa all-in-one(because i have a couple of sylvania and rca 6sn7 doing nothing in my wardrobe).

comments on any aikido amp would be welcome as well.

i m opened to other tube amps but those two seemed the best to me as far as i looked. if it can help i have a beta22 and a dual darkvoice 336i that you can compare with.

any input would be appreciated

[dBel84]

iirc digger945 is the only person to own both ( albeit the LV version of the aikido ), I would suggest directing this question at him. The EHHA is a great amp but I can only imagine that the Aikido would be every bit as satisfying.

..dB

[pidesd]

yeah before posting this thread i ask digger945 a comparison as he s the only one i saw who had both, but i told myself that i should post a thread as others too probably have heard both. so then i resent a message to digger saying he didnt need to respond. LOL anyway thanks for your input dbel

i read everywhere only good things about those amp but the as they are completely different design-wise they should not sound the same...yes?

also i ma bit afraid that the aikido would show less detail than the ehha because i tried the broskie cathode follower for balanced dac (Balanced-Ouput DACs and Tubes and Aikido) and detail was sorely lacking, altough the sound was refined. i m just a bit worried that broskie s line of thought just doesnt aligns with mine if you see what i mean.

[digger945]

hi everyone,

i m torn between building an ehha and an aikido and the lack of info about them(especially aikido) has led me to ask for a comparison between the two.

i d be using the ehha with a sigma22 and the aikido would be broskie latest octal lsa/hpa all-in-one(because i have a couple of sylvania and rca 6sn7 doing nothing in my wardrobe).

comments on any aikido amp would be welcome as well.

i m opened to other tube amps but those two seemed the best to me as far as i looked. if it can help i have a beta22 and a dual darkvoice 336i that you can compare with.

any input would be appreciated

I would recommend building both, of course, and comparing the two. I've tried different tubes with both and each roll changes the sound to some degree, so right there you have an opportunity to explore. I just got some cheaper 7308s and haven't tried them out but will very soon, maybe this evening, and report back.

I would like to try this amp next. Why don't you build it first and let us know how it goes.

iirc digger945 is the only person to own both ( albeit the LV version of the aikido ), I would suggest directing this question at him. The EHHA is a great amp but I can only imagine that the Aikido would be every bit as satisfying.

..dB

Indeed I have the 24V Aikido.

http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m362/digger945/aikido001.jpg?t=1267052465

yeah before posting this thread i ask digger945 a comparison as he s the only one i saw who had both, but i told myself that i should post a thread as others too probably have heard both. so then i resent a message to digger saying he didnt need to respond. LOL anyway thanks for your input dbel

i read everywhere only good things about those amp but the as they are completely different design-wise they should not sound the same...yes?

also i ma bit afraid that the aikido would show less detail than the ehha because i tried the broskie cathode follower for balanced dac (Balanced-Ouput DACs and Tubes and Aikido) and detail was sorely lacking, altough the sound was refined. i m just a bit worried that broskie s line of thought just doesnt aligns with mine if you see what i mean.

I don't know which version of the amp you built from the link you gave. There are several. The cathode follower is not the same as the Aikido circuit.

How many different sources have you tried? I'm not familiar at all with the Zhaolu in your profile.

Looser101 has built a HV 6H30 Aikido and could give some comments on the sound for you.

I loaned my Aikido to Nikongod not long ago for a while. Maybe he can also comment.

I haven't listened to either of these amps for some time now, so I really need to do that in order to give you something that might be of use here. I have more head time with the Aikido, and if I had to sell one of the two it would probably be the EHHA. I have found that your assumption about the different topologies sounding different is a good one in my experience. Push pull does not sound the same to me as cap/transformer coupled.

Gimme a day or two to do some listening and I will be better able to help you out some. I haven't listened to either of these amps since I got some new sources to try, so they will no doubt have a different sound to them.

[nikongod]

Indeed! I had the LV akido on loan a while ago.

I liked the amp quite a bit, although I cant compare to the EHHA, as I have not heard one much.

My impressions of the amp (compared to the Melos SHA-Gold eargasmatron) are that the LV akido was a bit more detailed & controlled than the Melos but at the same time still had a littttle tube "sweetness" to it. I would not call this amp warm, as I think wam is a more fuzzy and undefined sound (specifically being drunk in front of a fire, thats a warm sound) I think sweet is better here. Sweetness is a gentle smoothness to me, but is not fuzzy like warmth. It is well defined, but begs for you to listen to more.

[pidesd]

digger,

at first i thought i d built both but that exstata has grown on me quite a bit. there are big chances ill built both but for now it s going to be one or the other

i would build the amp you linked from kandk but the cost is a bit out of my bugdet for now, especially when i already have some components for the ehha and the aikido. but it looks nice indeed.maybe sometimes in the future if your review says it s worth it . one thing though is bogging me: i m not an audio expert but i ve read several times that transformers in the signal path are less than desirable in high-fedility audio, even worse than coupling caps, dont know what to think...

right now i have a zapfilter after a buffalo a dac which is waht i compare other stages to. but i eventually plan to replace it with the d1b1(A New Take on the Classic Pass Labs D1 with an ESS Dac - diyAudio).

the broskie cathode follower for output dac i linked is the last schematic in that arcticle. the soundstage and instrument seperation was pretty amazing but it left me wanting more.. as you said, it s not the same circuit as the aikido, so i guess i made what is called a prejudice

anyway looking forward to your impressions. any kind of info on those amps may end up influencing my decision quite a bit.

thanks for replying digger and lets hope others will chime in.

[pidesd]

i m wondering how good are broskies HV supplies...maybe a 24V aikido with a very good supply would propulse it way ahead of the HV octal aikido, even if the tubes are not in the same category?

i often look for a high quality HV supply but found nothing really solid and proven...or maybe that exstata supply could do justice to the aikido?

guess mr.broskie would be better palced to answer those questions..

Indeed! I had the LV akido on loan a while ago.

I liked the amp quite a bit, although I cant compare to the EHHA, as I have not heard one much.

My impressions of the amp (compared to the Melos SHA-Gold eargasmatron) are that the LV akido was a bit more detailed & controlled than the Melos but at the same time still had a littttle tube "sweetness" to it. I would not call this amp warm, as I think wam is a more fuzzy and undefined sound (specifically being drunk in front of a fire, thats a warm sound) I think sweet is better here. Sweetness is a gentle smoothness to me, but is not fuzzy like warmth. It is well defined, but begs for you to listen to more.

is a sigma powering the aikido?

[nikongod]

i often look for a high quality HV supply but found nothing really solid and proven...or maybe that exstata supply could do justice to the aikido?

Have you considered the PS for the Cavalli Bijou? It has clearly proven its self for a single HV supply headphone amp application. Isnt the Exstata PS dual rail?

I would make the (possibly very poorly informed) guess that the bijou PS is overkill for the Akido though. One of the original design goals of the Akido was good to outstanding PSR. Overkill is nice, but you can always upgrade the PS later if you need to.

is a sigma powering the aikido?

It was digger945's LV akido I heard. If I recall it had a Tangent TREAD running everything.

He replaced the LM-317 output devices with dn2540 or 10M45 too I think its all in the LV akido thread on head-fi

[Looser101]

6SN7s would be inadequate to drive headphones by themselves, in my opinion. So that leaves a tube amp with a solid state buffer, which both the 24v Aikido and EHHA have. Broskies high voltage PSU is very good. Transformers sound better than capacitors to me, but I think it's mainly because of the lower output impedance. On the other hand cheap transformers sound like ass, and the price of good ones can be exorbitant. You may want to look at the L'espressivo as well.

[pidesd]

is the 6sn7 inadequate because it lacks current capability?

anyway, as it stands for me it s pretty much a heads or tail situation. so in the event the HV aikido is indeed not ideal for headphone use, then i ll take no chance and go for the ehha. then eventually i ll build a 24v aikido or we ll see.

i just cant afford to to mess around with big buck transformers right now. so, although very interesting, projects using these will have to wait.

thanks everyone for your input and ill post impressions of my ehha.

[pidesd]

i think i m also going to breadboard a 24v aikido because i cant find any 24v pcb anywhere, in addition to building the ehha. i read the user guide but cant find the value for r20/21. also do the ss devices suggested sound good?

edit: found the value for r20/r21

Edited March 7, 2010 by pidesd
i just found the value for r20/21

[digger945]

I haven't had a chance to do very much listening.

i read the user guide but cant find the value for r20/21.

300 is a good place to start.

also do the ss devices suggested sound good?

I don't remember noticing any difference between the LM317 and DN2540.