I have the same and like it a lot. Goes well with my high-impedence Senn HD 650's. Curious what tubes did you upgrade to? I upgraded mine to some GE 5654WThis is what I currently use. It has upgraded tubes.
I think 'hot" is normal for a Class A tube amp. Mine gets pretty warm as well but nothing outrageous. I certainly don't think the Novosibirsk tubes made a huge difference and they weren't cheap at around $45 for a matched pair. Admittedly I haven't swapped the stock output tubes back in for any real A/B comparisons. As I'm sure you found rolling the driver tubes is pretty cheap and I'm fairly sure the better bang-for-the buck.I got mine for $129 from Amazon. It was too good a deal to pass up. The price has since been raised.
So far I've replaced the input/driver tubes with GE 5654's from Riverstone Audio. The outputs are stock. Do you hear a big difference between the stock output tubes and the Novosibirsk tubes?
My only caveat is that it tends to run somewhat hot.
That is a really nice amp.Okay it finally came in..
Signed (by the technician whom made it)..
View attachment 1137535
Upgraded Caps
View attachment 1137534
Paired with,, Headphones,,
ZMF (Auteur)..
View attachment 1137528
Source is a,,
OPPO 205. (CD/DAC)
Streaming Tidal Hi-Fi via
Apple TV4 (hdmi to oppo 205)
View attachment 1137529
Replaced my PRE-AMP in my main system..
WOW , I really like it..
View attachment 1137537
Okay it finally came in..
Signed (by the technician whom made it)..
View attachment 1137535
Upgraded Caps
View attachment 1137534
Paired with,, Headphones,,
ZMF (Auteur)..
View attachment 1137528
Source is a,,
OPPO 205. (CD/DAC)
Streaming Tidal Hi-Fi via
Apple TV4 (hdmi to oppo 205)
View attachment 1137529
Replaced my PRE-AMP in my main system..
WOW , I really like it..
View attachment 1137537