First real sound impressions as I have now received the Sylvania 5814a & Reflektor 6V6GT tubes and I have kept the same stock rectifier tube for now....

Firstly the stock tubes are utter trash and I really didn't like them. The sound was too smoothed over and details were lost in the music and it annoys me how modern tubes are still far off in the quality of the sound compared to vintage tubes. I used the LCD 4 for this session as people say this headphone really scale endlessly to better gear and I can say this session was the best I have heard them and I didn't think it was possible to achieve such results. I have got the Topping A90D and Schiit Lyr + as my other amps and they aren't in the same solar system to the HA-3A with vintage tubes installed. I actually used the stock LCD 4 1/4 jack cable and there was no hissing compared to the XLR connection. The amount of power in the HA-3A meant that I never went past 12 o clock on the volume dial.

So with these new tubes the stage became wider and decay on notes became a lot more apparent. I could really focus on a single note in the background and hear all its decay. Music that I've listened to for years revealed extra hidden details that I could just not hear with my other amps. The background was absolutely dark and clear which was one of the most impressive things because the music feels like its just floating and appearing in a completely dark background and I was truly amazed. The tonality was also perfect in its delivery of the instruments and vocals and nothing was shouty which is tube dependent I guess but this is my 1st try with different tubes so the result is great. The bass had less punch than the Schiit Lyr + (with Sylvania Bad Boy Tube) but I feel like it was more detailed and the decay was a lot better and overall more balanced. It's also incredible of how precise but musical everything was and it all blended together to create some weeping during my listening to tracks like California Hotel (MTV live version). Lastly I didn't notice any fall off in speed and EDM tracks were highly enjoyable to listen to.

I now have the confidence in this amp to save up for the the Abyss AB 1266 Phi TC because I know this amp has the resources to take full advantage of that headphone. The Schiit Lyr + and Topping A90D can kick dust and will be sold. I will only keep the Ifi Zen Can as a backup just in case.