The thing was, as I was starting to pack up the stuff ready for the move, I was in the room with all my headphone gear, and decided that it was best to do all the packing with the headphones on. As such, I thought, why not try the Elekit for the next week. So, out with the Crack, and in with the TU882. And the first thing I noticed was that the hum was not as loud as before (or so I thought), but it was definitely lower than the Crack that I just unplugged. That is the good news. The bad news was, I was using a pair of Raytheon 2C51 and I just wasn't all that endearing, the sound that is. So, I thought, I might spend a few minutes to change out the Raytheon and put in a pair of WE396a that I had purchased. Firstly, it was very soft on the right ear, almost no sound. My heart sank....
Was it the amp, or the new tubes? No idea. But as the amp got warmed up, slowly, the volume on the right side picked up and now it settled in to match the left. A sigh of relief. But boy, only the first hour of music, and the sound is so much better! So much so, I am thinking I need to get me more of the Western Electric NOS. Another thing I noticed was that the hum levels was actually less than the Raytheon tubes (this is going by memory...). But, it is now very quiet. Not dead silent, but very quiet. Not as quiet as the Ear, but close. Regardless, the sound was so much improved, it makes me really want to keep listening to this setup.
Anyway, a moment of revelation, and onto the shopping!
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