[budx3385]

My brand new balanced Sonett arrived 2 wks ago,and I listened for a while and let it run a day and listened again.  It was clear, quiet, dry and distant, lacking in detail, timbre and presence.  Even after running a couple days,  The switchcraft XLR sockets were really tight - it was hard, no, very hard to remove any plugs, especially Xhadows - but I persisted and now it's better. 
 
Then I remembered that the head-fi DNA Sonett review thread
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/493097/dna-sonett-review
suggested rolling the tubes, so I visited tubeworld.com and bought a cryo'd 1991 Russian NOS 6H30-DR Kuhltube for $175.  Within 2 hr after it warmed up, the DNA headphone amp sounded fuller, cleaner, "mo' better", with much more detail and much better timbre.  It really went up a notch.  I listened with different headphones -- LA7000, HD800 w V3 silver dragon, Terminator (((V4))) w 600 ohm drivers -- and it was really better.  I emailed Donald and congratulated him on a real world-class top-quality headphone amp. 
 
Yet, it was no competition to the solid state, 3x more costly, Rudistor RP010B mark 2 for palpable presence - Rudi's amp is truly outstanding.  So I looked at the confusing array of 5AR4/GZ34 tubes that tubeworld offers - wow, prices just keep going and going.  I emailed Brenden for advice and he let me have the last cryo'd 1966 Mullard kuhltube for $220 - still in the lower third of the price range but similar to tubes mentioned here.  I installed that yesterday and SHAZAM!!!  The DNA became amazing - clarity, fullness, frequency extension, balance, and as much timbral presence as Rudi's best amp.  After a few hours, I tried all 3 headphones again with several different discs.  With two, the Sonett was clearly more pleasing and sounded more real than the Rudistor.  Tonight I sat and listened to most of these CDs, classical, chamber, and live jazz, and I enjoyed the music immensely.
 
Now, my DNA Sonett --- hmm....model 102? --- is an honest to goodness rival to the amp I thought no other could come close to.  With each CD, I want to make the comparison again and again.  I think I'll just use the DNA all of the time for a while and see if I miss the SS amp for anything.  The DNA doesn't even need warmup (well, a couple minutes helps!).
 
Nevertheless, I still had the upgrade bug lst week, maybe because it had taken so long and several delays before my DNA amp was delivered, maybe because I was disappointed at the initial SQ of the DNA amp.  So,,, last week I bought a 1-yr-old Zana Deux SE from a trusted head-fi-er I had done business with before.  I think of the ZD SE as sort of the Cadillac or Mercedes of tube head amps here.  It will arrive next week, complete with rolling tubes.  Now, I can't wait to compare my cryo'd DNA with the ZD SE. Then we'll see whether the DNA Sonett with kuhltubes really sings!!!

 

[kboe]

Awesome to hear mate, awesome!

 

[techenvy]

very cool indeed. cant wait to read more of your impressions!
cheers

 

[budx3385]

Thank you, gentlepeople.
 
 
Well, after listening primarily to the DNA Sonnet for a week using three different headphones, I am comfortable that I am not missing any of the music.  I can hear all the details, and the same "magical moments" that give me a chill or a giggle, that make me FEEL the music, come through just fine.  The cryo'd DNA Sonnet is a real winner!!!
 
And then yesterday I did the comparison again, starting with the Sonnet using my best headphones, the LA7000s, and using two live chamber CDs that have detail, clear layers of individual players, and lots of magical moments.  These are
 
Bach, Magnificat, Ricercar Consort, Mirare
 
Boccherini, Stabat Mater, Sophie Karthauser, Les Folies Francois, Ricercar
 
In the first one on Tr 4, there's an entrance ("Omnes, omnes") where you can just SEE the singers all leaning into mikes together to make sure their lips all move at exactly the same time - wow - and in the second, there are lots and lots of transitions where you can just SEE the chamber musicians watching each others' hands, and where you can actually FEEL the soprano's throat or her larynx vibrating -- lots of wows!!!
 
So, with these two disks, on the DNA Sonnet, I could hear and feel everything, but then with the Rudistor RP101B I clearly heard more presence and ambience.  With the Sonnet, I was hearing and looking at the musicians through a crystal clear hole in the wall about the size of my head, and with the Rudistor, I was RIGHT THERE in the same room with them right in front of me.
 
Bravo, Donald !!! 
 
The RP010B is an all-out, no holds barred complete quad mono discrete system, while the Sonnet is a one-stage, transformer-limited, very simple design.  And it works marvelously !!!
 
But the RP0101B with the LA7000s is still the best -- and absolute magic.  Thank you very much, Rudi !!!
 
To my ears.

 

[29029]

 
Quote:

I emailed Brenden for advice and he let me have the last cryo'd 1966 Mullard kuhltube for $220 - still in the lower third of the price range but similar to tubes mentioned here.  I installed that yesterday and SHAZAM!!!  The DNA became amazing

Do you know where you can get these from now please? Any direct links?
 
Thanks L

 

[29029]

Have now had some very advice from Donald on this and some links on PM re those tubes i mentioned - thanks. Will keep you posted after I get my Sonett.

 

[budx3385]

for those readers who are interested in upgrading the DNA Sonett, there are two reports, one by Rdr. Seraphim and one by me in the DNA Sonett Review thread here
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/493097/dna-sonett-review/270
scroll down to post #284 to read my experience
We are both providing ongoing update posts.
 
I feel mine is now at a "Super Sonett" level - I listen to it more than the Rudistor RP010Bmk2, which I consider to be a reference quality headphone amp.
 
Happy Listening

 

[29029]

Very interesting - thanks for the link. Wonder if DN will ever make a production super-Sonett?

 

[budx3385]

He says he is currently designing a 2A3 amp to drive the K1000, and that after that is finished, he would like to bring out a "Silver Sonett" !!!

 

[alvin sawdust]

Thanks for the impressions budx3385. Does anyone know if there are any advantages, sound quality wise, between the SE and balanced versions of the sonett?

 

[budx3385]

Not as far as I know.  But I can compare SE and balanced out of my Rudistor RP010Bmk2, and balanced wins there.  Makes sense to me -- then you have the return line swinging in synch with the hot lead, pulling when the other is pushing, and vice versa, instead of the hot lead needing to push and pull into a noisy morass of "common ground".
 
But on the Sonett, you only get one or the other, because it's built with a "simple is better" design philosophy.