[mynamesjeff]

Didn't really see a thread for this gem of a tube amp which doubles up as a headphone stand.
The affordable but not to be underestimated amp in Auris' line up.

Has anyone else have experiences with this amp. Do you like the on board DAC with it or do you use an external DAC to get the most out of it.

Also looking for experiences with tube rolling with it. Either the pre amp tube (12AT7) or the power tubes (EL95 or PL95). How drastic was the sound from stock?

 

[Bkido]

Hey, the amp is certainly a gem. Absolutely love it with my ZMF - stabilized VC and Aeolus. I just got some NOS tubes for the amp and going to report on how they perform. I think the pre tube makes the biggest difference. My favorite for now is a Philips E181CC pinched waist from 1958. It has a bit lower gain than the 12AT7 which I prefer for lower noise and a bit more play on the volume since the ZMF are pretty efficient. Compared to the stock JJ 12AT7 the sound opens up a lot more with improved clarity, more powerful impact etc.. Still have to roll a Mullard CV4024, Brimar 12AU7, Philips E180CC and some other 12AU7 I have for another amp of mine.
For power tubes it seems to be easier for me to source EL95 instead of PL95. Didn't roll so much the power tubes yet. I have the stock Ei PL95, Telefunken EL95, Tungsram EL95 and Siemens EL95 but couldn't settle for a favorite for now.
@mynamesjeff : What's you experience have been like for now?

 

[tomb]

I don't know anything about the amp, but rolling the signal tube (12AT7) is what you want to do. There's a great wealth of tubes to pick from in the 12A*7 family. You have to be careful, because some of the variants use greater heater current, such as the 12AZ7. A 12AY7 is a good replacement with reasonably close gain to the 12AT7, but a 12AU7 has anemic gain by comparison and you might lose volume or any punchiness with one. The Mullard CV4024 is an outstanding variant of the 12AT7 and there are good buys for them on ebay. You'll need to get someone to test and match them, though.

 

[mynamesjeff]

Hey, the amp is certainly a gem. Absolutely love it with my ZMF - stabilized VC and Aeolus. I just got some NOS tubes for the amp and going to report on how they perform. I think the pre tube makes the biggest difference. My favorite for now is a Philips E181CC pinched waist from 1958. It has a bit lower gain than the 12AT7 which I prefer for lower noise and a bit more play on the volume since the ZMF are pretty efficient. Compared to the stock JJ 12AT7 the sound opens up a lot more with improved clarity, more powerful impact etc.. Still have to roll a Mullard CV4024, Brimar 12AU7, Philips E180CC and some other 12AU7 I have for another amp of mine.
For power tubes it seems to be easier for me to source EL95 instead of PL95. Didn't roll so much the power tubes yet. I have the stock Ei PL95, Telefunken EL95, Tungsram EL95 and Siemens EL95 but couldn't settle for a favorite for now.
@mynamesjeff : What's you experience have been like for now?

I was able to get a Mullard 12AT7WA NOS pre amp tube which made a huge difference. So smooth and musical. Huge upgrade on stock. Was able to get a pair so I'm set for a long long time.
Haven't had much luck with the EL95/PL95 Power tubes though as they are hard to get in Australia. Got a pair of NOS Edicron but compared to stock they weren't great. Thinned the sound too much and just didn't sound right.

So atm just running the stock power tubes with the mallards and I think I'm set.

 

[Bkido]

I was able to get a Mullard 12AT7WA NOS pre amp tube which made a huge difference. So smooth and musical. Huge upgrade on stock. Was able to get a pair so I'm set for a long long time.
Haven't had much luck with the EL95/PL95 Power tubes though as they are hard to get in Australia. Got a pair of NOS Edicron but compared to stock they weren't great. Thinned the sound too much and just didn't sound right.

So atm just running the stock power tubes with the mallards and I think I'm set.

My current favourite for the pre amp tube is a Philips E180CC. It's very close to the 12AT7's gain and outperforms all 12AT7 and 12AU7 I have tried for now (Mullard CV4024, Brimar 12AU7, Amperex 12AU7). Very nice treble extension and super punchy and energetic low end combined with a very open sound. Highly recommended.

For power tubes I have the feeling that the amp in general sounds a bit colder/harsher with EL95 and it's EL95 mode and looses a bit of it's pillowy treble magic. Since I only have EL95 here next to the stock PL95 I'll be getting some PL95 variants from the same manufacturer I have EL95s from to check this theory (Telefunken, Valvo, Tungsram). Luckily this type of tube can be found pretty cheap - when you can find some. I'll report my findings.

 

[mynamesjeff]

My current favourite for the pre amp tube is a Philips E180CC. It's very close to the 12AT7's gain and outperforms all 12AT7 and 12AU7 I have tried for now (Mullard CV4024, Brimar 12AU7, Amperex 12AU7). Very nice treble extension and super punchy and energetic low end combined with a very open sound. Highly recommended.

For power tubes I have the feeling that the amp in general sounds a bit colder/harsher with EL95 and it's EL95 mode and looses a bit of it's pillowy treble magic. Since I only have EL95 here next to the stock PL95 I'll be getting some PL95 variants from the same manufacturer I have EL95s from to check this theory (Telefunken, Valvo, Tungsram). Luckily this type of tube can be found pretty cheap - when you can find some. I'll report my findings.

Yes! Looking forward to your findings as i bet PL95 is alot easier to find in Europe than Australia.

Definitely want to start Rolling the pre amp tube o get more variety but i'm in no rush as i love what the Mullard has done for my Euterpe.

Did you realise there was a big price hike on the Euterpe? I hope you got yours before the price rise as in Australia it went up $500! Got it 2 weeks before that price rise.

 

[Bkido]

Yes! Looking forward to your findings as i bet PL95 is alot easier to find in Europe than Australia.

Definitely want to start Rolling the pre amp tube o get more variety but i'm in no rush as i love what the Mullard has done for my Euterpe.

Did you realise there was a big price hike on the Euterpe? I hope you got yours before the price rise as in Australia it went up $500! Got it 2 weeks before that price rise.

Yes I saw the price hike as well. I got my first unit with a discount from an Italian dealer shipped to Switzerland for about 1200 US$. Unfortunately this unit had a defect on the volume knob that would pump full tilt volume to the right channel randomly. Luckily it didn't kill any headphones.
I now got a brand new unit under warranty that was now priced at 1999€. I had to wait over 1 month for it but it finally arrived this week. I think originally it was priced at 1699€ here in Europe. Don't know why they increased the price this much.

But I'm very happy to have the amp back. It works its magic on my ZMF VC that no other amp of mine managed to achieve. I also got lucky that my replacement amp has an even nicer wood grain.

 

[Flooshie]

Hey folks!

Public service announcement for tube-rollin' Euterpe owners!

For a few months I was using a Phillips E80CC input valve and getting the best sound out of the Euterpe in my sweet, short life. By far my favourite preamp tube, and I have tried a few 12AU7/ECC82s and 12AT7/ECC81s, both NOS and new production. To my ears, this E80CC has a lusher, wetter sound, but with no seeming loss of detail. Soundstage and instrument separation are insane with the Verite Closed (my sole headphone at the moment) and Holo Spring 3 KTE DAC.

I had read that the E80CC is compatible-ish with the 12A*7 family, with the caveat that it draws twice the heater current. Other folks reported good experiences with swapping the E80CC in for a 12A*7 in other amps. Knowing little about tube amplification and circuit design, I assumed it'd be kosher for the Euterpe. After all, nothing blew up and the sound was killer.

Well, nothing bad happened, but out of caution I decided to contact Auris and check whether I am an idiot. The founder and president himself replied to confirm that yes, indeed I am. I will reproduce our conversation here for your information/amusement. I have kept Milomir Trovic's reply completely intact. Quite understandably English is probably not his native tongue, so I don't think he literally meant that I "will suffer" from my ignorant valve choice. But who knows?

MY EMAIL TO AURIS​

Hello,

I hope this finds you well.

I'm writing to ask if I can safely continue to use an E80CC signal tube for the Euterpe headphone amplifier. I have used an E80CC without issue for three months now, always in tandem with standard EL95 and PL95 power tubes. The sound is wonderful, but I am worried that I might damage the amplifier over the long term.

My concern stems from the fact that the E80CC draws *twice the heater current* than 12A*7 tubes. At least one other amplifier manufacturer (ampsandsound in the USA) advises against using an E80CC in place of a 12A*7 for this reason.

I cannot link directly to the the datasheet for the E80CC, but it can easily be found online.

Thank you in advance for your help!

REPLY FROM AURIS
​

Hello,
it will never be clear to me why some of you want to get anything by installing a tube that is not designed for an amplifier. If we wanted to use E80CC, we would put a bigger transformer and raise the curent for that tube. !!

If you put truck wheels on your car, the car will move!

Will it go faster?

Will he be good at curves?

Will the engine of that car withstand that load?

Yes, but not for long! You will suffer, the gearbox, the bearings and finally the engine!

BR
Milomir Trosic
Founder

 

[Bkido]

Hey folks!

Public service announcement for tube-rollin' Euterpe owners!

For a few months I was using a Phillips E80CC input valve and getting the best sound out of the Euterpe in my sweet, short life. By far my favourite preamp tube, and I have tried a few 12AU7/ECC82s and 12AT7/ECC81s, both NOS and new production. To my ears, this E80CC has a lusher, wetter sound, but with no seeming loss of detail. Soundstage and instrument separation are insane with the Verite Closed (my sole headphone at the moment) and Holo Spring 3 KTE DAC.

I had read that the E80CC is compatible-ish with the 12A*7 family, with the caveat that it draws twice the heater current. Other folks reported good experiences with swapping the E80CC in for a 12A*7 in other amps. Knowing little about tube amplification and circuit design, I assumed it'd be kosher for the Euterpe. After all, nothing blew up and the sound was killer.

Well, nothing bad happened, but out of caution I decided to contact Auris and check whether I am an idiot. The founder and president himself replied to confirm that yes, indeed I am. I will reproduce our conversation here for your information/amusement. I have kept Milomir Trovic's reply completely intact. Quite understandably English is probably not his native tongue, so I don't think he literally meant that I "will suffer" from my ignorant valve choice. But who knows?

MY EMAIL TO AURIS​

Hello,

I hope this finds you well.

I'm writing to ask if I can safely continue to use an E80CC signal tube for the Euterpe headphone amplifier. I have used an E80CC without issue for three months now, always in tandem with standard EL95 and PL95 power tubes. The sound is wonderful, but I am worried that I might damage the amplifier over the long term.

My concern stems from the fact that the E80CC draws *twice the heater current* than 12A*7 tubes. At least one other amplifier manufacturer (ampsandsound in the USA) advises against using an E80CC in place of a 12A*7 for this reason.

I cannot link directly to the the datasheet for the E80CC, but it can easily be found online.

Thank you in advance for your help!

REPLY FROM AURIS
​

Hello,
it will never be clear to me why some of you want to get anything by installing a tube that is not designed for an amplifier. If we wanted to use E80CC, we would put a bigger transformer and raise the curent for that tube. !!

If you put truck wheels on your car, the car will move!

Will it go faster?

Will he be good at curves?

Will the engine of that car withstand that load?

Yes, but not for long! You will suffer, the gearbox, the bearings and finally the engine!

BR
Milomir Trosic
Founder

Interesting response from Auris. I think any other response would bear too much of a liability on their end.

I'm using a E180CC for quite some time now in the amp and it has been running without any problems. I tried different 12AT7 and 12AU7 but I always ended up going back to the E180CC. Not sure exactly how the specs of them compare to the E80CC. If the E180CC is a bit less demanding on the amp it might be a suitable type to try for you as well.

 

[Flooshie]

Interesting response from Auris. I think any other response would bear too much of a liability on their end.

I'm using a E180CC for quite some time now in the amp and it has been running without any problems. I tried different 12AT7 and 12AU7 but I always ended up going back to the E180CC. Not sure exactly how the specs of them compare to the E80CC. If the E180CC is a bit less demanding on the amp it might be a suitable type to try for you as well.

Yep, the E180CC is my favourite, too! Mine are Philips branded, with the "SQ" moniker. They easily trump any 12A*7 that I have tried for my tastes.

 

[Bkido]

Yep, the E180CC is my favourite, too! Mine are Philips branded, with the "SQ" moniker. They easily trump any 12A*7 that I have tried for my tastes.

Nice. Happy you like the pairing as well

 

[rizena]

I'm using Telepunken ecc81. Originally, I used Mulad e180cc, but the sound seemed to be low, so I replaced it with Telepunken, which is quite good. Also, please let me know the substitute for el95. What tube should I use? I also saw people writing 6sn7 as a result of the search. Can I use this?

 

[Flooshie]

I'm using Telepunken ecc81. Originally, I used Mulad e180cc, but the sound seemed to be low, so I replaced it with Telepunken, which is quite good. Also, please let me know the substitute for el95. What tube should I use? I also saw people writing 6sn7 as a result of the search. Can I use this?

Hi there, I looked up the 6sn7 and it seems to be a preamp tube (also known as a signal or input tube), not a power/driver tube. If that's correct, then it cannot replace the EL95. As far as I know, the only replacement for the EL95 is the PL95. The PL95 requires less power, so please use the appropriate setting on the top of the amp. The PL95 is a bit harder to find than the EL95 depending on where you are, but replacements for the stock PL95 tubes can be easily found on EBay. Someone in Serbia is sitting on a huge stash of them and selling them at reasonable prices. He ships them well-protected.

 

[ArtBoy]

I bought a Euterpe from @zach915m. Was so impressed with it I bought a ZMF Verite Open to take full advantage of the amp. The input tube provided was a Sonotone 12AT7 made in England. I replaced it with a Bugle Boy tube made in Holland I found on eBay for a good price. This tube increased the dynamics, the resolution and the soundstage. No complaints against the Sonotone but the Bugle Boy just made the sound better. Maybe I might replace the power tubes in the future.

I tried comparing cables (have the ZMF's stock and OFC cables along with one I made out of Mogami wire) and could not tell any significant difference between the three. They all sounded good. Now it is time to enjoy the music without analyzing all the details.

 

[ArtBoy]

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