[bigfatpaulie]

Ohhhhhh baby....


To anyone that has a Stellaris on order, you are in for a treat with your new amp. I know it is a lot of money, but Donald delivers. Mine took 60 - 100 hours (maybe it was the tubes?) to really hit its stride but once it did, wow.



The Stellaris is exceptional.



It's smooth without glossing over anything. The dynamics are incredible - it doesn't lose pace with anything I throw at it. I have to admit, at first I was not overwhelmed with my new amp but given some time with it (finally) and some burn in... I don't mean to sound like a blubbering idiot but I feel like it combines the best of all the worlds. Right out of my source I get silly good detail and resolution and the Stellaris preserves all of that. With a big iron amp I get the separation, 3 dimensionality and impact and the Stellaris brings that. With a tube amp you get that sexy 3rd order distortion that we all love so very, very much and the Stellaris is right there with it to grab you.

I've had this moment before, where I question the HD800's. After all, why on earth would I have such expensive kit behind such modestly priced headphones. Turns out they still deliver with the best of the best.

Sorry for the rambling.

 

[ogodei]

Still on the stock tubes?

How are the Utopias doing on it? I like them well enough on my SS gear but I've been waiting for the Stellaris and hoping it will kick them up a notch.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Take some gender changers and plug a dual 3 pin XLR headphone cable into the back of a Yggy and use your computer's volume control to turn it WAY down (I don't recommend this as the Yggy isn't designed to do this, so you can damage it). Guess what, it will work. Does the Yggy have a 'Class D' amp in it? Nope.
/QUOTE]

Interesting, can you tell me what exact plugs I would need? I assume dual female XLR attached to a single female XLR cable?

Do they even make this type of cable?

 

[ogodei]

Custom cable maker can do this for you

 

[Krit]

Ohhhhhh baby....


To anyone that has a Stellaris on order, you are in for a treat with your new amp. I know it is a lot of money, but Donald delivers. Mine took 60 - 100 hours (maybe it was the tubes?) to really hit its stride but once it did, wow.



The Stellaris is exceptional.



It's smooth without glossing over anything. The dynamics are incredible - it doesn't lose pace with anything I throw at it. I have to admit, at first I was not overwhelmed with my new amp but given some time with it (finally) and some burn in... I don't mean to sound like a blubbering idiot but I feel like it combines the best of all the worlds. Right out of my source I get silly good detail and resolution and the Stellaris preserves all of that. With a big iron amp I get the separation, 3 dimensionality and impact and the Stellaris brings that. With a tube amp you get that sexy 3rd order distortion that we all love so very, very much and the Stellaris is right there with it to grab you.

I've had this moment before, where I question the HD800's. After all, why on earth would I have such expensive kit behind such modestly priced headphones. Turns out they still deliver with the best of the best.

Sorry for the rambling.

Wow... you got me very excited. Can't wait to get mine!

 

[ogodei]

Wow... you got me very excited. Can't wait to get mine!

Do you have a delivery time frame already?

 

[bigfatpaulie]

@Thenewguy007

This is what I have:

https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-GXX-145...73&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=xlr+generder+changer

It's not glamours but it works like a charm.

 

[ogodei]

Got my tracking number for the Stellaris.

Now I need to go change my pants.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

Got my tracking number for the Stellaris.

Now I need to go change my pants.

You are #3?

 

[ogodei]

Yes. Ordered after I saw your post in this thread, I wasn't frequenting any other boards at that time to learn about it sooner. I think maybe someone else dropped out from their order before me?

Per Donald requests for the amp are stacking up so there will be more of these in the wild soon.

 

[Krit]

Do you have a delivery time frame already?

Yes mine will be April 2018. One year wait.

 

[Krit]

Yes. Ordered after I saw your post in this thread, I wasn't frequenting any other boards at that time to learn about it sooner. I think maybe someone else dropped out from their order before me?

Per Donald requests for the amp are stacking up so there will be more of these in the wild soon.

Did you order your Stellaris with balanced input?

 

[ogodei]

Yes, I pretty much had to. Back when I had the Stratus I thought it was great but made some digs here and other places that a version with XLR inputs would be really useful. I believe I actually said I would be first in line with my money if it became an option so when Donald announced the balanced Stellaris I was kind of called out.

I know he adheres to the 'simpler is better' design philosophy and that balanced inputs aren't really needed, but from conversations with him it appears their sound has turned out really well. Like, he keeps evincing surprise about it really well. He seems at a loss to explain just why but I credit it to his superior design skills. And maybe those Audio Note UK input transformers.

 

[ogodei]

Yes mine will be April 2018. One year wait.

Ouch, but, yeah. That's about how long the current orders have been waiting. As has been mentioned, this is not Donald's day job and there's quite an outstanding demand for the Stratus as well.

I think its safe to say you won't see a Stellaris posted on the 'For Sale: Amplification' forums anytime before you get yours though.

 

[ogodei]

Got my Stellaris in early today, ruined my concentration for anything else. Sorry clients, meetings cancelled for an emergency! A Spring Holo DAC I have been waiting for for a month also arrived, its still in the box and probably be there for a while. Too busy to pay attention to that right now.

With only a few minutes of listening the amp sounds as good as the Stratus did, will need to spend some time with it to get the full picture. Having to wait for the amp also gave me time to pick up several new tubes, will be interesting to see how much of a difference they will make. Starting off with a known tube configuration for comparison with Stratus.

Have to say getting this amp in has excited me more than any previous A\V acquisitions, bar none.

Couple of pictures:

Clearing out space on the rack

Balanced inputs at last!

Headphones lining up for the slaughter