[ogodei]

By my standard, it's over 90% performance.(It's 90 percent, but it's probably the best?)

Let me know if you ever hit 100 % ! Would like to hear that amp

 

[KIM JOO WAN]

Let me know if you ever hit 100 % ! Would like to hear that amp

I don't have much experience, but I don't think there is such an amplifier in the world yet.

 

[Ryan Cao]

Hello!

I am in search for a new amp and need your advice. Having tried other tube amps, I think I am a bit sensitive to the tube hiss. How is the hiss with Stellaris? Is it always DEAD silent with both low impedance and high impedance headphones?

I currently have HD800s and Focal stellia. I listen to classical music for 70% of the time and the rest for pretty much everything. Is Stellaris a good pairing or there are some other amps to consider?

Thanks a lot!

 

[leon995]

Hello!

I am in search for a new amp and need your advice. Having tried other tube amps, I think I am a bit sensitive to the tube hiss. How is the hiss with Stellaris? Is it always DEAD silent with both low impedance and high impedance headphones?

I currently have HD800s and Focal stellia. I listen to classical music for 70% of the time and the rest for pretty much everything. Is Stellaris a good pairing or there are some other amps to consider?

Thanks a lot!

The Stellaris is always dead silent. Even paired with my Noble K10U it is dead silent.

May main phones are HD800 and Focal Utopia. They are excellent pair to the Stellaris. I mainly listen to classical too and I think the stellaris is good at it.

One thing to note is my Utopia do get too load pretty quick due to low Z. The HD800 doesn't have this issue.
Besides those two. The 1266 TC is also a good match but Sus is no go. Hope this help.

 

[SalR406]

One thing to note is my Utopia do get too load pretty quick due to low Z.

Thanks for commenting. Stellaris/Utopia is a pairing I'm very interested in. Could you please clarify what you mean by this?

 

[audiofest2018]

The Stellaris is always dead silent. Even paired with my Noble K10U it is dead silent.

May main phones are HD800 and Focal Utopia. They are excellent pair to the Stellaris. I mainly listen to classical too and I think the stellaris is good at it.

One thing to note is my Utopia do get too load pretty quick due to low Z. The HD800 doesn't have this issue.
Besides those two. The 1266 TC is also a good match but Sus is no go. Hope this help.

So you think Susvara is too hard to drive using Stellaris? Just curious if you have experience with this pairing and your thought on it? Thanks.

 

[m17xr2b]

It's not about being hard to drive, the synergy isn't really there. Stellaris and Utopia on other hand, you'll be hard pressed to find a better combo synergy for the amp.

 

[audiofest2018]

It's not about being hard to drive, the synergy isn't really there. Stellaris and Utopia on other hand, you'll be hard pressed to find a better combo synergy for the amp.

Understood! Thank you.

 

[leon995]

Thanks for commenting. Stellaris/Utopia is a pairing I'm very interested in. Could you please clarify what you mean by this?

The Utopia pairs well with Stellaris, so far the best I ever tried. But the gain is high. Normally 1 to 2 out of the 10 volume is pretty loud to me. So not a lot usable volume adjust range to me. If the album you listen to had really high recording levels like some of the metal music it could be a issue.

 

[leon995]

So you think Susvara is too hard to drive using Stellaris? Just curious if you have experience with this pairing and your thought on it? Thanks.

The Sus on Stellaris can be driven very loud but lack of the stage and punch. It will still sound good but if you heard the Sus under very good SS amp you know Sus can do far better. Tube amplifier from what I heard 845 amps can make Sus sing but I didn't got chance to audition. @m17xr2b got the good point the synergy just not there.

 

[m17xr2b]

The Utopia pairs well with Stellaris, so far the best I ever tried. But the gain is high. Normally 1 to 2 out of the 10 volume is pretty loud to me. So not a lot usable volume adjust range to me. If the album you listen to had really high recording levels like some of the metal music it could be a issue.

Don't be afraid to use SE with the -6dB setting, it was made for this purpose. Under a microscope it may be 99.5% the quality of balanced yet I didn't care enough about it and the convenience is too good to pass. Utopia Stellaris combo is soo good you won't care about anything else, that's the best thing about the setup, it disappears and leaves just the music.

The DAC will have a big impact on how loud the Utopia will be, a normal dac from single ended will be just fine, balanced output will sound louder and may be an issue but it's not the amp that has gain problems but the whole chain.

From a normal source I think I was at around 3 out of 10 for volume.

 

[saint.panda]

@jimWA @ogodei What speakers are you using with the Stellaris Special and how has your experience been so far? Thinking of building a nearfield/headphone system around a SSpecial for a small home office room (12 sqm / 130 square feet).

 

[ogodei]

@jimWA @ogodei What speakers are you using with the Stellaris Special and how has your experience been so far? Thinking of building a nearfield/headphone system around a SSpecial for a small home office room (12 sqm / 130 square feet).

Still trying out various speaker set ups as my room is still in flux. Primarily I've switched between Devore Orangutans and Klipsch LaScalas (version 1 with Crites mods). On their own the LaScalas sound better. The Devores need just a touch more power to fill up the large space. Im currently experimenting with splitting the analog signal from my preamp, shunting everything below 35Hz to a pair of subwoofers and letting the sspecial handle everything else.

The amp is great, I find it a touch cooler than the Stellaris so far. Im experimenting with different tubes, taking a while to get through everything.

 

[ogodei]

Been doing tube swaps today, my selection of 5U4Gs are sounding better with the amp now than the 422A ! I'm shocked, to say the least. More experimenting is necessary, perhaps a deep dive back down the rectifier rabbit hole.

 

[jimWA]

Well, I'm now glad I didn't spring for the option to allow use of the 422A...8^), but, ogodei, you've now devalued the 422A I wish to sell..... seriously, Donald said he finds the DH rectifiers to sound best, so I took his advice. I've recently put in a Sophia Aqua 274B (this is quite different from a WE 274B, which is not usable in DNA amps) and it sounds first rate to my ears - and it's approved by Donald as ok electrically.