[Cante Ista]

Quote:

 
I really like the Sophia's with my HD800, I'm looking forward to trying EML's and other 2A3's at the LA meet in a few weeks.

Cool. I will most likely try whole bunch of tubes as time marches on.

 

[Cante Ista]

A plea to all you proud Stratus owners.
 
If anyone of you here has the DNA Stratus and a camera capable of high resolution, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take an extra large photo and post it here, so that I could use it as a desktop image on my work computer while I await the arrival of my  amp hopefully at the end of September. The images online are not very small but small enough that I have to stretch it to the point of it becoming blurry if I wonna full screen shot. For now I am keeping it centered but it has a huge black area around it - not pleasant. So if there is a photographer in our midst I would sincerely appreciate a nice shot of the Stratus to grace my work computer.
 
Thanks!

 

[drheadphone]

Quote:

A plea to all you proud Stratus owners.
 
If anyone of you here has the DNA Stratus and a camera capable of high resolution, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take an extra large photo and post it here, so that I could use it as a desktop image on my work computer while I await the arrival of my  amp hopefully at the end of September. The images online are not very small but small enough that I have to stretch it to the point of it becoming blurry if I wonna full screen shot. For now I am keeping it centered but it has a huge black area around it - not pleasant. So if there is a photographer in our midst I would sincerely appreciate a nice shot of the Stratus to grace my work computer.
 
Thanks!

 

 

[Cante Ista]

Alright! Thank you so very much!!!
 

 

[drheadphone]

Quote:

sigh..... If I recall the Sophias get mixed reviews. I guess I will just have to try myself -- I found that I disagree (read that hear differently or value different things, etc) than others. I will probably get all bunch of tubes, but don't think I am gonna spend more than 500 USD for a while.

 
I'd say the Princesses are a "must-hear" with the HD800. You get superior soundstage and clarity with the Princesses and a romantic sound that goes well with classical music. I'm also a big fan of NOS Sylvania 2A3. Grey S-plates moreso than black S-plates because you get nice forward mids and fast, extended treble. It doesn't hurt the Sylvie Greys sometimes go for half the price of Princesses.

 

[Cante Ista]

Nice! Really appreciate the tips. That description seams like something i might wonna get my hands on. Gonna check these out in due time.thanks!

 

[Dubstep Girl]

nice pics!!

 

[neoresin]

Guys. Okay. I have now discovered why the HD800s are awesome. And all it took was an EML rectifier in the Stratus. ... Of course, it also might have been the Ueber upgrade I gave my Bifrost during that same change-over. The rectifier have it the pop and punch, and the Ueber gave it the expanded height of soundstage I didn't know I craved until it was presented before me. Hoooooooooly carpe diem. I love my rig.
 
Is that what others have found with the EMLs? I might make the jump to the full EML setup now. The sound difference was that drastic. But maybe the Sophia's are where it's at too. Thoughts?

 

[Da5Id]

Quote:

Guys. Okay. I have now discovered why the HD800s are awesome. And all it took was an EML rectifier in the Stratus. ... Of course, it also might have been the Ueber upgrade I gave my Bifrost during that same change-over. The rectifier have it the pop and punch, and the Ueber gave it the expanded height of soundstage I didn't know I craved until it was presented before me. Hoooooooooly carpe diem. I love my rig.
 
Is that what others have found with the EMLs? I might make the jump to the full EML setup now. The sound difference was that drastic. But maybe the Sophia's are where it's at too. Thoughts?

I'm running an EML 5U4G and Sophia Princesses in my Stratus. To my ears the EML primarily tightened up the bass. I can't comment on their 2A3 tubes, but have been completely satisfied with the Sophia's. I would love to try the EML 2A3's but doubt I will spring for them anytime soon just due to them being so pricey. 

 

[Frihed89]

I've had my Stratus for 2 days.  I'm not listening that much, just letting it play with some break-in tubes.  I will say that it is very neutral.  My other amps are quite dark, so i will have to make an adjustment before I can really compare them.  It certainly does add some left-right separation to both my K-701s and Audeze headphones.  I'll listen more seriously in a couple of weeks.  However, I am not much of a wordsmith and i don't do A/B-type critical listening, because I find it difficult to hear any convincing differences when i do when i am not able to relax and enjoy the music.  I'll worry about tubes, headphones, cables, etc. after that.  I have some used no name single plates that are very old and the AVVT meshplates to try out once I do.  Right now, it's got some no name used double plates in it.   
 
One thing I will miss is the tube swapping i can do with my SinglePower MPX-3, which has allowed me to find several driver-output tube combinations (among the 10^9 choices i have) that give me great enjoyment. Selling it for the little money it will fetch seems a tragedy, but I have too much stuff - all of which I love and not enough room to store it all.

 

[budx3385]

Quote:

I've had my Stratus for 2 days.  I'm not listening that much, just letting it play with some break-in tubes.  I will say that it is very neutral.  My other amps are quite dark, so i will have to make an adjustment before I can really compare them.  It certainly does add some left-right separation to both my K-701s and Audeze headphones.  I'll listen more seriously in a couple of weeks.  However, I am not much of a wordsmith and i don't do A/B-type critical listening, because I find it difficult to hear any convincing differences when i do when i am not able to relax and enjoy the music.  I'll worry about tubes, headphones, cables, etc. after that.  I have some used no name single plates that are very old and the AVVT meshplates to try out once I do.  Right now, it's got some no name used double plates in it.   
 
One thing I will miss is the tube swapping i can do with my SinglePower MPX-3, which has allowed me to find several driver-output tube combinations (among the 10^9 choices i have) that give me great enjoyment. Selling it for the little money it will fetch seems a tragedy, but I have too much stuff - all of which I love and not enough room to store it all.

Glad to hear it arrived. It will certainly be interesting to hear your comments on the AVVTs in the Stratus.
 
"not enough room" --- yeah, and it's been spilling out of the closet and collecting on the floor for too long now, as my wife occasionally reminds me!

 

[drheadphone]

Is that what others have found with the EMLs? I might make the jump to the full EML setup now. The sound difference was that drastic. But maybe the Sophia's are where it's at too. Thoughts?

I found the EML 2A3 a little on the bright side with the 800. An RCA rectifier might tame the highs slightly and give the mids more warmth. The EMLs extend farther than most 2A3s I've heard.

Right now I'm listening to the stock Shuguang's for the first time in long time. Honestly, they're great with the 800. I've underrated its soundstage which I'm starting to think outclasses any NOS tube I've heard. Tremedous depth, separation, refined timbre and a great lowend that go well with classical/jazz. For vocal music the mids can sound slightly thin, which is where the NOS tubes or Sophias come in. But I do now have renewed interest in obtaining some TOTL Shuguang's.

 

[Frihed89]

I was one of the early buyers of the Audeze headphones.  They never impressed me on my existing equipment.  Now they at least have more L-R separation with the Stratus and the bass seems to have firmed.  They still sound dark, and that's fine with me.  
 
DRH...I'm not sure which EMLs you have.  I don't have the HD 800s.  But i have heard both versions of the EML 2A3s.  The top end of the meshplates is more "refined" and has less body than the solid plates.  To some ears it may sound a bit thin.  The solid plates have a little "heavier" treble, not thick, not dark and with good extension.  The high notes sound more realistic to me.  I came to that conclusion listening to the Bach partitas on my old gear and a lot of modern solo violin music, Bartok, Hindemith and Ives, mainly.  Modern classical music can be very demanding on hi-fi equipment and i consider a number of key pieces to be the acid test of the many different dimensions of sound quality, even though some of this music can never be reproduced as well as you will hear it in a good symphony hall.  For example, listening to the inside of the full strings section on much of Sibelius' "big" symphonic music is very hard with almost any hi-fi system.  (Actually, the same is true with Mozart when he introduces a "wall of strings" into many of his symphonies).
 
I'm closing in on 72 hours of play time with the Stratus, but I probably haven't listened more than a half hour in total and only a few minutes at time (to relatively easy-to-record music) over the entire time.  Still, the future looks very bright.  

 

[drheadphone]

I have EML Meshplates which sound fantastic with the dark sounding planar's. I definitely need to check out the solidplates if they sound that different.

 

[Cante Ista]

Re Audezes and Stratus -- Like Frihed89 I was not at all impressed with LCDs when I first heard them, and that goes for the 2 and the 3. The only two amps that I thought the 3s sounded good were the GSX and the Stratus. I totally did not expect to like the 3s on a tube amp, especially one that sounds quite luscious on HD800. Nevertheless I was very impressed with how the Straus handled the 3 and totally surprised.