[jsgraha]

On additional note, the hum from input tube tend to follow the volume pot.
IME, if the input tube start to go wrong, the noise will increase and decrease when volume pot turned up and down. 
 
While if 2a3 tube which go bad, they do tend to follow the swap between left and right, and seem to have a hum with volume pot all the way down.
 
TH-X00 was awesome with Stratus!!
From my memory, I may prefer this to my previous TH-900 with Stratus.
From some reason, I couldn't stand TH-900 plasticy timbre, though TH-900 seem sound a bit cleaner.

 

[sibelius4th]

Deposit paid, name's on the waiting list. I'm at the back of a lengthy line.

T-minus 12 months and counting.

I'm late to the party, and I won't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I do want to thank everyone who has participated in the thread so far. There's a wealth of information here, and some great pics. It's helped me make my decision. Not sure it's going to help me endure the wait!

 

[RubyTiger]

Deposit paid, name's on the waiting list. I'm at the back of a lengthy line.

T-minus 12 months and counting.

I'm late to the party, and I won't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I do want to thank everyone who has participated in the thread so far. There's a wealth of information here, and some great pics. It's helped me make my decision. Not sure it's going to help me endure the wait!

Rest assured you made a great choice. Could be a good time to begin updating a frontend. I bought a mini-tube amp & new dac during the wait. Lot's of different fun things you can do. Just keep moving ahead with the Stratus in mind.

 

[sibelius4th]

Thanks, RubyTiger. I'm pleased with the decision, but it's nice to hear affirmation!
 
I was more trying to be funny with my 'not sure I can endure the wait' comment, than anything. It's silly. Truth be told, I'm reaching an age where the wait adds to the pleasure, rather than detracts from it. 
 
I'm pretty happy with the front end of the two systems I could potentially plug the amp into, but I do have some tubes to acquire and lots of headphones to try. That will keep me occupied, no doubt. 

 

[listen4joy]

you did great choice, i dont know which headphones you will going to match, but for hd800 owners this amp is like match in heaven on earth!, i am still saving for mine. Donald amps are simply an art!

 

[stuart1927]

Well....as of 2 weeks ago my stratus was next up for building. I really hope I don't have too much longer to wait!

 

[taxiq]

A quick question.  For max SQ improvement, is it generally thought better to begin tube upgrading  with the driver or power tubes?

 

[vc1187]

A quick question.  For max SQ improvement, is it generally thought better to begin tube upgrading  with the driver or power tubes?

For the stratus,
Power tubes

 

[taxiq]

Appreciate the discussion in this thread of 2A3 options.   Will be going that direction, albeit it for 2 channel mono blocks and HE6's.
 
thx

 

[sibelius4th]

Well....as of 2 weeks ago my stratus was next up for building. I really hope I don't have too much longer to wait!

Congratulations! Or rather almost....

 

[Frihed89]

   
Thanks for the help, Donald.
 
I tried this but the hum doesn't seem to be affected by the nulling pots unless turned all the way clockwise or counter-clockwise, which will make the hum louder.  Strange thing is that the hum sometimes doesn't seem to be there at all, and other times is slightly audible.  When it is audible, it seems to only be in the right channel even if I swap positions of the 2A3s (Both with the pair of KRs or with the pair of AVVT Solids).  With any of the other 2A3s I've used, I did not hear this low level hum even without touching the hum nulling pots.
It's not really distracting as it's barely audible and only when nothing is playing.  May just be noisy tubes.
 
I do notice that regardless of 2A3s, plugging or unplugging headphones from the TRS headphone port causes a ringing noise in the headphones, which subsides quickly.  The noise sounds somewhat like a light tap on a wine glass.  At the -6dB setting, the ringing is lessened.  Perhaps this is the microphonics that adamaley had previously mentioned, or maybe it's just specific to my Stratus.
 
Either way, neither of the things mentioned above detract from the excellent sound that is produced by the Stratus!
 
EDIT: Poor description of the sound made.  Sounds nothing like a light tap on a wine glass.  More like an echoey metallic ringing sound.

That shouldn't be.  The AVVTs should be dead quiet_i can vouch for that even though I have not updated the filament transformer.

 

[vc1187]

Hi Frihed,

Check the post right after that one. I was able to identify that the issue was linked to the driver tube, not the power tubes.

 

[ymc226]

I'll be putting a deposit down when I get Donald's invoice for the Stratus after speaking with him today.  Currently, I'm up to page 125 on this thread and apologize if this has been asked before but since I am very new to headphones and so far only have the Beyer T5p (2nd gen), does the new Sennsheiser HD800S pair as well with the Stratus as the original HD800?
 
If you can believe it, Donald's wait time is now 12 months.  My decision in going forward is due to the very positive reviews here in this thread.  If the Stellaris reviews are just as good, it would be very tempting to change the order for one instead (if Donald permits).

 

[Frihed89]

For the stratus,
Power tubes

The rectifier is more important than the driver in terms of improved sound quality.  There are many owners with a great deal of rectifier experience here who can chime in.  

 

[vc1187]

The rectifier is more important than the driver in terms of improved sound quality.  There are many owners with a great deal of rectifier experience here who can chime in.  

I agree, but are the power tubes not the 2a3s? I believe the 2a3s have the most influence on the overall sound produced by the Stratus.