[vc1187]

Glad KR audio worked it out with you!  At roughly $800 a pair, I'd expect a perfect pair of tubes.
I'm disappointed with your original supplier, whoever that may be.

 

[third_eye]

 
I know for a fact that Utopia > HD800(S) with lesser amps, and especially SS amps. But the Stratus is an amazing tube amp that loves HD800(S) like a match made in heaven. So what I'm wondering is, despite Utopia's affinity to SS amps, and despite HD800(S)'s clear advantage over Utopia in terms of synergy with Stratus and how it well scales with it, the Utopia still bests the HD800(S) in many of the aspects you described above?

 
I would not place over emphasis on the various impressions of the Utopia yet, mainly since a lot of these impressions are from meets with very few actual owners or people having had these in for extensive home auditions. So I do not agree with the the statement that the Utopia has an affinity to SS amps (over tube amps) or that the HD800 has a clear synergy advantage over the Utopia with the Stratus. It may or may not be true, it's just too early to definitively make that statement, IMO. To my ears, the Stratus/Utopia has fantastic synergy and I find myself listening at much lower volumes compared to my other headphones since so much more information and low level detail are coming through. 

 

[vc1187]

   
Haha, I did mean that HD800(S) is the endgame headphone for Stratus, but not the other way around. For me, endgame for HD800(S) would be something like DNA Silver Stellaris or EC Studio amp. What I meant was: if Stratus were your fixed amp, then you can't get better than HD800(S) with it. The reason I'm saying HD800(S) is because I used to own the HD800 but now the HD800S.
 
Based on preliminary reviews, the Utopia seems to best the HD800(S) in many ways. However, this was often the case when both headphones were served by solid-state amps that are inferior to Stratus. While I believe the Utopia could outperform HD800(S) when driven by lesser amps--heck, even I would take HD600/650 over HD800(S) on lesser SS amps--the thing about the Stratus is that it is a very high-end, even considered endgame by many, tube amp that supposedly has an incredible synergy with HD800(S) that allows it to scale tremendously to stratospheric heights. Also, I've read that Utopia sounded better on a high-quality solid-state amp than a tube amp (both of which were $3-4K+).
 
I know for a fact that Utopia > HD800(S) with lesser amps, and especially SS amps. But the Stratus is an amazing tube amp that loves HD800(S) like a match made in heaven. So what I'm wondering is, despite Utopia's affinity to SS amps, and despite HD800(S)'s clear advantage over Utopia in terms of synergy with Stratus and how it well scales with it, the Utopia still bests the HD800(S) in many of the aspects you described above?

 
So the Stellaris is only considered an end-game amp to you if it's in the silver color?

 

[songmic]

 
So the Stellaris is only considered an end-game amp to you if it's in the silver color?

 
No silly, Silver Stellaris is Stellaris with all internal wirings in silver. It has nothing to do with color and I assume it will be blue just like the others.

 

[Bogart24]

A special treat. A fellow Head-fier brought his Sony MDR-R10s for a visit. He's been searching for a while for an amp to do them justice and he asked to try the Stratus. He was happy and seemed set to place an order. I just listened briefly. They were magic on classical and female vocals. Less so with rock.

I'm picking up an HD-800S tomorrow so I'll be busy A/B'ing Sennheisers for a while.

Some background on the Sonys: http://www.cnet.com/news/sony-mdr-r10-the-worlds-best-headphone/

 

[Blackmore]

Had a chance listen to Stratus MK1 and to my ears K702 had better synergy with it than HD800, while my SS amp wins when paired with HD800, for each his own.
 
 
Quote:

   
I would not place over emphasis on the various impressions of the Utopia yet, mainly since a lot of these impressions are from meets with very few actual owners or people having had these in for extensive home auditions. So I do not agree with the the statement that the Utopia has an affinity to SS amps (over tube amps) or that the HD800 has a clear synergy advantage over the Utopia with the Stratus. It may or may not be true, it's just too early to definitively make that statement, IMO. To my ears, the Stratus/Utopia has fantastic synergy and I find myself listening at much lower volumes compared to my other headphones since so much more information and low level detail are coming through. 

 

[Donald North]

No silly, Silver Stellaris is Stellaris with all internal wirings in silver. It has nothing to do with color and I assume it will be blue just like the others.

A Silver Stellaris features silver-wound Audio Note input and output transformers, silver foil coupling capacitors, and silver internal wiring. Chassis will be blue.

 

[vc1187]

   
No silly, Silver Stellaris is Stellaris with all internal wirings in silver. It has nothing to do with color and I assume it will be blue just like the others.

 
Thanks for clearing this up.  For a moment I thought Donald was forfeiting his signature color due to demands of customers, but I'm glad to hear that he is not.  Though... with silver exterior paint, it would be a great visual indicator that a silver Stellaris did indeed contain silver components and wiring on the inside 

 
How much extra does it cost to get a silver Stellaris?

Had a chance listen to Stratus MK1 and to my ears K702 had better synergy with it than HD800, while my SS amp wins when paired with HD800, for each his own.

Do you recall which tubes were being used for the HD800 listening?  I think tubes on the Stratus play a big role when it comes to synergy, especially with very transparent headphones like the HD800.

 

[Blackmore]

2a3 mesh  Emission Labs
 
5U4G Ken Rad
 
6N1P Sovtek, I believe.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Quote:

   
Do you recall which tubes were being used for the HD800 listening?  I think tubes on the Stratus play a big role when it comes to synergy, especially with very transparent headphones like the HD800.

 

[Frihed89]

Get on it you guys: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/worlds-best-headphone-focal-utopia#gKH52a2oglgOeims.97

 

[vc1187]

I'm not surprised that you didn't find the HD800 to be particularly synergistic with this tube pairing.
I found the EML mesh tubes to be the worst 2A3s for the HD800, as myself and many others have commented on the bright and lean sound of this pairing. For the HD800, I much prefer the cheaper shuguang nature sounds and even the stock tube configuration to the EMLs.

 

[Blackmore]

Well, believe it or not, but  this was / is not the issue at all.
 
First of all, the sound was congested in the midbass area, where most of the folks may call fuller and warmer???. but I dont care about it at all, mids should have their own space, however, bass was great, but again, closer than my liking to mids, say, not deep enough.
 
Second, clearly less airy  sound than from my Sonic Pearl amp, literally felt plafond above my head
 
These 2 things above, again, to me, are limitations and made HD800 sound not at their full potentials and less natural as well.
 
 
 
 
 
Quote:

I'm not surprised that you didn't find the HD800 to be particularly synergistic with this tube pairing.
I found the EML mesh tubes to be the worst 2A3s for the HD800, as myself and many others have commented on the bright and lean sound of this pairing. For the HD800, I much prefer the cheaper shuguang nature sounds and even the stock tube configuration to the EMLs.

 

[m17xr2b]

Tomorrow I am picking up my GS-X MK2. It will be interesting to compare it with the stratus once it arrives.

 

[Frihed89]

 

I had the same experience with the HD800. The mids were muffled, the treble too forward and bright, compared to the the HD650 and and, now, the K7xx.  I have a Moon Silver Dragon on the HD650s and a Blue Dragon on the K7xx.  I use these headphones with the Stratus, a custom Blue Circle headamp, and I use these cans on an old second generation IPod or direct through a Wavelength Proton Dac on travel.

 

[Frihed89]

A Silver Stellaris features silver-wound Audio Note input and output transformers, silver foil coupling capacitors, and silver internal wiring. Chassis will be blue.

So, you like the AN silvers best of all those you tried.  I was told by AN that they work best in a "silver environment", which i don't have, but they still sound beautiful.