[Sweden]

Quote:

Hi folks,
 
So this being my first post here, I wanted to let you know that partially thanks to this thread, I ordered a Stratus from Don last night. Tomorrow I'm getting a pair of LCD-3's delivered and will no doubt spend the weekend listening to them. This will be my first high-end headphone amp, but in the interim I'll be listening to the Audeze's on my Lyr/BiFrost combo. I'm pretty excited to say the least.
 
Would any of you be so kind as to offer opinions on a nice DAC to go with the Stratus? I would like to keep the cost less than $3,000 and would really love to get it below $2,000. I've been reading a lot here on the forums and elsewhere, and am a little overwhelmed by all of the choices out there. I would like to narrow it down a bit and then do some more focused research. Right now, I don't have a clue about which direction to go for a complimentary pairing with this amp.
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Steve

 
 
If you want a very natural sounding DAC look at the Hegel HD20. Too many DACs I've heard go for maximum detail retrieval but tend to sound slightly digital and unnatural IMO.

 

[preproman]

How about the Eastern Electronics MiniMax Plus  Tube DAC?
 
http://eeaudio.com/eeaudio_012.htm

 

[Solude]

Quote:

For Stratus/HD800 owners using SE: do you use the IEC or Low Setting? I think the correct impedence match is 120 which is IEC, which is where I'm mostly at but sometimes I switch to Low and seem to get a small bump in volume/clarity which enables listening at a crazy low volume setting of about 1 on the dial.

 
IEC would give you a bump in the bass, low a more honest response.  With different tubes you could get where IEC gets you with a swap and vice versa.

 

[Audio-Omega]

Has anyone compared Stratus to Apex Peak ?

 

[TheKillerPiglet]

Apex tube is on the preamp stage and the actual amp is ss, correct?
 
KP
 

 

[Solude]

Tube for voltage gain, solid state for output.

 

[ChrisB7605]

Would the Sophia Electric 274B tubes work in place of the 5U4G? My friend has 1 of those he wants to sell

 

[fejnomit]

I've used the EML 274B as a rectifier in the Stratus.  Technically it works.  I okayed it with Donald.  But I prefer the sound of the 5U4G.

 

[dleblanc343]

I'm torn between getting a McIntosh MC225 or the Stratus for my HE-6 mainly and HD800's as well. Thing is, I have no way of testing the Stratus, and also, the HE-6 should sound amazing on the speaker taps of the mcintosh

Any experienced users here that can recommend their choice?

 

[fejnomit]

The HE-6 is the only headphone I've tried that I would recommend with an amp other than the Stratus.  Sounds great on the Stratus, to be sure, but it sounds better from my solid state amp's speaker posts. I've had varied success with the HE-6 tapped from tube amps.  OTL amps to my ears sound strained.  Tube amps that provide extra bottom end don't work either - again to my ears - because the HE-6 already has such killer low frequencies that it can start to sound a bit bloated.  A tube-like SS amp is the best I've found so far...  But you should check the HE-6/Amp thread for more knowledgeable responses...

 

[catfish]

A 2A3 isn't powerful enough for the HE-6.  Need a 300B amplifier for >4W.

 

[Donald North]

The Stratus uses custom output transformers to provide greater voltage output than a typical 2A3 amplifier. Into a 50 ohm load like the HE-6, it produces a maximum of 9.5Vrms, equivalent to 1.8W. The HE-6 is rated at 83.5dB/1mW efficiency. 1.8W into them = 116dB.
 

 

[Solude]

Which would be great if true, but the real sensitivity is 77dB/1mW. 19.7mW or 1V for 90dB.  The other side of this is the HE-6 fans like to run them off 100W class A mono blocks so 1.8W is a hard sell

 

[Donald North]

Thanks for this info. Recalculating with 77dB/1mW efficiency, with 1.8W they produce 109.5dB. That's much louder than I ever listen.

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

The Stratus uses custom output transformers to provide greater voltage output than a typical 2A3 amplifier. Into a 50 ohm load like the HE-6, it produces a maximum of 9.5Vrms, equivalent to 1.8W. The HE-6 is rated at 83.5dB/1mW efficiency. 1.8W into them = 116dB.
 

That means roughly 190 milliamps (0.19 amps) of current into a 50 Ohm load?