Eufonika (Valve amps from Poland)

[Mozbach]

Back and better than ever. Better built than the H5. Sits flat on the desk. SQ is superb although it's still new. Need to break it in more. I can 100% recommend getting the Miflex upgrade or shoot straight for it. It basically brings the gap closer to the Elise of not the same tbh.

Congrats! Love to hear impressions with Zmf in coming days.. Also try some NOS Tubes esp. Thompson Mullard 6080s and Sylvanias (guess u already have one in as driver). Make it extremely transparent yet musical.

 

[Deceneu808]

Congrats! Love to hear impressions with Zmf in coming days.. Also try some NOS Tubes esp. Thompson Mullard 6080s and Sylvanias (guess u already have one in as driver). Make it extremely transparent yet musical.

Haven't got around Thompson tube yet. I have some Mullards around but don't really like them. I am running a GEC 6AS7G with RCA 5692 right now. Switching to 5998 and Melz later today

 

[moriez]

Back and better than ever. Better built than the H5. Sits flat on the desk. SQ is superb although it's still new. Need to break it in more. I can 100% recommend getting the Miflex upgrade or shoot straight for it. It basically brings the gap closer to the Elise if not the same tbh.

Been checking back daily to see if you posted. Should be enough to pull that trigger on a ''H5MF''

 

[mvneufeld]

Back and better than ever. Better built than the H5. Sits flat on the desk. SQ is superb although it's still new. Need to break it in more. I can 100% recommend getting the Miflex upgrade or shoot straight for it. It basically brings the gap closer to the Elise if not the same tbh.

Sweet! I love the H5 Miflex with my ZMF Aelous - no doubt it’ll be great with your Atrium. Once your new caps have broken in a bit (and mine took a few weeks), I’d love to hear your impressions on how the Miflex caps have changed the sound over the stock caps. (Obviously you can’t A/B, but I’m sure people would like to know.)

 

[Deceneu808]

Sweet! I love the H5 Miflex with my ZMF Aelous - no doubt it’ll be great with your Atrium. Once your new caps have broken in a bit (and mine took a few weeks), I’d love to hear your impressions on how the Miflex caps have changed the sound over the stock caps. (Obviously you can’t A/B, but I’m sure people would like to know.)

What I learned the most is that life is easier burning two tubes at a time rather than 4(looking at you Elise). I am in the process of downsizing right now and with the Miflex upgrade I can easily sell the Elise without even looking back. I don't have that much time on my hands to actually sit at the desk and listen to tubes all day but when I do, I feel the H5MC is more than capable to drive my 300ohm headphones to their full potential. Give it the right tubes or should I say, your preference tubes and forget about everything else. This thing is the true image of what OTL amps should look and sound like. One can go SS or OTC from here if they really want to change things up a bit.
I just finished applying the third layer of paint to it. Came out better than expected although I can not capture the true color this has due to the camera

EDIT : Does anybody know the output impedance of this amp ? And how much V can it push in a 300 Ohm load ? Haven't got the tools to measure myself

 

[moriez]

Excellent paint job. Looks good! Appreciate it if you can share type/colour. And I have a couple of questions:

-with the HD600 at your usual volume or a bit louder volume, what is the pot's position?
-do you think the Miflex reduce warmth compared to stock caps? Perhaps something else clearly stands out.
-what is your take, or anyone's take on the next best parts upgrade after caps besides tubes? I know that some favour upgrading the pot.

Regarding output impedance I can ask Wieslaw in our email convo if that's helpful.

 

[Deceneu808]

Excellent paint job. Looks good! Appreciate it if you can share type/colour. And I have a couple of questions:

-with the HD600 at your usual volume or a bit louder volume, what is the pot's position?
-do you think the Miflex reduce warmth compared to stock caps? Perhaps something else clearly stands out.
-what is your take, or anyone's take on the next best parts upgrade after caps besides tubes? I know that some favour upgrading the pot.

Regarding output impedance I can ask Wieslaw in our email convo if that's helpful.

- I'll have to check the can for which type of paint it is but basically a outside use glaze for wood with protective something in it. I'll snap a pic once I get home. It's a Mahogany color.
-I find myself running +13dbu gain stage on my DAC with a -9db tweak to allow for some tone controls so generally around your standard 2V output. Depending on the song, for the majority I run it at 9-10 o clock but sometimes need to push 12-13 o clock
-I don't think the Miflex caps reduce any warmth at all, they just add texture, detail and control over the bass, especially at higher volumes. Does not fart anymore when pushed.
-next upgrade ? Maybe the pot, but I'm fine with Alps. Certainly there are better but hey...

I've also emailed Wieslaw but he is hard to get. Usually responds in two or three days.

 

[Deleeh]

Hello,
Great colour, I think it's beautiful and more fitting to the amplifier.
It has a calming effect, I think.

But capacitors can reduce heat.
If they are the thickest Milfex available, they dissipate the heat very well.

I have installed the Vcaps in my Euforia amplifier and it gets less warm.
And it is also more resilient.
Since we are talking about Feliks, if you compare the Eufonika is close to the Elise.
I am impressed by it.

Does the Eufonika have the same romantic quiet charm as the Elise, or rather that Feliks brings to its amplifiers?
Or does it go a bit in a different direction?

Have fun with the amplifier .

 

[Deceneu808]

Hello,
Great colour, I think it's beautiful and more fitting to the amplifier.
It has a calming effect, I think.

But capacitors can reduce heat.
If they are the thickest Milfex available, they dissipate the heat very well.

I have installed the Vcaps in my Euforia amplifier and it gets less warm.
And it is also more resilient.
Since we are talking about Feliks, if you compare the Eufonika is close to the Elise.
I am impressed by it.

Does the Eufonika have the same romantic quiet charm as the Elise, or rather that Feliks brings to its amplifiers?
Or does it go a bit in a different direction?

Have fun with the amplifier .

At first glance it certainly has a romantic lush sound. Feels very intimate just like the Feliks. I will have to take time to break in the new amp as well as try other headphones on them, select tracks etc. and really do a deep dive to note differences. They might have their own thing going on separately but ultimately they both get feet tapping

 

[zarkow]

Hi guys, many thanks to everyone for your willingness and helpful answer via PM. I have finally decided for H5 Miflex. I am looking forward to new sound and will share my impressions after receiving amp.

 

[mvneufeld]

Congrats! It’s a great amp. Looking forward to your report.

 

[moriez]

I have finally decided for H5 Miflex.

Make that two

 

[kvik]

Wieslaw send me a couple of photos.. the latest H4 (mk3), and a tube buffer.

 

[MultiplexMan]

I've read through this thread three times now! I'm having a hard time trying to select an amp from the range.

My main loudspeaker system amplifier runs EH6CA7 (EL34) tubes. I've been searching for a headphone amp that would impart a similar flavour to the music.

Headphones: Grado 325, Grado Hemp and Sennheiser HD650 (T1 Gen2 and HD800 coming)

Amplifier: H5 Miflex with Gain switch?
I don't want pre-amp option.
A second input would be nice for A/B testing sources.

I have also been looking at local custom build options; the Hagerman Tuba and the Feliks Audio Echo Mark 2.

 

[kvik]

You probably noticed my EL34 amp (H16M). I am not sure how your Grados would pair with the amp, it being OTL. I don’t have any, so can’t really check, but perhaps others in this thread will have tried Grados with their Eufonika amp. Both Sennheiser being 300 ohm should be fine, however their (relatively high) sensitivity might reduce the usable potentiometer range because of the amp’s high gain. This depends on the output voltage of your source, and of course the actual gain of whatever amp you end up with.

My H16M came with EL34-EH, which I found too clinical sounding, so I am now using AEG (RFT) ones instead, they are a little fuller/meatier sounding (to my ears). I haven’t tried your 6CA7, they might well sound different to their EL34 sibling.

I suspect EL34/6CA7 would require output caps similar in size to the ones in my amp. This means the wooden casing would have to be of similar size as well. That is, unless Wieslaw can come with an alternative approach that still incorporates these tubes.

The extra input isn’t a problem, just request it, when you order. Same for the obsolete pre-out, just ask for it to be absent.

Did you look at the McChanson offerings as well? Being located in Australia, communication as well as shipping should be a lot easier. He does a lot of different amps, also custom amps, he might have a an EL34/6CA7 design available also. There’s a McChanson thread here on head-fi (in case you missed it).