[HOWIE13]

  Review is finally up:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/feliks-audio-elise/reviews/16814

 
Thanks, great review.
 
Concerning Espressivo, I've found EL3N's and C3g's as power tubes give much more weight and authority to the sound compared to the stock 6N6P tubes, and for a very modest outlay.
 
At present I'm using EL3N's as powers and Sylvania 6SN7GTA as drivers and, whilst the sound-stage is not as wide, and the bass not as weighty as with Elise, there is as much detail and dynamics to the sound, maintaining nicely articulated bass.
With Ken-Rad VT231's as drivers Espressivo's bass really comes through very strongly- but those Ken-Rads are not cheap.
 
It should be emphasised, as always, that the use of non-recommended tubes will invalidate the Warranty in the event their use causes damage to the amplifier.
 
At half the price of Elise, Espressivo, even using the stock tube types (6N6P and ECC88), is a real bargain for anyone on a tighter budget.

 

[Acapella11]

Howdie everybody,
 
Just to make it clear before I get outed later, lol, to my shame, I do not own an Elise.
 
My contribution addresses point 3 of the starting agenda, which is a compatible DAC. My tube amp inventory is only an good old Little Dot MKIV SE but I also have a quite nice SS-amp. I had two different DACs before my current one. The last one was the for its price quite highly regarded Audiolab M-DAC.
 
The suggestion I would like to put out here is the Chord Mojo, which is more a DAC than an amp. It looks quite unassuming in its small form factor and its fully portable, yet a little weighty. It uses an internal rechageble battery, which you can leave constantly on a charger due to its smart design. I checked this with Chord. In order to connect it you need a 3.5 mm to RCA converter or even better a cable that just does that. You cannot fully circumvent the amp, but you can bypass the volume contol by pushing both volume buttons simultanously when it boots up.
Now, why all that? It's price point (£399) is below my old M-DAC but the performance head and shoulders above. Amazing resolution, detail, "pin-pointability" is so clear. The signature is neutral, which suits a tube amp fine and works beautifully with my LD.
 
A friend of mine just compared the Mojo with his nice but a bit older Naim DAC (~£1800) and said a bit disappointed that it was clearly on par...
 
Everything I said is obviously subjective but I am totally impressed with my little new friend. And now I evaporate back out of the inspiring tube discussion
 

This is not my picture...

 

[HOWIE13]

  Howdie everybody,
 
Just to make it clear before I get outed later, lol, to my shame, I do not own an Elise.
 
My contribution addresses point 3 of the starting agenda, which is a compatible DAC. My tube amp inventory is only an good old Little Dot MKIV SE but I also have a quite nice SS-amp. I had two different DACs before my current one. The last one was the for its price quite highly regarded Audiolab M-DAC.
 
The suggestion I would like to put out here is the Chord Mojo, which is more a DAC than an amp. It looks quite unassuming in its small form factor and its fully portable, yet a little weighty. It uses an internal rechageble battery, which you can leave constantly on a charger due to its smart design. I checked this with Chord. In order to connect it you need a 3.5 mm to RCA converter or even better a cable that just does that. You cannot fully cirumvent the amp, but you can bypass the volume contol by pushing both volume buttons simultanously when it boots up.
Now, why all that? It's price point is below my old M-DAC (£399) but the performance head and shoulders above. Amazing resolution, detail, "pin-pointability" is so clear. The signature is neutral, which suits a tube amp fine and works beautifully with my LD.
 
A friend of mine just compared the Mojo with his nice Naim DAC (~£1800) and said a bit disappointed that it was clearly on par...
 
Everything I said is obviously subjective but I am totally impressed with my little new friend. And now I evaporate back out of the inspiring tube discussion
 

This is not my picture...

 
I've regularly use the M-DAC to pair with my CD players and have recently purchased Mojo.
 
I agree Mojo has excellent resolution and detail and functions very well as a DAC for Elise. It has ample sonic power, headroom and dynamics.
 
Mojo is very good value for it's price as its sound is certainly excellent and I like the fact it has two headphone outputs for sharing, or comparing, headphones.
I wish the default volume control bypass had been set at the more conventional approximate 2Vrms output, and the coloured buttons are not really necessary as a conventional potentiometer volume knob would be a lot easier, and quicker, to use.
 
Also, some will prefer the M-DAC on account of it's larger sound-stage, excellent configurability, vastly superior connectivity, and remote control. 

 

[UntilThen]

Good review of Elise @ostewart  it's not easy describing how a tube amp sounds but you made a very good attempt at it and as usual, beautiful photography from you.
 
When I first saw the Chord Mojo, I was quite shocked at how small it is but it looks extremely cute. It was at a meet with a lot of goodies but there was a lot of interest and people were waiting their turns with the Mojo. Unfortunately I missed trying it as I got myself busy with the Blue Hawaii and Stax and all the other goodies. Perhaps next time... 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/799815/can-con-6-impressions-thread-27th-february-2016

 

[HOWIE13]

  Good review of Elise @ostewart  it's not easy describing how a tube amp sounds but you made a very good attempt at it and as usual, beautiful photography from you.
 
When I first saw the Chord Mojo, I was quite shocked at how small it is but it looks extremely cute. It was at a meet with a lot of goodies but there was a lot of interest and people were waiting their turns with the Mojo. Unfortunately I missed trying it as I got myself busy with the Blue Hawaii and Stax and all the other goodies. Perhaps next time... 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/799815/can-con-6-impressions-thread-27th-february-2016

 
Yes, I think you would like Mojo. Chord uses a novel in-house approach to D/A conversion, which I don't really understand, but it doesn't sound processed and 'digital'.
Very natural sounding, music flowing effortlessly. Mojo's sound stage is average, not constricted though, and Elise and suitable cans can open up the sound if need-be.
It's amazing how much power can be engendered from a small battery. Mojo's sound has even been favourably compared to Hugo's.

 

[richdytch]

Tell you what, there's nothing quite like Mullard 6080 and early 50s Ken Rad 6sn7 for dirty late night dance music. The warmth, the funkiness and the silly sub bass of that combo is amazing. I have had to turn off my sub.

Sorry for random unrelated interjections after weeks of silence. Too busy generally for intenet stuff.

 

[UntilThen]

Tell you what, there's nothing quite like Mullard 6080 and early 50s Ken Rad 6sn7 for dirty late night dance music. The warmth, the funkiness and the silly sub bass of that combo is amazing. I have had to turn off my sub.

Sorry for random unrelated interjections after weeks of silence. Too busy generally for intenet stuff.

I shall try that when I get the Ken Rads. Meanwhile I'll try with RCA 6sn7gt VT231 smoke glass and Mullard 6080. The RCAs have a strong bass too. Let's see if my morning becomes late night dance music.

 

[UntilThen]

Alright the Billie Jean test. 

 
Bass is very strong but is overpowering the high ends using my modded HD650. Swap to T1 and the details came on crystal clear. It's night time dance music now but it's morning at 9am !!! What am I doing with Billie Jean.
 

 

[mordy]

Hi louisxiawei,
 
It seems to me that the average life span of most tubes is 3000-5000 hours. Some tubes are engineered with longer lasting heaters for a life span of 10,000 hours. Examples are the EL3N, GE Five Star tubes (7,500 hours), Amperex PQ, Sylvania Gold, and Russian tubes with a DR designation. ( Russian tubes with EV/EB designation are rated at 5000 hours.)
 
Some Russian IR designation tubes are rated at 500 hours, but I think that this refers to a hostile environment inside a tank or fighter jet. (The Russians favored tubes long after others started using transistors since tubes are said to be less susceptible to interference from an atomic attack than transistors).
 
Be it what it may be, except for dropping and smashing a couple of (expensive) tubes in some seven years of tube rolling, I cannot say that I have worn out or used up any tubes. My amp is on 3-8 hours a day.
 
Regarding tube readings being uneven, I do not put to much weight to it. Since the Elise uses double dual triodes as drivers, according to Feliks, having unevenly balanced tubes may only affect the sound stage somewhat - doesn't seem that small differences are important.
 
Hi David,
 
To me the tube glow is only an added bonus, but unimportant. Some of the best tubes have a very faint or no glow (EL3N/C3g with shield are examples), and some tubes which are veritable fireworks are poor sounding (Shuguang 6N5P as an example) .
 
For years I stayed away from tubes because it seemed to difficult to deal with short life spans, biasing and fragility. However, today I am not afraid of these things, and today's amps are usually self-biasing (OK - I am still afraid of dropping an expensive tube). My tube amps have brought me tremendous listening pleasure and opened up a new world of musical enjoyment.
 
 
In closing, something changed.......
 
It seems to me that 6080 power tubes that did not sound special in the beginning of my Elise ownership are now sounding much better. What could be the cause?
 
1) I have changed
2) The amp has changed
3) I am using other than stock drivers
 
What do you think?

 

[UntilThen]

It's the seasons changing and 6080s are in bloom this Spring.

I've got EL3N and 7236 in now and I know I've not changed. I prefer these over the RCAs and Mullards.

 

[mordy]

Hi UT,
 
Just compared the 1960 RCA 6080 tubes to the 1959 Tung Sol 7236 tubes. It is somewhat difficult for me to describe the differences - more like musical vs analytical. The TS tubes have better delineated bass and better instrument separation and clarity, but the RCAs are quicker and more dynamic with better mid range and treble and are more lively.
 
Could boil down to a matter of taste, but IMHO, with the EL3N as drivers there is no need to hunt down expensive TS 7236 tubes; the inexpensive and plentiful RCA 6080 tubes do a great job. The sound of the RCA 6080s is somewhere between the TS and Mullards, paired with the EL3Ns.
 
As always, YMMV....
 
Flavor of the day: RCA 6080? Nah, IMHO this flavor is here to stay. Delicious......
 
And as I stated before, the TS tubes don't lead to the same degree of involuntary toe tapping........

 

[HOWIE13]

  Hi UT,
 
Just compared the 1960 RCA 6080 tubes to the 1959 Tung Sol 7236 tubes. It is somewhat difficult for me to describe the differences - more like musical vs analytical. The TS tubes have better delineated bass and better instrument separation and clarity, but the RCAs are quicker and more dynamic with better mid range and treble and are more lively.
 
Could boil down to a matter of taste, but IMHO, with the EL3N as drivers there is no need to hunt down expensive TS 7236 tubes; the inexpensive and plentiful RCA 6080 tubes do a great job. The sound of the RCA 6080s is somewhere between the TS and Mullards, paired with the EL3Ns.
 
As always, YMMV....
 
Flavor of the day: RCA 6080? Nah, IMHO this flavor is here to stay. Delicious......
 
And as I stated before, the TS tubes don't lead to the same degree of involuntary toe tapping........

 
Hi Mordy,
 
Is this the tube or does it have red lettering, or is it a 6080WA?  There appears to be a lot of different versions of RCA 6080's. Thanks.
 
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RCA-6080-Vacuum-tube-tested-good-/282154477110?hash=item41b1b7a636:g:72MAAOSwJkJWjpcm

 

[mordy]

Hi Howie13,
 
It looks the same, but mine is a rebranded RCA tube:
 
 

 
(There is another picture of it in post 2223)

 

[HOWIE13]

  Hi Howie13,
 
It looks the same, but mine is a rebranded RCA tube:
 
 

 
(There is another picture of it in post 2223)

 
Thanks Mordy-  it's so difficult with re-brands- can you direct me to post 2223- not sure where to find that. Sorry for being a pest but want to be sure I buy the correct tube.

 

[Oskari]

Thanks Mordy-  it's so difficult with re-brands- can you direct me to post 2223- not sure where to find that. Sorry for being a pest but want to be sure I buy the correct tube.

I think he meant this:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/813488/feliks-audio-elise-impressions-thread-a-new-start-please-read-first-post-for-summary/1710#post_12849079