[Oskari]

As for my Christmas songs, most of my stash consists of songs sung by people everyone has heard a million times

Here's something you haven't heard.


[VIDEO]https://youtu.be/POuwCIqMfcI[/VIDEO]

Maa on niin kaunis

I went to a Christmas concert by these guys last night…

[VIDEO]https://www.youtu.be/ZSHxIaJGQgM[/VIDEO]

… and these were the encores. I had nothing against that.

 

[connieflyer]

This is for @pctazhp he will remember I am sure... 
 
and he should remember this from back then, although I went back further than him.
 

 

[hypnos1]

@untilthen I thank you and others for thèir salutations, it is really appreciated. My online "family" has given me a lot of support and has kept me away from staring down the abyss. I look forward to reading your thoughts and interested in the reportae of certain members. I really like the personal touchs that are interspersed with information. Ut,pct,h1 I can not thank you enough, you have indeed made a positive difference in my life and have helped me through this very trying time, nothing could prepare me for this, but your friendship has helped to smooth out the rough seas, THANK YOU all! Cf

 
Hey cf, what can I say...except where else in forum land would there be such camaraderie lol? And that it may have helped you through those seas in some measure makes our time here feel all the more worthwhile...may 2017 continue in the same vein - I sincerely hope so...

...
 
ps. Don't forget there will be a belated Christmas present, mon ami...even if it is into the New Year LOL!

...CHEERS, and KEEP WELL!!..CJ

 

[connieflyer]

You have indeed made things a little easier, and I know that it all helps to get back to the new normal.  Sometimes it may not seem significant but it helps to have things that make life worthwhile.  It all adds up, I know in my heart that were it not for the encouraging words that I have found here, it would have been a darker period in my life than it turned out to be.  Some day I hope to return the favor. Merry Christmas all.

 

[hypnos1]

OK guys........THE "EAGLE" HAS LANDED!!...(for want of a better word, as "Elise" is almost a misnomer lol...reason to follow!!

).
 
This is going to be very hard to keep away from the OTT, excruciatingly exuberant ramblings that I fear do nothing to endear us to the more "serious" audiophiles out there...but I shall try lol!

...
 
I was actually helped in this by a strange (almost disconcerting!) calm when my package arrived this morning, and helped also by the need to allow plenty of time for temperatures to equalise (as confirmed by condensation forming on my "precious"!). However, at least I knew I wouldn't have to wait too long afterwards - with the amp having already had extensive trial time on her and my decision to go straight in with my burned-in Valvo EL11 (mesh plates) and GEC powers...(sorry Lukasz, but the numbered TungSols and Sovteks you sent will have to wait a wee while!!

).
 
Anyway, after managing to keep the cans off my ears for about 20 mins, I gingerly (with trembling hands, mind you!) put the T1s to my ears and tried hard to recall the sound I was meant to be comparing with...turns out I needn't have worried, because what I heard was almost a totally different amp. This first impression threw me so much, I simply had to leave it there and then and go make me an extra strong dose of caffeine, and let a good half hour pass before returning, in case my prolonged absence from Elise joy was clouding my judgment somewhat!
 
And so resumed my testing with tracks I have used many times these past 2 years and know intimately, with each one repeating that first "hit" between the eyes (as opposed to the ears!). The difference is greater than any that has come from using different tubes, and has confirmed my belief that "better" tubes do indeed only take you so far - it is an amp's circuit and components (incl. wire) that bring a much greater leap in performance...even though I'm already convinced that these mesh-plated Valvos are bringing their own extra magic to the table, but can't be sure of course until much further down the road yet...
 
OK, so just what is the "difference" I'm sprouting on about?..."they" are in fact multiple. I have only managed to hear a few tracks so far, but already they are not just minor changes, and all for the better lol!...and for tasters, these below hopefully give some indication of what Maestro Henryk Feliks (and team) have been able to conjure up   :
 
(But before more specific qualities, I must say that what hits you straight away is the much greater dynamic presentation, quite unlike the [already impressive!] original amp    :
 
1.  "Behind the Lines" - Genesis.
 
This track has always proved a "graveyard" for poor performing equipment, IMHO...the mix of massed, complex percussion and running base lines can so easily descend into mish-mashed chaos, with the added potential for treble harshness that can be almost unbearable with the likes of T1s - especially if a 'bright' DAC is downstream!! My 'MKI' Elise almost caught me out this way - I certainly had to turn down the volume with this track. 'MKII' handles this tricky job with absolute aplomb... with greater instrument separation, cohesion and balance. I could turn up the volume without having to suffer - that treble no longer screamed at me...intense, yes, but not harsh...(perhaps helped by the  mesh plates?...time will tell...).
 
And as with other tracks, there was increased detail throughout the FR, especially lower mids right through to lower treble...surprisingly so, in fact.
 
2.  "Diamonds and Rust" - Joan Baez
 
Joan's voice, which is truly sublime, can sometimes come over as a tad thin with lesser equipment. But here, the full tonal range of this wonderful singer can be heard, highlighting the deep emotional quality of her voice...sublime indeed! And this tonal range handling applies also to her acoustic guitar, adding immensely to the impact of this recording...just beautiful.
 
3.  "Telegraph Road" - Dire Straits
 
The intro to this track never fails to impress me, with its wonderful, slow build-up to what you know is something special to come. Here, there's an increased spatial, airy quality that almost leaves you suspended in space...even more so than before...and the increased tonality of Mark Knopfler's electric guitar matches the same extension in acoustic guitar, as mentioned previously.
Greater tonal range is also noticed in bass notes, with increased definition, purpose and impact - but not in a 'basshead', boomy kind of way...a much purer, more subtle bass delivery - an extension to the MKI presentation, if you will...In addition, this new amp can track fast-rolling bass lines better than before...a slight weakness some felt about the MKI. Once again, the extra details coming through at all stages of the frequency range are probably more down to its increased ability to keep all the instruments so clearly delineated/separate, without any hint of 'disengagement' from the whole...indeed, the sense of integration is to a degree I have never experienced before, and totally effortless. The entire sound is just so natural - a term that has hitherto not held much meaning for me...especially as so many concert hall experiences haven't exactly sounded "natural" to me LOL!!

...(perhaps smooth, unforced, engaging might be more appropriate terms...).
 
4.  "Tightrope" - ELO
 
Of nearly all ELO's numbers, I've always felt there was more to this number than I was previously hearing, even though it was still one of my favourites!...Well, its full potential came out in all its glory in this x100th listen, to a point that had me not knowing whether to smile or cry...I did BOTH!! At this point I knew beyond any doubt whatsoever that my euphoria was most definitely NOT due to easing of my withdrawal symptoms...this was for REAL lol!!

. Main vocal line was beautifully placed - not too close, not too distant, and backing vocals came in from positions that displayed a Master recording engineer at work...ie. in 3D space, without appearing detached from the whole in any way at all...masterly indeed...
 
5.  "Hard-headed Woman" - Cat Stevens
 
I find this number very good for assessing dynamic range handling (when not using Classical Music for the job, which will have to come later...). The early, light bars don't really prepare you for what comes later - the sudden transition to 'full on' sound can sometimes be too much to handle (pain-free, that is!), and I usually - once again - have to turn the volume down a tad beforehand. This time - once more - the amp delivered with full intensity (this time bass notes, as opposed to treble), but without shattering my eardrums...and with no loss of information - the opposite in fact.
 
6.  And finally, I wanted to hear what happens with "simpler" fare - in the shape of The Fureys'  "When you were sweet sixteen", and Clannad's "Theme from Harry's Game". Once again, the tonal range of the Fureys' acoustic instruments was just spine-tingling, and the emotional quality of the (over-sweet?!) lyrics and performance was enough to melt the hardest heart...(well it did mine anyway!

).
Clannad's ability to create the most haunting of sounds is exemplified in their track, even though overall a deceptively 'simple' number. This ethereal quality was reproduced here to a degree that had me spellbound...again even more so than ever before...(ooops, sorry - getting a bit OTT here lol!

).
 
And so folks, hopefully this gives you just some idea of what Feliks-Audio have managed to achieve with this (much!) revised Elise...as I mentioned earlier, this is truly almost a different amp entirely, and I simply cannot believe how they could make an already extremely good product so much better still...needless to say, I am (once again!) in total awe of these guys in Poland. This is one of the best Christmas presents of my entire life....THANKS A MILLION FELIKS-AUDIO!!! ...and a VERY, MERRY CHRISTMAS...TO YOU ALL!....CHEERS!....CJ
 
ps. Hey @UntilThen, you'll be glad to know I now very much doubt I'll even be bothering to listen to the $4000 Focal Utopias...this new amp is making my T1s sound like multi-K dollar babies already lol...so another THANK YOU to F-A, for saving me from the debtor's prison lol!!

 
(Suppose I'd better go wash the dishes now...this diatribe took much longer than anticipated lol!

).
 
ps. Did I mention the most exquisite handling of treble I have ever experienced, with such intricate detail, extension and control that lifts the delivery beyond the merely 'airy', "scintillating" etc. etc.?!!!

 

 

[hypnos1]

Hi again guys....silly me, forgot the all-important (mini) photo shoot...early onset dementia, I suspect alas!!

  :
 
         Those wondeful new Teflon sockets!!
 

 
 
Especially for you @mordy...the vol control marker...(actually a lot smaller than originally - perhaps could indeed be a bit more prominent lol?)...
 

 
 
Valvo Black Glass, mesh plate drivers ('40s); GEC CV2523 (6AS7G) powers
 

 
ps. They've changed the gorgeous blue (as far as I'm concerned anyway lol!) led light...boo-hoo..

...

 

[UntilThen]

Beautiful !!! The Valvo with the gold plated base. Work of art.

 

[DecentLevi]

Big congratulations on your Elise v2 H1! Maybe that's a slightly better name than Elise SE, as that usually refers to single-ended.
 
Well, looks like 16 of the EL11 to 6SN7 adapters were ordered from Ms. XuLing (4 of them being mine), so looks like four of us are going to have a very merry Christmas with a new EL11/12 setup... or a very grumpy Christmas depending on the results - Howie we will hold you accountable 

 
 
I also think Howie ordered the RCA 12AV7 yesterday and hopefully he can confirm its' greatness, so any others may experience what I've discovered with them.

 

[Andrew Rieger]

Any tube recommendations for someone who prefers a more crisp, detail oriented sound? 

 

[DecentLevi]

Quote:

  Any tube recommendations for someone who prefers a more crisp, detail oriented sound? 

My top pick for this after trying at least 100 combinations including flagship tubes would most assuredly be GEC 6080 + RCA 12AV7, followed by RCA 6080 + RCA 12AV7. These two pairings, especially the first one, give a sound that is dynamic, crisp & semi-bright). You can also try Bendix 6080 + RCA 12AV7 for a slightly different sound flavor. The 12AV7's require a pair of adapters @ $10 each, and several variants are still available cheaply. See post here for more

 

[Andrew Rieger]

  Quote:
My top pick for this after trying at least 100 combinations including flagship tubes would most assuredly be GEC 6080 + RCA 12AV7, followed by RCA 6080 + RCA 12AV7. These two pairings, especially the first one, give a sound that is dynamic, crisp & semi-bright). You can also try Bendix 6080 + RCA 12AV7 for a slightly different sound flavor. The 12AV7's require a pair of adapters @ $10 each, and several variants are still available cheaply. See post here for more

Thanks a bunch

 

[DecentLevi]

Well H1 that was a superb write-up and I must say your upgraded Elise sounds sure to be nothing short of REVOLUTIONARY and for me at least, you had me at 'effortless'. This is a quality that IMO, the original Elise was never able to achieve no matter which rare tubes I threw at it. And now to hear the new Elise has increased dynamics, purity and is effortless leads me to ponder how the new Elise holds up against other current flagship amps such as the Cavalli Liquid Tungsten, Zana Deux super edition and Woo Audio WA22. Perhaps you'll get a chance to directly A/B the upgraded Elise to these other flagships? I would not be surprised if they are extremely comparable.
 
And just maybe this concept could end up being a 'game changer' for the headphone amp industry - a new era where quality of internal components can make per say... medium size amps perform equally to that of those monster sized ones. Anyway @hypnos1 I presume it's safe to say that this is your end-game amp?
 

  CJ, thanks for the photos and summary of the upgrades. Looks good.
 
Wonder if there's any re-tuning done?
 
I hope this will translate into an Elise with more snap attack, even faster transient response, bite and transparency. Although I cannot envisage if that would be a better outcome as Elise in it's current state, is perfecto for me. 

H1 this is the other thing I'm still wondering about and apparently I'm not alone. For me, the slight shortcoming in the 'effortless' department, the slight lack of snap attack, bite and transparency, and the nearly holographic sound are what still makes other flagship amps superior to the original Elise... so would you PLEASE do us a favor and give a listen to a couple of your favorite drum-heavy songs to tell us how the drums sound in terms of snappyness and bite / transient response?

 

[hypnos1]

Beautiful !!! The Valvo with the gold plated base. Work of art.

 
Thanks UT...they sure ended up looking much better than I imagined lol

...and as for their sound - in the new amp at least! - surpassing anything I've heard to date.
 
And after a good few more of my "Golden Oldies", every single track is reinforcing my previous comments...to an even greater degree! So I thought it was time to try something a bit different and (relatively!) more up-to-date, viz. "Another Country" - Cassandra Wilson, a hi-res. track on HDTracks Sampler 2013....well, when fed such a signal, this amp's dynamics really come into their own - a depth, richness and fullness that is quite startling...the kind of 'speaker sound I recently mentioned I was contemplating the Focal Utopias for, but now am glimpsing here to a degree that I'm sure will indeed satisfy me without having to mortgage the missus LOL!

...so you can sleep easy, mon ami...

...talking of which, time for zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
 
G'night, y'all...

 

[hypnos1]

  Well H1 that was a superb write-up and I must say your upgraded Elise sounds sure to be nothing short of REVOLUTIONARY and for me at least, you had me at 'effortless'. This is a quality that IMO, the original Elise was never able to achieve no matter which rare tubes I threw at it. And now to hear the new Elise has increased dynamics, purity and is effortless leads me to ponder how the new Elise holds up against other current flagship amps such as the Cavalli Liquid Tungsten, Zana Deux super edition and Woo Audio WA22. Perhaps you'll get a chance to directly A/B the upgraded Elise to these other flagships? I would not be surprised if they are extremely comparable.
 
And just maybe this concept could end up being a 'game changer' for the headphone amp industry - a new era where quality of internal components can make per say... medium size amps perform equally to that of those monster sized ones. Anyway @hypnos1 I presume it's safe to say that this is your end-game amp?
 

H1 this is the other thing I'm still wondering about and apparently I'm not alone. For me, the slight shortcoming in the 'effortless' department, the slight lack of snap attack, bite and transparency, and the nearly holographic sound are what still makes other flagship amps superior to the original Elise... so would you PLEASE do us a favor and give a listen to a couple of your favorite drum-heavy songs to tell us how the drums sound in terms of snappyness and bite / transient response?

 
Will do, DL...but tomorrow...must (try to!) get some sleep now...

...CHEERS!...

 

[louisxiawei]

  Well H1 that was a superb write-up and I must say your upgraded Elise sounds sure to be nothing short of REVOLUTIONARY and for me at least, you had me at 'effortless'. This is a quality that IMO, the original Elise was never able to achieve no matter which rare tubes I threw at it. And now to hear the new Elise has increased dynamics, purity and is effortless leads me to ponder how the new Elise holds up against other current flagship amps such as the Cavalli Liquid Tungsten, Zana Deux super edition and Woo Audio WA22. Perhaps you'll get a chance to directly A/B the upgraded Elise to these other flagships? I would not be surprised if they are extremely comparable.
 

I've compared WA22 (stock tube) borrowed from my friend to the current Elise (Mullard 6080 + EL3N).
 
Can confirm that the Elise has a solid win on T1. Period.