[HPLobster]

Holy jupiters Elise arrived !!!!!

 

[UntilThen]

Lukasz didn't tell me he's sending it. I was going to ask him when he's sending it when it show up today, much to my delight and surprise.

This is the 3rd time such a parcel arrived from Poland.

Elise gen 1
Euforia
Elise gen 2

I'm so looking forward to comparing these 2 amps now and Yggy has 2 sets of rca outputs. Perfect.

 

[mordy]

In the July issue of Stereophile the editorial is about the renaissance in headphones and the advantages of headphones over speakers - even the T1 get a honorable mention.

I am listening now to a well recorded recording, and I have the distinct impression that instead of sitting in front of the orchestra, I am sitting inside the orchestra itself and facing the room. Is this possible?

It feels like some musicians are sitting on each side of me and some behind me. I have never experienced this before....

 

[angpsi]

Those boxes are special!

Hi @Oskari, in what way? Are they Original Boxes?

 

[angpsi]

I don't tell my wife how much I spend on the tubes lol.

"Honey, how come you have so many of those glass things?"

Generally speaking, non–audiophiles haven't the faintest clue as to how much our gear is worth. Yesterday I let a colleague listen through my Etymotic Hf3 via Meridian Explorer 2 / Audirvana. He was quite impressed; "quite worth it", he asserted. " So how much are these earphones then?", he went on; "around €20-25?"

Unluckily for me, my wife has generally gotten whiff of how much these things may cost... Having said that, her wildest estimates are still 30% below the actual price tag.

 

[angpsi]

Hi Oskari,
(...)
According to JACmusic, the Toshiba 6SN7GTB look identical to 1960 Telefunken 6SN7GTB tubes.

Now that you mention JAC Music, have you had any experience with the 7N7 that they propose as a good alternative to the 6sn7?

 

[UntilThen]

I do. 7N7 with adapters work very well and is a direct replacement for 6sn7.

I use a pair of Raytheon 7N7 - generally all 7N7 are made by Sylvania irespective of brand.

This is the only instance I'll use an adapter now.

 

[angpsi]

As I spend this morning slacking, I bumped into this very interesting read! Good to gain perspective...
https://www.head-fi.org/f/articles/the-audiophile-scene-in-a-third-world-country-fun-read.19047/

 

[UntilThen]

Elise is home !!!

On the 7th of April 2017, Elise set sail for Poland, sick and tired after 1.5 years of extraordinary performance. I need to get her back to her former glory.

Today on the 14th June 2017, Elise came home. Like the day when she first came to me on the 25th Oct 2015. I could not believe my eyes. She is as new as when she first came, save for the infamous number Catch #22. I vow that she will not be subjected to indiscriminate tube rolling.... ever again.

Look at her..... new sockets and the underside.... light beech colour ... everything is new.... I could not believe my eyes !!! I started to get sentimental and Clint Eastwood doesn't get sentimental .... this is the Elise that changed my world and made me post like there's no tomorrow. This revival will make me post even more ... so try and stop me.... you will face my Smith and Wesson.

 

[UntilThen]

There she is in all her glory. Even the white dot that I put on the volume knob have remain as perfect as Michelangelo's creation. This is a work of art. You will never see a tube amp as beautiful as the clean, classic design. Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael created this work of art.

 

[UntilThen]

There they are.... the twins. So alike in looks... I love these tube amps. I really do. Whatever thoughts that I have of selling Elise, is gone now. She and Euforia will remain in my household, taking centre stage along with Yggdrasil and HD800, T1 and HD650..... and all the minion tubes.

I want to take this moment to thank Lukasz, his pop Henryk and all members of the Feliks Audio team. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for restoring Elise to her former glory, As soon as I power her on, I knew that she will sound as good as before, if not better. Just need the burn in.

Edit:- Would you believe it? Both amps are pitch black quiet, with no music playing and volume to max. You don't get this quietness with tube amps but these ones are dead quiet when they are not singing.

 

[UntilThen]

I'm going to have to burn in Elise for at least 100 hours before I do an assessment of these 2 tube amps. There's a lot of similarities in the tone but clearly Euforia is the better sounding of the 2 right now. Could be due to burn in but I suspect it's much more than that. Without being prejudiced at this early stage, I'll withhold any judgement until later and you can be assured that it will be a unbiased view from me as I love both amps.

As it is, right now, listening through Elise, I knew that if this is the only amp that I have, it would have been sufficient. With the high impedance dynamic headphones that I use, I really don't need anymore amps. See I choose the headphones to go with these amps and I'm more than happy with HD800, T1 and HD650. I don't need anymore headphones.

 

[mordy]

Hi Oskari,

I do not have any experience with the 7N7, but I read that people like it. I am a little bit allergic to buying more adapters, but may decide to look into it at a later date.

For now I am trying to dig up interesting 6SN7 variants (but only if the price is right). I also have a box of different bargain 6SN7s so I am going to start there. Not that many pairs, but mainly a bunch of single tubes; RCA, Sylvania, Tung Sol, Raytheon. Many are re-branded with names like Zenith, Capeheart, Stromberg-Carlson and Baldwin, but it is usually easy to trace the original manufacturer.

Wonder if 6SL7 is compatible with the Elise/Euforia?

 

[Gjoel]

Hello @Gjoel it depends on how bright or warm your system is sounding now. Mimby (Modi Multibit) from the many users impressions I've read, is that it follows Yggy's strength of revelation... ie it is very revealing. I'm speculating of course but I believe the addition of Mimby, will bring about a much better change than the DAC in the Auralic Aries Mini... moreso than adding a new PSU.

If on the other hand, you need to dial in more warmth, than a used Bimby or my ex-DAC - the NAD d1050, will be a better choice.

Eventually though you will get a LPS for the Mini. Everyone seems to do that. It's the fashion.

Thanks for your feedback UT.

The Mimby haven't been in stock for ages in EU. After your reply I looked again, and there it was! So took it as a sign and did order it. Should ship out before 26th June.

Can't wait to hear a MB dac in my system.

Only MB dac I have been trying is a totalDAC costing twice my car

So looking forward to compare Mimby to my internal dac in Auralic..

 

[angpsi]

Can't wait to hear a MB dac in my system.

Only MB dac I have been trying is a totalDAC costing twice my car

Hi @Gjoel, what's your impression of the TotalDAC? Worth the hype? It's being used in so many exhibition systems in hi-end shows I can't help but be intrigued now that I know you auditioned it in your own convenience.