[richdytch]

Update. Putting my transformer between the Elise and my power amp stops this issue. But since I got the Cyrus I prefer to not use the transformer, since it does audibly degrade the sound. I've come a way since the Quad 909 days, when the transformer made the whole setup sound better. The Quad can't compete with the Cyrus in terms of clarity and transparency. Or in control/weight.

But the fact that the transformer sorts out this issue, does suggest that the Elise, with 6AS7G tubes is occasionally outputting DC.

It seems that the issue occurs not just with Chatham 6AS7G in the power seat - it seems to happen with any 6AS7G/6080 I put in. The EL12 family do not seem to do this!

 

[Oskari]

Bel, Bel, Bel

 

[canthearyou]

Yet another update on the returning Elise to Poland saga. Henryk emailed some customs release forms for me to sign. Here's to getting my rebuilt Elise back before Christmas.

 

[Oskari]

This is still the most beautiful thing ever. Can you top it?


Solveigs sang

 

[connieflyer]

I can try....

 

[connieflyer]

Oskari, tried to view the video but it won't stream. Will have to check later. Love the song, either way
Who is the artist? I am watching this one and she is quite good.

This one has some nice shots of the Fiords in Norway

 

[angpsi]

So, guys, yesterday a pair of HD650 arrived in the house. They were an interesting comparison with the HD600 on the Elise / GEC 6080 & Sylvania 6sn7w. According to my ears the HD600 were the better match, probably because of their flatter response, but also because the Elise aseems to tame their infamous treble peak, even though the tubes I’m using are anything but soft or mellow. On the other hand, the HD650’s darker tuning turned more pronounced on the Elise, and that although it was no mismatch, the HD600 was easily the better match.

Then I put the HD650 on a Mojo that I have with me as a loaner...

Man does this combo sing like an angel! The tight and dynamic rendering of the Mojo definitely allows the HD650 to sound so right they achieve greatness. I would argue that the ‘tuned’ signature of the latter softens the SS Δ/Σ character of the Mojo; but this comes at no expense to detail and dynamics (i.e. PRAT, I guess) in all the frequencies that are available to them. Instead, the HD600 sounded somewhat thin by comparison, certainly nothing like what they sounded with the Elise. As I said in a previous post, that combo even made me prefer the HD600 over the HD800 on the Elise! However, as I put the HD650 back on the Mojo, I found myself lost in music until the battery died...

So, once again I believe that the Elise carries a distinct, somewhat meatier, character, albeit probably not too ‘tubey’ - as all the rest of you maintain from your experience. The Elise is a hands down wonderful combination with the HD600. But after listening to the HD650 on the Mojo, I believe the latter is the better headphone of the two. Granted though, the Elise was playing with the Mimby / Eitr stack, so perhaps substituting it with the Mojo may tighten the sound of the Elise enough to turn the table around.

Today I’m also going to experiment with some of my other tubes. Plus it looks like my Ken-Rad 6sn7gt VT-231 staggered plates have arrived, so I’m going to have another parameter to factor in...

 

[Oskari]

Oskari, tried to view the video but it won't stream. Will have to check later. Love the song, either way
Who is the artist?

I don't know what's wrong with it.

Sissel. Here's the link:



Ok. No link. But now it works for me.

 

[Oskari]

I can try....

Sure is cute.

 

[angpsi]

Quick follow-up: Mojo is better than Mimby/Eitr; and the Elise is still better with the HD600. Finally, the Ken-Rad 6sn7gt / VT-231 are very good!

EDIT: this is post 10.000.

Didn't even realise it when I posted; @pctazhp, @connieflyer, @Oskari, @mordy, @hypnos1, @UntilThen, @DecentLevi @HOWIE13 and all the rest of the crew (sorry for the ones I forget to mention), it has been a pleasure!

Of course I'll still keep posting my impressions here but I believe my Elise trip has reached a summit and I'm now tempted to explore other routes. Currently looking to get a Mojo to use as a vehicle for the transition, I might be looking towards an amp/dac option such as Questyle 600i, or I may be joining all the rest of you in Euforia land.

Cheers!

 

[angpsi]

Post scriptum.

To honor my Elise, today I'm putting back on the Svetlana 6N13S and the Psvane UK6sn7 hifi series. The sound is surprising; I spent so much time with my premium tubes I forgot how pleasurable these can be. The Elise doesn't go anywhere near low with these tubes, but the sound is coherent, airy, and relaxed. Kanon Matsuda's piano sounds natural and effortless, and echoes brilliantly in the 'room' type of rendering the 'st' bottle types tend to do. So, although premium tubes thrust the Elise into a whole other level, stock configuration is nothing to be ashamed about but rather the opposite; namely, that Pop Henryk and the rest of the family have put together a very refined and effortless sound signature that can offer hours of musical enjoyment if someone is not fussing about the next ounce of audio perfection! Put it with a potent DAC (i'm currently using my loaner Mojo) and you have a brilliant moment in audio reproduction. Granted, I'm using the Sennheiser HD600/650 which are arguably the best match for the Elise—and that is from a technical standpoint, besides the obvious auditory one.

In the end, I wonder whether the Elise deserves to be recognised not as a testbed for tube rolling, but as an extremely well–designed amp that holds its place firmly in the mid-tier category as a brilliant, well–refined, and self–confident design of an amplifier.

Well done!

 

[pctazhp]

Post scriptum.

To honor my Elise, today I'm putting back on the Svetlana 6N13S and the Psvane UK6sn7 hifi series. The sound is surprising; I spent so much time with my premium tubes I forgot how pleasurable these can be. The Elise doesn't go anywhere near low with these tubes, but the sound is coherent, airy, and relaxed. Kanon Matsuda's piano sounds natural and effortless, and echoes brilliantly in the 'room' type of rendering the 'st' bottle types tend to do. So, although premium tubes thrust the Elise into a whole other level, stock configuration is nothing to be ashamed about but rather the opposite; namely, that Pop Henryk and the rest of the family have put together a very refined and effortless sound signature that can offer hours of musical enjoyment if someone is not fussing about the next ounce of audio perfection! Put it with a potent DAC (i'm currently using my loaner Mojo) and you have a brilliant moment in audio reproduction. Granted, I'm using the Sennheiser HD600/650 which are arguably the best match for the Elise—and that is from a technical standpoint, besides the obvious auditory one.

In the end, I wonder whether the Elise deserves to be recognised not as a testbed for tube rolling, but as an extremely well–designed amp that holds its place firmly in the mid-tier category as a brilliant, well–refined, and self–confident design of an amplifier.

Well done!

Before I sold my Elise (because I had bought Euforia) I tried it with the Psvane drivers that came with Euforia and the Elise stock power tubes. With HD800S, my impression was very similar to yours. I was actually very pleasantly surprised.

 

[hypnos1]

This is still the most beautiful thing ever. Can you top it?


Solveigs sang

Perhaps not, O...but a very close second, I reckon!! :

 

[hypnos1]

Quick follow-up: Mojo is better than Mimby/Eitr; and the Elise is still better with the HD600. Finally, the Ken-Rad 6sn7gt / VT-231 are very good!

EDIT: this is post 10.000.

Didn't even realise it when I posted; @pctazhp, @connieflyer, @Oskari, @mordy, @hypnos1, @UntilThen, @DecentLevi @HOWIE13 and all the rest of the crew (sorry for the ones I forget to mention), it has been a pleasure!

Of course I'll still keep posting my impressions here but I believe my Elise trip has reached a summit and I'm now tempted to explore other routes. Currently looking to get a Mojo to use as a vehicle for the transition, I might be looking towards an amp/dac option such as Questyle 600i, or I may be joining all the rest of you in Euforia land.

Cheers!

Hi ang..."reached a summit"? That's what I thought many times, both with Elise and Euforia lol!! Amp and tubes are only a part of the equation, of course - successive upgrades re. source; DAC; headphones; mains power filtering/conditioning...and now interconnects and power cords, have all brought unexpectedly large improvements to what I thought was my 'end game'!

And most unexpected of all must be my recent substitution of 'ordinary' pure silver interconnects with cables using single crystal UPOCC silver (plus added UPOCC copper) that I terminated myself, saving $100s. These alone transformed Euforia's performance, and did wonders for my Beyer T1s...especially in the bass and treble departments - unbelievably so! I don't doubt Elise would also benefit in this way, amongst others...And fellow head-fier Acapella11 found similar improvements in his Questyle CMA800, driving his Norne Draug-cabled HD800. Both our amps were fed by the amazing Hugo2...

So I'm quite sure your Elise could still deliver a performance a good bit above your current state...but Euforia would definitely provide greater potential lol!! ...good luck with whichever path you choose, however...CJ

(ps. Or you could always just keep saving up 'til next year...Lukasz wants to enter 'summit-fi' territory, and the team is playing around with some very interesting ideas lol!!! )...CHEERS!...

Post scriptum.

To honor my Elise, today I'm putting back on the Svetlana 6N13S and the Psvane UK6sn7 hifi series. The sound is surprising; I spent so much time with my premium tubes I forgot how pleasurable these can be. The Elise doesn't go anywhere near low with these tubes, but the sound is coherent, airy, and relaxed. Kanon Matsuda's piano sounds natural and effortless, and echoes brilliantly in the 'room' type of rendering the 'st' bottle types tend to do. So, although premium tubes thrust the Elise into a whole other level, stock configuration is nothing to be ashamed about but rather the opposite; namely, that Pop Henryk and the rest of the family have put together a very refined and effortless sound signature that can offer hours of musical enjoyment if someone is not fussing about the next ounce of audio perfection! Put it with a potent DAC (i'm currently using my loaner Mojo) and you have a brilliant moment in audio reproduction. Granted, I'm using the Sennheiser HD600/650 which are arguably the best match for the Elise—and that is from a technical standpoint, besides the obvious auditory one.

In the end, I wonder whether the Elise deserves to be recognised not as a testbed for tube rolling, but as an extremely well–designed amp that holds its place firmly in the mid-tier category as a brilliant, well–refined, and self–confident design of an amplifier.

Well done!

In the final analysis, you are of course right, mon ami.

But we must also remember that it was F-A's amps' versatility/flexibility that also set them apart from the mainstream, and which was highlighted by the extensive tube rolling undertaken by a good many adventurous Elise owners over a long period of time. I doubt there would otherwise have been quite the same degree of interest shown - as evidenced by the actual number of Elise threads since my very first 'Prototype' one, and the unbelievable total number of posts (and 'views') subsequently. I have seen very few threads to match this unbridled enthusiasm!...(and for which the Feliks family themselves are extremely grateful lol!) .

 

[Oskari]

Perhaps not, O...but a very close second, I reckon!! :

That is beautiful! Thanks for posting. What's lacking is the innocence of young Sissel.