[Newsee]

Some fun audition today.

 

[nwavesailor]

Interesting!
I have had all 3 of these and now only the Sus remains. Empy was long gone before the the Envy arrived after I decided it was way too polite and I moved to hp that I found more revealing and with less warmth. All 3 are some really good ones!!!

Now ya just need some Elrogs (my choice) or WE!!!!

 

[jlbrach]

the susvara stays lol..add the 1266 and perhaps the caldera and you are done

 

[nwavesailor]

But how about the IMMANIS we are waiting for

 

[jlbrach]

yes I was referring to what is available at the moment...the Immanis definitely will be included

 

[nwavesailor]

Do you have any idea where you are on the wait Raal list @jlbrach?

 

[joseph69]

I know I recently asked a similar question here - but for those using the Holo May or Spring DAC are you using XLR or RCA?

 

[walterboss]

I know I recently asked a similar question here - but for those using the Holo May or Spring DAC are you using XLR or RCA?

RCA for me

 

[Newsee]

Interesting!
I have had all 3 of these and now only the Sus remains. Empy was long gone before the the Envy arrived after I decided it was way too polite and I moved to hp that I found more revealing and with less warmth. All 3 are some really good ones!!!

Now ya just need some Elrogs (my choice) or WE!!!!

The goal was to try the Susvaras with the Envy. Therefore I took my Envy and my Rockna WL DAC to the Hifi shop where the Susvaras were available. Unfortunately the the box with the Erlog MOs were left at home by chance. A reason for another visit?

Last time I've tried the Susvaras they were on a Burson Conductor 3R a few years ago. I remember it was beautifully airy, so airy that the bass was missing.
Not this time.
I started with low gain. Surprisingly at 11 o'clock it was loud more than enough. With mid gain 9 o'clock was sufficient. With mid gain the sound felt more energetic.
Soundstage wide like the Amazonas.

As the shop had some other HPs I took the opportunity for a little comparison.

 

[tunes]

The goal was to try the Susvaras with the Envy. Therefore I took my Envy and my Rockna WL DAC to the Hifi shop where the Susvaras were available. Unfortunately the the box with the Erlog MOs were left at home by chance. A reason for another visit?

Last time I've tried the Susvaras they were on a Burson Conductor 3R a few years ago. I remember it was beautifully airy, so airy that the bass was missing.
Not this time.
I started with low gain. Surprisingly at 11 o'clock it was loud more than enough. With mid gain 9 o'clock was sufficient. With mid gain the sound felt more energetic.
Soundstage wide like the Amazonas.

As the shop had some other HPs I took the opportunity for a little comparison.

Any more impressions??

 

[tunes]

Has anyone consider making a clear plexiglass cover box as to protect the tubes and as a dust deflector. It seems like it would be easy enough.

 

[Leto Dal]

Susvara on Envy with WE and especially Elrogs with good powerconditioner (or just good power if you are lucky) has very high levels of midbass and beautiful sub. It slams.

As a tip for those who are considering Caldera with Envy. To be honest, Caldera doesnt scale very well or sound much different from Envy with May than from a good r2r / tube dap.

If you want a fast detailed punchy ZMF - Verite Open might be a much better option. It scalaes incredibly well with Envy, has dynamic driver analog timbre (unlike Caldera) and comes with very similar tuning with more expansive stage. To me it sounds more resolving and natural of Envy than Caldera (while Caldera will outperform it with simpler amplification). Considering you can have Verite Open sub 1.5k nowdays, its a no brainer imho.

 

[walterboss]

Looking to roll some different driver tubes.
Any Envy owners experienced with these driver tubes paired with WE300b, Elrog 300b, or Electro Harmonix 300b?

I'm currently using Brimar CV1988 and are great. Looking for something a bit different. Brimars seem to me to be very punchy and dynamic with big bass. Stock PSvane drivers sounded reedy in comparison.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226077862300 (Sylvania 6SN7GT VT-231) £200

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226082881762 (Ken-Rad 6SN7GT VT-231 Black Glass) £250

 

[joseph69]

RCA for me

Thanks for your response. Have you ever tried XLR?
I'm asking this question for a specific reason--which is that I was told that the Envy does not perform its best with XLR inputs because it's a single ended amplifier and benefits from the RCA inputs. I personally don't believe there would be any performance issue--I'm limited to my education on amplifier topology to just "believe" it won't make a difference. I'd really appreciate hearing from those who understand the Envy's topology more than I do to chime in and explain if and why there would be a difference.

I have no idea if this is true or not which is why I've asking again--but it seems no one can shed any light on this, or confirm this--or has tried both, XLR and RCA and found any difference in the Envy's performance. I've also sent Feliks Audio an email regarding this with no response.
Also--I'd need to purchase RCA interconnects because I only have XLR in my system and I'd like to make the purchase if this is the case before my Envy arrives which may be any day now--otherwise I don't want to waste my money being I would need 12" of cables from my DAC to the Envy.

Thank you

 

[walterboss]

Thanks for your response. Have you ever tried XLR?
I'm asking this question for a specific reason--which is that I was told that the Envy does not perform its best with XLR inputs because it's a single ended amplifier and benefits from the RCA inputs. I personally don't believe there would be any performance issue--I'm limited to my education on amplifier topology to just "believe" it won't make a difference. I'd really appreciate hearing from those who understand the Envy's topology more than I do to chime in and explain if and why there would be a difference.

I have no idea if this is true or not which is why I've asking again--but it seems no one can shed any light on this, or confirm this--or has tried both, XLR and RCA and found any difference in the Envy's performance. I've also sent Feliks Audio an email regarding this with no response.
Also--I'd need to purchase RCA interconnects because I only have XLR in my system and I'd like to make the purchase if this is the case before my Envy arrives which may be any day now--otherwise I don't want to waste my money being I would need 12" of cables from my DAC to the Envy.

Thank you

It's my very amateur understanding that XLR are only optimal if you require to run long cables. I think XLR preserves the signal better over longer distances. Or something. But that's like something I read one time ages ago, and it might not be right.

You might want to ask someone else, basically I find it hard to believe there would be a meaningful difference however.