[turbofeet]

Don't want to derail this thread, but would love to hear MU2 impressions in another thread or via PM!

It blew me away. I had MU1 + Bartok. It was really good. Lovely and meaty sounding. Plenty of detail.

Tested MU1 with Dave as well. Amazing transients and seperation as Dave has.

The MU1 shows you the beauty of your DAC but eliminated any annoying traits you might hear with some tracks like sibilance or maybe sounding a little digital. Mainly in poor recordings of course.

Many tracks sound incredible. Some are just great.

Overall I still preferred my Bartók with it. It's personal preference.

The MU2 is just in a different league imo. I tried to keep my expectation bias in check but my first reaction was a verbal Holy ****. Every track in my test playlist I just ended up listening to rather than listening to certain elements of the track.

It combined that detail of both DACs but with an incredible low end an yeah I'm gonna say it "a natural, analogue" sound.

Even the guy in the store (and they have very high end equipment) said "How has no-one made this before. Surely the knowledge has been available to engineers already". These Dutch fellows are pretty clever

Something that expensive should be perfect out of the box

I have heard that burn in is required as well but also some loved it right out of the box. I do plan to burn it in for 24hrs but I'm not sure how patient I might be!

Calm down, Mr Money Bags

Lol. Yeah it does seem that way. Actually a lot of my stuff was second hand already and I have been trading in or selling items for pretty much the values I have bought them. Some are new (like Envy and Susvara) which I have bought with a deposit and "buy now pay later". I will do the same with the MU2 leaving about £4k to pay off in 1 year so its not too bad really

 

[Allears79]

Quick question: I read in the WE300b manual that leaving some amps off on stand by mode can be detrimental to life span of the WE tubes. How do you guys manage power off for your Envy? Do you keep it on stand by while not using or do a full power off in the back of the unit?

 

[turbofeet]

Quick question: I read in the WE300b manual that leaving some amps off on stand by mode can be detrimental to life span of the WE tubes. How do you guys manage power off for your Envy? Do you keep it on stand by while not using or do a full power off in the back of the unit?

I always leave it in stand by qhen bit in use. If its not glowing and no electricity is passing through I really doubt it will affect the lifespan of the tubes within.

I only turn it off at the back to swap tubes.

 

[JTbbb]

I always leave it in stand by qhen bit in use. If its not glowing and no electricity is passing through I really doubt it will affect the lifespan of the tubes within.

I only turn it off at the back to swap tubes.

Ditto. When in stby the tubes are stone cold.

Edit :- I only turn off at the back as it’s easy to touch the power button when rolling tubes.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I only turn off at the back as it’s easy to touch the power button when rolling tubes

Same whenever I roll tubes I switch off at the back.
That power "button" is very sensitive

 

[nfandi]

I always leave it in stand by qhen bit in use. If its not glowing and no electricity is passing through I really doubt it will affect the lifespan of the tubes within.

I only turn it off at the back to swap tubes.

I’ve said it before but I’ll mention it again. Using the WE300B’s in standby mode invalidates the 5-year warranty according to the small print in the WE manual.

 

[Allears79]

I’ve said it before but I’ll mention it again. Using the WE300B’s in standby mode invalidates the 5-year warranty according to the small print in the WE manual.

Exactly, that's why I brought this question up. I read it and I am not sure if Feliks stand by mode applies to the specs that invalidade WE warranty.

 

[turbofeet]

Of course I always have it completely off with the WEs in. I was only referring to the Elrogs
100%

 

[ThanatosVI]

Of course I always have it completely off with the WEs in. I was only referring to the Elrogs
100%

Obviously. Nobody of us would ever keep a device in stand by when it's equipped with Western Electric Tubes

 

[Allears79]

That's the answer I got from WE: "Regarding your specific amplifier, we recommend you contact the manufacturer directly to learn whether the 300Bs are engaged while in standby mode. From our side, we can say that the safest approach is always to completely power down your system while not in use. This is to ensure longer tube life and avoid any potential misuse."

Guess I will check with Feliks. In any case there are no major advantages in letting the amp on stand by all the time anyway.

 

[jlbrach]

Obviously. Nobody of us would ever keep a device in stand by when it's equipped with Western Electric Tubes

yes, only with elrog do I ever use standby..who would possibly do so with WE?..too silly

 

[nwavesailor]

@ThanatosVI, I was thrilled to see your 'custom' Envy with all the upgrades but in the classic walnut chassis!
I am fine with my standard walnut version and frankly glad I did not know this was an option and will use the funds I saved to pay for my Immanis and perhaps the 'new' version of the HM Sus............
I like the look of wood and wasn't excited to own a piano black Envy.

 

[Exekuhtor]

@ThanatosVI, I was thrilled to see your 'custom' Envy with all the upgrades but in the classic walnut chassis!
I am fine with my standard walnut version and frankly glad I did not know this was an option and will use the funds I saved to pay for my Immanis and perhaps the new HM Sus............
I like the look of wood and wasn't excited to own a piano black Envy.

I thought exactly the same!
Apparently the 25 unit limit was only for the black piano finish, which i also wasn't a fan of.
I actually did send Feliks an email...

 

[Somatic]

OK, i’ll stir the pot a bit here!

I like the 1578, but don’t love them with the TM, MO or EX.

I know I’m an outlier and we all have our preferences and I find the 1578 to be decent but not special or worth the going price . I rotate them in every few months and come to the same conclusion, not for me and overhyped.

I’m sure others will disagree and that’s fine. I prefer many other drivers in the Envy over the 1578: Siemens C3G, G73-R, GEC smoked glass 10E/348 6J5G and even the relatively bargain priced 6S5S with the Sus.

I am braced for the inevitable barrage of slings and arrows………

I agree. G73R are personally my favorites. I think with the Melz 1578 they may be more variance with all the different year etc.. I have tried my other pair of '63 Melz and it doesn't sound as special as the first pair.

 

[Somatic]

When I contacted Thomas about TM availability back in February he said it will not happen soon because he is busy with developing a new tube type. But he did not reveal what type of tube it will be.

In Munnich it was visible and listenable.

Direct heated, cylindrical, beautiful.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) not compatible with 300B.

For a second I thought it was a new 300B. He mentioned to me that he was not able to match 300B specs since they need a different filament voltage. Although he can adapt his amps to the different needs of the tube, hitting 300B targets is not much of a priority for him.

Too bad, I was excited about another flagship 300B tube. But at this point, it would probably make more sense to upgrade the amp ...