[ThanatosVI]

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 ...

These are at least as expensive as TM-300B.
Not sure if we want to go up that price ladder

 

[Exekuhtor]

When i glanced at the Thomas Mayer amplifiers at his website, all i found was ultra highend speaker tube amps, which i'm not exactly into.

 

[Doug2507]

When i glanced at the Thomas Mayer amplifiers at his website, all i found was ultra highend speaker tube amps, which i'm not exactly into.

Been there, done that. The only one for us is actually the lower cost option, think that's the only one with HP out..

Finally got around to rolling drivers this evening, stand outs have been red base (such a nice tone), Sylvania short bottle chrome tops (bit more balanced) and what's blown them all out of the water, Telefunken G73-R. These are the driver tubes I've been looking for, incredible.

B65 didn't float my boat, neither did kenrads (surprised on that one).

Melz inbound along with some ecc32 mullards and still have VT99 to try out but pretty sure the G73's will have a firm place in Envy. Need to wait for TM's to arrive before making the call but loving them with taks.

 

[Somatic]

Telefunken G73-R so good.

 

[Doug2507]

Telefunken G73-R so good.

Maybe it's just preference and genres listened to but these knocked it out of the park by a mile vs the 6SN7's for me. Well chuffed.

 

[DeeT79]

Been there, done that. The only ne for us is actually the lower cost option, think that's the only one with HP out..

Finally got around to rolling drivers this evening, stand outs have been red base (such a nice tone), Sylvania short bottle chrome tops (bit more balanced) and what's blown them all out of the water, Telefunken G73-R. These are the driver tubes I've been looking for, incredible.

B65 didn't float my boat, neither did kenrads (surprised on that one).

Melz inbound along with some ecc32 mullards and still have VT99 to try out but pretty sure the G73's will have a firm place in Envy. Need to wait for TM's to arrive before making the call but loving them with taks.

G73's are my favorite driver tubes as well. 1960s Mullard ECC82's are next with RCA red base being very close to the 12AU7 driver tubes and my best 6SN7-like driver tubes.

 

[spw1880]

The envy amp is very addictive because it is that good of an amp even with its stock tubes, and tube rolling is alot of fun. Copped a earful from my wife as i was about to pull the trigger on another pair of tubes about our home matters for the future then i had to have a period of self reflection and self control. Goodness.

 

[Leto Dal]

Another quick finding from CMA Envy review process: the amp completly changes after roughly 450h of break in, apparently no grain anymore and huge improvement in res and staging capabilities, now they place it as a step up to Cayin in many categories. I think the need of break in is an important info for people purchasing or demoing Envy, since many might wonder what the buzz is about in the first couple of weeks.

 

[Whazzzup]

Tube amps get better within a listen and over time. Woo sounds great from the get go, then it gets into the pocket as well.

 

[ThanatosVI]

the amp completly changes after roughly 450h of break in

I call bull on that.
No amp "completely changes" with burn in.

 

[Whazzzup]

I call bull on that.
No amp "completely changes" with burn in.

Well completely is an overstatement, but there’s a lot of excitement in this forum which leads to overstatements, but whether it’s the amp or tubes or both, I notice woo gets better within a listen and over time. Not completely I admit

 

[ThanatosVI]

Well completely is an overstatement, but there’s a lot of excitement in this forum which leads to overstatements, but whether it’s the amp or tubes or both, I notice woo gets better within a listen and over time. Not completely I admit

Well they compare to other amps with the same tubes, therefore they certainly tried to switch tubes in order to eliminate the differences between them.

Actual device burn in is nearly non existent.
Most of it is brain burn in and "being used to a sound"
Transducers or other moving parts might be affected slightly more, but even there it's basically negligible.

The Device warming up to certain temperature might have a bigger impact than burn in. However it's easily reachable by just letting the Device run for a hour.

 

[Whazzzup]

Well they compare to other amps with the same tubes, therefore they certainly tried to switch tubes in order to eliminate the differences between them.

Actual device burn in is nearly non existent.
Most of it is brain burn in and "being used to a sound"
Transducers or other moving parts might be affected slightly more, but even there it's basically negligible.

The Device warming up to certain temperature might have a bigger impact than burn in. However it's easily reachable by just letting the Device run for a hour.

I can’t wait 5 minutes, woo sounds great from the start, it just gets better. I know when the heat from the desk furnace is felt, we are in the sound pocket of imagery

 

[Leto Dal]

I call bull on that.
No amp "completely changes" with burn in.

I wouldn’t. Bliss changed by a mile after 100h. Whats unusual here is that it took 450h of break in, which is a lot. And if thats the case, its something that should been done by the manu.

 

[DeeT79]

Another quick finding from CMA Envy review process: the amp completly changes after roughly 450h of break in, apparently no grain anymore and huge improvement in res and staging capabilities, now they place it as a step up to Cayin in many categories. I think the need of break in is an important info for people purchasing or demoing Envy, since many might wonder what the buzz is about in the first couple of weeks.

Makes me wonder why the narrative changed all of a sudden. The Envy is a very good amp that they didn't give much credit. After a few people mention that they have never heard grain, the test unit may need more time on it, and several other reviewers who have reviewed both, clearly place Envy ahead of the Cayin, now they are saying it bests the Cayin in many categories.

I'm glad they are starting to appreciate the Envy but definitely makes me question how 3 people that were adamant about their observations to the point where they all agreed that the Cayin was better are now saying the opposite.

Thanks for keeping us updated.