[Doug2507]

I always end up putting the Melz back in after some time but I quite like them.

How do you find RCA red base vs kenrads with the MO's?

 

[turbofeet]

How do you find RCA red base vs kenrads with the MO's?

I'll have a compare a little later.

 

[Doug2507]

I'll have a compare a little later.

No rush, just whenever.

 

[turbofeet]

How do you find RCA red base vs kenrads with the MO's?

I think I like the Ken Rads better with the MOs.

The RCAs are much softer and have a little less top end so potentially missing a bit of detail in comparison. They are excellent all rounders, more on the warm side.

The Bass is quite strong in the Ken Rads though. I think the "cheaper" versions are bass monsters. These are not as extreme and it's not quite what I would call muddy (bleeding into the mids).
It may not be to everyone's preference. I like it a lot though.

Melz is back in again now. They really are detail monsters but the Grimm keeps it all smooth and without sibilance.

Potentially I may sell a few tubes as I only want 2 or 3 pairs of 6SN7s really..and I also bought the Sylvania JAN CHS 6SN7W tall bottle tubes (metal base) which are meant to be amazing.

I have sent them away for testing and to get the measurements to see how well they match. One has the guide pin missing too so I need to make sure I put them in the right way. I bought some Woo socket savers just for them...they may displace some tubes as well.

I have quite a collection. Some might say slight obsession?

 

[WATASHIWA]

Hi, did someone tested the Holo Cyan 2 with the Envy an Susvara?

 

[Leto Dal]

If Cyan 2 shares some DNA with May, like the reviews suggest, it will work very well on Envy. Chances are, it has better synergy than Wandla.

 

[ostewart]

My review of the Envy Performance Edition is up HERE

 

[WATASHIWA]

Id like to replace the Psvane CV-181 mk2 (6SN7) with the Ray Tubes 6SN7 RESERVE is it worth, i like the shape of the tubes like to keep that but dont now if its worth the upgrade? Using the Envy Performance Editon

 

[Exekuhtor]

Try to get some different flavours with NOS tubes imo, the PSVanes will most likely all sound the same (which the Apos are most likely a variant of)...

 

[robo24]

Id like to replace the Psvane CV-181 mk2 (6SN7) with the Ray Tubes 6SN7 RESERVE is it worth, i like the shape of the tubes like to keep that but dont now if its worth the upgrade? Using the Envy Performance Editon

Why, they're the same tubes for triple the price? I've had 2 different sets myself, both identical in sound to each other and the stock ones, though the Reserves are worse sounding until burned in.
You can get many other TOTL tubes for that price range, such as Melz 1578, Mullard ECC33, tons of 6J5 variants with adapters, CV6, C3G, & 5A/152M with adapters instead. I don't really ever use the stock tubes because basically everything else I own is better. The Apos/PSVANE are certainly fine and quiet and probably worth their Aliexpress price, though personally I prefer the cheaper PSVANE globes if I'm going new production.

 

[maynardewm]

Hi everyone, I’m now an owner of a Feliks Envy Performance! Woo I’m unfortunately having an issue though with hum.

I have a pair of ZMF Atrium headphones which have an impedance of 300 ohms, so it looks like medium gain is recommended. However, on medium gain I have a low 60hz hum that is very much audible but not loud. It does not change as I increase the volume, but if I turn the volume knob past 50% I start hear new hums (way way way louder than I could ever handle listening to. On medium gain I have it at 10% volume) that do get louder with volume increase.

On low gain though, there is no audible hum until I get to about 80% volume.

I also tried my Meze Elites. These are very low impedance planers and so I use them with low gain and have no problems. Just out of curiosity I tried medium gain without playing any music and the hum was even worse than with the ZMFs. No real worries there though, they are designed for the medium gain setting anyways.

Does anyone have advice or have ran into this problem? I can use the ZMFs in low gain and 25% volume just fine but they do lose a bit of emphasis in the bass, and I’d prefer to use medium gain if I can.

Edit: I am using the amp with the included power chord and an Emotiva cmx2 AC Line Filter and an EBTech HumX. I did try different power outlets, connecting directly to the wall straight to the Envy, going through a Furman power conditioner, with and without the HumX, and all had the same problem. With or without any inputs connected made no difference.

 

[jlbrach]

I do have a caldera that I do use with my envy...I have found issues of hum and noise are very dependent on the tubes you use...I have essentially eliminated my noise issues with different tubes...I find the envy very sensitive to tubes and to power issues...experiment and you might find you solve your issues...the sad truth is that with very easy to drive HP's you may need low gain

 

[maynardewm]

I do have a caldera that I do use with my envy...I have found issues of hum and noise are very dependent on the tubes you use...I have essentially eliminated my noise issues with different tubes...I find the envy very sensitive to tubes and to power issues...experiment and you might find you solve your issues...the sad truth is that with very easy to drive HP's you may need low gain

Oh what tubes did you go with? Maybe I can give them a try. Was it the Elrogs that fixed your issue?

 

[DeeT79]

Hi everyone, I’m now an owner of a Feliks Envy Performance! Woo I’m unfortunately having an issue though with hum.

I have a pair of ZMF Atrium headphones which have an impedance of 300 ohms, so it looks like medium gain is recommended. However, on medium gain I have a low 60hz hum that is very much audible but not loud. It does not change as I increase the volume, but if I turn the volume knob past 50% I start hear new hums (way way way louder than I could ever handle listening to. On medium gain I have it at 10% volume) that do get louder with volume increase.

On low gain though, there is no audible hum until I get to about 80% volume.

I also tried my Meze Elites. These are very low impedance planers and so I use them with low gain and have no problems. Just out of curiosity I tried medium gain without playing any music and the hum was even worse than with the ZMFs. No real worries there though, they are designed for the medium gain setting anyways.

Does anyone have advice or have ran into this problem? I can use the ZMFs in low gain and 25% volume just fine but they do lose a bit of emphasis in the bass, and I’d prefer to use medium gain if I can.

Edit: I am using the amp with the included power chord and an Emotiva cmx2 AC Line Filter and an EBTech HumX. I did try different power outlets, connecting directly to the wall straight to the Envy, going through a Furman power conditioner, with and without the HumX, and all had the same problem. With or without any inputs connected made no difference.

Your hum issue sounds a little bit different than the one I had. I could slightly hear the power transformer hum without headphones if my ear was close to the transformer. When using low sensitivity headphones like Susvara, I could not hear the hum through headphones with or without music even with volume turned all the way up on LO, MED, or HI gains.

With sensitive headphones like Sennheiser, I could not hear hum through the headphones on LO gain even with the volume turned all the way up. On MED and HI gain, I could hear a slight hum with no music playing but the hum did not get louder even if I turned the volume up all the way. With music playing, I couldn't hear the hum at all.

I spoke to Upscale Audio and they recommended that I send the Envy to them to check it out and replace the power transformer if they found that the hum was higher than acceptable levels for a tube amp. They determined that the power transformer needed to be replaced. When I received my Envy back, I could no longer hear any external hum, I still had no hum with Susvara, but I have a very faint hum on MED, HI gain with Sennheiser headphones. The hum doesn't get any louder with volume and I can't hear it at all when music is playing. I still hear no hum on LO but I like the dynamics better on MED.

You will probably hear a little hum with sensitive headphones but you shouldn't hear it with music playing and it shouldn't get louder with volume whether music is playing or not.

It might be worth changing tubes first to see if that helps. Some users have had hum go away with WE300B and Melz 1578 driver tubes. If that doesn't work, I would send it in for repair or replacement of the power transformer because your hum seems a bit excessive.

 

[jlbrach]

Oh what tubes did you go with? Maybe I can give them a try. Was it the Elrogs that fixed your issue?

the elrogs definitely helped as did the rca 5692...I suggest you experiment...tube amps are finniky coming from all SS it took me a while to figure it out and I am still learning