Feliks Audio ENVY

[Doug2507]

Immanis with tubes and SS behind it is superb IMO, which is also why I get why there's strong love for AIC-10 with Immamis. I still very much enjoy Imannis straight from Envy but really looking forward to having the XA back in the chain.

12AU7 (NOS) pricing isn't too far removed from 6SN7 tbh but there's more choice (IMO) for really good sounding 12AU7 vs 6SN7. (Specific to being used with Envy). £2-300 gets you pretty good sounding tubes then above £400 you get some very special sounding tubes. The main difference I noted between all those I've rolled is the better sounding tubes (and unfortunately more expensive) are smoother (not as rough around the edges) & more resolving. I don't think you'd get 12AU7 at a fraction of 6SN7 that are comparable or better to the latter, the very good ones still cost.

6CG7 / 6FQ7 definitely worth checking out, especially since you've got the adapters for them already. I've started with two pairs, Matsushita which I don't particularly rate and an old pair of Sylvanias (excellent, think I posted pics of them a couple of pages back), the sylvanias were under £100. 6CG7 actually caught my attention for being regarded as an excellent pre amp tube and 6SN7 equivalent (direct, they're basically a small glass 6SN7). Obviously using Envy as a pre had some relevance but I don't think Envy topology would be considered the same as a true pre amp given the 300B's in the equation!

(Edit: for perspective, those sylvanias easily compete against £2-300 12AU7 to my ears, really good bang for buck)

If you ever want a steer for 12AU7 feel free to reach out and I'll post thoughts on 6CG7 / 6FQ7 as I go through them.

FWIW, cv1988, TS and the newly acquired pair of RFT are the only 6SN7 I'm keeping to use specifically with Immanis / Envy.

 

[Somatic]

I've been MIA for a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

Just had a quick thought that I wanted to run by you all.

I notice when song tend to have a lot of elements going on at the same time and a lot of treble energy when the song crescendos, I hear it lacks clarity or smoothness. Sounds a little shrilly to my ears and everything mushes together. I hear with is the Susvara and Stealths. This is in louder volume levels.

Do you think it could be my source? I have a humble Matrix X-SPDIF 2.

Any suggestions? Grimm Audio MU1?

*Chain on my signature.

 

[CharlyBrown]

Today i tried something new, use the Envy with not warm, but extremely technical tubes (TM's & Telefunken E88CC with diamond) as a preamp into the CFA3, driving primarily the Immanis. Then with one switch removing the Envy from the chain (just straight Serene -> CFA3) and comparing.
It's not all about tonality. The added golden shimmer which smoothens the treble and give the midrange a richness is remarkable, but the difference in three-dimensionality is crazy. As soon as i remove the preamp Envy, the music sounds way more flat and just loses its holographic depth.
I am now irrefutably convinced that you need tubes in the chain to get the most out of any extremely resolving driver.

I totally agree. Just last week, I made a „shootout“ between Envy and Bliss with the Immanis. Bliss can drive the Immanis easily with 12w at 32ohms and it actually sounds really good, to my surprise. But when switching to the Envy the picture changes drastically. Imaging, the whole space, the layering of the different parts of the music, the „space“ between the notes. All that is significantly better and larger with Envy.

Also, just as you also realized, treble can be a little harsh sometimes when I use Immanis with Bliss. But with Envy it‘s treble heaven for me.

I also tried Envy as a preamp and Immanis connected to the Bliss but that doesn’t give me anything more than Envy standalone, tbh, so I’m using Immanis directly from the Envy all of the time.

Interestingly, with the Caldera, it is the other way around. I like it better off the Bliss. But I should add that when listening to the Caldera I’m after an intimate music representation and Bliss is ideal for that.

 

[nfandi]

I've been MIA for a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

Just had a quick thought that I wanted to run by you all.

I notice when song tend to have a lot of elements going on at the same time and a lot of treble energy when the song crescendos, I hear it lacks clarity or smoothness. Sounds a little shrilly to my ears and everything mushes together. I hear with is the Susvara and Stealths. This is in louder volume levels.

Do you think it could be my source? I have a humble Matrix X-SPDIF 2.

Any suggestions? Grimm Audio MU1?

*Chain on my signature.

I’m in a role as messenger here not as someone who can advise you, so please don’t shoot me. There’s a very good thread on the AudiophileStyle website that involves users of both the Grimm MU1 and MU2. I’ve also watched the Hans Beekhuyzen videos about his transition from Chord Dave to Grimm MU1 + Chord Dave to just the Grimm MU2. There’s a general consensus that both the Chord Dave and the Mola Mola Tambaqui are very good DAC’s. On AudiophileStyle there’s a general consensus that the owners of both the Chord Dave and MMT say the sound of their systems improved when they added the Grimm MU1. There’s also a general consensus that the sound of their systems further improved when they replaced their DAC + Grimm MU1 with the Grimm MU2. All I’m doing is here is paraphrasing what I’ve read and the videos I’ve watched but I must also say after 2 weeks of home audition I’ve just replaced my Holo May with a Grimm MU2. I’ve just finished transferring my music files from my Roon Nucleus to my new MU2 and just started listening tonight. Early days so nothing much to add so far except these days are happy days. If you have a dealer near you I 100% recommend you try your Chord Dave + MU1 against an MU2.

 

[turbofeet]

I've been MIA for a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

Just had a quick thought that I wanted to run by you all.

I notice when song tend to have a lot of elements going on at the same time and a lot of treble energy when the song crescendos, I hear it lacks clarity or smoothness. Sounds a little shrilly to my ears and everything mushes together. I hear with is the Susvara and Stealths. This is in louder volume levels.

Do you think it could be my source? I have a humble Matrix X-SPDIF 2.

Any suggestions? Grimm Audio MU1?

*Chain on my signature.

Do you have any example tracks? I'll have a listen too.

Which tubes are you using as well?

The MU1 feeding the Dave is pretty awesome and would certainly mellow things but the separation on the MU2 is just unbelievable.

It's a shame... Darko reviewed it recently and although he named his video "the best Dac I've ever heard", he really didn't describe it very much. The only thing he did say is that he was blind testing and the MU2 made him sit up and listen. It absolutely does that.

These Grimm devices have been built for technicalities but somehow are really meaty and soulful as well.

My Susvara am can be bass cannons but still so clean.

You can probably get hold of an MU1 for a reasonable cost and that might be worth a shot. The MU2 is a pricey proposition. Especially if you are unable to audition one first.

 

[Ike1985]

Today i tried something new, use the Envy with not warm, but extremely technical tubes (TM's & Telefunken E88CC with diamond) as a preamp into the CFA3, driving primarily the Immanis. Then with one switch removing the Envy from the chain (just straight Serene -> CFA3) and comparing.
It's not all about tonality. The added golden shimmer which smoothens the treble and give the midrange a richness is remarkable, but the difference in three-dimensionality is crazy. As soon as i remove the preamp Envy, the music sounds way more flat and just loses its holographic depth.
I am now irrefutably convinced that you need tubes in the chain to get the most out of any extremely resolving driver.

I have to admit, i also am curious about 12AU7's now. Blame @Doug2507. So Deyan makes me a few adapters for the Envy in Amazaque, i was even able to order them with a greater height, so i can get them out more easily. While they are a bit more expensive, i'd much rather get them along 2-3 very nice 12AU7 pairs and still be below the price of one pair of overhyped 6SN7's. I've bought like 4 very expensive pairs since owning the Envy, and only the Melz and Brimars i find worthwhile, and even when it comes to them i would probably not buy them again, but just play the adapter game and search for similiar or even better sounding tubes that cost a fraction.
Allthough i really, really like the BrimarCV1988. Hard to say. But for example one tube of my expensive TungSol pair developed a bit of noise, which i'm quite allergic too. Sucks, but lessons learned. Oh well, better late than never to realize it. I'm happy with all my 300B's which are all new production, can't imagine paying ~2k for a NOS pair that makes problems.
Are 300B NOS tubes a thing or are they rather insignificant / not worthwhile / in rare use? To be fair, the Elrog and Western Electric options, aswell as the more hidden Takas and Emission Labs 300B's are magnificent. I can hardly imagine anything beating those.

TM's plus a very musical driver are the way with Immanis my friend.

 

[theveterans]

I've been MIA for a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

Just had a quick thought that I wanted to run by you all.

I notice when song tend to have a lot of elements going on at the same time and a lot of treble energy when the song crescendos, I hear it lacks clarity or smoothness. Sounds a little shrilly to my ears and everything mushes together. I hear with is the Susvara and Stealths. This is in louder volume levels.

Do you think it could be my source? I have a humble Matrix X-SPDIF 2.

Any suggestions? Grimm Audio MU1?

*Chain on my signature.

MU2 or roll tubes especially on the input side. If rolling never fixes anything, MU2 is the best one to get

 

[skylinekursk]

I notice when song tend to have a lot of elements going on at the same time and a lot of treble energy when the song crescendos, I hear it lacks clarity or smoothness. Sounds a little shrilly to my ears and everything mushes together. I hear with is the Susvara and Stealths. This is in louder volume levels.

Try to make input signal to Envy less loud…
Envy plays best when it has 1v of input signal.
I use balanced connection from my DAC but set 76/100 volume and everything significantly improved

 

[Exekuhtor]

Try to make input signal to Envy less loud…
Envy plays best when it has 1v of input signal.
I use balanced connection from my DAC but set 76/100 volume and everything significantly improved

Yup, as basically every tube amp that exists. Tube amps just don't like a hot signal, so if your DAC has a very hot output, attenuating it down is well worth it. Keep in mind that you lose dynamic range if you only attenuate it down in the digital realm. Goldensound has a video about preamps about it (Serene).