[tunes]

No there is not. He has no connection to dealers/manufacturers and does the reviews as a hobby.

As mentioned in every review the Amplifier has been provided from Feliks Audio directly at no charge. So he does have that privilege to test these limited items in this case even prior to production (he has a 00 unit). Wether this influences his decision or not is for you to decide.

However he does have that from several manufacturers and still decided to write this amp the best for his taste.
For me personally his reviews always have been very helpful and did correlate with my own findings.

Furthermore all 25 units are already reserved. Even if he were a seller, there is no more profit to be made for now

Translated part of review:
The RIVIERA AIC10 scores comparatively with its outstanding spatial representation capacity, picturesque timbres and the exorbitant power reserves, but the new reference amplifier from Lubliniec acoustically still tastes a tiny bit better for me. However, I would like to emphasize that this reflects my personal preferences and makes no claim to universality. Because the choice of the ideal playing partner is of course the responsibility of each Gral knight himself.

Nevertheless, the FELIKS ENVY 25th Anniversary Edition is now competing in the throne in my TOP10 on Musicalhead. Unfortunately, however, only 25 distinguished Grail knights of fine tones worldwide will be able to enjoy this exceptional musical talent - and the high price will probably further severely limit the selection. Nevertheless, I am convinced that no one will ever regret the purchase of this Polish statement in terms of headphone reproduction.
So if you have the monetary resources and were able to convince your better half of the indispensable necessity of this unique investment, however you simply have to have experienced this emotionally poignant reproduction of well-known auditory pretioses in equal combination with the ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC yourself in order to actually believe it. I make up my own - this new tube amplifier will undoubtedly not only immediately catapult every seasoned Gral knight of exquisite taste into musical nirvana, but also unretrieably cast him into his sonic spell. Danger of addiction guaranteed. Should not hesitate too long. Because in my opinion, the FELIKS AUDIO ENVY 25th Anniversary Edition not only marks a real milestone in the long history of high-fidelity, but can truly enrich life in the moments described above.

 

[nfandi]

Thats exactly what I suspected, they likely will let a customer wait for a repalcement pair from the manu and secure more sales with other customers while the stock lasts, then fullfill their obligation.

Yep I am bit fed up on vendors bs atm ;D

We’ll see. I did tell them that I can’t test the two that I’ve received because of not having an amp at the moment. Therefore I’m not exactly Mr Priority.

 

[Kirklandia]

I just thanked Western Electric. One of my new WE300B tubes had a slight staticky ticking that stubbornly remained after at least 10 hours of burn in. The tube otherwise sounded the same as the matching one. An RMA was emailed from WE and one week after sending the tube back the company sent me a replacement with the following: "Your tube was safely received and sent for testing. #301890 passed all inspections. However, slight noise was detected—a little too much for our liking as well. Noise is considered a "subjective failure" and eludes any single definition. One 'noisy' tube may play dead quiet when subjected to another user's amplifier equipment"

 

[ThanatosVI]

Out of curiosity I just visited Lyric Audio’s website and added some WE300B’s to my basket. No ‘out of stock’ message or anything to prevent me placing an order so I’ve just mailed them for an explanation.

Could simply be that the website isn't up to date

 

[nfandi]

Could simply be that the website isn't up to date

I’m very hopeful it’s as simple as that because so far their response has been very professional and customer oriented. As I said, I’ve mailed them so let’s see what comes back.

 

[Leto Dal]

Could simply be that the website isn't up to date

Running a webstore myself - the shown stock is usually automated, you enter a number of availible stock items and the store tracks each sale / replacement and so on.

 

[tunes]

No there is not. He has no connection to dealers/manufacturers and does the reviews as a hobby.

As mentioned in every review the Amplifier has been provided from Feliks Audio directly at no charge. So he does have that privilege to test these limited items in this case even prior to production (he has a 00 unit). Wether this influences his decision or not is for you to decide.

However he does have that from several manufacturers and still decided to write this amp the best for his taste.
For me personally his reviews always have been very helpful and did correlate with my own findings.

Furthermore all 25 units are already reserved. Even if he were a seller, there is no more profit to be made for now

The review seems to give the edge to the Envy AE over the A1C10 considered by many to be the one of the 3 best HP amps on the planet. “The RIVIERA AIC10 scores comparatively with its outstanding spatial representation capacity, picturesque timbres and the exorbitant power reserves, but the new reference amplifier from Lubliniec acoustically still tastes a tiny bit better for me. However, I would like to emphasize that this reflects my personal preferences and makes no claim to universality. Because the choice of the ideal playing partner is of course the responsibility of each Gral knight himself.”

However, the reviewer’s comparisons were limited to the ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC so if there is anyone out there with a Susvara to be heard comparing the A1C to the Envy AE, I would love to hear your impressions of the two.

 

[Leto Dal]

The review seems to give the edge to the Envy AE over the A1C10 considered by many to be the one of the 3 best HP amps on the planet. “The RIVIERA AIC10 scores comparatively with its outstanding spatial representation capacity, picturesque timbres and the exorbitant power reserves, but the new reference amplifier from Lubliniec acoustically still tastes a tiny bit better for me. However, I would like to emphasize that this reflects my personal preferences and makes no claim to universality. Because the choice of the ideal playing partner is of course the responsibility of each Gral knight himself.”

However, the reviewer’s comparisons were limited to the ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC so if there is anyone out there with a Susvara to be heard comparing the A1C to the Envy AE, I would love to hear your impressions of the two.

There are plenty of people in A1C thread who compared Envy with Riviera. As usually most people in Reviera thread will favour it with Susvara, many claim the bass slam and control is stronger on Reviera, though its always difficult to find a comparision with well tuned tube rolled Envy with ER/ MOs or WEs, etc. But from my impression of reading the feedback they are rather close and AE will be even closer. I believe it will come again down to to personal preference and music genres you listen to. Envy will always have the benefit to b finetuned with tube rolls to your liking much more than you could do it with Riviera though.

 

[tunes]

There are plenty of people in A1C thread who compared Envy with Riviera. As usually most people in Reviera thread will favour it with Susvara, many claim the bass slam and control is stronger on Reviera, though its always difficult to find a comparision with well tuned tube rolled Envy with ER/ MOs or WEs, etc. But from my impression of reading the feedback they are rather close and AE will be even closer. I believe it will come again down to to personal preference and music genres you listen to. Envy will always have the benefit to b finetuned with tube rolls to your liking much more than you could do it with Riviera though.

I wonder which gives the most expansive holographic stage with Susvara. Not into bass slam.

 

[Leto Dal]

I wonder which gives the most expansive holographic stage with Susvara. Not into bass slam.

Never heard Reviera, but Susvara with WE300b is the most realistically spooky soundstage I heard in a headphone yet. Elrogs dont do that.

 

[tunes]

Never heard Reviera, but Susvara with WE300b is the most realistically spooky soundstage I heard in a headphone yet. Elrogs dont do that.

Who is the best vendor for the WE300b matched tubes? Are they new or NOS? How much in USD? Do they need any adapters and what driver tubes are you pairing it with to get that soundstage you describe?

 

[Leto Dal]

Who is the best vendor for the WE300b matched tubes? Are they new or NOS? How much in USD? Do they need any adapters and what driver tubes are you pairing it with to get that soundstage you describe?

You can buy from Western Electric directly, since you are in US. The tubes are new and come with 5 year extended warranty as long as you fill out the warranty card within 10 days after purchase.

 

[Pastwa]

I wonder which gives the most expansive holographic stage with Susvara. Not into bass slam.

You will always get a better bass slam/PRAT from a hybrid amplifier (Riviera) but the holographic representation (3D effect) will be slightly inferior comparing to a very good tube amplifier (Envy, Cayin, you name it). It was obvious to me within a few seconds, having listened to both and beyond.

 

[vcoheda]

as mentioned, buy direct from WE.

https://www.westernelectric.com/300b

 

[Doug2507]

You will always get a better bass slam/PRAT from a hybrid amplifier (Riviera) but the holographic representation (3D effect) will be slightly inferior comparing to a very good tube amplifier (Envy, Cayin, you name it). It was obvious to me within a few seconds, having listened to both and beyond.

And this is exactly why I'm excited to get my 394ii back and use Envy as a pre.