Feliks Audio ENVY

[Doug2507]

Ray Reserve 300B:




Perhaps due to smoke glass I never thought about the tube light from Ray reserve 300B. Just noticed tonight that apparently they produce bluel light too like WE300B on top position of glass. Under normal light condition in my room it is only a glimpse of blue colur though, not really apparent (also just like WE300B).

Nice, blue glow is always cool!

How do those sound? Thinking about picking up another pair of 300B that are more down to earth price wise vs TM for when I need to put hours on new driver tubes.

 

[turbofeet]

Does anyone know where I can pick up a pair of these magical Melz's everyone has been raving about recently?

These are very almost as good as the genuine 1970s 1578s.

I am happy to settle for those once my 1578s finally die.

I bought my original ones from this guy. He doesn't seem to have any decent ones at the moment but he did have a genuine 1976 single the other day. I nabbed it as one of mine has started crackling a bit and the measurements matched mine

 

[Ike1985]

Something a little bit different today and definitely a tube type I'll try and get more of, 6CG7. Basically a small tube 6SN7 from what I can gather. These get an instant nod of approval, 1958 Sylvania grey plate, D getter, early green leaf print. Fair chance they're copper rod but tbh I didn't check before putting them in! Different pin config from 12AU7 / ECC82 so that was another pair of adaptors from our friend Dayen!

Transparent, no roughness, punchy, nice crunch / bite on electric guitar, reasonably neutral, quite linear.

If anyone's used CG or FQ before, let me know! Keen to get feedback on other brands / construction.

Thank you for going out on a limb for us and experimenting, I've found your impressions of tubes to be spot on and your mental library of tubes is vast so everything you experiment is of great benefit

 

[Nielsh82]

These are very almost as good as the genuine 1970s 1578s.

I am happy to settle for those once my 1578s finally die.

I bought my original ones from this guy. He doesn't seem to have any decent ones at the moment but he did have a genuine 1976 single the other day. I nabbed it as one of mine has started crackling a bit and the measurements matched mine

Thanks!! Snatched them up

 

[turbofeet]

These are very almost as good as the genuine 1970s 1578s.

I am happy to settle for those once my 1578s finally die.

I bought my original ones from this guy. He doesn't seem to have any decent ones at the moment but he did have a genuine 1976 single the other day. I nabbed it as one of mine has started crackling a bit and the measurements matched mine

Just realised my second link was the same as the first.

This Ukrainian fellow had some genuine 1578s which I now own and had the single which I bought the other day. One to keep an eye on potentially.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Nice, blue glow is always cool!

How do those sound? Thinking about picking up another pair of 300B that are more down to earth price wise vs TM for when I need to put hours on new driver tubes.

In general: Warm, full body, punchy bass, with a little darker on top.

Compare to WE300B, the WE will provide sweeter notes, a little bit more relax side for percussion, with a little more sparkle on treble and more spacious soundstage depth. Ray Reserve 300B push a little warmer tonality, more "meat on the bones" with punchier bass and a little more attack notes from treble and midrange. Vocal position is a little more forward with Ray Reserve.

WE300B for me really excellent with good recording vocal jazz songs, but for mainstream pop/rock I prefer Ray Reserve 300B.

Elrog ER300B and Mo also excellent choices for warmer headphone like ZMF Caldera, but I don't feel either of them synergise well with Immanis. Haven't tried TM.

 

[Doug2507]

In general: Warm, full body, punchy bass, with a little darker on top.

Compare to WE300B, the WE will provide sweeter notes, a little bit more relax side for percussion, with a little more sparkle on treble and more spacious soundstage depth. Ray Reserve 300B push a little warmer tonality, more "meat on the bones" with punchier bass and a little more attack notes from treble and midrange. Vocal position is a little more forward with Ray Reserve.

WE300B for me really excellent with good recording vocal jazz songs, but for mainstream pop/rock I prefer Ray Reserve 300B.

Elrog ER300B and Mo also excellent choices for warmer headphone like ZMF Caldera, but I don't feel either of them synergise well with Immanis. Haven't tried TM.

TM are fantastic with Immanis but driver pairing (and system) matters.

The rays sound good, think I'll pick up a pair and match with reasonably neutral drivers. Have you put many hours in them?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

TM are fantastic with Immanis but driver pairing (and system) matters.

The rays sound good, think I'll pick up a pair and match with reasonably neutral drivers. Have you put many hours in them?

I think around 50hrs by now.

Yeah agree, driver tubes play significant role.

 

[kuttisrank]

Today was a special day-my Melz 1578 tubes finally arrived! Opening the package brought back that unmistakable childhood excitement, like unwrapping a long-awaited treat. (I guess for us, vacuum tubes are the grown-up equivalent of candies! )

A heartfelt thank you to everyone here for steering me in the right direction. Your recommendations and advice made all the difference. Much love to this awesome community!

 

[Djankie]

Also got the melz incoming. Will be using that with the WE300. Hopefully there will be a noticeable difference.

 

[Nielsh82]

On the Melz 1578s - Any thoughts on the impact of different production years? I heard those made between 1952 and 1957 might be the most holographic, and that quality is more variable for those made in the 70s. Any perspectives?

 

[JTbbb]

Today was a special day-my Melz 1578 tubes finally arrived! Opening the package brought back that unmistakable childhood excitement, like unwrapping a long-awaited treat. (I guess for us, vacuum tubes are the grown-up equivalent of candies! )

A heartfelt thank you to everyone here for steering me in the right direction. Your recommendations and advice made all the difference. Much love to this awesome community!

Oh dear, the tube rabbit hole is on its way! I had a pair of 1963 Melz 1578’s which were very good but I did eventually move them on. Be interesting to know your thoughts once you have compared your Melz to your Quad of Tungsol 6J5GT VT-94D’s.

 

[kuttisrank]

Sure will do bro.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

After lurking for awhile in this thread, I finally pulled the trigger and got myself an Envy a couple months back. I've been running it exclusively with the stock Full Music tubes for the past months and love the sound so far. But just today I changed the tube to the new production WE300b and boy it was one hell of an upgrade. Immediately everything sounds better; blacker background, more extended highs and lows, and vocals are so lush and seductive. I would say the WE is similar in terms of sound characteristic with the FM, but just better in every aspect.

I believe this amp is the closest thing to a time machine—what started as a 30-minute listening session turned into two hours of pure musical bliss. Where did all the time go?

I finally understand how capable the Envy is and tube rolling is a definitely a must for this amp! The beautiful blue light is definitely a plus, especially as a companion for late-night listening.