Hello,
I'm going to touch on a subject that may be of different opinion to some.
Most are of course happy with the way the amplifier is out of the box.
Which is perfectly okay, this is not a must or obligation to implement.
The goal is also to give the Euforia more pep without changing its main sound signature and to put it in a different light.
Even though the AE is still available for a hefty surcharge.
The changes that have been made are largely more for depth, imaging and revealing what is contained in the music and in the finish.
The changes have nevertheless kept its basic sound.
Most of the sound is still determined by the tubes that are brought along.
However, I will give a few reasons why and wherefore.
And where the advantages and disadvantages lie.
In my opinion, the Euforia is not a bad amplifier - in fact, it still has potential for improvement.
You can't really get any lower than what it comes out of the box.
If it does, something went wrong.
Furthermore, I don't blame Feliks because the main views that were pursued are quite different.
When I bought him back then, I had a bit of a hard time at the beginning.
For me, his weakness is the implementation of the planar headphones.
Apart from the fact that it lacks a bit of power for the drive, the only other thing it lacks is a bit more punch and love.
The mids and highs are actually very well done, but could be a little better.
Unfortunately, the bass range suffers more than on dynamic headphones.
What also bothers me a bit is the basic tuning with the stock tubes.
The 6AS7G are not necessarily bad but they mask a bit.
Although from a price point of view, the 6as7g would be superior.
That you end up changing to 6080,5998,7236 tubes, partly also goes to a price level that is sometimes questionable.
With the conversion, the 6AS7G benefits more than the Euforia comes out of the box, just like the 6SN7.
Let's start with the smallest part that anyone can do.
The fuse can contribute to a little more stability in the system and improve small nuances in the sound.
I bought the Hifi Tuning Gold six months ago and it ran in the Euforia for a good six months.
A lot of things have improved but also deteriorated, I noticed afterwards.
I took the Hifi Tuning fuse out and put the original one back in because the gold version gave exactly the same performance on my hybrid amplifier.
The Lcd2C has pretty much the same signature on the hybrid amplifier as an example where I thought okay this can't be it.
The bass gain was clear on the Euforia but suffered in its definition.logically then when you are chasing something you take what you can get as it was in my case.
It sounded a bit too muddy and uncontrolled for me.
The rest was otherwise a gain.But not where it should go.
After using the same fuse in the hybrid amplifier I found out that the golden one is not ideal for tube amplifiers.
The silver one from Hifi Tuning is supposed to be better for tube amplifiers.
I found this out from a reliable source and it confirmed my impressions.
With a bit of luck, I was able to exchange the gold one that was installed in the hybrid amplifier for the silver one for the Euforia's values.
The test is still pending and I can only say something about it later.
I don't expect excessive results, if anything it will be nuances.
By the way, the Golden Hifi Tuning Fuse looks very good in Dac's and DDC or SS amplifiers.
In the Dac and in the Singxer Su 2 there was a small improvement tonally but also in terms of operating temperature.
As a rough rule of thumb it can be any other fuse even if it costs 200$ as long as it is silver for tube amps.
But to be honest, I personally think 100$ is just about acceptable.
Also because the improvement is nuacenous and the increase is minimal.
The Hifi Tuning offers, roughly speaking, a good compromise in this respect.
It is inexpensive, solidly built and has even better properties than the standard fuse.
Generalised a hint
roducts from China have used a quite badly made fuse.
I had a ceramic fuse in my Singxer, but the caps on it were wobbly, so it's not quite OK. Even if you don't shake it, it can lead to slight alternating voltages in the system.
You should at least replace it with a better standard fuse.
The one from Feliks was perfectly fine, by the way.
The next part is the topic of capacitors.
Of course, this is a very controversial topic for some people.
I had doubts about it myself for a long time and was on the side where people thought it didn't make sense and the effects couldn't be that great.
I was taught better after repairing my Little dots 1+, which broke down because of a capacitor and socket.
I fitted it with better capacitors and replaced the sockets with better ones.
The sound has also changed a lot for the better and the operating temperature has also gone down a good deal. and today it runs better than ever.
Myphone did this in the Euforia.
Not because of a defect but because he felt like it.
I thought about it in the summer and rejected it again, but when he reported his results I couldn't do anything.
but when he reported his results, I couldn't help myself.
And I let myself get infected, whether it was worth it?
By the way, this is the second easiest method to do on the Euforia without needing a lot of basic knowledge.
You have to have a bit of skill with a soldering iron and make sure the capacitors you want to use have the right polarity.
Then you can do it in less than 1-2 hours.
For experts it takes 30-45 minutes.
This part is about replacing the capacitors on the 6SN7 socket.
I followed Myphone's advice and also replaced the Mundorf capacitors with the Vcaps TFTF capacitors.
And also sacrificed the warranty for it (yes, how stupid).
Yes, it's rubbish for some, but why wait until the warranty expires?
It still remains a big nuisance if there is something wrong with it.
To name one reason.
There is no question that manufacturers will be forced to move to industrial products at some point.
It's a question of the production costs that you have, as well as the supply that has to be made if the product is popular.
Apart from that, you also have to make compromises, which Feliks has also tried to do without offering any major disadvantages.
And also a repair can be offered at a lower price, logically.
In the end, it has nothing to do with the quality, because the Euforia is quite flawless the way it was made.
But with the quality of hearing.
Even though Feliks had said at some point that they wanted to offer a neutral amplifier without sound colouration and the like.
Which is also okay.
It is not compulsory to replace these capacitors but worthwhile for the listener.
But there was still something that bothered me about the Euforia as described above.
I think it was always a bit too neutral for me and always needed warm tubes from a personal point of view.
Also, for me personally, it always lacked a bit of the final touch that you can't get with tubes, no matter if they are expensive or cheap.
Back to the capacitors, it doesn't necessarily have to be the Vcaps.
The market also offers others.
However, Vcaps offer the better quality in terms of design and manufacture, and there are plenty of reviews about them, most of which are more than very good.
If something didn't work, it was always due to other reasons, never the capacitor itself.
The conversion of the Vcaps TFTF at the 6SN7 socket has nevertheless paid off, even if the purchase price was admittedly a little high.
The biggest disadvantage of this type of capacitor is the running-in time.
They need a minimum of 400h and are a bit big so that they just fit in the space.
There is another variant of Vcaps called CuTF.
This is the new variant that requires less break-in time and plays a little warmer than the TFTF.
And the TFTF are no longer manufactured and replaced by this.
Which is a bit of a shame because the TFTF offer exactly what Feliks is after.
Still, the CuTFs can be worthwhile in the end because you could possibly take a pure fully neutral tube like the Ps Vane as an example to get a balanced mix.
(The TFTF are largely neutral due to the Teflon, but are more complex in sound with much more expansion).
In my case, the 400h were necessary rather 450h where one had noticed now you are there.
Is it still possible to hear the Euforia during the play-in period?
Yes, that is possible without any problems.
Already after the first switch-on, after the tubes have heated up, you can feel the improvements.
But it gets better and better with time.
You can speed up the process by running it every day and documenting it so that you know you are approaching 400 hours.
In such a process it is also advisable to use tubes you don't like or can buy cheaply to save the good ones.
The main advantages I noticed were that the operating temperature dropped quite a bit.
It became less warm than usual, especially near the 6sn7 base.
The second advantage, which only became apparent later, was the tube combinations that could be used (more on this later).
A small disadvantage was the travel of the potentiometer in the volume.
You have to turn it up a bit more than usual, but I felt that the volume appears more even and starts a bit later, but I was not above 12 o'clock with the Lcd 2C.In retrospect I found the cause of this. More about this below.
Overall, however, a lot has happened in terms of sound.
When I switched it on for the first time, I noticed that the music sounded more flowing instead of edgy, more of a unified whole.
The basses hit more and are rounder and better in the finish and also come across more crisp (even with the Fostex Tr x00 headphones).
The mid-range and vocals are also better.
In the vocal range you hear much more body and power between man and woman, more authenticity and dynamics and the vocals shine through much better.
The midrange resolves better overall and also brightens up the stage presentation and the action better.
Details are also better resolved and come across better.
This continues into the treble range and the sweet spot is also very pleasant.
The treble doesn't distort at all, it's more defined and refined. With the Mundorfs I noticed that this often happened, that at a certain point the treble started to distort.
There, too, the body with the vcaps is well represented and never exaggerated or sharp.
The instrument representation is also better than before and more multi-layered.
Overall it remains transparent, more open, a little warmer but still neutral enough.
The most important thing to mention is that the condenser on the Euforia doesn't colour or distort anything. The pairing is much better than with the Mundorf, because the soft character that the Euforia brings is quite harmonious.
I have to say that there can be tonal differences between the tubes.
However, once you have found something that fits and harmonises, these descriptions really come into their own.
As an example I mention my favourite pairing Linlai 6SN7 and 6080 Mullard.
Before my conversion, it was very satisfactory.
After the conversion, unfortunately, not so much.
Why?
There was a lack of bass power, which surprised me, and the voice range sounded a little too distant, but that comes from the Mullards, especially the bass range, why the voice range was so distant I can't answer.
But apart from that, the Mullard gives a wonderful, light-footed reproduction of details that makes you melt away.
You have to try out what you personally like.
I don't want to give a direct recommendation because it's a matter of taste and also depends a bit on the headphones you use and also plays a role. So it may be that the Mullard goes better with a better headphone than with the Lcd 2C.
My Lcd 2C has benefited enormously from the upgrade in that I feel like I have a new pair of headphones.
Another advantage is that you can use tubes from the market that are cheap to buy.
I used a pair of tubes like a Hitachi Ultron (nos) paired with the Svetlana which gave excellent results.
The pair cost, roughly, 100$\€.
The pairing was clearly better than my favourite savings before the Linlai/Mullard conversion where had cost more to buy.
It takes a little time to find the right tube, but once you have found the one that works, you can enjoy it even more than before.
The Svetlana also benefits a little more with the conversion.
It is less masked in details than before and has positively surprised me why it is still popular in some circles.
She would be my favourite with the Vcap/Mundorf but the masking of the details still bothered me a bit.
If you love lowends, go for it.
Roughly summarised with the question is it worth it?
It certainly depends on the type of condenser, whether you use Teflon, propylene, wax/paper/foil.
The Vcap is undoubtedly superior to the Audionote, which is a little more expensive.
Considering what you sometimes spend on a set of tubes, the investment in the Vcap is reasonable and more profitable.
Disappointed missing nos tube purchases can be brought back to life and discovered all over again.
I bought the Tad 6sn7 which was actually re-labelled under the cheap Shuang tube.
I didn't like it before the rebuild, but after that I didn't even think it was bad.
Sometimes it's the little things that make the difference, they just come out better with the Vcap.
Apart from that, when it is properly paired with the tubes and sounds coherent, you get to know the Euforia in a new way.
The neutrality remains, the overall sound is warmer than usual and the softness is still there.
It also goes in the direction where I actually saw the Euforia.
All in all, I am personally impressed by the performance of the condenser, which has given me a lot of pleasure so far.
And I'm not looking back, no regrets or concerns have made the Euforia better.
I can only thank Myphone again for this.
The third step to give the Euforia another upgrade would be another capacitor conversion on the 6AS7G socket.
This is unfortunately not so easy to do that I respect doing it myself even if I found a way it was too dangerous for me.
My knowledge of electronics is also limited.
It looks like I have to dismantle a lot to get to the circuit board to do it properly.
On the early models I have seen that you have better access than on the current models.
I have decided to go to step 3.
I also found someone to do it for me who builds tube amps himself and doesn't live far away.
What there is to know:
The used Mundorf are the same as on the 6sn7 socket, only the values are different.
For the TFTF it will be difficult to get it there for space reasons, but it is possible.
But it could have too much neutrality in sound I guess and then sound more analytical.
The Vcap Odam is more suitable even if it is a bit bigger than the Mundorf.
And it offers more texture and transparency (see Rewiev on the net).
The second thing who does not use the preamp output leaves it as it is.
In this case only 4 capacitors are necessary instead of 6.
So 2 Vcap TFTF or CuTf for the 6SN7 socket and 2 Odam's for the 6AS7G socket, a total of 4 Odam's if you use the preamp output.
If you still use it, you can replace the Audyn or Jfx capacitor in one go without having to take everything apart again.
Unfortunately, I didn't find the preamp output very good, so the Odam will come in there as well.
I don't know yet what I will have to do in step 3.
It will be a similar way as the Vcap TFTF which will extend over several weeks with playing in, finding setup.
The Vcaps Odam's will come in at the 6AS7G socket.
What I hope for are similar results as with the TFTF.
Since the Odam is a bit different, I can imagine that it will round off the whole thing when you read all the positive reports.
And all the tubes will take another good step forward in terms of revelation.
And I'm looking forward to listening to the Svetlana again.
A small edit: Since the conversion has already taken place and the first hours have already been completed.
I can roughly say that the preamp output has benefited well.
On my Denon Pme800Ne it seems to play back more freely and no longer sounds wibbly but more open.
I found out that the capacitors only play in when it is connected to a load.
Since I haven't used it much in the past, it could be that the Audyn (Jfx) also needs time to open up.
As already written, I didn't like it as it was.
It is possible to run both at the same time, but you have to be careful with the potentiometer on the Euforia when the headphones are in, so that it doesn't get overloaded.
At the headphone output I roughly noticed that the low end is one step better but more in terms of resolution.
The bass range comes in earlier and sounds cleaner.
The midrange and treble range seem to have improved a bit more. It's a bit more like the icing on the cake that was perhaps still missing.
I would say the same for the vocal range.
But it's still too early to say for sure.
Because the 6SN7 Westinghouse tubes still need time to break in, as well as the fuse and the capacitors.
From the first impression there is nothing negative to report.
After 60 hours of playing in, the grin on my face lifts more and more, and I get to feel the first taste of the Odam.
As a conclusion and later addendum to step 3 and the fuse, a few words and notes.
The amplifier manufacturer, who has been on the market for over 30 years, was of the opinion that the Mundorf used was not the best.
Except in terms of neutrality and had already installed it himself.
He knew the Vcap TFTF and had also used it himself in his amplifiers.
With the conversion it can happen that certain tubes may no longer harm as before, this can also affect the favourite tubes.
It is then possible that a 6080,5998,7236 has to be exchanged or a well-known 6SN7 and vice versa for manufacturer X.
You then have to weigh up for yourself what you are missing.
Concerning the capacitors, I found out during my research that manufacturer X fitted better into loudspeakers than into amplifiers or that many of them were tested and reported in loudspeakers.
But they were not built into amplifiers and this can be misleading.
There are capacitors that can colour the sound, so it is important to do some research before you wake up in the morning, especially if you are sticking to the sound signature of the Euforia.
The Uf value is more important than the voltage value and should never be lower than what was installed.
On the new Euforia models, 0.22 Uf 630vdc was fitted as standard on the 6SN7 base and 2.20 Uf 250vdc on the 6AS7G from Mundorf.
I exchanged 0.22 Uf 600vdc TFTF at the 6sn7 socket and 2.20 Uf 400vdc Odam at the 6AS7G socket as at the preamp.
Of course it is noticeable that the Mundorf is 30volt stronger than the Vcap.
But fortunately I had no influence on that.
It is also advisable to open the back of the cover and read the capacitor value before ordering.
Myphone found out after comparing the values that there are differences in the Uf values of the capacitors between the old and new models.
His 6SN7 socket had a 0.33 Uf value and mine had a 0.22 uf value.
I bought the 0.33 Uf from Vcap blid instead of 0.22uf.
This made the travel of the volume potentiometer a little longer.
But this was not necessarily a disadvantage, the volume starts a little later than usual when turning, which is not necessarily wrong because there is more control at the volume pot.
But nevertheless, you should stick to the standard values as a minimum.
If you want to dive deeper, there is a kind of calculator on the Vcap page where you can go down again with the values, which is supposed to be better, but I'm staying out of it because I lack the knowledge in this regard.
