[hypnos1]

Insightful post above Hypnos1 how this great amp 'scales' with downstream gear and even custom connections so well. I don't suppose we'll be seeing a photo of your internal wire mod... save for 'image' issues, Lol.

Anyway I have a slightly rare topic to mention: many of us hobbyists are actually hearing fidelity better than the studio engineer!! Granted this may get some chuckles, and indeed there are many multi-million $$ studios with speaker systems that topple most of our headphone rigs... but this is a product of years of experience producing, collecting hi-fi rigs and seeing what is actually used inside many studios, which are often the likes of Beyer. DT-150, Sony MDR V6 and older Yahama models etc. All too often recently after upgrading my chain I realise after the fact how much better my songs now sound than when originally making them! So those owners of a well implemented Euforia and higher level systems, you can literally consider yourself to be luckier than many of the studio engineers (with some exceptions of course)!

Thanks DL...my findings are based on purely empirical observations, using test pieces that I know intimately, and not as some kind of 'fanboy' exaggerated wishful thinking lol! ...(Mind you, I suppose I must be #1fan, having instigated both Euforia and Elise!!! ). I shall list the main areas of improvement shortly.

'Chuckles' are indeed to be expected occasionally - although your comments re. some studio engineers are bang on, given the dire nature of a good many recordings lol!!, but the kind of insulting, derisory comments made by a certain member belong only on forums such as those that 'shan't be named'...certainly not in our community here at head-fi. And which are wholly against our forum rules anyway. I sincerely hope said member removes his post voluntarily, before any action may need to be taken by the moderators!

Although I have yet to have my last 'extreme' folly(?!) verified by fellow members, the benefits of single crystal UPOCC-wired cables in my own system, as well as an SS-based one, have indeed been witnessed by 2 such members. I personally didn't expect such an improvement over 'ordinary' pure silver to be sure (along with better quality terminations), and which covers the whole gamut of sound delivery : viz

Bass extends deeper, with more detail and controlled impact.
Treble range is also extended, but delivered evenly and smoothly such as to allay any possible 'niggles' in this area for the T1s (Gen 1) especially. High percussion shimmer and decay are truly delicious.
Mids come through nicely in balance, with both male and female vocals showing more texture and tonal range...especially those artists who can convey masterly emotion in their voices.
Extended tonal range is in fact apparent throughout the FR, especially in acoustic instruments. This aspect alone brings even greater joy from (well recorded!) classical pieces, but equally from simpler acoustic fare.
Hugo 2's very adept transient handling is highlighted beautifully - the crisp start/stop of notes brings added clarity and precision to the entire presentation, with everything sounding so clean and effortless...very impressive attack/sustain/decay.
Instrument and voice separation/placement are enhanced, with pinpoint focus and imaging. The resultant soundstage is rendered even more 3-dimensional/holographic, extending more in all directions....(this last effect being extremely noticeable especially with most plug connections bypassed!!).
Dynamics are also handled with more precision/control, with uncanny smoothness from piano to forte (and back). I can turn up the volume with almost impunity - again, something often found rather tricky with the likes of the T1s!!...PRaT of the highest order...

Needless to say, these improvements are no doubt more noticeable in conjunction with my other upgraded equipment, but I'm sure such benefits will also be enjoyed without having to go to quite the extremes I've been fortunate enough to manage recently. But together, they have indeed raised Euforia's performance to a level I never imagined possible even just a short while ago...I am truly a 'happy fan'!!! ...

 

[connieflyer]

@hypnos1, glad to hear that your system continues to improve. I have noticed gains as well, not as much as yourself, but positive none the least. I have been using Gumby, and since upgrading to the usb gen 5 board, have been using that exclusively, had been on the coax connection till then. A noticeable improvement over the old usb board. Also bought a Norne Audiio Draug2 cable for the Sennheiser 800, and should be here today. Also had them re-terminate the Sen 800 cable to work on my Senn 700, very interested in that combo. Have been using the 700's for the last two weeks and they still sound very good. Using the Sonar works plug in has the 700's sounding very good indeed. The Euforia continues to impress, as the longer I have it running the better and more articulate it has become. This week have been using the Gold Aero 6SN7's and Gold Aero 5998A's and with the 700's this is a very good sound indeed. The 6SN7's are broken in now and do really shine. When the new cable gets here and installed will be going back to the El11's and Spezials. They really shine with the 800's. Take care of yourself, and see if there is anything left that can be improved on with your system! PCT told me that you were considering building your own electric processing plant, He was joking, I hope!

 

[hypnos1]

@hypnos1, glad to hear that your system continues to improve. I have noticed gains as well, not as much as yourself, but positive none the least. I have been using Gumby, and since upgrading to the usb gen 5 board, have been using that exclusively, had been on the coax connection till then. A noticeable improvement over the old usb board. Also bought a Norne Audiio Draug2 cable for the Sennheiser 800, and should be here today. Also had them re-terminate the Sen 800 cable to work on my Senn 700, very interested in that combo. Have been using the 700's for the last two weeks and they still sound very good. Using the Sonar works plug in has the 700's sounding very good indeed. The Euforia continues to impress, as the longer I have it running the better and more articulate it has become. This week have been using the Gold Aero 6SN7's and Gold Aero 5998A's and with the 700's this is a very good sound indeed. The 6SN7's are broken in now and do really shine. When the new cable gets here and installed will be going back to the El11's and Spezials. They really shine with the 800's. Take care of yourself, and see if there is anything left that can be improved on with your system! PCT told me that you were considering building your own electric processing plant, He was joking, I hope!

Hi cf...glad to hear your own enjoyment of Euforia continues unabated - keep up the good work lol! I'm sure your new 800 cable will raise the bar even higher...shame it doesn't use UPOCC wire!!! ...but never mind! Glad too that you are pleased with Gumby...looks like a good value piece of kit, especially with the upgraded USB board...

I too am surprised at how Euforia also continues to improve all by itself over the long term...(even though some say it is in fact our ears/brain that 'burn-in' to the sound - probably a combination of the two lol!! ). This is where immediate changes to such as cables etc. are much more likely to produce accurate results - especially with fast A/B testing, or at least minimal time delay!

I think I just might have finally reached the end(?!) of my 'tweaking', although I might just have a go at attaching a different cable to the T1s, even though Gen1 isn't strictly swappable...my addiction to UPOCC wire/cable is now total, and I'm determined to see just how tricky/risky the job might be - HP drivers are very averse to too much heat, methinks!! But it has been done...! ...
And I can tell you - and pct! - I would indeed create my very own mains AC power plant if I could...but I'm more than happy with my PowerInspired Mains Regenerator feeding my old-style (much better than more recent fare!) Tacima Conditioner/Filter, and thence to my AirlinkTransformers ASF3000 Balanced AC Mains/Advanced Filter 25kg monster!!! ...Overkill?...perhaps, but once again, 3rd party verified as not 'all in the mind' improvement!

I continue to be amazed at just what this amp is capable of...for the hundredth time lol!! And the enjoyment never subsides...which is what I hope for yourself, cf, and all other lucky owners of F-A's amps...CHEERS!.......and g'night (early one!)...

 

[mordy]

Hi DL,

Interesting to read about your experiences with the equipment studio engineers use and how it compares to audiophile stuff.

I remember reading a series of articles way back where prominent musicians were interviewed about their music. Then they were asked to show their music systems - most of them were not much better than boom boxes! Go figure - maybe making the music is more interesting than listening to it......

 

[aqsw]

A studio engineer (over 25 years and 100s of albums)was over this afternoon discussing my daughters bands new upcoming cd.
I took him downstairs to the hp setup, put on some Lorrena. His jaw dropped. He was frickin amazed( his sort of words).
He had never heard that from a hp setup before. He asked how much?
I told him and he still liked it..

He said the Euforia would make an awesome pre in a tube system.

This was a Fiio x7》STL dac >Euforia>Focal Elear,

I'm sure he had nowhere near this, but didn't want to admit it. Lol

 

[connieflyer]

@Hynos1, well, it is still in the first hour that I have been using the Draug2 cable on the Senn 800, and if I had not heard it on my system, with original cable, I would not believe it. This cable is one of the best improvements I have heard. It is a very worthwhile investment, imho of course, this cable is very resonably priced, about the same price as a stock cable from Senn. The quality of workmanship if very high, cable braiding is a thing of beauty. But it is the increase in clarity, and definition that is so apparent. Bass is a little more extended, tighter more controlled, mids and highs are clear as a bell. Glad I took the advice of another head fier that had close to the same set-up as I do. H with your talent with the silver wire, you have to give it a try. The T1 is no slouch but there is room for improvement. Trevor, from Norne Audio does a fantastic job on the constuction of his cables. The test for me, is would I buy this again, and the answer is un
equvically yes.

 

[aqsw]

Alot of peeps don't believe in cables, but I do. I have some silver truthseekers madpe up for my Elears from Hivemind cables. Not a brand name, but much cheaper and
Just as good. I absolutely love them. The best materials used and they are so light and flexible..

I can truly hear the difference between switching over to the oems.

I recommend Jerrold and hivemind. Check him out. He will ship worldwide

Tell him aqsw recommended him. You will probably get a better deal !

www.hivemindcables.com

 

[DecentLevi]

Well, what can I say... after over 2 years of constantly taking the fall for my countless delusional 'snake oil' system upgrades and impressions dismissed for OTT hype... looks like we all (or so it seems) can agree on two points. I'm exaggerating this a bit to be silly, and in fact we've often agreed on top tube combos and other experiments for those that were willing to actually try them... and to be fair the likes of tube rings for one did make a noticeable difference in some ways but not so much soundstage wise; but some upgrades become obsolete after further system upgrades.

RE studio vs. hi-fi listening rigs, certainly some studios should be able to topple even the best headphone setups (though I do say the WA-33 + Utopia may be hard to outdo), but in general I truly think that many of us devoted hi-fi enthusiasts actually have the upper hand to the average studio / recording engineer. I can't say much about speaker systems, but I can say that often (and though with many exceptions), recording studios use only the mixing console as their 'headphone amp' and generally no sort of multibit DAC, if any, other than an internal soundard; and headphone models generally don't go up further than the Beyer. DT-770 Pro. However, aside from the fact that most mastering courses focus more on levels, compression, mic placement, etc. rather than going to extremes for the ultimate purity of monitoring systems.

While the recording studio is focused on optimal recording environments, the hi-fi enthusiast is focused on optimal listening environments... perhaps you may say "you can't have one without the other", and that's true also but with one caveat. In order to get a 'final mix' to sound good on a variety of headphone / speaker systems from average consumer all the way up through summi-fi rigs, it's actually advisable for a mastering engineer to do a lot of the listening through mid-fi headphone / speaker equipment to gauge how the mix sounds to an average consumer, saving the top equipment for perhaps just the final mixdown / touch-ups.

RE cables: I too agree how these can make audible differences in a chain. I'd say it can be simplified in that "different conductors color the sound in different ways". One would not expect the same sound from say, an aluminum vs. a silver wire, nor would one expect the same sound from a hair-thin vs. a thick cable. Sometimes I find a headphone that excels in everything from isolation to soundstage, FR but may want to change the frequency / speed a bit by simply swapping cables, and I've heard quite a few cable differences that seem night / day.

PS - how has your journey been @sotto123 and @Burgerbassist ?

 

[DecentLevi]

PS - I too agree that the tactics all too many mastering engineers use today (over-compression, brickwall limiting, excess bass emphasis, inferior digital audio recording equipment) to basically make their mix come out sounding like, well 'total s***' IMO, shamelessly trying to make it louder and darker than the next artist in the name of drastic cuts to purity, dynamic range, linearity, etc. and just as you folks taught me I tend to turn to decades-old recordings from the analogue area if I want better sound quality... though this is a debate for a whole other forum, one perhaps without an end so I'm just throwing this out there in closing of my above topic.

Though on a final note on this topic I thought this may be of interest: I recently came across this online database of albums organized by Dynamic Range. This website lists 114,000+ albums based on DR level. They measure the average dynamic range of all songs on an album from 0-32, with the higher number meaning you basically hear individual sounds more clearly with harder hitting drums for instance, as a result of having a larger 'headroom' rather than an over-compressed mix. While a high DR value in and of itself not a precursor to overall mastering quality they do often go hand-in-hand. Check out the below list and you may be surprised at how some of your most/least favorite albums fare, and discover some new ones including oldies here:
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/dr/desc

PS - @UntilThen that was a well done 'farewell' on the F.A. Tube Amps thread, but something tells me you'd want to read this page too.

 

[UntilThen]

Our all time friend UntilThen and one that I'd say really helped get Felix Audio into the limelight

Thanks DL but I'd be the last to stack such a claim. What I say about Elise and Euforia is genuine because they sounded marvellous. It's not hard to heap praises on those amps. If I did sound like a fan boy, that's ok because I was really one. I love the tone that I'm hearing on my headphones driven by Euforia. Notice I didn't say they are the best tube amps. I said I love what I am hearing.... a lot.

With regards to hearing significant improvements with better headphone cable, power conditioner, interconnects, power cables, you will hear improvements indeed. Some by a magnitude more than you ever expected. You must be willing to try it out yourself though. I bought the HiFi rack from a seller who told me his stereo system cost as much as a BMW 323. I believe him because the only piece of equipment I recognise is the Bricasti M1 DAC and that's almost $10,000. He told me the biggest difference any gear makes to his system is the Xindak power conditioner - a made in China box that cost just $300+.

I myself have 2 Forza Audioworks headphone cables for HD800 and Audeze LCD-2f. I love them. Very well made and naturally they sounded better to my ears than stock cables. How much more. That I cannot quantify but I do know now that my recent foray into HiFi gear have made me aware that this is a much more enjoyable way to listen to music. Not only do you hear music in a different way, you are literally moved by the sound force. Talk about soundstage and bass slam. A good speaker system does that to you that a headphone system wouldn't. That said, I still use my very capable headphone system. It is more intimate and a different experience.

Whatever you do, enjoy your music.

Below is the mainstay of my stereo system. My restored 20 years old Axis LS88. I have the fortune of the designer of the speakers in my lounge room. I know him through another friend. He brought my newly ordered Redgum RGi120ENR black series integrated amp to my place personally. This amp produce 175w 8ohms, 265w 4ohms and 500w 2ohms. John Reilly told me it will drive any speakers, even those with difficult loads. You can read about John in this article. https://audiorev.net/2016/06/29/1775/

Yes John was in my lounge and we sat listening to Led Zep 'Stairway To Heaven' on vinyl. Volume was set at 12noon. It is the most realistic, natural rendition of that Led Zep song that I've ever heard. There's none of the brightness and sibilance associated with unmatched system. The sound projected hits your chest with impact, the vocals stunningly clear and sweet and the high notes are ultra clear without any fatigue inducement. Mahler 2 would sound splendid on this.

Next to upgrade would naturally be better cables and a power conditioner. Be aware, this hobby can be a wallet drainer.

Bye for now. I don't post here much now but I do wish everyone happy listening.

 

[drwlf]

PS - I too agree that the tactics all too many mastering engineers use today (over-compression, brickwall limiting, excess bass emphasis, inferior digital audio recording equipment) to basically make their mix come out sounding like, well 'total s***' IMO, shamelessly trying to make it louder and darker than the next artist in the name of drastic cuts to purity, dynamic range, linearity, etc. and just as you folks taught me I tend to turn to decades-old recordings from the analogue area if I want better sound quality... though this is a debate for a whole other forum, one perhaps without an end so I'm just throwing this out there in closing of my above topic.

Though on a final note on this topic I thought this may be of interest: I recently came across this online database of albums organized by Dynamic Range. This website lists 114,000+ albums based on DR level. They measure the average dynamic range of all songs on an album from 0-32, with the higher number meaning you basically hear individual sounds more clearly with harder hitting drums for instance, as a result of having a larger 'headroom' rather than an over-compressed mix. While a high DR value in and of itself not a precursor to overall mastering quality they do often go hand-in-hand. Check out the below list and you may be surprised at how some of your most/least favorite albums fare, and discover some new ones including oldies here:
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/dr/desc

PS - @UntilThen that was a well done 'farewell' on the F.A. Tube Amps thread, but something tells me you'd want to read this page too.

Yeah, the DR database has been invaluable for me.
Depending on the genre, sometimes there's just one release which is decent, compared to a vinyl release - if not even that.
It's been a great tool to verify some specific releases sounding like ass, as in, "this shouldn't sound like this".
It's been great to avoid some HDtracks/similar releases, where the DR is just abhorrent compared to other digital CD/SACD/etc. releases!

 

[Johnnysound]

Ed.

 

[UntilThen]

Hi Johnny,

If we're not careful, we will turn this into a HiFi thread and derail it completely lol. Seems like you are indeed enjoying your sound system very much. A good stereo system can be totally captivating. I've been listening to Dire Straits and Cassandra Wilson since coming home on the stereo system. On 'Brothers In Arms' I feel goose bumps. No subwoofers needed in my setup. My 12" sub is sitting in a corner untouched. Anymore bass would cause an earthquake.

Enjoy your music and your gear. This is a wonderful hobby. It's wonderful to hear others talk about their gear passionately.

Cheers
UT

Ps... so engrossed was I that I was totally unaware that 2 more parcel of tubes have arrived today, sitting in my study. My daughter must have left it there. Now to check out what they are...

 

[sotto123]

PS - how has your journey been @sotto123?

Unfortunately, I only managed an evening of listening. There was only sound out of one channel when I received it. Using a different cable seemed to fix the issue. Next morning when I turned it on, looking forward to a day of listening, was when it all started going wrong. It should be with Feliks Audio today. I'm hoping for a quick turnaround.

 

[pctazhp]

Hello everyone. I've been dealing with some health issues and candidly haven't felt like posting lately. But I have been lurking here on almost a daily basis. Tomorrow I'm going to try to attend a local meet. This link has a pretty good list of what will probably be there: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/a-mini-con-arizona-head-fi-meet-october-21st-2017.857544/

I'm going to try to take my Euforia with Sylvania 6SN7 WGTdrivers and GEC6AS7 power tubes, but don't know if I'll have the energy to get it set up. I'll try to report back here if I hear anything worthy of note.