[Ichos]

My FA-12 has shipped Hopefully 7-10 days and should be with me

Love your new avatar!
I have a full scale copy in my kitchen!!!

 

[realmassy]

Nice one isn’t it? I remember seeing that picture (or maybe it was a different one from Kandinsky…) on an album cover and falling in love with it. I’ve got a copy in my office room and every time I look at it I see something different

 

[Ichos]

I love Kandinsky.

 

[realmassy]

My FA-12 just got delivered
Much nicer than I expected to be honest…listening to this right now

with the Denafrips Venus II and the Empyrean…pretty good so far

 

[Majors]

Well I just picked up a pair of HE6se V2 from Adorama for 549.00. I wasn`t expecting the FA-22 to drive them well. Oh boy was I wrong after a night of burn-in I can say technically I cant find a flaw. I changed the cable to Jenna Labs HP-422 and removed the fabric from behind the grills while I wait for the ebay more open honeycomb style. These are definitely a keeper. The sound of these has been well described and I don't have much to add there but they really opened up after burn-in. Volume at around 2 o'clock is PLENTY with lower volume still giving dynamics and slam. I understand the Volot or FA-10 is the recommended FLA amp's but with over 5 watts into 50 ohms and the mosfet magic of the FA-22, the synergy is excellent.

 

[Majors]

Also if you have a Denafrips Dac you really need to get the latest firmware 3.12.0 from here https://www.denafrips.com/firmware-update-usb. It is a huge improvement even on coax.

 

[realmassy]

Also if you have a Denafrips Dac you really need to get the latest firmware 3.12.0 from here https://www.denafrips.com/firmware-update-usb. It is a huge improvement even on coax.

We’re off topic, but I updated the firmware and found zero difference using non usb output

 

[Majors]

We’re off topic, but I updated the firmware and found zero difference using non usb output

If you are on 3.6.0 you may not have noticed a difference they were very similar. The prior Kernel was bass light. At least your up to date.

 

[wenbinbin2010]

@sahmen @Slim1970 @ksorota

Any chance there are still modded FA-10s floating around? I'm not sure how many are in the wild, but I would love to try one out to compare to the stock FA-10. I'm trying to decide between buying a FCN-10 or waiting for a modded FA-10. My concern with the FCN-10 is that it probably has less room to put in bigger caps, plus don't need the DAC or streamer functions.

 

[ksorota]

@sahmen @Slim1970 @ksorota

Any chance there are still modded FA-10s floating around? I'm not sure how many are in the wild, but I would love to try one out to compare to the stock FA-10. I'm trying to decide between buying a FCN-10 or waiting for a modded FA-10. My concern with the FCN-10 is that it probably has less room to put in bigger caps, plus don't need the DAC or streamer functions.

I dont recall if I did two or three. But you have nailed down the two that I know each have one!

 

[Slim1970]

@sahmen @Slim1970 @ksorota

Any chance there are still modded FA-10s floating around? I'm not sure how many are in the wild, but I would love to try one out to compare to the stock FA-10. I'm trying to decide between buying a FCN-10 or waiting for a modded FA-10. My concern with the FCN-10 is that it probably has less room to put in bigger caps, plus don't need the DAC or streamer functions.

There are, but with new owners. I moved on from mine. If you can find one that's already modded it's more than worth it. It drives everything and sounds good doing so. On the other hand, you can always have @ksorota mod one for you. That's if you get a new one.

 

[realmassy]

I wanted to follow up after a few days of listening to my new FA-12…glad I received it during the holidays. I think it’s a fantastic amp, totally worth the asking price… and even more to be honest, but hopefully Vitaly won’t raise the price!

I’m not going to spend a lot of words describing mids, highs and lows, but I’ll focus instead on the differences with the Manley Absolute, my other amp, which I’ve used for the last 6 months or so, and briefly with the Burson 3XP.
The FA-12 is noticeably quieter, the Manley has a background hiss that never bothered me, but the solid state amp has definitely a blacker background, both with the Empyrean and the HD800s. I’m not sure this affects the perceived sound quality in any way, maybe on low level passages?

The Manley projects a deeper soundstage, the FA-12 is flatter, but not flat in absolute terms…the Burson is even flatter. The Manley is also the winner in terms of imaging, instruments are nicely solid and well placed on the stage. Tube amps have a clear advantage in that department, they definitely have something magic.

Both amps are fantastic in tonality and timbre, couldn’t really spot any issue: the FA-12 is natural, doesn’t emphasise any frequency or instrument above the others and well masters complex passages…it’s an absolute joy to listen to. The Manley does something magic with piano, but on the other hand the FA-12 is very very convincing with wind instruments.

It has plenty of power, I used the Empyrean and the HD800s in low gain, with the volume pot around 12. The sound doesn’t become harsh at all increasing the volume, no signs of graininess, everything stays nice, smooth and ‘liquid’ for a solid state amplifier, surprisingly liquid in fact.

Build quality is exceptional, the volume pot works flawlessly with a large number of steps and the left/right channels are perfectly balanced even at low volume. I wish the 4 pin headphone output had a lock mechanism, but it not a big deal. No noise coming from the transformers either, which is something i noticed on similarly priced amps in the past.

All in all I think I could happily live with the FA-12 as my only amplifier: it can drive my headphones at stunning levels (I probably even prefer it to the Manley with the HD800s), it is transparent enough to make me realise if a recording is good or not, but it doesn’t trade musicality for detail, so-so recordings are still enjoyable, and I would not want otherwise.

 

[wolfstar76]

Just ordered the fa-10 for my he6se from adorama. Then there is the buyer's remorse kicked in after midfi guy in his Solid State Showdown Series part II mentioned the sharp roll off in the bass ()

 

[realmassy]

Thanks for the link to the video. Interesting that the reviewer finds the signature of the amps ’super bright’, he’s still quite young and probably’fresh’ ears compared to my old ones
I don’t find the stage so wide either or the mids recessed, but on the other hand I never listened to the other 2 amps he mentioned.

 

[Ichos]

FA-10 super bright?