[cfranchi]

Very interested in trying one of these amps. I recently acquired an HE-6se and think the FA-10 might be a great pairing. Anyone running one of these with an HE-6?

My mini review of FA-10 and HE6se

https://fluxlab-acoustics.com/product/fa10/#reviews

 

[rmsanger]

My FA-10 will be here by the weekend. So I’m sort of interested in what he has to say to about it. His review of the FA-12S was very positive but there wasn’t a lot of input about its sound.

Yeah that's his MO he does 50% on form function features and 25% BS and 25% SQ. I'm a fan of his but he's definitely not a reviewer you go to for a full in-depth technical review. He seems to really have glowing response to the Flux lineup; I personally don't care for the gold color nor the remote looks but that is an easy change with the other colors. I'm surprised he was that taken by the FA12 and not as enthused with the FA10 to come but I guess we'll wait for that one. He really did love the RebelAmp so if this replaces it that shows you how much he enjoyed the product.

 

[sahmen]

I am personally quite interested in how well the FA-10 does detail, especially detail at the top-end, but also in bass texture. I have been stricken by how often the FA-10 is placed on the side of "smooth" and "musical," as opposed to, say, the Topping A90, or even Flux Labs own FA-10 pro, which are placed in the "analytical," "dry," maybe "neutral" department, or in any case characterized as probably too revealing for their own good, for showing all the "pimples and warts" of badly recorded material.

Well, in theory, "smooth" and "musical" sound good to me, and the Flux Labs guy I chatted with at length on facebook "diagnosed" me, almost instantly, upon hearing about my DACs and other components of choice, as being an FA-10 as opposed to FA-10 Pro guy. What concerns me, though, is how much detail, if any, gets lost in all that "smoothness" and "musicality" the FA-10 fans have been talking about. I do like detail, but without any harshness or fatigue, just like my HeKSE or Audeze LCD-4 cans handle detail and texture, but especially, without any feeling that some important dimension of detail has been sacrificed in some kind of roll-off in order to enhance that smoothness. I wish I could hear the FA-10 and the pro version or the Topping A90 in order to make a determination for myself, but since that seems impossible right now, I shall defer to the ears and judgment of forum members who have heard the two approaches. Muchas gracias.

 

[Wesley88]

What's the difference in shipping options? What would be best for USA destination?

 

[Slim1970]

I am personally quite interested in how well the FA-10 does detail, especially detail at the top-end, but also in bass texture. I have been stricken by how often the FA-10 is placed on the side of "smooth" and "musical," as opposed to, say, the Topping A90, or even Flux Labs own FA-10 pro, which are placed in the "analytical," "dry," maybe "neutral" department, or in any case characterized as probably too revealing for their own good, for showing all the "pimples and warts" of badly recorded material.

Well, in theory, "smooth" and "musical" sound good to me, and the Flux Labs guy I chatted with at length on facebook "diagnosed" me, almost instantly, upon hearing about my DACs and other components of choice, as being an FA-10 as opposed to FA-10 Pro guy. What concerns me, though, is how much detail, if any, gets lost in all that "smoothness" and "musicality" the FA-10 fans have been talking about. I do like detail, but without any harshness or fatigue, just like my HeKSE or Audeze LCD-4 cans handle detail and texture, but especially, without any feeling that some important dimension of detail has been sacrificed in some kind of roll-off in order to enhance that smoothness. I wish I could hear the FA-10 and the pro version or the Topping A90 in order to make a determination for myself, but since that seems impossible right now, I shall defer to the ears and judgment of forum members who have heard the two approaches. Muchas gracias.

That’s the thing that has me perplexed a little about the FA-10. It keeps coming up as a smooth and musical amp when being described. Like you, I love my details and I hope that doesn’t get lost in translation with this amp. After talking with the owner of Flux Labs, I was led down the path of the FA-10 instead of the FA-10 Pro as well. I’ll know soon enough. Come Friday, all my questions will be answered. My FA-10 will be in my hands.

I’m almost tempted to buy a A90 to compare it to because curiosity is getting the better of me. I like reading reviews but there’s nothing like hearing a product for yourself, with your gear, in your home for a proper assessment.

 

[gancanjam]

What's the difference in shipping options? What would be best for USA destination?

Regular shipping which may take 2-4 weeks for $100 and DHL(the best available) which will come in 1 week to a little over a week, i think it is $200 or more if i am not mistaken

 

[cfranchi]

I am personally quite interested in how well the FA-10 does detail, especially detail at the top-end, but also in bass texture. I have been stricken by how often the FA-10 is placed on the side of "smooth" and "musical," as opposed to, say, the Topping A90, or even Flux Labs own FA-10 pro, which are placed in the "analytical," "dry," maybe "neutral" department, or in any case characterized as probably too revealing for their own good, for showing all the "pimples and warts" of badly recorded material.

Well, in theory, "smooth" and "musical" sound good to me, and the Flux Labs guy I chatted with at length on facebook "diagnosed" me, almost instantly, upon hearing about my DACs and other components of choice, as being an FA-10 as opposed to FA-10 Pro guy. What concerns me, though, is how much detail, if any, gets lost in all that "smoothness" and "musicality" the FA-10 fans have been talking about. I do like detail, but without any harshness or fatigue, just like my HeKSE or Audeze LCD-4 cans handle detail and texture, but especially, without any feeling that some important dimension of detail has been sacrificed in some kind of roll-off in order to enhance that smoothness. I wish I could hear the FA-10 and the pro version or the Topping A90 in order to make a determination for myself, but since that seems impossible right now, I shall defer to the ears and judgment of forum members who have heard the two approaches. Muchas gracias.

Well you have to believe me but no details are lost with FA-10, on my setup I can really hear the most tiny details (obvious on live recordings). I guess that we are confused about analytical vs musical : from my point of view it is not about the loss of any details but it is more about how those details are blended (musical) or not (analytical) into the ´flow´ of the music.

 

[driftingbunnies]

While I thoroughly enjoy my FA-10, I don't believe it is end game or will replace all SS amps out there. I don't believe there is a loss in details but I do believe there is a difference between something higher end. When I compare it to something like the Feliks Euforia, there is a certain amount of finesse and effortlessness that is lost when using the FA-10. It is more evident with headphones that prefer tubes over SS. But as an SS amp, I'm very happy with it's capabilities. It produces plenty of power, does not sound fatiguing and allows me to enjoy both dynamic and planars in a package under 1k.

One camp that I don't agree with is that too much detail or resolution means that you cannot enjoy your music or that it's dry and too analytical. I believe if your setup is done well, you can have a highly resolving setup while being able to groove to even some poorly recorded music. Generally I stick to better recorded music though.

 

[jaredn13]

Regular shipping which may take 2-4 weeks for $100 and DHL(the best available) which will come in 1 week to a little over a week, i think it is $200 or more if i am not mistaken

I did DHL for $250 shipped to Los Angeles and it took 7 days to get here.

 

[gancanjam]

I am personally quite interested in how well the FA-10 does detail, especially detail at the top-end, but also in bass texture. I have been stricken by how often the FA-10 is placed on the side of "smooth" and "musical," as opposed to, say, the Topping A90, or even Flux Labs own FA-10 pro, which are placed in the "analytical," "dry," maybe "neutral" department, or in any case characterized as probably too revealing for their own good, for showing all the "pimples and warts" of badly recorded material.

Well, in theory, "smooth" and "musical" sound good to me, and the Flux Labs guy I chatted with at length on facebook "diagnosed" me, almost instantly, upon hearing about my DACs and other components of choice, as being an FA-10 as opposed to FA-10 Pro guy. What concerns me, though, is how much detail, if any, gets lost in all that "smoothness" and "musicality" the FA-10 fans have been talking about. I do like detail, but without any harshness or fatigue, just like my HeKSE or Audeze LCD-4 cans handle detail and texture, but especially, without any feeling that some important dimension of detail has been sacrificed in some kind of roll-off in order to enhance that smoothness. I wish I could hear the FA-10 and the pro version or the Topping A90 in order to make a determination for myself, but since that seems impossible right now, I shall defer to the ears and judgment of forum members who have heard the two approaches. Muchas gracias.

On your FA-10 questions related to "Smooth", "Top details" and ability to handle Bad recording... expanding "Smooth Highs" ,

#1 It does not roll off High frequencies to sound smooth like some amps do but it has other ways to smooth the highs !
#2 Better DAC you feed in the better details you will get and FA-10 is capable of handling across the spectrum . I fed in Chord DACs like Hugo 2 and it sounded good with FA-10 boosting Bass, giving more body to mids and taming some harsh highs of Chord DAC
#3 FA-10 amp is not for appreciating Treble details to my ears ! Zooming in on Treble details even further, a guitar with steel strings pluck in Hi frequency will sound metallic like "Tttinggggggg" and a neutral analytical transparent amp will reproduce the same sound as metallic sound to screech the ears. How does the same metallic pluck sound in FA-10 ? if the same guitar steel strings replaced by a plastic /Tennis racket string for lack of better words will not sound metallic at all and will sound like "Trriikkkkkkkk" so FA-10 sound somewhere in the middle between the above two plucks with that metallic sound tamed down to lose its leading/trailing sharp edges. I tried to be as explicit to convey this sound so that there is no ambiguity FA-10 will not focus on Sparkles and Cymbals also. Sometimes Sparkles will be tamed to sound like an Hiss.
#4 When DAC presents the Treble & Instrument details then it is present without vanishing in the song so we cannot say FA-10 is losing details but like some of the Head Fiers hinted in the previous threads ... is the Treble details coming forward to be the focus of the songs ? No, if you want to find that Violin, guitar, cymbals, sparkles in a smooth way like what i had described above then you can find it in the song if you focus enough but it will not jump and startle you.

That kind of sums up what smooth treble means for FA-10

I recently heard Monolith THX 887 AIO, I listened with Utopia and HD800, THX 887 may not be very competent or technically on par to pair with say Utopia but liked the presentation with Bass notes and smooth Highs ( here smooth means it will sound metallic in a nice way without the lower treble harshness, extended upper treble, airy and sparkly like an Hi Fidelity 1980s system which is not the core forte of FA-10 ) ever present in every song and the instruments present themselves amidst the Lows and Highs. It sounded very clean and dynamic with nice instrument separation. Still FA-10 is more competent amp compared to this in terms of Bass, Mids, power and the ability to upscale with better DACs.

For bad recordings, i really liked the FA-10, it is audiophile quality as well as forgiving.

 

[Benno1988]

Bit lost with the 4 models they have.

I'm looking for a amp for the Final D8000 Pro.

I want something on the warmer side. Think Violectric V281. Audio GD etc

What model should I be looking at? I can run SE or Balanced. But if same price, Balanced wins.

 

[NickT23]

While I thoroughly enjoy my FA-10, I don't believe it is end game or will replace all SS amps out there. I don't believe there is a loss in details but I do believe there is a difference between something higher end. When I compare it to something like the Feliks Euforia, there is a certain amount of finesse and effortlessness that is lost when using the FA-10. It is more evident with headphones that prefer tubes over SS. But as an SS amp, I'm very happy with it's capabilities. It produces plenty of power, does not sound fatiguing and allows me to enjoy both dynamic and planars in a package under 1k.

One camp that I don't agree with is that too much detail or resolution means that you cannot enjoy your music or that it's dry and too analytical. I believe if your setup is done well, you can have a highly resolving setup while being able to groove to even some poorly recorded music. Generally I stick to better recorded music though.

Nooo ! I wish FA-10 is end game of all so we dont have to sell our kidneys to afford more expensive BS..

 

[omniweltall]

When I compare it to something like the Feliks Euforia, there is a certain amount of finesse and effortlessness that is lost when using the FA-10

That is common when comparing tube and SS amps.

 

[gancanjam]

Bit lost with the 4 models they have.

I'm looking for a amp for the Final D8000 Pro.

I want something on the warmer side. Think Violectric V281. Audio GD etc

What model should I be looking at? I can run SE or Balanced. But if same price, Balanced wins.

Not most of us have listened to all the 4 models Flux lab have, most listened only to FA-10 which is towards warmer side and few to FA-12 so Head-Fiers cannot provide comparison of all 4 models yet. Following is the link to Flux FB page, you can chat with them and they do a good job in engagement and recommending you the model which will suit your preference

https://www.facebook.com/fluxlabacoustics/

 

[tholt]

Bit lost with the 4 models they have.

I'm looking for a amp for the Final D8000 Pro.

I want something on the warmer side. Think Violectric V281. Audio GD etc

What model should I be looking at? I can run SE or Balanced. But if same price, Balanced wins.

The FCN-10 is just the FA-10 with a built in DAC. The FA-10 is on the warmer side, with plenty of power. The FA-10 Pro is supposedly more neutral. Have not heard the FA-12.

Agreed with above ^ -- contact Flux. They are good at customer support.