[teknorob23]

@Slim1970 has the bryston bha1 ever resided amongst your collection? I’m a big fan of their two channel hifi but I’ve not tried it. What I have been lucky enough to try for the past couple of weeks is the Questyle cma800r. Wads of clean power with a slightly sweet top end. The mids are the stand out feature of the presentation, incredible transparency definitely edging the fla amps. I initially thought it might even unseat the fa12, but as usual the 12 came back slugging and has one out again. It’s interesting every time I hear something from the cleaner, neutral side, I’m initially lured by an apparent improvement in transparency, but the reality of at least my reality is the fa12 has it all plus the extra bit of magic which makes it so beguiling. The decay for example is slightly slower but it just makes it sound more realistic and more human. The mids are lush but the detail is all there and again it’s realism perhaps slightly rose tinted that i love about it. As you say there is nothing mid-fi about the sound of these amps.

A good example of the 12's versatility, last night i was listening with Beyer T1.2's to some feel good pre-COVID drum and bass



You'd think the CMA800r should win out here and while yes its fast and precise, the 12 just delivered a visceral assault on the senses, treble never coming close to rolled off, the stage is deep as it is wide and the bass is just huge but controlled, nuanced and just as fast as the questyle.

Then calm myself down before bed i slipped on my new comfortable pair of musical slippers, the album by the National's front man Matt Berninger



Again, if i was listening to the questyle in isolation i would have been more than happy, but switching back to the FLA, he's in the room, every last harmonic of the guitar strings both bass and lead are just there to touch.

Obviously i appreciate i now know the Fa12 so well that you can hardly call the playing field completely even, but i am keen to have second amp just so i have something home to help give context when i'm listening to new cables, its just so far nothing's come close to matching the all round performance and quality of the 12 in a different flavour.... Hence the Bryston still being of interest, but perhaps the Volot will appear the horizon and save the day... some serious first world concerns i know, but if there's ever been a time when distraction is more desperately needed, its got to be now.

 

[Slim1970]

@Slim1970 has the bryston bha1 ever resided amongst your collection? I’m a big fan of their two channel hifi but I’ve not tried it. What I have been lucky enough to try for the past couple of weeks is the Questyle cma800r. Wads of clean power with a slightly sweet top end. The mids are the stand out feature of the presentation, incredible transparency definitely edging the fla amps. I initially thought it might even unseat the fa12, but as usual the 12 came back slugging and has one out again. It’s interesting every time I hear something from the cleaner, neutral side, I’m initially lured by an apparent improvement in transparency, but the reality of at least my reality is the fa12 has it all plus the extra bit of magic which makes it so beguiling. The decay for example is slightly slower but it just makes it sound more realistic and more human. The mids are lush but the detail is all there and again it’s realism perhaps slightly rose tinted that i love about it. As you say there is nothing mid-fi about the sound of these amps.

A good example of the 12's versatility, last night i was listening with Beyer T1.2's to some feel good pre-COVID drum and bass



You'd think the CMA800r should win out here and while yes its fast and precise, the 12 just delivered a visceral assault on the senses, treble never coming close to rolled off, the stage is deep as it is wide and the bass is just huge but controlled, nuanced and just as fast as the questyle.

Then calm myself down before bed i slipped on my new comfortable pair of musical slippers, the album by the National's front man Matt Berninger



Again, if i was listening to the questyle in isolation i would have been more than happy, but switching back to the FLA, he's in the room, every last harmonic of the guitar strings both bass and lead are just there to touch.

Obviously i appreciate i now know the Fa12 so well that you can hardly call the playing field completely even, but i am keen to have second amp just so i have something home to help give context when i'm listening to new cables, its just so far nothing's come close to matching the all round performance and quality of the 12 in a different flavour.... Hence the Bryston still being of interest, but perhaps the Volot will appear the horizon and save the day... some serious first world concerns i know, but if there's ever been a time when distraction is more desperately needed, its got to be now.

No I have not had the luxury of demoing the Bryston BHA-1. But I’ve heard amps with similar sound; neutral, dynamic, transparent, and resolving. Those sound characteristics awe you at first but then the more you listen, the more you realize that your music is missing something, soul. The more amps I demoed like this the more I realize that there is little to no difference between them. Despite the price point they all sounded the same to my ears.

So my search continued until I got my FA-10. It brings a lot of the same sound characteristics of the FA-12’s sound you stated in your post. It’s also the main reason why it easily best amps like the BHA-1, Conductor 3XR, HPA-4, and others to my ears because they all lack some musicality. The FA-10/12 blends clarity, dynamics, rich tones, full bodied sound, bass slam/impact and musicality into every headphone I connect it. Both are really special amps.

I did have the Questyle CMA 12 Master in hand for a couple of weeks. It took a lot of it’s pedigree from the CMA 800R and put it into one package. Like you, I was lured in by it’s seductive sound and wonderful tone. It was my favorite amp pairing with my Utopia’s I had at that time. I could not stop listening to the combo and I almost bought one because of it. All that joy went away when I connected my Susvara’s to it. The CMA 12 Master struggled mightily to drive them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the Questyle sound. Anyone with a Utopia the CMA 12 should be at the top of the list for amp pairings.

 

[rmsanger]

No I have not had the luxury of demoing the Bryston BHA-1. But I’ve heard amps with similar sound; neutral, dynamic, transparent, and resolving. Those sound characteristics awe you at first but then the more you listen, the more you realize that your music is missing something, soul. The more amps I demoed like this the more I realize that there is little to no difference between them. Despite the price point they all sounded the same to my ears.

So my search continued until I got my FA-10. It brings a lot of the same sound characteristics of the FA-12’s sound you stated in your post. It’s also the main reason why it easily best amps like the BHA-1, Conductor 3XR, HPA-4, and others to my ears because they all lack some musicality. The FA-10/12 blends clarity, dynamics, rich tones, full bodied sound, bass slam/impact and musicality into every headphone I connect it. Both are really special amps.

I did have the Questyle CMA 12 Master in hand for a couple of weeks. It took a lot of it’s pedigree from the CMA 800R and put it into one package. Like you, I was lured in by it’s seductive sound and wonderful tone. It was my favorite amp pairing with my Utopia’s I had at that time. I could not stop listening to the combo and I almost bought one because of it. All that joy went away when I connected my Susvara’s to it. The CMA 12 Master struggled mightily to drive them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the Questyle sound. Anyone with a Utopia the CMA 12 should be at the top of the list for amp pairings.

I think you're making the case for the Volot hype where you get the musicality of the Flux house sound and the technical performance and transparency of BHA-1 / 3XR.

 

[Slim1970]

I think you're making the case for the Volot hype where you get the musicality of the Flux house sound and the technical performance and transparency of BHA-1 / 3XR.

Seems that way doesn’t it! I just think the Volot is going to be as large as the Atlas if the preview photos are an indication. That’s a large amp and I don’t have the desk space for something that large regardless of sound. The FA-10 is big enough.

Edit: Don‘t get me wrong, I would love a balanced FA-10. The technicalities and sound would be further improved I’m sure. If the guys at Flux Labs can keep the same form factor then the Volot would definitely worth considering. It’ll actually be a no brainer considering how good the FA-10 is as a single ended amp.

 

[teknorob23]

Seems that way doesn’t it! I just think the Volot is going to be as large as the Atlas if the preview photos are an indication. That’s a large amp and I don’t have the desk space for something that large regardless of sound. The FA-10 is big enough.

Edit: Don‘t get me wrong, I would love a balanced FA-10. The technicalities and sound would be further improved I’m sure. If the guys at Flux Labs can keep the same form factor then the Volot would definitely worth considering. It’ll actually be a no brainer considering how good the FA-10 is as a single ended amp.

From speaking to FLA they gave me these as unconfirmed dimensions 43 x 18 x 47... so no shrinking violet of an amp. As i say these dimensions weren’t completely finalised and I’ve not heard anymore

And thank you @Slim1970, you may have just saved me £1400

 

[sahmen]

From speaking to FLA they gave me these as unconfirmed dimensions 43 x 18 x 47... so no shrinking violet of an amp. As i say these dimensions weren’t completely finalised and I’ve not heard anymore

And thank you @Slim1970, you may have just saved me £1400

Do you know whether the Volot will include a pre-amp stage?

By the way I hope those dimension numbers are not in inches

I guess not. seeing as the Atlas is : 17 * 3.8 * 20.7 inch (43.2 * 9.6 * 52.7 cm). Yet even in centimeters, the Volot would still be huge if those numbers pan out.

 

[teknorob23]

Do you know whether the Volot will include a pre-amp stage?

By the way I hope those dimension numbers are not in inches

I guess not. seeing as the Atlas is : 17 * 3.8 * 20.7 inch (43.2 * 9.6 * 52.7 cm). Yet even in centimeters, the Volot would still be huge if those numbers pan out.

Hi yes sorry that is centimetres not inches. Again regarding the inclusion of pre-amp i cant confirm this.

 

[Terriero]

I'm amazed with this thread... It seems that you are sharing impressions of a ZMF headphone or something like that, and the FA 10/12 cost just 750 $

 

[Terriero]

Then calm myself down before bed i slipped on my new comfortable pair of musical slippers, the album by the National's front man Matt Berninger

I love this music, thanks for sharing.

 

[Slim1970]

From speaking to FLA they gave me these as unconfirmed dimensions 43 x 18 x 47... so no shrinking violet of an amp. As i say these dimensions weren’t completely finalised and I’ve not heard anymore

And thank you @Slim1970, you may have just saved me £1400

That's big and the size of home theater component, lol. If those dimension pan out then it looks like I might have to pass.

 

[teknorob23]

That's big and the size of home theater component, lol. If those dimension pan out then it looks like I might have to pass.

yep I’d trouble with this too, it sounds like it could be similar in scale to the atlas which I’ve seen in the flesh and it’s a beast too, about the same size as the newish Rupert neve amp.

 

[PoSR77]

So I have been conversing with Vitaliy from Flux via email and he confirmed that different color face plates are available "for any ordered amp" (currently bright yellow, red, space grey, light green, silver and classic black; see attachments).

I'm just trying to decide if the FA-10 would really be a big upgrade over my Class A HeadAmp Gilmore Lite Mk2. I don't need the extra power as it will be running my Auteurs (my end game headphones for the foreseeable future) and the Mk2 is fairly powerful itself (specs can be found here) so I'm trying to justify the purchase haha.

I'm less interested in the FA-12 versions since they might be a little too warm tilted for me.

I'm just basically undecided...

 

[Slim1970]

So I have been conversing with Vitaliy from Flux via email and he confirmed that different color face plates are available "for any ordered amp" (currently bright yellow, red, space grey, light green, silver and classic black; see attachments).

I'm just trying to decide if the FA-10 would really be a big upgrade over my Class A HeadAmp Gilmore Lite Mk2. I don't need the extra power as it will be running my Auteurs (my end game headphones for the foreseeable future) and the Mk2 is fairly powerful itself (specs can be found here) so I'm trying to justify the purchase haha.

I'm less interested in the FA-12 versions since they might be a little too warm tilted for me.

I'm just basically undecided...

The Gilmore Lite MK2 is several orders below the FA-10 to my ears. I owned the GL Mk2 on two different occassions. I had it cap modded the second time, which gave it more bass, soundstage, and a bit of warmth. All of which improved the sound of the GL Mk2 considerably. With that said,it still doesn't bring it close to what the FA-10 sounds like nor does it touch the performance level of the FA-10.

I have the silver face plate on my FA-10 to match my other components. The red or gold looks nice as well. I wonder if the face plates could be purchased separately for the FA-10?

 

[PoSR77]

That's good to know, thanks!

I really like the Gilmore Lite Mk2, but there are a few things about its sound that aren't quite to my taste, and the Auteurs seem to accentuate these traits more than other headphones as they really let you hear amp deficiencies/differences.

I am also looking at the Cavalli Liquid Platinum and Feliks Espressivo Mark II, but the Flux is by far the front runner. I just wish there were more impressions/reviews of it.

 

[teknorob23]

That's good to know, thanks!

I really like the Gilmore Lite Mk2, but there are a few things about its sound that aren't quite to my taste, and the Auteurs seem to accentuate these traits more than other headphones as they really let you hear amp deficiencies/differences.

I am also looking at the Cavalli Liquid Platinum and Feliks Espressivo Mark II, but the Flux is by far the front runner. I just wish there were more impressions/reviews of it.

I know the feliks range pretty well and owned the Euforia AE and previous versions for a good few years. The Espressivo is a lovely amp quite neutralish but still leaning toward the warmside, but its still a few rungs down from the FA range on technical performance alone. Tuning-wise there are some similarities. A lot will come down to whether you like the tuning, because coming from the Euforia i havent found a solid state amp i prefer to FA12 at any price.... yet