[Roasty]

Current set up looks like this right now.

very nice! how are you liking the Rockna? what dac were u using before?
i think that setup really deserves a new rack..!

 

[ufospls2]

very nice! how are you liking the Rockna? what dac were u using before?
i think that setup really deserves a new rack..!

I'm enjoying it so far. I've cycled through a lot of DACs, but I think I'm going to keep this one for a while. Lol, I should look at a new rack I suppose, but I'd rather spend on audio gear than furniture.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Well for me, it works extremely well with certain headphones! and quite good with others. with this combo, Hd800s pure heaven IMO. But it also depends on what sort of tube you use because the stock tube(electroharmonix) is kinda meh not worth even mentioning.. but the amp made jaw dropping improvement when I upgraded to the orange labeled Amperex 7308. Also the stock power supply they provide is really 20-30 dollar worth of garbage so adding a proper linear power supply really beefed the amp up to a whole new level. With all the above upgrades I have mentioned(which costs about 200USD total) it pretty much comes out on top to any amps that I have heard under 2 grand for sure. Recently I even compared this amp head to head with Allnic 3000gt, questyle master twelve, bryston bha-1 and WA22 all five on the table and surprisingly this amp came out on top even though it was the least expensive one.(not by much though)

Oh, damn...now I have to seriously obsess about this Pathos amp + your upgrades!!

(thanks for this informative reply)

 

[KC2020]

Oh, damn...now I have to seriously obsess about this Pathos amp + your upgrades!!

Here's a photo of my temporary, working from home mixing and mastering set up with Pathos, Quicksilver and Little Labs Monotor amps sitting on top of the Crane Song Solaris DAC. The Crane Song is a standard 19" wide rack mount. Hopefully that helps visualize the Pathos Aurium's size.

One of the nice features of the Pathos is it's dual pass-through. I have the balanced output of the DAC into the Pathos and the two pass throughs feed the other two HP amps. With the HP amp in the DAC that's 4 amps. I have each profiled in Sonarworks for various HPs for work but I turn that off when listening for pleasure.

The Pathos is a very good sounding tube / Mosfet hybrid. Mine came with a pair of Sovteks and they sound great. Pathos like many manufacturers doesn't always ship their amps with the same tubes because of availability etc.. I also have two of their high-end speaker amps that are tube / Mosfet hybrid. One came with Genalex Gold Lions and the other Mullards. Tube rolling with any of the Pathos amps is fun because the tubes are really part of the sound, not just a buffer.

FWIW, if you have clean power I think you'll find the power supply that ships with the Pathos to be just fine. I tried it with the SBooster and it made no difference. All my components are on a Furman line conditioner which is on an APC Smart UPS. So my power is a true sine wave and clean @ 120V all the time.

Just my 2 cents worth based on a couple of decades as an audio engineer and an audiophile.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Here's a photo of my temporary, working from home mixing and mastering set up with Pathos, Quicksilver and Little Labs Monotor amps sitting on top of the Crane Song Solaris DAC. The Crane Song is a standard 19" wide rack mount. Hopefully that helps visualize the Pathos Aurium's size.

One of the nice features of the Pathos is it's dual pass-through. I have the balanced output of the DAC into the Pathos and the two pass throughs feed the other two HP amps. With the HP amp in the DAC that's 4 amps. I have each profiled in Sonarworks for various HPs for work but I turn that off when listening for pleasure.

The Pathos is a very good sounding tube / Mosfet hybrid. Mine came with a pair of Sovteks and they sound great. Pathos like many manufacturers doesn't always ship their amps with the same tubes because of availability etc.. I also have two of their high-end speaker amps that are tube / Mosfet hybrid. One came with Genalex Gold Lions and the other Mullards. Tube rolling with any of the Pathos amps is fun because the tubes are really part of the sound, not just a buffer.

FWIW, if you have clean power I think you'll find the power supply that ships with the Pathos to be just fine. I tried it with the SBooster and it made no difference. All my components are on a Furman line conditioner which is on an APC Smart UPS. So my power is a true sine wave and clean @ 120V all the time.

Just my 2 cents worth based on a couple of decades as an audio engineer and an audiophile.

Great post. I may respond to it later on. But for the moment--I can't believe you have a Quicksilver HP amp! So you have 2 of the amps I pine for (this coming from someone w/7 amps & truly no need for another).

 

[Ralf Hutter]

Pathos, Quicksilver amps

How do the two amps compare?

 

[KC2020]

Great post. I may respond to it later on. But for the moment--I can't believe you have a Quicksilver HP amp! So you have 2 of the amps I pine for (this coming from someone w/7 amps & truly no need for another).

Hah !

Your only hope is to admit you NEED another amp ;~)

The photo above is just my work HP amps.

How do the two amps compare?

Similar but completely different. They're both amps with tubes that don't sound like tube amps. The Pathos is very defined, tight bass with good extension, detail through out the mids and highs but softer than a SS amp. It's a great amp but I'd take the Quicksilver over it any day. It sounds bigger and better in every way. Truly 'holographic' and detailed in the way an SET amp should sound. Listen to any amp and then go to the Quicksilver and it's like the nice sounding nightclub you were in turns into a concert hall.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Oh, damn...now I have to seriously obsess about this Pathos amp + your upgrades!!

Well maybe not. If you're lucky the English version of the Pathos website will break for you too, and you'll be unable to find a retailer

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Similar but completely different. They're both amps with tubes that don't sound like tube amps. The Pathos is very defined, tight bass with good extension, detail through out the mids and highs but softer than a SS amp. It's a great amp but I'd take the Quicksilver over it any day. It sounds bigger and better in every way. Truly 'holographic' and detailed in the way an SET amp should sound. Listen to any amp and then go to the Quicksilver and it's like the nice sounding nightclub you were in turns into a concert hall.

What tubes does it use?

 

[KC2020]

What tubes does it use?

The Pathos Aurium uses a pair of 6922 for the preamp stage. The Quicksilver uses a pair of 12AX7 and a pair of 6BQ5 for output.

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Hah !

Your only hope is to admit you NEED another amp ;~)

The photo above is just my work HP amps.


Similar but completely different. They're both amps with tubes that don't sound like tube amps. The Pathos is very defined, tight bass with good extension, detail through out the mids and highs but softer than a SS amp. It's a great amp but I'd take the Quicksilver over it any day. It sounds bigger and better in every way. Truly 'holographic' and detailed in the way an SET amp should sound. Listen to any amp and then go to the Quicksilver and it's like the nice sounding nightclub you were in turns into a concert hall.

Users who have only experienced tubes in the Preamp stage & NOT in the amplification stage still can't grasp just how good a full boat is when compared to a hybrid...

 

[Dan Fuentes]

 

[Mink]

Don't like the looks of the Utopia and Stellia, but I must say the Clears are gorgeous. Didn't expect them to look better than the Klipsch, seeing them side by side.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

What's between your THX and glass mushrooms? Looked like a Meier something but I can't figure it out.

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Breaking in the new Burson Conductor 3P in the bedroom...