Wells Audio - Impressions & Questions

[Bonddam]

I love my Primaluna EVO 400 it changed the way my double impacts sound. I think Prima must have made lots of enemies with what they preach. It’s funny I can get 14 tubes with all this tech and ways a f load at 5 grand. I’ll never need matched tubes. I don’t find the music to be laid back it just sounds correct.

Justin from HeadAmp let me borrow a TT2 and it wasn’t good. Once you have tubes you can’t go back. So EVO 100 went right back and Dragon sounds correct again. The TT2 lost the holographic presentation and compressed in. That’s something you don’t want to loose once you experience it.

 

[Strayngs]

I love my Primaluna EVO 400 it changed the way my double impacts sound. I think Prima must have made lots of enemies with what they preach. It’s funny I can get 14 tubes with all this tech and ways a f load at 5 grand. I’ll never need matched tubes. I don’t find the music to be laid back it just sounds correct.

Justin from HeadAmp let me borrow a TT2 and it wasn’t good. Once you have tubes you can’t go back. So EVO 100 went right back and Dragon sounds correct again. The TT2 lost the holographic presentation and compressed in. That’s something you don’t want to loose once you experience it.

PrimaLuna is indeed a super value (funny writing that for something that cost $5000 in your case LOL). How heavy is the PrimaLuna DAC compared to their amps?

 

[ThanatosVI]

PrimaLuna is indeed a super value (funny writing that for something that cost $5000 in your case LOL). How heavy is the PrimaLuna DAC compared to their amps?

13 KGs, so quite heavy for a DAC

 

[Bonddam]

13 KGs, so quite heavy for a DAC

The 30lb dac adds a lot to the Dragon it also improves the sound of my Stax 353X energizer. I see my Cipher going to my 2 channel setup. I'm just in love with Dragon and EVO 100. It could be that it's adding more lushness because of tube rectifiers. Next to those tubes are big caps for power I guess. They put two different drivers a 12au7 and 12ax7. I swapped out the stock 12au7 with Amperex bugle boys.

 

[Bonddam]

Have question for level 3 people. Do notice a change in switching gain? The lvl1 I noticed it but lvl 3 I'm not. There's never a issue with volume it just seems perfect at all levels. I spin the volume 405 degrees to reach my preferred level.

 

[OceanRanger]

Have question for level 3 people. Do notice a change in switching gain? The lvl1 I noticed it but lvl 3 I'm not. There's never a issue with volume it just seems perfect at all levels. I spin the volume 405 degrees to reach my preferred level.

Yes, I do notice a change when switching gain.

 

[Bonddam]

So got the Cipher. Why does chord just give you a circuit board with tiny little chips and charge arm and a leg. Jeff has a big box with a ton of components. Lampizators Amber 3 doesn't sport much on the inside. So it's clearly doing more then converting unless Jeff tricked us and through a bunch of parts from the 10 cent bin and made it look like it's doing something.

 

[Bonddam]

I'll be without the Dragon for a bit as it goes back to get the new board Jeff had made. So I have suffer and listen to the Aune X7s which was in my storage room. For entry level amp it's good.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I'll be without the Dragon for a bit as it goes back to get the new board Jeff had made. So I have suffer and listen to the Aune X7s which was in my storage room. For entry level amp it's good.

You also have the Woo Wa5 Le to get you through the drought

 

[Bonddam]

I'm happy with using Aune X7s with Cipher to power my 1266. I was quite surprised by the ability to sound good for 300 dollar amp. Possible reason is it has a big transformer which in tube world is most important part.

 

[Bonddam]

I'm laughing how the Cipher can make $300 amp amazing. I've used entry level DAC's on it but this is crazy. Also it looks silly side by side. I know I could trick someone into thinking it's more expensive amp.

 

[OceanRanger]

The Cipher is amazing. I've been in the process of packing, moving and unpacking for a few weeks. As a result, I have been relegated to my Hugo2 as an amp/DAC solution driving my Aryas. While this is a great portable setup, I REALLY miss the Dragon/Cipher/1266's. I hope to be back up and running in a few days.

 

[Bonddam]

I had to swap the tubes in my Cipher think I had some bad apples. Having so many tubes is confusing when something fresh off the boat causes strange things. So if your bass goes funny check the tubes. I even had Burson Vivid OP amps cause the same bass problem. It's like a wobble sound to the bass. So back to the Cipher I put in Sylivanias and I keep my fingers crossed and say it's all good. At least I can do some rolling I got a lot of 12bh7 tubes. I'm a tube whore. Buy some extra tubes you never know.

 

[OceanRanger]

I had to swap the tubes in my Cipher think I had some bad apples. Having so many tubes is confusing when something fresh off the boat causes strange things. So if your bass goes funny check the tubes. I even had Burson Vivid OP amps cause the same bass problem. It's like a wobble sound to the bass. So back to the Cipher I put in Sylivanias and I keep my fingers crossed and say it's all good. At least I can do some rolling I got a lot of 12bh7 tubes. I'm a tube whore. Buy some extra tubes you never know.

That is an awesome tip. I don’t have any spare 12bh7s. I must order some!

 

[OceanRanger]

After moving and moving again, I'm finally back up and running with my Dragon. About a month ago I had some noise develop. Jeff helped me through diagnostics on the phone. I dropped the unit off with him and they were able to diagnose and resolve the noise issue. I am up and running once again. In the interim I had been using the Hugo2. It is wonderful for a portable solution but doesn't drive the 1266s very well. With my Aryas the sound is much more thin and analytical than the Dragon/Cipher combo. I've missed the Dragon and am thrilled to have it back at the desk, well actually next to the desk.

I have a pair of Telefunken 6DJ8s in the amp right now. The gain is set at the lowest (6db) gain setting. Even at this setting there is enough power to drive the 1266s (47ohms/88db), though I am preferring the 12db setting with these cans. My Aryas have a lot more punch on the Dragon than with the Hugo2 and there is zero noise with the Aryas (35ohms/90db). Just because, I did try my Lola CIEM with Dragon. They are super efficient and sensitive (16ohms/105db). The noise floor of the amp is perceptible at zero volume with the Lolas, but when I turn the volume up to listening level the noise disappears into the music. I won't be using CIEMs with this setup but it is certainly a statement about the scalability of the Dragon.

When I have some time I'm hoping to do a few comparisons: A) Roon vs. Audirvana players, B) w/ and w/out a passive power conditioner, and C) a couple of USB cables. Until then i'm going to settle in with an espresso and enjoy some Nick Drake.

Happy Friday all!