[musicman59]

Jeff called me to let me know about the new Dragon. Can’t wait to see pictures and hear about its sound.
I have an Enigma with upgrades that in my opinion sounds in between the Milo and the Headtrip. I love it.

 

[OceanRanger]

That is awesome. Congrats! I'm looking forward to you thoughts on the Dragon relative to your other amps.

 

[OceanRanger]

I'm hoping to pick up a Cipher and also listen to the LIII next week.

 

[The Piper]

I'm hoping to pick up a Cipher and also listen to the LIII next week.

Looking forward to visit from OceanRanger on Sunday to pick up new Cipher Level II. I have had the newly engineered Dragon Level III breaking in for about 5 days by then. Maybe he can give an unvarnished assessment of what he is hearing at this point of it’s long break in.

 

[OceanRanger]

I enjoyed a COVID-safe visit to Wells Audio today. I was super excited to have a chance to pick up my Cipher Level II. I'll post a review after I have a chance to marinate in it for a bit of time. While there I spent a few moments with his first production-ready Dragon Level III hybrid amp. I listened to Temptation, by Diana Krall. Laptop -> Cipher Level II -> Dragon Level III -> Abyss 1266 TCs. Natural, spacious and great detail are the words that I'd use to describe my initial impression. I thought that it sounded wonderful and Jeff said that the amp will continue to open up over the next several weeks. I'm going to stop by at the end of the month, after it has a few hundred more hours on it, to give it another listen. I hope to spend more time with it then.

 

[OceanRanger]

I enjoyed a COVID-safe visit to Wells Audio today. I was super excited to have a chance to pick up my Cipher Level II. I'll post a review after I have a chance to marinate in it for a bit of time. While there I spent a few moments with his first production-ready Dragon Level III hybrid amp. I listened to Temptation, by Diana Krall. Laptop -> Cipher Level II -> Dragon Level III -> Abyss 1266 TCs. Natural, spacious and great detail are the words that I'd use to describe my initial impression. I thought that it sounded wonderful and Jeff said that the amp will continue to open up over the next several weeks. I'm going to stop by at the end of the month, after it has a few hundred more hours on it, to give it another listen. I hope to spend more time with it then.

As promised here is a link to my review of the Cipher Level II. This is my first review so it is relatively brief.

 

[Bonddam]

Here's a pic of Cipher lvl 1 internals. Biggest caps I've seen a DAC have. Lampizator has more and bigger tubes I'd like to hear one of those. The Cipher has better treble then my Burson dac/amp. It doesn't sound like frying pans.

 

[Bonddam]

I've had 3 DAC's using 9038 chip and Cipher comes out on top. Big comparison was against Manhattan 2. Manhattan was missing solid picture too airy like puff marshmallows.

 

[OceanRanger]

I do well with and enjoy food metaphors, thanks for incorporating "puff marshmallows" into your comment.

 

[Arcamera]

Hi All, I'm interested in this amp. Can anyone speak to the difference between the basic upgrade of the Milo vs. the Reference version? (Other than a considerable price difference). A big sonic jump? Or the classic law of diminishing returns kicking in? Something in the ballpark of $2,500 I'm interested in, but not as keen to play around $5,000. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[OceanRanger]

Hi All, I'm interested in this amp. Can anyone speak to the difference between the basic upgrade of the Milo vs. the Reference version? (Other than a considerable price difference). A big sonic jump? Or the classic law of diminishing returns kicking in? Something in the ballpark of $2,500 I'm interested in, but not as keen to play around $5,000. Thanks for any thoughts.

This is certainly a hobby with diminishing marginal returns. I own a couple of Well products and have been super happy with them. I think that @Bonddam has had both the Milo and the Milo Reference. I auditioned the Milo Reference and the Headtrip II. I ended up going with the Headtrip, but eventually sold it and bought a Wells Audio Dragon LIII. I am thrilled to have made this move. Jeff just released the Dragon a month or so ago. It is a hybrid SS/tube amp. There are a number of folks on the forum that have purchased Dragons. I believe that the Level I, Level II and Level III are priced at $1,500 / $2,500 / $5,500 respectively.

 

[wormsdriver]

If anyone is interested in picking up a used Milo let me know, I will be listing mine soon for sale.

EDIT: SOLD

 

[KenMan85]

If anyone is interested in picking up a used Milo let me know, I will be listing mine soon for sale.

Price and model options?

 

[wormsdriver]

Price and model options?

Base model Milo with no upgrades, price more less around $1k shipped in the US.

 

[Bonddam]

I like the bloom of the Milo it gives the bass correctly so it doesn't sound lacking as most amps don't cover the bandwidth correctly. Good comparison is look at the internals that you pay for. I've seen some high priced preamps with nothing inside but a pcb with a few parts but Wells is stuffed with parts.

I gave into my addiction and just told Jeff to ship me the Cipher. Jeff doesn't like romantic as much as I do so Cipher vs EVO 100.

My two channel is all PrimaLuna and it's used for TV and music.