Hey thanks for this info, appreciated. Euforia gets such great reviews but I read a few times that Euforia is « neutral » and that is a concern for me even more than the tube prices, I’m not an infinite tube roller, I’ll buy good ones and be happy forever. That’s why I was hoping someone could have tried both WA22 and Euforia to give me info on how they compare. I don’t buy a tube amp to get a very neutral sound but to get a lush/velvety sound, non fatiguing highs, and nice detailed bass which is not necessarily the strenghts of all tube amps. The Cayin is nice but a nono for me because of it’s stepped volume pot. Denis Had are also really nice but I discarded it because I’m afraid they don’t have any hum/buzz/hiss management in their circuit like the more refined WA22 and Euforia.
The Euforia is indeed not bad.
But from my point of view, it is also overpriced.
Even though a lot of work has gone into model maintenance and costs.
Last year it was still listed for 1900 and the price was increased.
Apart from that, the tubes are not to everyone's liking right away and are quickly replaced.
They are still affordable but that will also change, in 3-5 years you will pay for a 6080 Sylvania what the Mullard currently costs or even more if nothing changes economically.
I also wanted to say that even with the woo amplifier it is a similar tragedy. Think about it, even if you buy the tubes now, what will happen in 5-7 years?
That's why both amplifiers are not economical from my point of view because even if you sell them, no one will buy them when standard tubes cost 10 times as much or are no longer available.
Unfortunately, manufacturers also distance themselves from this with adapters to use a different tube family.
And they do not give any guarantee nor do they make any statements about it.
Which is also a pity with this price tag.
From today's point of view, it would certainly be feasible.
Therefore, I can only recommend that you buy something where you know that there are tubes that you will still be able to buy for the amplifier in 5 years.
Or even have something built for the money that you think is economical and realistically feasible.
Most of the time, such devices run even better than what the market offers us.
I really don't think the Denis Had is badly made - it has everything you need and makes sense.
If I were to buy one again today, it would be this one or I would have something built for me.
Apart from that, there are great 6SN7 tubes for it and there are also some solid 5uag tubes on the market.
Many things are still affordable in the Nos range.
To try out new ways of doing things.
Otherwise I'm like you in thinking buy tubes once and leave them as they are, I've done something to my Euforia where I say I'll leave it as it is now and I'm happy with it.
But the conversion also cost me something so that I can use tubes that are cheap and exploit their full potential.
In that respect, the Euforia still has room for improvement.
It depends on how far you are willing to go.
Even if you like the Euforia AE, you might not buy it.
The cost price is not worth it, save the money for later when you say you want to replace the capacitors, that makes more sense.
Stick with the standard Euforia if you like it more than the Denis Had amplifier.
Other alternatives would be to look at the Decware Taboo.
