I really wish I knew this tip when I had mine…yikes. 
I have never had any issues with my 13r
Enleum has responded, I don’t have the technical knowledge to pick a side in this just thought I’d share.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl3X_YWS7jt/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
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I don’t have instagram so I can’t respond there, but will share a few thoughts here.
Firstly: Thank you VERY much Enleum for being so quick to respond and communicative about this. Transparency and communication is something many manufacturers do not do well, so thank you for doing this.
I’ll respond to the clips individually but would like to preface with the following:
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The clips posted on instagram are measured from the speaker taps. I am measuring from the headphone output. I do not know if the behaviour between the two is different, but I’ll check as soon as I can, I unfortunately have no speaker cables nor a speaker level dummy load so cannot properly test that currently, I’m focusing on the headphone aspect. Additionally I should mention that the same behaviour was observed regardless of load impedance, or in fact whether the dummy load was used at all.
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Measurements in the videos below are being taken with a 300 Ohm load, though behaviour did not seem to differ when using a lower one like 32 Ohm.
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I probably should clarify that whilst I did initially refer to the issue as ‘DC’, this is not technically accurate. Given as it does return to 0 over the course of a few seconds it is technically a very very low frequency signal and not pure DC. But given as this lasts upto several seconds I will refer to it as DC for the remainder of this post but just wanted to be clear on this just in case.
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I have not seen any reports of the Enleum devices damaging anything, nor has this amp damaged anything I’ve put on it. My post was merely a warning just in case it may do so as it’s better to be aware of stuff like this, just in case.
As to the clips:
The output drifts at about 0.2V if it was staying at mute and suddenly “jumps” to the maximum gain. This happens only when the amplifier was in mute or at minimum gain without any output for a certain period of time. After the drift, it goes back to 0V within 1 or 2 seconds.
Once the above happens, the circuit is now stabilized and will not drift as much and it stays close 0 even if one adjusts the volume minimum to maximum.
This is not the behaviour I am observing here.
The DC offset arises when adjusting the volume and seems to be related to quite simply how much the volume is adjusted by, and how quickly. It does not matter if the amplifier was in mute, halfway, max etc, the issue occurs regardless.
- When the music is playing, it will not drift and stay close to 0 at all volumes. It will also not drift whether the gain is changed when the music is playing too. Please note that the music signal is already much higher than 0.2V and as long as the DC offset is close to 0 or goes back to 0 as in this case, it is totally safe.
Again this is not what I am seeing here. Regardless of whether the amp is idle, being fed a sine, dual sine, or having music played through it, the DC issue is present.
It does seem to be less prominent when a signal is being played through the amp though.
Just to be sure that this was not an issue being caused by the measurement setup itself, I repeated the test with a different amplifier (Ferrum OOR), and the issue was not present.
As mentioned, I’ve not seen any reports of anything being damaged by Enleum devices and I am NOT saying ‘they are dangerous’. I am just saying that if you’re running headphones on this amp, adjusting volume slowly is probably a good idea just in case.
There is of course the chance that this is simply a bad unit, and if Enleum or someone else is happy to lend me another unit for a day or two to test I’ll happily update this and the original post with results from that.
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this does sound like a warning of danger…
…it generally is and should not be taken lightly xD
What level do you set the volume on the ENLEUM when using. Chord Dave. I have mine set at 1 o’clock and adjust the volume on the Dave with good results so far. Any suggestions for best SQ??
Why not set the Dave to 100% and then control the volume with the Enleum? That’s the rule of thumb unless there’s a specific scenario that pushes you to alternative options
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So the Enleum actually performs best with a lower than usual input signal.
I’d recommend setting the DAVE to about -15dB and giving that a go
I have a 13R and I set my dave to the -3 setting and then control volume thru the amp which uusally ends up around 30 but then I am listening to power hungry HP’s like the susvara and abyss 1266 TC
What’s the verdict on the AMP-13R vs AMP-23R sound-wise?
Does the Bakoon have the same lower mid thickness that gets in the way of total clarity?
Speaking of, I found that using the DAC-21 via SATRI did not exhibit that thickness and sounds fantastic. A better pairing than my Wavedream XLR Edition, which is a first.
The DAC-21 is a great DAC in its own right, but it’s never been able to quite match the Wavedream with any other amp, until now.
I’m in a weird situation at the moment (first world problem, to be sure):
I bought the AMP-23R hoping it would replace both the Ferrum Oor + Hypsos (for Susvara) and the ECP T4 (for dynamics: JAR660S & Atrium). If it failed meeting both conditions, I would just sell it.
With the Wavedream, the AMP-23R is not up to the challenge. The R2R richness is too much with the lower mid thickness of the Enleum and brings unwanted muddiness.
With the DAC-21, however, the case could be made for the Enleum replacing the Oor for Susvara.
I’m still not quite sure about the WD + T4 for dynamics, though. It’s very close overall, but I came into this thinking I would sell the Enleum if it didn’t work out, I would never imagine selling the Wavedream, ever.
Decisions, decisions.
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I have only heard the 13r as I own it and have found it to be a wonderful amp with none of issues spoken of here
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You are the first I hear that didn’t like the Wavedream Enleum pairing.
I own a Wavedream Balanced Edition and had the Enleum in the past and enjoyed it with the Susvara much more than the Ferrum before it.
The 23r definitely has more emphasis in the mids and warmth but I don’t think it misses on clarity. One can argue it smoothes textures (I agree) but I wouldn’t consider that a clarity issue.
What filter are you using with your Wavedream? what source do you have feeding it?
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I’m using the linear filter, dithering on and local clock.
Currently feeding I2S from Pi2 Mercury v1. I have an Holo Red on order which may or may not improve anything.
Also, everything runs off of a Furman P2400-IT balanced isolation transformer, so I have very clean power.
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Goldensound’s YouTube of the Enleum 23R saved my wallet some unnecessary future expenses… will check out Ferrum Oor / WA33 for that warmer sound.
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I’ve had both the 23R and the Ferrum Oor stack here and ended up selling them both; I just prefer a tube sound. WA33 is a bit over my head, but I’m very happy with my Eddie Current Studio B with WE tubes, and I’m expecting delivery on a Donald North Audio Stratus in the next week or so. But I thought both the 23R and Oor stack were impressive as SS headphone amps.
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That’s not the Wa33.
It’s extremely dry, most people expecting a lot of midrange warmth, would be surprised and disappointed.
The nature of balanced tube amps is that the architecture removes much of what people who’ve only experienced entry level tube amps associate with tubes.
It’s a very technical amp, there is some midrange warmth, but to put it in perspective it’s less than some SS amps.
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High-end tube amps often converge on a clean, technical, and spacious sound. Some stereotypically ‘tubey’ amps from cheap to expensive add lots of thick harmonic distortion (or a smeary mess) and are much harder to deal with than an average SS amp.
I would guess that like most tube amps, it’s highly dependent on the tubes involved. The amp would not sound the same with JJ or Gold Lion tubes as it would with Western Electrics… Sometimes a tube upgrade will make as much of a difference as a model upgrade (if there was one).
It’s still pretty dry. When I swapped out the rectifier for a number of different flavors, it was still pretty dry. And I feel the rectifier swap does a decent amount.
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