This one and the dumont makes the starlett slam hard lol!
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Is that a black or grey plate, looks black from the pic but never can be too sure.
There’s a couple 6cg7s I’m looking at but still wandering around. I will probably try the GE. Im pretty happy with the set I got going now. Will let them cook for a bit.
I should go back and listen to my tubes for the dynamics. I’ll wait for my VO to arrive first as the Autuer isnt really much for slam. Its bass tonality is great, just not much oomph.
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I think they’re grey plates.
Sorry I should be more thorough in my tube rolling, but mcat coming up in a month 
These are just rough first impressions for now haha I promise I’ll do a thorough write up once I’m free from this exam 
Oh you got the VO? nice! which wood did you get? I had the Ziricote Verite Open before
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Put up what you want re tubes. My blathering on about them is mostly a stress release for me so you do what you want. If we try really hard we can turn this in to a headfi post (
or 
depending on your perspective).
I got the camphor burl coming. Still gonna be a while.
The MCATs are probably just as pointless today as when I had to take them. Just another hoop to jump through and also pay for. Good luck.
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Will do. They also provide some mental notes for me to look back on to see if my impressions changed
Camphor burl wood is sexy man, congrats!
Thanks! Hopefully I only have to take it once 
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That Camphor Burl VO looks stunning! Excited to see some pics when you get it in!
My brother is studying for the MCAT. Has been for the past 4 months straight everyday. His exam is slotted for next month, and hes super relieved to know that it will be over soon
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The new coke bottle helps with the slight rounded transients that starlett has with a bit more treble energy. I really like it
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This may be a dumb question, what are your thoughts on skipping the Starlett and going for the Stratus?
I had the opportunity to demo the Starlett and fell in love with the sound, what I am concerned about is the difference in power between the amps. If I am buying for the long run, more power on tap might be useful, or am I thinking in the wrong terms?
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When I talked to Donald, I got the sense that the Starlett was kind of a mini Stratus, which is probably a gross oversimplification. I’m wondering if it’s the same general circuit, only using less expensive tubes?
I hope he doesn’t mind me posting a bit of our email conversation…
As you move up the product range, you get more layering, texture, nuance, slam, and finesse. The Stratus and Stellaris also offer a bit more power for challenging planars. Since your into dynamics, like me, even the Starlett would be a very good choice.
The Stratus offers a bit more presence and “you are there”-ness provided by the 2A3.
I went with the Stratus myself.
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That’s not a bad way of thinking since you’ve auditioned a DNA amp and like the sound. I chose the Starlett because insanely cheap tube types ($4/tube) yet has great layering that most crave from tube amps. I also only use dynamic driver headphones so I don’t really need the extra power. IF you are someone who has inefficient planars, I definitely would opt for Stratus. I just don’t want to fork out hundreds and thousands on a set of tubes. This was my logic in “future proofing” it. YMMV of course.
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@ProfFalkin, @tommytakis Thank you for your perspective. The snippet provided by Donald makes sense especially given I enjoy the Starlett sound signature.
I will be using planar, currently have the Aeon Flow Closed and will add another open back in the future. When I listened to the Starlett with my Verite, I felt I had to turn the volume pot on a higher range than I normally did, and thus my concern about power output. On the AFC, the volume was about the same with both switches down.
I am of the mindset of set it and forget it when it comes to tubes, would rather have the best I can afford and be done unless someone has a great suggestion. Of course this could be due to my lack of experience around the different tubes and how they affect sound.
$2k vs. $3k in year from now I would be hitting my head against a wall if I short changed myself over a difference of $1k
Thank you again, @perogie would like to hear your thoughts too if you would be so kind. Especially since you had deliberated over the Pendant as I am currently.
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Thats a big rectifier.
A bit more treble energy, that may be an interesting mix with the tubes I have. I’ll have to see how it plays out with my tubes when I get mine, hopefully next week. Im starting to appreciate a bit of zip wth my transients so an improvement in that might be nice, still like a touch of decay though.
You running the GE preamp and the Dumonts with that?
yessir, RCA, GE, and Dumonts.
Verite with Starlett was a nice combo. That was the first time I heard the Starlett actually and first time Donald heard the Verite. Donald like the Verite with Universe pads
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My 2 cents.
I think the Starlett is a very similar circuit topology as the Stratus and I would also agree with @ProfFalkin that it is kind of a mini-Stratus. Congrats on the Stratus to the Professor as well, is that a new order or do you already have one?
I was very close to going for the Stratus. I had discussions with Donald about it as well and he was very confident in the abilities of the Starlett to be something I would be happy with for a long time. It was not about up front costs, the extra 1k was not the issue.
Reasons why I went Starlett over Stratus:
- Starlett has a smaller footprint, I got limited space for audio equipment and the Stratus would have been pushing that.
- I didn’t need the extra power that the Stratus has as I only run dyamics and dont have much interest in planars for whatever reason. If that is a concern for you than Stratus for sure. With my Autuer I dont go past 3 on the volume pot, but of course thats with the gain toggle up (I prefer both toggles up).
- As @tommytakis said, tubes are cheap! My four tube complement running the Starlett right now is $50 and it sounds great. If you arent gonna tube roll and are happy with what Donald supplies then this may be a non issue. The stock tubes on the Starlett sound very good - Donald has a good ear.
- Every review I have read and even what I gathered from Donald suggests the differences are mild between the Starlett and the Stratus. Stratus is the more capable amp, but probably only by a small amount so I didnt think I was giving up much.
Down the road you never know, I may upgrade to the Stratus, but I wouldnt be expecting a huge jump.
If you like the DNA house sound demonstrated by the Starlett and want more power and are OK with the potential outlay for tubes than Stratus it is. If you dont think you’d need the power, then the Starlett will get you pretty damn close to the Stratus and is perhaps the value buy, if any $2K amp can really be called that.
Does that help any? If more specific questions please ask, I’ll answer what I can.
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Thank you. I ordered a while ago. I figure I have about 4 or 5 months left to wait. Ish.
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Got an email last week, my Stratus is apparently Running, so should ship soon.
Pretty much right on the 5 month estimate Donald gave me.
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Thank you that helps immensely, I will circle back for sure.
Edit, I am also using the high gain and IEC up and typically the volume knob is at 4-5 with a variety of music such as rock, acoustic, etc. The volume setting may also be affected by my Chord Mojo with the non-line-out line-out setting of 1.9v. I have another DAC to experiment with a bit more this weekend to see if this is the case.
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My BF2 running single ended has a 2V RMS max output. Maybe I got sensitive ears.
Did a quick look up re tubes costs for the Stratus, the 2A3s are the only ones that would set you back a pretty penny if you were to roll them, the 5u4 and 6N1P are reasonable as far as tubes go so perhaps the tube expense thing isnt that bad, provided you are happy with the stock 2A3 and they last for a while.
I forgot to mention that Donald doesnt max out the power tubes on the Stratus, so that should extend the life of those tubes. I actually asked him this when I was considering the Stratus.
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Its funny, since you posted the Dumonts Im seeing them in listings now!
If the 5U4G adds treble energy then maybe I can put my clear top back in. Still like its timbre the best, just feeling like going bright right now so Zenith.
Got some GE power tubes coming and some random Toshiba preamp as well just because. There’s a fair number of the GE preamps out there so I’ll probably check those out too.
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Thanks all for your comments on the Starlett vs Stratus as I’m likely to have to make the same decision soon after auditioning the Starlett soon.
I also lean toward dynamics, but would like the option for planars in the future (maybe a ZMF planar that is on the same level as his dynamics, one can hope/dream!).
Overview of possible options for those similarly situated as me:
- Stratus
- Starlett
- Starlett for dynamics and Tuba for planars and the 6 month wait
- Pendant (is it pretty established that the Pendant adequately powers inefficient planars and there isn’t the same concern as with the Starlett?)
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