DNA Stellaris - Official Thread

Do it!!! Good rectifiers and DNA are a great match.

The price delta is substantial, as you probably know. Screw it, go all in on a Stellaris Silver!!

Thats a big unicorn!! The first Stellaris Special rolled out only about a year ago so thats a very limited audience. Even the “base” Stellaris probably has less than 30 in circulation, probably low 20’s I’m guessing, but, I know of a few folks who are on the list for one or getting one soon so production continues on those. I dont know of anyone on the list for a Special.

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I only know one person with the Stellaris Special, and hes over on SBAF. I don’t think I have seen any impressions of the amp yet. For the Stellaris Special I believe some people have heard it, but I think there are only like 2 in the wild. So very hard to get impressions comparing the two.

It is a very substantial price jump, and I think while the internals are different, the main draw of the Special is the inclusion of speaker outs.

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Yeah plus I think the output transformers are nickel silver, with are probably 4x the price of the base transformers, which are costly enough and I think he’s done something with the power supply. Its a bit beyond what I would be willing to pay even for an endgame at this point. Id be happy with a plain old base Stellaris. Id consider the Special more if all my other components were set, Im good for cans but DAC is a BF2, which is very good for what it is, but not a DAC I would probably keep around if I were throwing it in with a Stellaris.

I knew about the guy on SBAF but I havent come across impressions either.

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Yeah there is internal components that are better or different, but I am not the most knowledgeable on it personally. Outside of my price range so never really even looked into it. I personally doubt that there would be too much of a difference between the Stellaris and Stellaris Special, but what do I know honestly lol.

Side note, my Stellaris is finishing up this week and should be sent out within the next week/2weeks.

What gear are you rocking now?

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Still on the Starlett, but Ive maxed out the tubes as best as I can.

Other gear is BF2 with VO and Utopia.

Mainly use the Utopia but Ive rediscovered the VO with Uni pads. My last couple of system tweaks really made a difference with them, which surprised the hell out of me. Was strongly considering selling but in chatting with some friends I decided to to give it another whirl and I was suddenly really happy with it. Just a weird experience, but a good one. The tweaks I made were pretty tiny but did just enough to put the LUniVO (Lambskin Universe Pads VO) over the top.

Just a small side note, eh? Awesome, you ordered a long while ago from what I recall. Exciting stuff. You still using the Yggy? I think you ordered the balanced inputs as well for the Stellaris too?

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Nice setup! I actually am planning on picking up a Utopia as well to match with my VO and Stellaris. I too enjoy the Lambskin Universe Pads with the VO, but have been using the Lambskin Verite pads a bit recently.

I ordered it back in January. I am using the Yggy still but plan on upgrading to a HoloMay/Wavedream/Chord Something eventually. And yup got the Stellaris with the Balanced Inputs.

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Yeah, Donald mentioned that. However, for a valid technical reason I don’t understand, including the speaker posts ends up not allowing the 4-pin output to run in balanced mode. At the moment, I don’t even have a balanced cable, but I also don’t have plans to run speakers off of the amp, so I’d probably opt for the version with no speaker posts, but allowing balanced out.

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Lol - I did ask about it. If headphone audio were my one true life’s love and passion, I’d even think about it, but yeah - not this time around.

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That’s what Donald is building for the Stellaris I have on order.

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Gotcha. I wonder if you could still run balanced on the dual 3 pin XLR outs. Note that I preferred the XLR outs with my ZMF and Senn headphones.

Nice. As I contemplate DNA pairings, I’ve also considered these and Bricasti, Sonnet, Aqua, and Metrum. I would like to get a better handle/read on whether DNA owners tend to pair their amps with oversampling vs NOS DACs, and in my case single ended and no HQP.

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With the EC Aficionado (another good 2A3 SET amp) and Verité (open and closed) headphones, my rough DAC preference order is:

Metrum Onyx < Sonnet Morpheus <= Yggdrasil A2 < Holo Spring 2 KTE

I sold the Onyx. I have the Morpheus and the Yggdrasil at location 1, the Spring 2 at location 2. I prefer the Morpheus with the ECP DSHA-3F transformer/solid state amp, and the Yggdrasil with the Aficionado, so keeping both at location 1. I have the Spring 2 and another Aficionado (as well as another DSHA-3F) at location 2. The Stellaris I’m expecting later this year will likely replace Aficionado 1. I may replace the Morpheus with another DAC when the Stellaris arrives. The candidates at this point are Wavedream, Holo May, or the forthcoming Holo Spring 3. I don’t need to decide yet.

Mainly modern jazz and 20-21st century classical. Various digital sources (Allo USBridge, Metrum Ambre, Pi2 Design Pi2AES), currently Pi2AES feeding AES or I2S depending on DAC.

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Cool. This is informative. Here’s to redundancy.

I wonder if the Metrum DAC 3 modules will move the needle.

I understand the Aficionado is more dry than DNA. How that impacts your ultimate DAC pairing for the Stellaris will be interesting.

Based on my listening, I personally prefer Chord over Schiit DACs. TBD regarding the others.

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Don’t know, I gave up on Metrum when they went through their ownership gyrations, and I’m not confident that they are back on a sound footing.

Indeed! I’ll be keeping one of the Aficionados so I hope to compare them.

I have a Hugo2 for portable use that’s OK, but I’d place below any of my full-sized systems: thinner, more mechanical, artificially clear. But I never heard Chord’s higher-end DACs.

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Clarification: balanced out to powered monitors? Is that the idea? Or am I missing something. That’s an interesting notion.

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This is a valid concern. Metrum, Aqua, and Sonnet modularity are attractive in the NOS space. You have the benefit of having already determined that you prefer Holo sonics.

Epic. 2A3 SET DHT throwdown! I believe I know what @dncnexus prefers.

I am aware, and can see how some describe it that way. The tonal density of my Mogwai SE combined with the warmth of my Verite Closed benefited from the polished presentation of the Qutest. TBD how things shake out with my intended Stratus and RAD-0.

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So, as I understood it, if I include speaker posts, the 4-pin headphone out would work, but not in balanced mode. If I forego the speaker posts, the 4-pin headphone out can also operate in balanced mode. I currently don’t have a balanced headphone cable, and since Chord DACs are natively single-ended, my plan is to only go for single ended in, but leave the option for balanced out, and skip the speaker binding posts.

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Thanks for the clarification. You’re rationale makes sense.

I’m surprised you haven’t tried a balanced cable with the Utopia, it’s slight but the balanced out on the Starlett with the Utopia is just a bit more tightly controlled and I’ve heard the same re the Stratus so I assume Stellaris may exhibit similar benefit.

No need to run out and get one though, just in this game of inches it’s another little bit forward. It’s perceptible most likely due the easy ability to A/B SE v balanced on the XLR out by flipping the toggle.

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I’m totally with you. I’ve been meaning to try one, but it just hasn’t been as high on my list as other things. I’ve been willing to jump on a nice balanced cable on the used market, but haven’t seen one. Otherwise, I’m ordering a new one from Norne, and that’s a a good $600+ I could be spending on tubes :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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@perogie What’s your preferred source for tubes, like an RCA rectifier?

I think Stellaris Silver will be my porn name.

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Good people of the DNA owners club:

I have officially decided to join your ranks!!! :beers:

As of this afternoon, I have plopped down my deposit on a Stellaris, including some options. Because Donald noted to me that it’s totally possible to upgrade a standard Stellaris to a Stellaris Special in the future, I figured I’d commit to a Stellaris, and then optionally upgrade down the road if I felt like I needed to push things up another notch. For my unit, I requested the addition of the custom TKD stepped attenuator, as well as a rectifier switch that allows the amp to optimally operate with GZ34, GZ37, and 422A rectifiers, in addition to the standard 5U4G. Because the Chord DAVE is natively single-ended, I decided to forego the balanced inputs, as I have no plans on using them in the foreseeable future.

With that, the king (WA5) is dead! Long live the king (DNA Stellaris)! I’ll muster up the energy to do a writeup in my typical amp-on-amp combat style in the near future, between the Stratus and WA5, but I have finally found a flavor that fits my chain and my preferences better than anything else I’ve heard.

Finally, I just want to call out the absolute top-notch service I’ve received from Donald throughout this entire process. The Stellaris was not the only amp I had on my list to consider, but when I contacted other makers, none were nearly as accommodating as Donald. He was willing to send me a demo unit, patiently answer my (many) questions, and work with me to customize the amp to my needs. The whole time, I never felt an ounce of pressure or sales-iness from his end. Donald is an absolute class act, and anyone in the market for his work should proceed with confidence.

GO BLUE!

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