I’ve used BF2, Gungnir A2 Multibit, Lampizator Amber 3 and an Aqua LaVoce S3 with mine.
That’s pretty much my preference in order from good to best.
I personally wouldn’t go much lower than the BF2, and not much higher than the Amber 3/LaVoce S3.
You will want to replace the regulator tube with something at least of the level of an NOS RCA 5U4G.
Wait, I thought it was the Mola Mola Tambaqui? Did I miss a meeting?
Yes, good list.
Rectifiers are key on DNA amps.
No, no - that’s the DAC to go with if you want the one with the coolest name!
Following your logic, I put in my order for a WA33 (Elite + JPS) yesterday (I was about to get serious about Stellaris Special).
In return for accepting the “Woo standard of engineering” (vs. the presumably higher DNA aspirations), the WA33 will have enough power for current & future “inefficient” cans, and it will also drive e.g. Utopia well. With DNA (Stellaris was a serious temptation/consideration - almost everything else would have been perfect, except industrial design preference and this power limit) I would have left that gap to be covered by yet another tube amp (was looking at AIC-10 or similar).
Driving Utopia currently from a ML585 speaker amp (via taps + resistors), many of the slight negatives in some reviews regarding lows & punch are turned into strong positives in this configuration. It would be interesting to see somebody with the prerequisite arsenal of amps and cans do a more systematic evaluation of the synergies, pros & cons for different pairings specifically from medium vs. low power point of view.
Hi,
Im looking for a suggestion. Not sure if its the right thread.
Im thinking to get either DNA Stratus or A&S Kenzie Ovation or Mogwie
At the moment, Im quite keen with Stratus but it seems the lead time is quite long.
Has anyone had a chance to compare them?
My headphones are HD800s & VC
In the future, I would love to get 1266 or susvara
Stratus with 800 or VC will do well.
Sus and 1266 - its controversial as to how well these can be driven by it. Some say fine, others will disagree.
Cant comment on A&S amps, I put my money on DNA.
Good to hear a different take. The general vibe I get is that A&S simply produces the best tube amps out there full stop.
That made me laugh out loud. No offence intended.
EDIT: They make gear a lot appreciate so Im not trying to crap on them. They have the benefit of having quicker production times so they can get amps out more frequenty whereas something like a DNA amp is many months of wait.
No offense taken and I didn’t mean my personal vibe. But sort of the YouTube/forum talk in a broader sense. I have zero tube amps, so not speaking from any sort of experience.
Welcome to the world of fat chewing and spitballing. The web is full of people with zero experience and big talk.
Fair enough. That’s why I found the post interesting. Beyond purchase direction, an obvious topic for anyone involved in any hobby, it’s just nice to learn more about the players that are considered at the top of the heap, whether well-marketed or not.
No offense intended, but I think that’s a bunch of hype. (That’s not to say A&S don’t make great amps, I think they do.)
The winds of hype change direction quite often. Travel back in time a bit, and it’s also favored Decware, Eddie Current, DNA, etc.
In my experience, all of those companies make great amps. I also wouldn’t say any are ‘full stop’ better than another. Just different flavors for different preferences.
I have heard both ASS and DNA amps, with a VO and LCD-2.2, and the DNA with Susvara.
I will try to not shit on ASS, my issue with their amps is they are too damn noisy with dynamic driver headphones such as any ZMF.
Some don’t mind the noise which can be described as three different bodies,
Then there is the other group who claim they don’t notice any noise whatsoever. Fine by me, if that is what they don’t hear. I
I have tried two separate ASS amps, one with speaker taps and one without. Why do they suffer this, no clue. I reckon they are overpowered design, given they are mostly speaker amps first.
So with low sensitivity planar headphones the issues above are less sever, on high sensitivity dynamic driver, fuggetaboutit
This will cause some too be butt hurt, so ahead of time I will not offer any apology for my commentary.
EDIT: I forgot, heard three ASS amps in the past 5 months not two.
Also, my autocorrect is broken.
This sounds totally realistic. I was honestly taken back a bit that it seemed like everyone was saying they’re the only way to go.
This is what gives the measurement crowd ammunition, and is a basis for ridicule. Some pick an obscure or expensive product and proclaim it the absolute best. Full Stop. Few own it so few can challenge them. Others call BS and demand that such folks pass double blind tests, and many embarrassingly fail.
There’s a lot of posturing about best with some arbitrary standard when it boils down to personal preferences and enjoyment. And your body changes and your ears habituate. What’s best one day or identifiable may not be the next. Enjoy the journey and ignore what others think.
Totally.
btw, seems my initial comment made some think I was shilling for ampsandsound. I have no horse in this race as an owner of zero and am not the type to pontificate otherwise. Perhaps my wording was off here, but I would never proclaim a best in anything audio – WAYYYYYY too inexperienced – and such a subjective thing.
I can’t speak for the A&S and the Stratus but the Starlett has been a great pairing for my 800 and vo. Definitely a long wait but it is very well worth it. The latest stratus comes with a new transformer will likely sound even better and more refine than the starlett. Doesn’t run well with inefficient planars though so you might want to consider another amp for those in the future.
Which model did you try?
Noise seems to be a common issue with A&S amps. Justin assured me though that their latest rev2 upgrades reduce this issue.
Also which DNA model did you use with susvara?
Well Said, coming from A guy And a Pair of Ears I trust. I heard many top-shelf amps at Can Jam, of course under show conditions, and deduced similar findings.
I tried the following:
DNA amp was both a Stellaris and my personal Stratus which is the new V4 model. Both have the same output specs and they handles the Susvara quite well, even the owner of the Susvara who typically uses a Bakoon and/or 300B tube speaker amp thought they were able to play well. He indicated the bass could have been a bit more present than what he was used to.