Donald North Audio Amplifier Compendium

As promised to @joch, I've put together a small compendium of the DNA amps that are currently in production. The decision to exclude the OOP amps are simple; they're difficult to find at best and it's such an a-hole move to recommend something that is out of production and on top of that, rare at best.



With that out of the way, let's get into the DNA house sound. DNA amps tend to have a bit of innate tube bloom and wetness that reveals itself more as an inward quality; these are empathetically NOT tubey and bloomy in a gross way like a Darkvoice amp. They all stage in a manner that is both very large and pretty nebulous in terms of its boundaries, but the imaging itself is very precise. Transients are not slow like some other gross tube amps; they're actually quite "fast" and defined. However, despite all that, the DNA presentation remains composed, stately, and refined.

That being said, if one prefers the more modern solid-state sound, Donald North amps are NOT for you. They are old school tubes done right. As a whole, this means that you will have to deal with some of the tube sins of commission, but will get immensely rewarded with a profound lack of sins of omission. There just isn't much, if anything, to complain about as far as sins of omission goes even for the Starlett, which is the cheapest amp in the current lineup. That being said, there is going to be a notable and unsubtle increase in performance as you move up the price tiers.

Allow me to reiterate who these amps are NOT for:

• You want a modern SS sound.
• You hate tubes with a passion (I actually personally kind of fall into this category).
• You're a big planar fan, especially of old-school Hifiman.
• You're scared of hearing something that is so good that you're going to obsess about it until you break and drop the money to order something that's worth thousands of dollars.

However, people who like the DNA sound tend to NEVER let them go. There's a reason for this, and the simple answer is yes, they're actually that good. On top of this, Donald North is a fantastic dude with a treasure trove of knowledge in amp design, and is just overall a fantastic dude to just sit down and have conversation with.

One thing to keep in mind with DNA amps is that they seriously don't need $$$$$ tubes. Sure, you can roll tubes to your liking and make things to your preferences, but even with regular new production tubes DNA amps sound fantastic. You really don't need to dive down the tube rabbit hole to enjoy phenomenal sound.

The last thing to note is that prices quoted here will be ballpark prices. These are subject to change based on inflation, shipping BS, and stuff outside of Donald's control. I will attempt to keep this as up-to-date as possible, but seriously, keep in mind that these prices are subject to change and Donald as basically a one-man boutique amp show just doesn't have the resources to be able to keep prices constant. You're essentially getting a bespoke, hand-built amp, and thus you're going to see price fluctuation.

And with all the formal exposition now spouted, let's get into each individual amp on offer. Keep in mind Donald is not a greedy a-hole trying to fleece you out of your money; the jumps in price do indeed correspond to both a higher level of quality in components and better technical performance than the previous offering*. That being said, there are still differences between them:

• Starlett (~$2.5k): The cheapest and technically the lowest-end of the DNA offerings. However, don't get fooled; the Starlett is an amazing amp even for the price on offer; I've called it the first step into a true Big Boy tube amp and I stand by that statement even today and in lieu of a lot of other things being released. Simply put, in areas like resolve and stage this amp straight-up blows cheaper amps out of the water. On top of this, the Starlett has the amazing benefit of using incredibly cheap tubes; 5AR4 rectifier, 6CG7 input tube, and 6DG6 output tubes. The whole tube complement can easily be bought for under $100 as long as you're not hunting for esoteric NOS tubes (and really, that can only be done for the rectifier and the input tube). Starlett does indeed sound meaningfully different than the other "true" SET DNA amps; a part of this is the fact that it's using pentodes strapped in triode mode.
• Stratus (~$4k to $4.5k): The middle child of the DNA amp lineup, the latest version with the custom Audio Note transformers can really be thought of as a "Stellaris Lite." Yes it's about twice the price of the Starlett, but the Stratus earns its price not only by the quality of components (Donald uses things like Duelund capacitors as well), but the quality of sound. Is a bit more tubey than the Starlett and Stellaris and is the wettest in general, but absolutely has phenomenal technical performance. Uses 2A3 tubes with a 5U4G rectifier and 6N1P input tubes.
• Supernaut (~$4.2k to $4.5k): This is what happens when someone who knows what they're doing messes around with non-traditional tubes. Donald took the KT66, strapped them in triode mode, and really made something magical; the Supernaut somehow gives a lot of advantages of tetrodes/pentodes where they have this power, speed, and drive to their transients, but somehow injects SET magic. Due to this, it's the closest thing in the lineup to a Starlett+. Uses KT66 tubes, 5U4G rectifier, and 6CG7 input tubes.
• Stellaris (~$7.2k): I've called this amp the crown jewel of dynamic driver headphone amps for a reason. Yep, it's that frickin' good. If you like dynamic driver headphones, you'll be hard pressed to find a better amp. Has so, so few sins of omission that it's borderline criminal; trust me you'll know exactly how your source sounds like. Stellaris has this weird trait where it feels like it can parse out and play each individual layer of music very distinctly, but somehow puts it all together in a cohesive manner. Uses 2A3 tubes with a 5U4G rectifier and 6N1P input tubes.

*The one thing to add is that for some amps Donald is able to offer upgrades. This is most notably offered for the Stellaris, but an upgrade to a stepped attenuator is available as well on Supernaut. These upgrades DO NOT COME CHEAP and are probably more of a result of Donald having to pass along costs. Inquire at your own wallet's peril.

 

About Tube Rolling

Anyone who knows me knows that I loathe rolling tubes. Not only are tube prices insane for certain tube types, but this introduces a layer of nervosa that gives me the type of headache that no amount of my favorite whiskies would help me. That being said, tubes are absolutely a way to help tune a DNA amp more to your preferences. Keep in mind that Donald does provide nice stock tubes and the amp is voiced in a way to provide a wonderful, fulfilling listening experience with those tubes. DNA amps are not your Woo amps which practically require uber tubes to sound really good; gains made with tube rolling is likely to be incremental at best and usually are just tuning the amp to preferences.

My take on this is that if you want to, try a few different tubes and as soon as you find something you like, just stick with it.

Also, please for the love of God do NOT just stick tubes in the amp "because they fit." Ask Donald about tube compatibility; he'll be open and honest with you and is a great resource. I myself tried a GZ37 rectifier in my Starlett out of curiosity and found it more to my liking. As always, your mileage may vary.

 

Synergy: Headphones and DACs

As we are all too fond of saying on SBAF, synergy is king. You can go ahead and buy a Stellaris and some random kilobuck headphone with some ORFAS DAC and chances are that the end result is not going to be very good. DNA amps need some careful curation of components to bring out the best sound, and again, the best of synergy with these amps may not be for you. The DNA sound is just not for everyone and that's okay to say that you didn't find it to your liking. This section is not meant to be an exhaustive or comprehensive guide; more like some things that I've observed and some generic guidelines.

In general with DACs, I have always found the best synergy with R2R DACs. For my preferences, the Schiit DACs are an easy choice; things like Yggdrasil GS, MIB, A2/OG, and Gungnir A2. These work for someone who prefers a bit more of a modern R2R; more incisive but maintaining the richer R2R timbre. The older classic R2R sound works very well here as well (just ask Donald; he uses an old Sonic Frontiers CD player and it sounds fantastic with all his stuff). Soekris 2541 also is worth a mention; I personally really liked it with the brickwall filter and the Starlett. Some NOS DACs are also worth a mention; I know some people here who have had great success with Holo Audio stuff and DNA amps.

In fact, the only thing I'd really say is that the modern delta-sigma sound doesn't really do too hot with DNA amps. Ask me how I know; I used a Matrix X-Sabre with my Starlett for a while before @tommytakis kindly loaned me his OG Bifrost 2 to audition. I didn't like it much from a tonality perspective but holy crap the timbre was soooooo good. That is what ultimately led me to buying the Yggdrasil GS.

As far as headphones go, I would generally say to avoid planars. I'm not saying this as a bonafide planar hater of epic proportions; the synergy just isn't there. DNA amps are really for people entrenched in the team dynamic camp and work well with all sorts of dynamics; everything from Sennheisers (vintage and new), vintage Beyerdynamics, ZMFs (if you're into ZMFs, which is a whole other topic), some of the ETA stuff (crazy I know, but I've secretly been using my O2 with the Supernaut and it does sound pretty good), and Focals (with the OG Utopia receiving a particular shoutout here for sounding absolutely incredible with all the DNA amps). However, if you insist on a planar, I have found the Rosson RAD-0 to work pretty well and the ZMF Caldera as well. Other orthos may also work if they are efficient (I've heard that the Final D8000 Pro work well but can't comment on this personally). If you're a Susvara person or HE-6 dude though then stay away; DNA isn't for you.

Is all of this confusing? Great! My sincerest advice here is to ask other DNA owners what's worked for them and triangulate for yourself. Unfortunately, your preferences are your own and building that system around a DNA amp will be a bit of a personal journey with plenty of auditioning along the way. And also, there is no need to stress out about this; if you find something that you like, then stick with it.