Feliks-Audio Elise Tube Amp Review (NOT)

Not a review, but from my from experience with it so far, this is a wonderful amp. Did absolutely fine with various headphones: Sennheiser HD600, Sony MA900, and even HFM HE560 (this low Z headphone measured with no bass roll-off). Nice clarity, transient response, and microdynamics that only good tube implementation can pull off. Slight tube wetness and bloom, but not bloated, slow, or sluggish in the bass at all. This is really fantastic considering the price. I'd put the proper price point of this amp at $1000 if not more. Definitely a step up from Valhalla 2. I wish EC could make a tube amp like this for the price, but I guess with a few US dollars, one can probably buy a hotel in Poland.

@Hands' Elise Review with Tube Rolling Notes: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...se-tube-amp-review-not.2260/page-9#post-59474



Highly recommended for those who like a good tube sound (neutral, fast, engaging). Not recommended for people who prefer gooey warm tube amps. Thank you @Kon Peki for bringing this to our attention! I'll post pictures in a bit because people like pictures.

 

This is good news! I would love to try this out against my S7 and modded Crack.

To those less familiar with the community: See, we're not inherently against hyped products. Just cautious is all.

 

Most definitely has the SuperBAF Seal of Approval. In terms of similar type tube amps at different price points for the lower end, here is my comprehensive list in order of capability.

1. Schiit Valhalla 2 $349
2. Laconic Night Blues Mini $450 (includes fees for Han Solo smuggling this out of Russia and general lack of availability)
3. Feliks Audio Elise $699

The NBM is transformer coupled and has a slightly different sound. Those who want something a bit warmer and lusher may prefer the NBM. The Valhalla 2 is the most "solid-state" sounding (I mean this is a good way). The only obvious shortcoming of the Elise (and this applies for everything on the list), is that it doesn't quite have the bass heft like the big boys. That being said, the Elise does slam a bit more than the others on the list. But really, it isn't a criticism, especially at $699, and it definitely slams as well or even slightly better than almost any solid state amp out there up to $1000.

@Kon Peki (that sounds like a Star Wars character) provided me with good tubes. Some old stock Sylvania 6SN7 and Mullard 6080s. I don't feel a need to do weirdo shit tube rolling because I don't want Feliks Audio to have to suffer at the hands of idiots who blow up their amps. No everyone is an idiot, but 1 out of 20 people are. Also the 6SN7 and 6080 are fantastic sounding tubes and I would be hard pressed to name other great sounding tubes (with good availability), but I could name a lot of worse sounding ones.





@Hands, I think you should definitely get your hands on this. I would be interested to hear your impressions. I'll ship it to you and you can ship it back to @Kon Peki.

 

And he would have earned the respect that he much craved.

 

Wonderful. Really eager to get this in and do a three-way comparison with my existing amps. Valhalla 2 still has an impression burned into my mind as well, so I can do a mental comparison with that as well. Should be fun!

 

That's too funny. If you had asked me, those exact tubes are among the few I would have recommended.

 

The HE560 holds its own. Audeze LCD2 (the old pre-fazor rev2) is fine too. The bass is better controlled, more precise and has better sustain on something like a Magni or Vali 2, but the Elise does surprisingly good, despite the bass being a bit more rounded and having less sustain and heft (although bass slam and attack is quite good). Besides, Elise does everything else past the bass aspect better than Magni or Vali 2. Elise Output Z measures 45 ohms. I think part of the Elise doing well with planars is decent power, at least just enough to deal with more than half the power not being transferred to the headphone.

Here is a quick measurement and comparison to two other similar amps. Lots of second order. Very little higher orders.

Feliks Audio Elise 1kHz @ ~0.550Vrms (using /10 diff. probe) into 330 ohms


For comparison, MicroZOTL


And Laconic Night Blues Mini