@M0N please move this thread if there’s an Ampsandsound thread somewhere I missed. Otherwise I’m starting one now.
I got up in a mood to toss around equipment and switch things around today.
I’ve got an OG Pendant from Amps and Sound, one of Justin’s early models that he used to show off the design to Zach over at ZMF before he started marking the Pendant’s w/the ZMF logo.
It’s a great amplifier that you can roll to your hearts content, problem is that it has to be in exactly the most RFI free location or it picks up even the slightest transmission and turns that into annoying noise😡
I swore I was going to throw it out a window last time I played w/ it. I couldn’t get the noise to go away…Today though, I’m in love w/ her all over again because she likes her resting area very much. Free of interferenence from any outside sources she’s singing as quiet as her innards will allow, which is pretty darned quiet Also considering she’s connected direct to a laptop w/no DDC I’m impressed again by just how good she sounds. Another window toss avoided!
My rack was full of junk and not being used so I’m busy cleaning up and throwing a dedicated HP station on it. Bonus the Pendant likes the location, I had never tried her here before.
I think I may be the only person on this forum that still owns anything from Amps&Sound…damn I’m stubborn
I have an Ampsandsound Nautilus and also the last generation OG Pendant before it was replaced by the SE model. Luckily I’ve never had noise issues on either one.
No, folks seem to have simply moved on to different manufacturers, they were popular for a while elsewhere but this group has moved onto bigger and better
I have a forge, @krack has a mogwai se, @SpeleoFool has pendand and naut. Tbh, if i had to guess, we have more representation of A&S on this forum than any other tube amp manufacturer. Just not by people that talk about them much
This is my current (2022) theater / headamp reference setup. I am still using Holo May as my primary DAC for both 2 channel loudspeaker listening and my small collection of reference amps in the picture above. The Goldpoint is a trim for a spare 2 channels on my McIntosh 8207 (see bright blue VUs on 1st pic). So that’s the current SS reference, then Nautilus for tubes, and GS-X Mini as an alternate SS flavor, essentially. DAC + Amp pairing is accomplished using a 4x4 passive XLR switch by Mapletree Audio that lets any one combination be active at a given time.
Just off frame to the right is where my work station lives; I can easily listen to any of these amps with a moderately long cable (2.5-3m or so), although I am mostly listening to Oor on my desk and saving Nautilus, etc., for dedicated listening sessions where I can get more into the music. Running MEST MkII customs on Oor today, for example.
Yeah, I am completely swamped with work these days. I am almost exclusively on Telegram these days, and even barely there. I’m mildly surprised I found this when it’s only one week stale
So this is a little bit of a tough one. WA33 (base) is more technical than Naut from a more classical audiophile point of view (detail, stage placement, separation, etc), but lots of people will pic naut over wa33. Naut is not something I would blind buy tbh. I know 4 or 5 people now who have settled on naut as end game even after hearing other stuff in the price range, so I have a hard time saying it doesn’t compete, but it has to be the sound you are after.
Just from a personal level, I quite love the mogwai line (and absolutely think it competes within their respective tiers even to the point of being my favorite sound sig I’ve ever heard) but was not a fan of naut. I will get some more time with naut around canjam with some different tubes though so we will see how it goes then.
EDIT: also, I just wanted to say, I haven’t heard anything as classically technically proficient as wa33. my aic is still a tier down from that. I still just don’t like that amp and seriously would not own one
Are we talking wa33 elite or base spec? I would agree the elite has a slight technical advantage over the aic (in some aspects), but I would honestly put the aic well over the base wa33 from a technical perspective
Have any of you experience with Ampandsound amplifiers?
You can find some reports, some of them are a bit older, but the others don’t seem to be necessarily informative enough.
I was looking at the Kenzie and Mogwai as a second amp.
The Kenzie makes a great impression, but the choice of tubes is a bit limited. Maybe the sound is what I’m looking for, but it could be similar to the Feliks Euforia.
The Mogwai is a bit different, but the cost of the rabbit hole is higher.
However, I haven’t decided anything yet.
A Decware Csp3 could also be a possibility, but the waiting list is supposedly long.
Just like the Dna Starlett, over a year.
I don’t want to say that the Feliks Euforia amplifier is to be beaten.
It should be more of an upgrade if you can call it that, but I would still keep it.
Headphones are mainly Zmf Auteur and the upcoming Atrium.
Maybe a Vérité closed or Open at some point.
A&S would also make a Eu version, but I’d have to be really sure about that, as there’s also customs clearance.
So there is no refund afterwards.
The Kenzie encore I had was a step above the Euforia in all aspects paired with ZMF VC/VO(even with Tungsol 5998 and Kenrad grey glass).
Prices for A&S amps have come down a lot past year or so. A Kenzie ovation sold for 2.3-2.3k sometime ago which was a fantastic deal considering new Euforia prices. You could get Justin to convert the voltage to 220V if you buy used.
I only just got the notification for this somehow. Elite I woild say is a step ahead and normal, honesyly, I’d put on a similar tier with the dacs I’ve used
I own a Bigger ben rev 2 and really enjoy it. Most of my time so far was spent with it on speakers, ZU DWIIs, which sounded fantastic and just recently transitioned it to my desk for headphone and nearfield listening. At my desk, I’m pulling a signal off of my dac2541 and going to grab my Bifrost 2 to see if that helps my listening expereicne with synergy (I’d venture to guess it will haha). I will say upfront I’m dealing with some noise floor issues after moving it closer to my PC and a “crowded” wall outlet. I am in a very old building and have a ton of electronics near the amp in the current setup. Its a work in progress…
In saying that, there are better times of day and if you choose a lower impedance the noise drops drastically. I think the amp is quite fun if you are looking for a slightly warmer and dense sound. I wouldn’t call it a microdetail style amp, however I enjoy it for what I think it does well for me - I settled on 6ca7 power tubes and a Sylvania 5751 input tube. A big portion of the journey for me was tube rolling; not a friend to my wallet. I listen to mostly rock at my desk and that has been a nice experience so far with my HD6xx. Sadly my VC has been too noisy thus far. I’ve not heard any of the other amps in the line up but am interested if anyone has comparisons to the 1626 based power amps.
Final word, I do keep a vio280 on my desk for music that requires a more exact and quick sound for techo and more ambient/noise tracks.
I have read the reports about the pairing with the Verite.
Auteur and others are a bit thin on the ground unfortunately.
With the Kenzie I think the price has gone up.
The previous version was available for 1500-1600$.
The Rev 2 seems to have driven the costs up a bit.
But the 3000$ might be worth it.
I don’t know about the Mogwai, I think it used to be around 5000$, apart from that the current Mogwai can drive additional speakers which is not bad.
Cool that you have experience with the Euforia that helps a bit.
I have to say that last year I completely equipped mine with Vcaps with TFTF on the 6sn7 and Odam on the 6n5P socket.
The whole thing is a bit more exotic now and actually damn good actually,better than before with standard caps where installed.
That’s why it makes it a bit harder to find something.
But I would be open to trying something new.
Last weekend I listened to the Mcintosh mha 200 in the standard version with the Zmf Auteur.
It was not a direct improvement to the euforia for me.
It had slightly better bass,midrange perhaps a little more accurate,and a little nicer detail,but much kept rather subtle.
However, the Dac was a Node 3, not necessarily the best part, not what I use at home.
Apart from that,2 things bothered me about the amp at such a price tag.
The impedance circuit is not well designed and the volume pot from 12 o’clock onwards is a horror to operate.
I can understand the annoyance for those who bought it.
I’m a bit surprised that A&S is not so well represented in the forum, even though it’s an Us product and not many people are talking about it.
I owned a pendant, at one point, my impressions are in the general source gear impressions thread, there are some other viewpoints in there on a variety of Justin’s amps.
They are in a kind of middle ground, he has his fans, but he’s never had the following of a DNA or Eddie Current, some of that is his tube selections, which aren’t as popular in the headphone space as the sexy DHT’s.
Some of it is because noise problems seem to be prevalent on his amps, and it’s soured a number of owners.
The whole tube amp space tends to be very susceptible to trends on head-fi in particular, Decware amps used to be easy to get, and Justin’s amps got more coverage a couple of years ago.
Also considering she’s connected direct to a laptop w/no DDC I’m impressed again by just how good she sounds. Another window toss avoided! 
