DNA amp thread, Starlett / Stratus / Stellaris / Sonett

Sovrce Gear
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The TLDR version is I love mine.

I have one of the last ones made before the change to Audionote output transformers and the associated price jump.
To buy one, you basically email Donald, he’ll give you the price, and an estimated delivery date, if you agree, you pay 1/2 upfront and the rest when he completes the amp.
I contacted Donald back in February of 2020. ordered at the start of March and received the amp at the start of August, that was a little ahead of the original estimate. I believe current wait lists are a lot longer than that.
I paid $3000 for the amp ( I think the newer one with the Audionote output transformers is $4200) and at the time it was the most expensive component I had purchased for headphone use (those were the days).

The Amp

The Stratus is a a Single Ended Triode amplifier using 2A3 Directly Heated Triodes, a 6N1P input tube and a 5U4G rectifier. The amp ships with a Winged C 5U4G a pair of entry level PSVane 2A3’s, and an NOS 6N1P.

On the front you get dual 3Pin XLR outputs, a 4Pin XLR output and a 1/4 inch output, there is a volume knob and two switches, one for Hi/Lo Impedance and one oddly labelled (TRS 0db/-6db)(XLR SE/BAL).
On the back there is an IEC connector, a power switch, 2 RCA inputs, and an input selector switch.
On the top there are 2 trim pots associated with the output tubes than can be used to adjust the noise floor for very sensitive headphones (I’ve never touched them).

The Sound

While I was waiting for the delivery I actually bought a ZMF pendant as a stop gap, I liked that so much I wasn’t sure which one I would keep, well I wasn’t sure until I connected the Stratus and then there simply wasn’t a question, the Stratus was staying.
The first thing that struck me about the sound was the blackness, followed immediately by the staging and the microdetail, and there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, an immediacy/presence to the music that I hadn’t really heard on any other amp at the time.
There is something magical about DHT tubes, or possibly just 2A3’s (since both my DHT amps use them) that gives a presence to the music, I can’t really describe any better.
The Stratus is not wet amp like some of the Woo Amps I’ve heard, but neither is it as dry as something like a WA33 or any of the Edie Current amps I’ve heard, it has just a small taste of midrange richness without it being overpowering.
The stage is large and deep.
With the stock tubes the one knock I have on the Stratus, is it sometimes feels too relaxed, more so on the Hi impedance out, but it’s also present on the Low. You can address a lot of this by changing the rectifier (see tube rolling below).

Output Impedance

The impedance settings on the Stratus are not well articulated anywhere and I ended up talking to Donald for clarification.

  • XLR Anything – 8 Ohms
  • TRS Hi Impedance Hi Gain 110 Ohms
  • TRS Hi Impedance Low Gain 110 Ohms
  • TRS Low Impedance High Gain 8 Ohms
  • TRS Low Impedance Low Gain 3 Ohms

Good Headphone pairings

  • Sennheiser HD6?? - Any setting really
  • ZMF Verite C - Any setting really
  • ZMF Eikon - Any setting really
  • D8000 Pro - TRS Low Impedance/Low Gain - this has phenomenal synergy on this setting - prefer it to the WA33 for this headphone
  • MySphere 3.1 - TRS Low Impedance/Any Gain - close call Stratus or WA33 here

It’ll make Susvara and 1266 TC loud, but it’s not the best matched amp for either.
Outside of that almost anything will sound good, you might have to use the SE Low/Low to get there on some headphones the Gjallarhorn for example.

Tubes

I really loved the Stratus with the provided tubes but…

For my tastes I’d strongly recommend replacing the rectifier, it completely changes the character of the Amp. Unless you have the optional wiring for none DHT rectifiers, you’re going to want to stick to 5U4G’s, and of the reasonably priced 5U4G’s I tried I preferred by far the NOS RCA 5U4G’s (~$70). I know Donald likes that tube and the new production Emission Labs 5U4G, I haven’t tried the latter.
The RCA makes the amp more dynamic and lively over the Winged C tube.

There aren’t a lot of choices to replace the 6N1P, there is no direct western equivalent, all of them were made to the same spec in the same factory, and they are cheap. I did order some form the Ukraine to try and they sounded pretty much identical to the one that shipped with the amp. Some people do roll close alternates in place of the 6N1P, but I’ve never really felt the need.

I’ve had 4 sets of 2A3’s in the Status, the original PSVane Acme 2A3’s, a pair of LinLai Elite Series 2A3’s, and a pair of Electro Harmonix Gold 2A3’s. You pretty much get what you pay for, the Acme and Elite tubes are clearly superior, and the difference is most easily noted in the detail retrieval, the EH tube had some additional Bass over the others, and probably the least detail.
Overall it’s more detail and a “clearer” sound you get from the more expensive tubes, I would be very happy with either the PSVane Acmes, or the LinLai Elites, mine has the latter in it. But only because I bought them after I managed to break one of the PSVane tubes in it (I physically broke it banging it into a shelf when moving the amp).
All the modern tubes take 200+ hours of breakin to pick a sound signature< i just leave the Amp on while they are doing that.

DAC’s

DAC’s IME have a big impact on the overall sound of a system, but I really don’t find they change the character of an amp very much, or at least not the ones I have here. The Stratus is always going skew relaxed, so picking something on the more enegetic side can be a win.
I’ve used mine with Schiit Gungnir Multibit, Schiit Bifrost 2, Lampizator Amber 3 and an Aqua LaVoce S3.
I actually prefer the less bassy/sharper Gungnir to the BF2 with the DNA even though you have to use the less good SE out of the Gungnir.
I also chose to keep the Aqua over the Lampizator, but that was a close call.

And what exactly does XLR Bal SE mean

The gain switch basically changes which of 2 transformer taps is ground for the SE out, both of those taps are used for the Balanced out, so all the switch does on the balanced output is change whether the out is grounded on L/R- or if it’s center grounded, i.e. it really should make no difference.

Admin note: edited to include all DNA amps

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Is there a specific reason why DNA amps have such a long wait time (covid sit aside)?
About 1 year, last I heard. But that is during covid times, not sure how long the wait time was prior.

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High demand when it’s not really not a big operation, I’d assume sourcing parts isn’t the quickest given what they use. But it’s mainly because from what I know it’s one guy assembling the higher end amps although the more budget one might have a few people doing that now, more orders than he can handle

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He makes every stratus himself, approximate time to assemble based on my amp about a week.
As @M0N says there is also sourcing the transformers, lead times are probably months given they are custom wound, and ship from the UK, and I would assume he doesn’t keep huge numbers of them in stock.
Lead time when I bought mine was 5 months, but it’s been over a year before.

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Last couple of days I’ve been using the Utopia on the DNA, and it really is a quite special pairing.
I’m running it Low Gain, low output Impedance, SE Out.
The DNA does soften the Utopia to a point, and it might not be my first pick for more aggressive rock, but damn is the overall sound really nice.
Really opens up the stage on the Utopia, but without losing some of what I find special in the way Focals stage, it’s just so natural sounding.
On classical in particular, I find it very engaging.

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By any chance, have you heard any info on how much of an improvement those audionote transformers are over the older ones?

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I’ve never heard a direct comparison from an owner.

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Anyone here have a any experience with the stellaris? Is it a substantial performance improvement over the stratus?

Curiosity has me wondering haha.

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I’ve not heard it, but my understanding is yes, though the circuit is supposed to be basically the same as the Stratus, the big difference is the Audionote output transformers that sit on the top of the case, and they account for the bulk of the cost difference.

In case your window shopping there is an even more upscale version of the Stellaris called the Silver Stellaris that runs $20K+ that has different output transformers again.
I think he’s sold a couple of them.

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Yeah it seems it’s a solid improvement. I think it may be my next big purchase down the road.

Haha yeah I’ve read about those. That’s a little much. They definitely seem cool tho! Too bad they don’t have more power. Unless I missed that.

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I believe the windings on the transformers are all the same, you’d have to confirm with Donald, so the same power and output impedance.
You’ll never get more than about 5W out of a single 2A3 SE output tube anyway.

The big difference is the materials in use the standard Stellaris is all copper wound
The Silver transformer uses Silver windings and a different core material, I think it also have upgraded Caps in it.
And I think there is an SE between the 2.

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Yeah true and good point on the 2A3s.

I’m definitely in the standard stellaris market area. I really like what the stratus does with the Utopia and just wonder how better the resolution, clarity, stage and slam can get. If it’s an all around improvement then I can definitely see myself giving it a shot. Just the damn wait :weary:

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The worst part about the wait (and it was only about 5 months when I did it) was my “collection” continued to evolve while it was on order.
When I ordered it, it would have easily been the most expensive thing in my system, by the time it was built I was moving into Planars, and looking at price points above the DNA.
Having said that, it’s an Amp I very much enjoyed and it was well worth the wait.

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@Perogie is a stellaris owner. He upgraded from the starlett though but maybe he can share some thoughts if he doesn’t mind. Though I’d imagine the answer is a big yes, lol

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Not sure how helpful I can be in this area. Never heard a Stratus of any build.

My Starlett with my favourite tubes all properly burnt in and having a good amount of hours behind it was bested by a cold Stellaris with stock tubes that were not cooked at all. It was apparent almost immediately upon listen.

So I can surmise the Stellaris is a special amp (at least within that price point); however, how close it is to the Stratus is an unknown. From best I can tell, the V3 Stratus was not that much better than the Starlett but the new V4 with AN transformers apparently widened that gap. I know some folks who have heard all 3 (4) at one time or another and they do confirm that Stellaris is obvious top dog. Keeping in mind the variables of headphones, sources and tubes used.

Stellaris is a bit pickier with source material as to be expected and does respond well to better tubes. How well it does for you may depend upon music preferences.

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As I prepare to say goodbye to Stratus, I think my rating of pairings would be:

  1. D8000P LE
  2. HD650
  3. Mysphere 3.2

And am now testing the Atrium open with it and seems like a good pairing but too early to say…
Would’ve expected the mysphere to be higher but something was a bit off for me. It might be the Wavedream pushing it a bit too sharp when I think about it.

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It’s because it’s the 3.2, the 3.1 is radically different with that pairing, the 3.2 doesn’t really play that nicely with a lot of tube amps imo. I’d never personally buy a ms3.2 for a stratus but would absolutely consider one with a 3.1

D8KP and 600/650 for me was a great paring for it though, really nice

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Never heard the 3.1 and the Stratus is going so I’ll never know lol
I do enjoy the 3.2 on the Z10e fwiw

Yeah there’s definitely some nice stuff going on with those two but end of day I still prefer the LTA sound and think the Stratus is a pass for me. I wish I could’ve tried it with the Utopia… maybe some day…

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Yeah I actually did like the mz3 pairup with the 3.2 which surprised me, was an outlier pairing wise for the 3.2, as for most tube amps I really liked the 3.1 a lot more

:+1: With you there, I do like what it’s going for, but generally that sort of sound isn’t what I’d personally want to live with (which is why I never decided to own one lol), stuff like lta or ec was more my speed

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This might sound weird but basically I prefer, or better to say - it’s satisfying enough for me - to pair the HD650 with the LTA to get some of that sound instead of owning a Stratus.

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