Well mine should ship out next tuesday, probably wont get here before thanksgiving. @Towa can dive deeper as long as he is not sucked into his own EC.
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You picked up a Studio B? Nice! New build?
300b?
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Yes, to all.
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@Rhodey @Souldriver pardon my delay.
Craig and Donald both do (did in the former’s case?) excellent work and are at the top tier of amp design.
Stratus design aspects: 2A3 power tubes, DHT 5U4G rectifier, adjustable output impedance.
Studio B design aspects: 300B power tubes, indirectly heated triode 5AR4 rectifier, non-adjustable output impedance likely to be lower than Stratus, also a speaker amp.
Studio B is more transparent and dry with a larger 2D stage and larger sonic images, with a noticeable black background. Bass is tighter and faster, with more control. Presentation is less colored, sharper focus, and more energetic.
Stratus has more harmonic richness and weight, with greater depth distinction among vocalists and instruments. The listening position is farther back. Bass sounds natural with a tasteful bloom. I perceive more microdetail and lasting decay. Presentation is elegant and what I consider to be more true to life. Some say 2A3 is more you are there, while 300B is sensational sometimes better than the real thing.
Performance is close. Note the difference in design aspects above to see if one is more appropriate. Each of these deliver an exceptional sense of atmosphere and ambiance. I opted for the Stratus. I have also been tempted to pursue a Studio T or M, 445, 2A3 Mk IV - all of which have parallel output tubes.
I prefer what the Stratus brings for a Utopia pairing. However, I can see others opting for the Studio B.
The Chord stack fed each, along with a Sonic Frontiers DAC.
Fantastic!
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Appreciate the info! Great breakdown.
The more I’ve thought about it I think my next move as far as amps go would be stellaris. I just really enjoy the Wavelight>Stratus>Nutopia chain.
That’s after I build a nuc, add a DDC and find more time to listen to justify a stellaris (work from home/retire).
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You bet! Nice chain. Utopia and DNA make for a fine pairing.
How would you compare the Holo vs Rockna vs Chord presentations, especially when paired with DNA? Maybe best continued in a different thread.
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I’ll do a simplified comparison when I get a min to throw some thoughts together and I’ll do it under the Wavelight thread. I’m headed home now.
In short the Wavelight is kinda the best of both worlds. Doesn’t give up much to either imo.
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For curiosity sake, what is a Studio M? A variation on the T or something totally different.
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Variation of the studio that was considered the “normal” version, different interstage transformers, the studio T is more clean and neutral, more technical, studio M is sweeter and warmer, less technical. The only difference outside of looks are those transformers iirc
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T is Tribute interstage transformers
M is monolith interstage transformers.
Story goes that Peter Tribute could not supply enough and Craig sourced them from Monolith.
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Huh didn’t know the story behind it lol, well it’s a shame the tribute didn’t have enough supply, cause that’s the one to have imo
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Something arrived early today, and on a Sunday! As per tradition, it was immediately put into storage to age a little bit before use.
(Also i need the room to repackage the Shiny Eyes to be sent back, and it has rained cats and dogs and im not trying to hulk those boxes around in the weather.)
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I think unfortunately there may be an issue with the power unit.
I got some time to unpack and set the amp up today. Immediately when i picked up the power unit i felt a heavy thunk inside and a shift of weight. There was also what sounded like small pieces or sand plinking around. Both of this continued whenever i would shift the unit. I also see one of the screws on the right side was loose and bobbing in and out (see attachment). It seems stripped as it is not able to be tightened. The transformer paint is scuffed but not sure if that is normal.
The amp itself seems ok, just a few white marks and scuffs which i assume is from packaging. The rectifier tube box was ripped open but the tubes seem ok.
This may mean it is THE amp for me. Everything of mine that was worth keeping had to be done 3 times over to get right. Its like a rite of unlucky passage.
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And a quick follow up, Craig already got back to me and gave me a few things to check…
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I think @Towa had a choke or transformer come loose inside his PSU in shipping, I think it was an easy fix, but I’d ping Craig first.
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yep mine came with one of the chokes loose inside the power supply, due to shipping. I emailed Craig and after some back and forth with pictures and his guidance to open up the unit it was determined that no damage had been done and that I could either send back for repair or remount the choke myself. I opted to do the repair myself.
actually I still have some pictures from the repair, let’s see…
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Good news. It was just loose screws. The bolts were still on so it was moving just enough to clunk around. I found a few other screws and tightened them all up. It looks like the transformer only had one bolt and lock washer, but it looks like thats part of the design?
Bad news, that sound of small pieces rattling around was glass. There were a few pebble sized pieces as well as small shards all over the inside. I checked the fuse and that was Ok. Compared to the inside of @Towa 's there are some different caps (not inspiring), but I cant see anything different that may have broken on mine.
There is a dent in the metal lip on the side of the loose choke, but it was packed so well and i do not see any damage to the box. I am not sure where that broken glass is from. It was hard to photograph but the small particles were all glass pieces.
Waiting to hear back from Craig.
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Hopefully you get it sorted out soon and start enjoying the amp.
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Doesn’t look like anything that makes sound was damaged.
Caps change is interesting, look to be the same manufacturer, same rating, just a different form factor and possibly voltage, but they aren’t in the “audio path” there.
I can’t guess how glass got in there, except through the vents, did the tubes it shipped with arrive intact?
Hanging the chokes off the side of the case like that (and he isn’t the only one to do that) is just not conducive to good shipping experiences, you have a heavy weight acting as a lever against sheet metal, all it takes is a largish drop, no matter how well packaged it is.
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Not sure either, tubes were in the other box and are ok, fuse was ok. Maybe jt was some hard resin that cracked off the choke or transformer? Nothing was in the bag it was wrapped in but it fell out the vents once tilted and was all over once i opened it up.
I tightened everything up and plugged it in and flipped it on as per Craig’s specifications. The little lightbulb goes on but is extremely dim. In a dark room, its hard to tell it is on. I emailed craig the pics below and ill see what he says. I know the bulb may not be bright but that is real dim.
Pieces inside (theyre more transparent/glassy in person):
The bulb:
