Donald North Audio — Owners Thread

To compare the DNA Stratus, EC ZDS and ecp L-2,

As I said before, Stratus is my favorite amp for HD800. ZDS is excellent too, but it doesn't fully tame the HD800's nasty highs even with all the Super Duper mods in place. The L-2 does a better job in this regard, but it doesn't offer the awesome soundstage that the Stratus or ZDS throws at you.

Tonally, the L-2 has the least flaws. It sounds just right without much coloration in either direction, the amp simply disappears without trying to show itself off. It maintains the neutrality of HD800 while presenting a smooth treble, a sound you could never get tired of. The ZDS on the other hand is the most euphonic--although I try not to use this term--and is simply beautiful, gorgeous and seductive. But its mid-forward presentation and sparkly treble compared to the other 2 amps make it somewhat fatiguing with the HD800 for an extended period of time. The Stratus is beautiful in its own way, but politer and more laid-back than ZDS, and has a forgiving nature with the right combination of tubes. I feel it hits the sweet spot of HD800 without sacrificing too much its technicalities for enjoyment.

The Stratus drove the modded HD650 surprisingly well too, especially with the EML 2A3. I also preferred HD650 to K1000 on the Stratus. Since the HD650 is nowhere as amp-picky as HD800, all 3 amps excel at driving it. Personally though, I would take an Yggdrasil/ZDS over the others if my main headphones were HD650. The HD650 is already a bit dark and laid-back, and it could use the forward mids and the lively energy that the ZDS offers.

As for the K1000, the ZDS wouldn't stand a chance. I'm not so sure about the L-2 but I doubt it is an ideal amp either. As for the Stratus, well it sounds listenable at full volume but like I said, I don't feel it is adequately powering it. I can't say with certainty as my experience with the K1000 is limited, but I have a feeling K1000 will benefit the most from a powerful high-quality speaker amp like the HE-6 does. The fact that I prefer not only HD800 but also HD650 to K1000 on the Stratus says it all.

I'm curious as how to well the Stratus would drive the Focal Utopia. So far, Utopia sounded best out of a ZDS (better than Studio in terms of tonal balance) and I felt ZDS/Utopia was the only dynamic headphone setup that could hold a candle to Studio/HD650. ZDS/Utopia was better than Stratus/HD800 to my memory, so that says a lot.

 

I brought my Stratus home from work and saw this post - even though I've been content with my home rig of Utopia + ZDS, I thought to write some notes on comparing the two amplifiers with the Utopia.

Initial comparison of the ZDS + Utopia is with JAN Phillips green lettering 6SL7 and the Stratus + Utopia with stock tubes - the Utopia is on stock single ended cable:

- Resolution: the Stratus is slightly more resolving in that details barely heard on the ZDS were more apparent on the Stratus, but I did not hear any new details on the Stratus not otherwise heard on the ZDS, instrument separation is better on the Stratus too,
- Microdynamics: both amplifiers are on par,
- Bass: slightly more tighter on the ZDS, but I am hopeful that my incoming EML 2A3 Mesh tubes will improve the Stratus' bass as per the suggestions here on SBAF. Impact is slightly more on the ZDS as well.
- Soundstage: width are about the same, that is, still smaller than the HD800, but more depth on the ZDS than the Stratus, which works well with vocalists to portray a more intimate performance,
- Treble: the ZDS is sharper and better extended, but the Stratus isn't far behind, extending slightly better than the EAR HP4 on stock Sovtek tubes.
- Tonality: this is the hardest for me to convey as a relative novice in making comparisons. The ZDS has its wow factor in pushing the mids forward and adding warmth, while I agree with @songmic think the Stratus is not as warm or forward. The funny thing is, as much as I enjoyed the initial impact of the ZDS's presentation, I find myself becoming more agreeable with the Stratus' presentation with prolonged listening.

In attempting to answer the question of how the Stratus powers the Utopia relative to the ZDS, I think its a close race:

+ the Stratus showcases the Utopia's resolving ability slightly better than the ZDS,
+/- the slightly shallower soundstage works a treat for intimate vocals, but maybe not so much for orchestral music
+/- treble is slightly less extended and sharp (but that might work in your favour) and isn't rolled off like other traditional tube amplifiers,
- bass impact and tightness is not as good as the ZDS (albeit with stock Stratus tubes)
? I'm only very slightly beginning to appreciate what @purrin says that the ZDS still has the OTL sound, whereas SET has a certain sound, and I find myself slightly leaning to the latter...?

All of this makes me really want to try the Utopia on the Studio - I suspect the differences will be day and night than Stratus vs ZDS!!

 

I should add that like @songmic I have now found the HD800 on the Stratus to be the best its ever sounded compared with:

- ZDS (treble still quite sharp and a bit painful),
- EAR HP4 (treble slightly too rolled off),
- HDVA600 (not as resolving),
- NBM (not as resolving),

 

What is interesting is that I generally prefer the HD800SD over the Utopia but on the Stellaris it is the other way around. There is something very right going on there.

 

Thanks for your input, @alucart and @bigfatpaulie. I really loved Utopia with ZDS and felt they too were a match made in heaven. Sadly, that Utopia wasn't mine and I don't have one right now, but I would like to listen to Utopia on my Stratus someday. For now though, I'm quite happy with Stratus/HD800.

As for Studio/Utopia, it outresolved the ZDS/Utopia by a good margin but it was a bit too bright and lean, I preferred the tonality of ZDS/Utopia that I would take the latter at the expense of some technicalities.

Chiming on what @bigfatpaulie said, I think Stratus may be a be more HD800-friendly than Stellaris is because it is supposedly an warmer and lusher amp, although the latest updates seem to have brought it closer to Stellaris's sound sig. The Utopia could also use some warmth (as I preferred ZDS to Studio with Utopia), but nowhere as much as HD800. I haven't heard the Stellaris in person yet, but I heard that while it is not as lush as Stratus, it still retains the warm DNA house sound.

 

Having some intense fun since I have received my Stratus - been hardly sleeping in the past 2 days. This majestic-blue piece of art is just marvelous.

http://imgur.com/a/oZqXt

Been using my HD800 via balanced. I'm thinking if the single ended output would sound exactly the same?

P.S.: Black Sabbath and Dvorak never sounded so good!

 

I can totally appreciate why someone would. I think it comes down to preference. With the K1000 it is more tactile and expansive, the Utopia's more resolving and the HD800's are somewhere in the middle.

I thought you had your Stratus updated to the latest spec. Too bad we are so far away

 

Spending the evening listening to tracks with Pavane -> Stratus -> HD800 (Balanced), I am finding to my chargin that I am enjoying the HD800/Stratus combination slightly more than the Utopia/ZDS combination for the following reasons:

- Similar tonality with the HD800 receiving the warmth it needs and rolling off that nasty treble peak (but not too much, just right), but,
- The combination of the HD800's larger soundstage and the Stratus' slightly better resolving ability are resulting in a much easier time to enjoy the music and spend less effort to pick up the details,
- In contrast, the details are there in the ZDS/Utopia, but I have to critically listen with more effort to appreciate them.

I did not know that the Stratus received a revision - I received my Stratus in March this year, so maybe I have the newer revision...? Still, I wonder how much more detail would be found on the Stellaris vs the Stratus...?

 

I don't know. I had the 'old' version - I guess we could call it V2 of the Stratus, with the added chokes, etc - and the Stellaris is much more resolving. I've recently had a chance to spend a good deal of time with a Studio and I've owned the GSK MK2. Both of them are what I consider the most resolving amps I've spent time with. The Stellaris easily goes toe to toe with either.

So, if the Stratus V3 (the new current one) is as about as detailed as the Studio, it is in the same league as the Stellaris in that department.

 

Yupp - I too like the soundstage and effortless detail retrieval of the HD800, and have looked for components and mods that boost the bass and roll off the treble a bit. It can indeed be tricky to get the HD800 right, but when you do it can be so, so good.

 

ECP-L2 and done.

 

The problem with L-2 is that, to quote @Tyll Hertsens, it is unobtanium. Like all ecp products, only a limited number of them has been made and discontinued a long time ago. To make matters worse, there are those who swear they won't ever sell them, not over their dead bodies. I bought my L-2 from Spritzer of Mjolnir Audio and played with it for about a year before passing it down to someone inside this community. At the time it was the best amp for HD800 I've heard.

I still feel that the L-2 is an end-game amp for HD800 that delivers a different flavor from that of Stratus or ZDS. Or more precisely, the least flavor. But finding one could prove more difficult than grabbing a used Stratus for sale.

 

I've seen them pop up for sale on HF with some amount of regularity actually. HiFiShark says three were listed there in 2016. It took me about 6 months of casually watching HF and Ebay to get mine.

I will need to do some A-B comparisons with it and the stellaris. I love the 800s but could never get used to the ECP as a daily driver for them, the Stratus always just seemed to bring it to life more. Don't know if its the balanced power or the tubes or what.

 

Do you know when you Stellaris will arrive?

 

Its already built, crossing fingers it will ship end of week. Need to coordinate shipping with my travel schedule, want to make sure I'm home when t arrives.

 

Any of you guys prefer the 120 ohm out? Sometimes I like it more with the Senns.