Donald North Audio Supernaut Review and Impressions

Disagree with first half... I mean, on an absolute scale - anything past something between a clock radio and built in TV speakers up to a custom 6 figure setup is diminishing returns in terms of cost/performance... agree with 2nd half though.

Back on track for the thread though - I will echo what has been said already and say that to me at the meet - this new amp was much closer to an upgraded Starlett that has performance roughly similar to a Stratus. It didn't remind me of a Stratus variant, a similarly priced amp (guessing $4-5k, Donald can correct me if I'm wrong) from a different manufacturer, or whatever else. Supernaut also sounded quite different than a lot of the other amps that were there at the meet [[edit: but as the meet organizer I'm going to withhold a lot of the comparative comments I had]]. I will honestly say without any reservation that this amp great, regardless of if I happened to put the meet together or not. (and to be 100% transparent, I took a small loss organizing the meet even after SBAF and only SBAF was nice enough to help sponsor the meet... so I'm not with holding any comments due to financial motivation)

 

I'll repeat myself from the SoCal meet thread. I only listened to the Supernaut with the easy to drive ETA prototype cans fed by Donald's Sonic Frontiers CD player, that he said probably had the same tubes in it from the SoCal meet at Marv's house years ago. I could only move between 1-2 on the volume, NOT 1-2 o'clock, and only listened to one unfamiliar CD track, but I had to take off the headphones because it was sooooo f'ing good, and I don't want to buy one. My first words to Donald were, "the music sounds effortless"... No fuss, no mud, no hissssss, rassssp, just clean, clear, music.

 

I mean, that was my point. People disagreed with me, I don't know why, but basically a $4k or $4.5k amp is hopefully better than a $2k amp. And don't get me wrong, the $2k amp is still unbelievable. I mean, I have one and it is completely fantastic. And I can totally understand Marv when he says stuff like, "Like a Starlett with weightier attack and transients." That makes total sense to me as a Starlett owner. Maybe others disagreed with my use of "romantic" or "polite" comments, but they go along with what Marv said.

And YES, the 6DG6 tubes are basically 6W6 tubes, which yes, were designed for car radios (think '40's AM). It is quite unconventional (how many other amps you know use this tube?). And it is a fine sounding audio tube. A real sleeper. And a KT66 is quite a conventional and popular tube for both hi-fi and high powered guitar amps. From Dynaco to Hiwatt. And I too would rather pay to replace a 6DG6 or KT66 over a 2A3 myself.

I look forward to more impressions.

 

Agreed! This reminds me of what I wrote about the Supernaut from the SoCal meet. Usually with the typical El34 to KT family of tubes we should be greeted by a more in-your-face macrodynamic focused, more simplistic presentation (analogous BF2 vs Yggdrasil A1/A2) but somehow Donald managed to bring a lot of the nuances of the very best SET implementation on a KT66 tube circuit. To me he has somehow eliminate the negative qualities of the EL34/KT tube family, keep their strengths only and impart DNA house sound to it!

As for context this what I wrote on the SoCal meet regarding the Supernaut:

 

I was saying the Starlett is romantic and polite. Maybe that is where the the confusion is coming from. I'll stay outta this thread from this point on and just observe.

 

And yes he is! My point being that he made an exceptional amp out of tubes not many people might not be their first choice. The mastery in not only the design, but also the build quality, the attention to detail...I mean, he uses custom wound OT's for the Starlett because nothing out there would be as satisfactory. Just adding more clarification. If anyone interpreted that I was insinuating that Donald is not capable of making really awesome gear, then my fault for not being totally clear.

PS - I have two pieces of gear that are DNA, and the other is not an amplifier of any kind.

ok...that was all

 

As someone who has never owned a DHT amp, would someone like to layout a theoretical cost analysis of buying and owning Stellaris over five years vs. Supernaut? Like what are we really talking about here

 

I for one would not volunteer for such exercise. My personal view on this is I have a Stratus v3, if I am going to buy this amps worth of tubes moneywise then I might as well just buy a Stellaris. So I stick with the bang for the buck offerings.
If you know you tend to overthink things, your looking at a lot of tube nervosa down the road.

 

Initial investment: basic Stellaris ~ 2x Supernaut (based on what I know about Stellaris costs and the hints here about Supernaut)
Tubes: If you ignore all of us here who obsess about exotic 5U4G and 2A3 tubes, Stellaris sounds really good with stock tubes. But if you fall down the rabbit hole, exotic 2A3 tubes are (many) multiples any KT66 pair I've been able to find online. 5U4G can be a bit of an obsession too, but I was quite surprised with how good the TAD (possibly original Psvane) 5U4G works on my Stellaris Special. To make a non-extortionate recommendation for Stellaris tubes that sound significantly better (to me) than stock: TAD 5U4G (~$50), NOS Sylvania 6BK7G (lots out there on the usual venues, very low prices), Psvane Acme 2A3s (~$600 matched pair from various outlets) but IMO worth it for improved space and layering.

 

::Turns blind eye to GEC KT66s:: but at least there are many more reasonable and new offerings.

 

I have a matched triplet of those...

 

You mean like these

 

When i first looked it was for my lampi golden atlantic. They were $250 a matched pair. Whats best bought those up and then it was $350. I decided to stay away because that slowly crept up to $450. @rhythmdevils listed his and i jumped as his were still reasonable. Since then it is now $650 so i am very happy i have my pair but if i even want the lampi and the DNA then ooof my wallet! Luckily that lampi takes a million different tubes that all drastically change its character so it doesnt need the GECs

But to be honest i have not heard other kt66 tubes but I know there is a good variety as theyre also used in guitar amps. Though here are my impressions of the GECs as it is relevant to the amp (though mine was in a dac) and i would like to hear what others get from other 66s.

GEC KT66: Warm and enveloping. Great stage but not exaggerated. They may fall in the SBAF branded category of "warmy poo" except for its ability to still carry details throughout. And it does this in a very ethereal way. Light, delicate, spooky holographic, not slow but not the quickest. A wonderful round feel without feeling like anything is rounded off. Thick bass, toasty mids, with an airy delicate top end. There is a haunting quality that ensnares you. To be even more obtuse, it is that childhood memory of spending time with your family on Christmas day in from of a roaring fire.

Really with the way the Supernaut is described it seems like they both would just enhance each other's strengths.

Back on topic, is this new amp able to roll similar tube types? EL34/KT77, 5881, 6L6, etc? Or are DNA amps really built for only what it says on the box?

 

Enjoy the KT66

 

Holy shit guys please don’t go autism with the tubes. There’s a reason why Donald made the decision to use KT66.

 

Although KT66 tubes draw higher heater amps than EL34 and 6L6 types, the bias point and plate dissipation is much different. So the PT would need to be different or have different taps on the output to accommodate the other tube types. So I would stick with the tubes the amp was designed for. Anything else would likely be less than optimal.