Feliks Audio Euforia

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by gbeast, Sep 2, 2017.

  1. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    So incase anyone is curious of what the new price involves, Here you have it
    I updated the conclusion of my review which explains it.
     
  2. smithyy

    smithyy New

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    I've got an Euforia coming soon. What reasonably priced tubes would you recommend? Reasonably being the key word.
     
  3. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    Greetings @gbeast !
    When you order this kind of gear from Europe to your home in USA, do you have to pay any more taxes to receive them? Thanks
    Sorry to be a bit off topic, but I’m trying to find any reasons to American friends order Euforia after those prices...
     
  4. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Nah, So quite possibly the 1399 version could have had refunded VAT and would cost us 1199 in the US as well. As @AudioFriend told me. Not 100% sure on that.

    I personally have never had to pay any more taxes on few amps I have received from EU.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2017
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Well, I kind of look at it this way: better to raise prices than to lower them. Lowering prices punishes the early adopters who supported you.
     
  6. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Keep raising prices like that, and that's all Feliks will have... the early adopters...
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    How big was the hike for US customers (no VAT)? Did the Elise also have a price hike? It's recommendation in the tube and HD800 amps list was predicated on its price.
     
  8. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    The Elise is now roughly the 2016 Euforia price. Whatever 1299 Euros minus 23% then add shipping....
     
  9. barelyincollege

    barelyincollege Nice Pit Bull

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    About 25% for the Euforia, 30% for the Elise, and 40% for the Espressivo. The older versions were listed in USD, now they're in Euros along with the price hikes.
     
  10. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Feliks Audio gets a lot right with the Euforia. I just think prices should have been left alone, or saw a minimal increase so they don't have to lose money in the EU to USD conversion. Then they should have just developed a whole new amplifier and made improvements all around with a price that makes better sense to them as they have learned from their mistakes. Diminishing returns is on their side.
     
  11. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    So, I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time talking about the Euforia. I think it's a pretty good amp with the right tubes.

    Using the tubes that came with this particular model and iteration, it sounds rather lean, gritty, uneven, and bright on power on. After letting it sit for about an hour to warm up, it sounded rather warm and laid-back in the midrange and treble, and much smoother. However, it lacked slam and low-end extension, was almost too stuffy and rounded sounding in the bass and lower-mids, and didn't have enough bite and pop above that. Relaxed and pleasant sounding, very easy going, but not particularly engaging.

    Someone was kind enough to lend me some Tung Sol 6336A tubes along with the short bottle, chrome top Sylvanias that are everywhere. These sound much better to me than the stock tubes after warm up. Bass has more oomph and clarity to it. Tone is more neutral and timbre sounds more correct. Staging is a bit less forward, in a good way. Resolution seems better, but the timbre is a little rougher than the stock tubes after warm up.

    Though these are the only two tube combos I had a chance to try, I think the amp has potential. I think it will always exhibit a bit of warmth and bloom in the lower end, and while it can have a sense of decent extension and slam (seems better than Elise), it does lack compared to some of the best amps around. The timbre too often sounds a bit sizzly in the upper end, even hidden behind soft, warm sounding tubes. It's not bad, and not as evident to me as the dry nature on the Valhalla 2, but something that's still not particularly acceptable for the price.

    Resolution is good, but not great. Little nuances seem a bit covered over. Staging can be a bit too forward at times and has difficulties displaying 3D layers, but this can make it seem more lively at times.

    In the end, I could definitely see this as a competitor or alternative to amps that perform in the tier as the Mjolnir 2, Torpedo 3 with mods, Elekit 8200, and so on. It's got some good stuff going on, and any weaknesses can usually be mitigated with the right tube choice, or at least so minor as to not worry in its performance tier.

    My hangup is the price. I could see someone wanting under $1500 for this without seeming too crazy. It's a good looking amp, functional, and sounds pretty good. But with the latest price increase, I would say it's a poor value.
     
  12. Ray

    Ray Friend

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    Spent the evening with this amp last night. Hands pretty much covers everything in his post. I don't really see upgrading tubes making that much difference. compared to my ZdS it was less detailed, imaging, & bass impact. This amp should be priced around 1k.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2017
  13. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    I haven't heard a shuguang tube I liked yet.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2017
  14. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    So I recently got to try out the Euphoria as part of the loaner here. I have always been curious about the Feiks Audio products since the Elise was such a popular amp for a little while a ways back. What I didn't think of when I agreed to be part of this loaner is that it was a tube rollers favorite, and that any stock tubes were probably thrown in as a low baseline to improve upon. I am only able to use the supplied tubes with the amp, but I am of the impression that tube nuts could eek out more performance than I did. Using with Gungnir Multibit / soekris dac1541 Single ended outs to Euphoria.

    Some thoughts:

    Man this is an expensive OTL - it should WOW me, but it really didn't. I was hoping for something that sounded like the Glenns or ZDS king of the OTL heap amps. While I have not heard these TOTL OTLS, I can rationalize there is a big leap from trusted impressions.

    First sonic impression was the poor quality of the bass. Loose, flabby, poor texture. Music sounded artificial. Slightly warm, but the warmth didn't bother me. Mid bass on up were better, I specifically felt like 150hz and lower was worst of it. Kicks weren't punchy or tight, low end of keyboards felt off, and bass guitars had a weird timbre.

    Space between instruments was ok, not blown out or cramped. Sounded like a good tube amp in this regard. Fairly laid back amp, not laid back like a BottleHead Crack + SB, but certainly nor forward either, middle of the theater.

    Mids and treble seemed ok, but honestly I was so distracted by the low end I want paying alot of attention. Highs were rolled off as expected with a OTL.

    In conclusion, its a solid mid level OTL amp that costs $500 - $1000 too much. Tube rolling would have helped, but i didn't have a stash of spare to try. From Elise experience, you can probably find a set of tubes that works for whatever type of music you like, or maybe even need multiple sets of tubes. Can be positive or negative depending on your goals.
     
  15. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Thanks for the impressions. It definitely is a tube rollers amp but some areas I didn't hear improvements in was the soundstage and separation.

    what headphones did you use?
     
  16. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    Oh man, forgot those important facts. I'm fully brainwashed cult of sennheiser member. Hd660s, hd650, and hd800. Bass wasn't as bad on softer hd650, most noticeable on hd800 where bass texture is one of my favorite qualities.
     
  17. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    That is for sure. Though not nearly enough for me the HD800 bass does have some good texture.
     
  18. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    Update:

    Felix Audio has taken some of the feedback from comments and reviews seriously and has accelerated some of the stuff from their R&D drawer and will be putting it into the Euforias shipped.
    • euforia we will have a crossfeed circuit to enlarge the sound stage by making the channel separation more natural. This function will be switchable on/off with a button on the rear.
    • They also implemented a cut off aka soft mute so when you turn power off on you have none of the cracking noises.

    In Elise they also put the mute cutoff as well as a new trafo, for more stability and less interference.

    My review had the Euforia as a good amplifier at 1399. It is not going over as well here with the stock tubes just like I imagined it would because before changing the tubes I didn't like it.

    I can commend Felix Audio for trying to improve and taking criticism the way they have. I have conversed with several MFGs about their products and I can't think of any of them that have responded to criticism with such humility and professionalism. So I wouldn't sleep on them. They are hungry.
     
  19. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I think they need to go a lot further than that.
     
  20. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    I agree.

    I think that they are working on better for future releases and they way the responded (in personal communication) is promising, which is why I said "don't sleep" (on future releases).
     

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