Donald North Audio — Owners Thread

First Stellaris has arrived in the wild, not mine sadly.

 

How are you doing, buddy? Hopefully we can live vicariously through the recipient. Lusting for some impressions.

 

The struggle is real. Looks like the owner doesn't post much on the boards, there are a few pics over on Head-Fi

 

Took me a year to finally log back in but I did because I have had continuous love for my Sonett and wanted you guys to know that.

Cheers

 

^Hahaha, nice. Hello EeePee from CeeTee.

 

Hi fellas.

 

Looks like I'll be joining the DNA owners club soon. As some of you may know, I decided to let go of my EC Studio due to financial troubles and settled for a more affordable amp. Well, that amp turned out to be a DNA Stratus.

I've considered buying this amp since late 2012, but it has always eluded me for different reasons until now. I was on the waiting list for Stratus last year, but cancelled the preorder and withdrew the $1K deposit after chancing upon the Studio. Well, I recently traded my Studio for a Stratus (S/N #3X) plus cash, and although it is a post-choke upgrade unit, it is currently at Donald's lab for refurbishment and upgrade to the latest specs. Donald explained that the recent price increase from $2.8K to $3K reflects some latest updates in parts.

The only time I got to listen to a DNA product was a Stratus 4-5 years ago at a meet, a pre-choke unit I believe. A lot of Stratus owners claim HD800 and K1000 (especially bass-heavy unit) as the best pairings with Stratus, so those are what I'm after. I also recently acquired a bass-heavy K1000 and plans to grab a used HD800 after I have more cash. Luckily, I have a pair of SuperBAF and SuperDupont mods ready to be installed anytime.

If I end up enjoying this amp, I may consider Stellaris in the future.

In the meantime, I would appreciate what the seasoned members of this community thinks of Stratus, which DAC's match well with it, and especially how well pairs with HD650/800 and K1000 in particular. Yes, I know it has been discussed a lot of times already in different threads, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info in the dedicated thread we have here.

 

Congrats on joining the Stati Illuminati (hey, if Stax get's a mafia). I also agree with Sorrodje that the HF thread isn't half bad - a lot of very nice people on it. Yes they are into rolling, but isn't that part of the fun?

It will be a big change going from an amp as technical and lean as the Studio to something a little more traditionally "tubey" as the Stratus but something I think you will find easy. It is wonderful sounding amp that is very easy to spend hours and hours with. Many people also use He1k's with the Stratus with very good results along with Audeze can's so you don't need to think that it only plays well with 2-3 headphones. I used Code-X's and Abyss with my Stratus and it was surprisingly good and driving both.

 

A real poor man's choice that.

 

Something just arrived this afternoon.



I think my weekend is now booked solid...

 

Hurry up and open it!

Little sunshine shone through today and the blue looked cool. I'm sure my old iPhone is doing it justice...

 

I didn't know cardboard could be so sexy.

 

Pics not showing up for me

 

How about now?

 

Shows up for me now. Nice.

 

Yup, gorgeous!

 

Congrats! I assume yours is S/N #2?

Hopefully you could share some of your detailed thoughts on it, unlike the #1 owner at HF who has only posted a few pics with some lines of initial impressions a couple months ago and has gone radio silent ever since.

 

Thanks! Yes, I am lucky number 2!

I want to spend a little time before saying too much as I don't want to be clouded by my excitement. What I will say is that the amp is remarkably resolving - more than nearly anything I've heard (GSX MK2, INT-30a, Moon 600i, SuSy Dynahi and so on). It is a very engaging, effortless amp.