Ampsandsound Nautilus

[Iorveth]

To be honest I am not a reviewer. About 4-5 months ago , I decided to upgrade my Mogwai SE. It was a beautiful versatile powerhouse. Before Mogwai I owned ZMF pendant and before that woo audio amps.
After debating for about 5 minutes I decided to invest into Nautilus. Justin s insta feed showed his hard work and meticulous build.
Justin is probably one of the nicest person I have met in audiophile scene. Extremely cordial and helpful.
When the amp arrived , I was blown away by it's weight. Fully packaged the amp is around 95 lbs. Amp by itself is around 65 lbs. It is built like a tank like a M...F...Tank.
The design speaks to my aesthestics. Bold chrome hiding the beefy transformers reflects the mesmerizing glow from the tube. Slightly rounded corners provide an elegant tactile feeling. The only change I will probably make will be to placement of the logo . I ordered a self adhesive custom chrome lettering. I am super excited about them.
Beside that tiny issue amp is gorgeous.(see pics).

Amp is pitch black , No hum , no buzz , no crackle .I am using deep core ' s power conditioner which justin provided.The Nautilus allows for a wide range of tubes, including 6l6gc through KT90s, 6L6GC STR or KT88, a single 12AX7, and two 5AR4 or 5U4 rectifiers.(from ampsandsound website)

As I commented before Naulilus is transparent and dynamic but maintains the romantic and delicate nature.Clarity/ detail is insane. Bass you can feel inside your heart. Provided incredible detail , layered and textured sound. I love the tone and delicacy I get with different tubes. This Amp is a seducer and I quickly became very addicted. (I have Focal trio 11be for home listening. I actually miss my office setup on weekend when I am home.) I found it hard to stop listening.I could listen to this amp for hours without fatigue regardless of music. It was always so smooth and pulled me into the music. Pulled me into the stage, into the studio. With my eyes closed I forgot I had any audio gears. The only reminder was the warmth of the tubes. Nautilis is extremely dynamic and powerful, easily drove my susvara. Music is put forward with authority , finesse and heavenly harmonic texture.With Susvara on Nautilis I can touch the instruments , I can feel every kick drum. I can feel the singers breath, I can feel the room. All of that at the same time . Other Amps did not provide the level of musicality that Nautilus did . I am running Nautilus fully open.I will be trying ZMF VC in few months. Abyss TC ' fit was odd and uncomfortable.

Final word: ENDGAME

SONG :
Hard Time Killing Floor - Buddy Guy
Tool - Entire Discography
Maximum the Hormone
River - Bishop Briggs
Tand Alla Ljus - Silvana Lmam
O Death - Ralph Stanley
wayfaring strange
Magic Sword
Muse
Little submarine - The Black Keys
Many many many more...too many to list.
P.S - Metal fans should give maximum the Hormone a listen.

 

[RayDunzl]

https://ampsandsound.com/products/nautilus

What are turrets?

 

[frogmeat69]

https://ampsandsound.com/products/nautilus

What are turrets?

Well, turret basically means little tower, so maybe those guides that the wires are running through? I dunno, just a guess.
Maybe something for the tubes?

 

[MediumRare]

Your enthusiasm is infectious and it does look gorgeous. That being said, your enthusiasm is not the same as verifiable measurements. A "pinch" of salt could be 0.5 grams or 2 grams, so it's not too helpful as a line in a recipe if the amount of salt really matters.

I had a look at the specs and they were suitably evasive. Do you have any measurements? Or better yet, will you drop it by Vaughn, WA for an afternoon of enquiry and science?

 

[Iorveth]

 

[Iorveth]

Music is personal for me. Hence I tried explaining what I feel when I listen to Nautilus. I understand measurement has a place but like you said I thought I share my joy and enthusiasm .

 

[Iorveth]

https://ampsandsound.com/products/nautilus

What are turrets?

Pins rise above a board to the parts are fastened to. It's one of the very best way of building.

 

[tw99]

So an amp that is painted black, and has glowing tubes...sounds "pitch black ... and warm". I think we can see you're enthusiastic about your purchase, but unsure of the relevance of your subjective impressions here.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

uh huh

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ampsandsound-aka-amps-sound.802346/page-32#post-15875732

 

[Doodski]

uh huh

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ampsandsound-aka-amps-sound.802346/page-32#post-15875732

It reads like a advertisement and not just a happy user.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

It reads like a advertisement and not just a happy user.

copy and paste of something written over three years ago

 

[Chrispy]

Good grief $8500 for that? Nuts....

 

[solderdude]

For typical ASR audiences the pictures only and a single line that you absolutely LOVE the sound would probably have been enough.
The sound description is more interesting for forums like head-fi and SBAF and will be greeted with uh-huh's or similar remarks here at ASR.

I like how it look, nice moody pics.

The only relevant info I got was:
No hum , no buzz , no crackle and your obvious opinion that you adore the device.
Pride of ownership and a good 'feel' is also important for audio enjoyment.
I would say... happy listening and enjoy your setup until ...(fill in whatever reason to change anything again).

 

[Wombat]

Turrets

Eyelets

Tags

Pins (high quality PCB ones)

I don't know what the terminals shown in the post #5 pic, above, are called. Forks?

 

[tomtoo]

Thats a huge headphoneamp!?

 

[FrantzM]

Trolls? On the rocks? Or Dry?

 

[tomtoo]

Good grief $8500 for that? Nuts....

If i not did read something wrong we talk about a 65 lbs.,8500$ Amp with 8Watts at 8ohm. Nuts.....

Edit says: And forgetting this c&p action.
So this thread is nuts.

 

[Thomas savage]

This looks like advertising to me so I'm moving it to desperate dealers section.

 

[AnalogSteph]

I'm not sure I would trust a manufacturer who can't get mV vs. µV straight in their specs.

Also, several hundred µV worth of output noise even in the lowest-impedance setting? That must be very much non-white (e.g. 1/f) and/or measured improperly, otherwise the OP would be running for the hills even with the (measured) 98.4 dB / 1 V AB-1266 and not making any claims concerning blackness, unless he's half-deaf of course.

SNR with given output power and noise specs comes out to 90 dB... which sounds halfway acceptable until you realize that even in the 32 ohm setting maximum output is about 12.6 Vrms... +22 dBV. That means 120 dB SPL (ish) with these cans, and noise at 30 dB SPL (ish).

Oh, on the pictures the cans (47 ohms nominal) look to be plugged into the Hi-Z (300 ohm) output. I can't imagine that's a particularly good idea, output impedance may well be 100-150 ohms like that. I can't help but think of the old saying about a fool and his money.

 

[Iorveth]

It reads like a advertisement and not just a happy user.

NOt a Ad, Just a happy user. Headfi post was mine as well.