What would be a good super tubey amp for Focal Utopia OG?

[S7777lt]

I usually run it on a jotunheim 3 which is pretty good, but I was wondering if I could push it into a more emotional side with a rly tubey amp.
I personally never tried one in my life, but I heard people talk about it and I was curious if it would be a good upgrade path to get one that really emphasizes the tube sound, to contrast my Jot3 for different listening moods.
I was eyeing the Feliks Classic but wondering if the high impedance would make it sound straight up bad, or if that actually would work better for what im aiming for?
My range is around 1000$ or so.
Thank you very much.

 

[staticV3]

Hi @S7777lt! Welcome to ASR.

I was eyeing the Feliks Classic but wondering if the high impedance would make it sound straight up bad, or if that actually would work better for what im aiming for?

Depending on the Amp's output impedance, a tube amplifier can add quite a bit of bass to your Utopia's:


Source

The example here is with 120Ω output impedance, and you can demo the effect that this would have on the timbre of your Utopia, right inside your browser: https://squig.link/

All you need to do is click on the Equalizer tab, then Import and select the text file attached below.

With that done you can upload your own tracks or click "search Apple" to get a streamed snippet of any track you'd like.

When it starts playing, click on "Compare A | B" to toggle between unprocessed and Tube timbre simulation:


Don't worry about the graphs on the right side, they don't matter here.

 

[mhardy6647]

120 ohm output impedance?!?

Even my SE DHT 2A3 power amplifier (as 'tubey' as it gets in terms of design philosophy), sans added NFB, has an input impedance under 1 ohm.

 

[staticV3]

120 ohm output impedance?!?

not unusual with OTL tube Amps, but to be fair the EUFORIA Klassik Amp which OP mentioned is remarkably low at just 20Ω so the effect would be more subdued

@S7777lt for an accurate simulation of 20Ω output impedance (e.g. EUFORIA Klassik), simply change the filter gain from +5dB to +1.5dB

 

[Chagall]

I usually run it on a jotunheim 3 which is pretty good, but I was wondering if I could push it into a more emotional side with a rly tubey amp.
I personally never tried one in my life, but I heard people talk about it and I was curious if it would be a good upgrade path to get one that really emphasizes the tube sound, to contrast my Jot3 for different listening moods.
I was eyeing the Feliks Classic but wondering if the high impedance would make it sound straight up bad, or if that actually would work better for what im aiming for?
My range is around 1000$ or so.
Thank you very much.

I'm curious where you found the output impedance, since Feliks don't seem to publish the headphone output impedance. The 100 kΩ spec like input impedance, not output impedance. Since it’s an OTL design, we can assume the actual headphone output impedance is relatively high compared with most solid-state amps, but without a measurement we can't know the number.

I would stay with solid-states and play around with EQ. If you must try tubes, buy the one with known output impedance/distortion profile measurements. Less guesswork that way.

 

[staticV3]

I'm curious where you found the output impedance

6moons audioreviews: Feliks Audio Euforia

"Voltage gain is 20dB and output impedance 20Ω." -Feliks Audio

 

[S7777lt]

Thank you for all the responses.
I dont think the extra bass from simulating it with EQ is bad, seems pretty decent to me since I already boost the bass on the utopia by a bit.
Though just to make it clear, I was talking about the echo classic, not the euforia, as that is probably way out of my budget range lol.

 

[Redacted]

Are talking about driving headphones or speakers? A tiny damping factor for the latter is going to have your cones flapping about (not uncommon for valve power amps)

 

[S7777lt]

Headphones, utopia OG as stated in the title.

 

[Redacted]

Headphones, utopia OG as stated in the title.

OK - I didn't see the word headphones, and have never heard of Utopias

 

[mhardy6647]

not unusual with OTL tube Amps, but to be fair the EUFORIA Klassik Amp which OP mentioned is remarkably low at just 20Ω so the effect would be more subdued

@S7777lt for an accurate simulation of 20Ω output impedance (e.g. EUFORIA Klassik), simply change the filter gain from +5dB to +1.5dB

ahh, OTL.
Hmm... sometimes the cure (OTL) is worse than the disease (really good OPTs).
Of course, in the old days, there was another option: loudspeakers with really high impedance.

source: https://hifilit.com/Stephens/Stephens.htm


Here, e.g., is a commercial stereo power amplifier (admittedly of yore) equipped with truly exceptional output iron.

EDIT: Oh, headphones?!? I saw Focal, so I assumed loudspeakers.
OP, stick with solid state!

 

[Redacted]

ahh, OTL.
Hmm... sometimes the cure (OTL) is worse than the disease (really good OPTs).
Of course, in the old days, there was another option: loudspeakers with really high impedance.



source: https://hifilit.com/Stephens/Stephens.htm


Here, e.g., is a commercial stereo power amplifier (admittedly of yore) equipped with truly exceptional output iron.



EDIT: Oh, headphones?!? I saw Focal, so I assumed loudspeakers.
OP, stick with solid state!

Someone just had to mention solid state ! Glad it wasn't me, however.....
SS will get the best out of phones costing the same as a good used car, else it's like having a 911 but putting remoulds on it (retreads for the cousins)

 

[S7777lt]

Well, since i already have the solid state jot 3 i was curious if tube amps would be a good horizontal upgrade path

 

[Redacted]

Well, since i already have the solid state jot 3 i was curious if tube amps would be a good horizontal upgrade path

OK. I have been activated by mhardy6647
You need to blame him, not me - I'm the nice one...

Anything with valves is a downgrade these days, if you value hearing things unadulterated. It's an affectation and driven by marketing.
I say this as a guy who is holding out against the modern tide of SS amps replacing good 'ol valve guitar amps, but I know they are very far from what you are looking at.
I also know that very fine valve amps can be made, but really, you will very likely get more hiss and colouration with valve-based headphone amps....
You actually don't even need to spend a lot to get a stunning headphone amp.

I've retreated to my Anderson shelter in the garden, so bring on the bombing.

 

[majingotan]

Well, since i already have the solid state jot 3 i was curious if tube amps would be a good horizontal upgrade path

I have a Choked loaded 6SL7 that's capacitor coupled to Single Ended Triode Strapped Tetrode/Pentode with Output Transformer Cathode Follower tube amp. Upgrade is subjective matter. Objectively, it's a downgrade due to tube's harmonic distortion, but subjectively it sounds just fine.

I also tried the Utopia with Ampsandsound Mogwai original (current version is the SE Rev 3) pictured. You can find the original Mogwai used around 1000 USD these days if you're patient. I enjoy the sound of the Utopia from that one as well

 

[dasherzx]

Great headphones. Miss them already. Sold mine because of the fit. Personally feel that having a transparent dac amp is better for them and would just spend the 1k on a dca noire x or aeon core lol.
I think the utopia does everything great except for the absolute lowest of bass and there’s not much one can do to overcome it without having more distortion