Aries Cerat Ianus Essentia Owners thread

[Willgolf]

Here are my first impressions of the Ianus Essentias. A little background. I am coming from an amp with 16 WE 300B tubes in them that were lush and musical. I do not play music at concert levels. I like all types of music but have a preference for Indie, Jazz, Soundtracks, Classical, Female artists, and rock. I have 98db Viking Acoustic Grande Voix speakers, Lampi Horizon DAC, and Lucas Audio Music server.

I really had no intention of buying another amplifier but after having many discussions with the AC network, I pulled the plug.

My initial impressions using the following artists.....
Nils Lofgen Band Live
Anette Askvik - Liberty
Antonio Forcione Quartet
Ludivico Einaudi

This is by far the quietest amplifier I have ever owned. I mean dead silent. The sound is big and bold. I would not classify it as lush. What I noticed was the level of detail was greater than my old amps. There is much more musical detail that I could hear. I can hear more instruments so not only is their nice separation, everything is super clear and concise. I have the Essentia amps plugged directly into the SR orange wall duplex as opposed to my Inakustic 3500P power conditioner. I might try plugging them into the PC but as I stated they are already dead quiet.

I have not changed any of the settings or gain or lift. It is factory preset and maybe down the road, I will experiment. It is one reason I wanted to start this thread. I am hoping to find other Essentia owners who have experimented and can share different things they have done to change the sound characteristics.

The caveat now is that I do not have a preamp in the loop. I vowed a year ago that I did not need one once I got the Lampi Pacific and the Horizon. Am I missing anything? That is hard to say. It sounds so damn good now. Can it be even better? If so in what way? That is the question I am dealing with now. If I do bite the bullet, the Ianus Ageto would be the matching Preamp.

Some people talk about the last dance or the last man standing. I can say this is going to be my LAST AMPLIFIER. I have my end-game component.

My only complaint is that I wish the on/off switch was more easily accessible.

Does anyone leave the Essentias running 24/7? There is a standby mode. The fact that there are only 4 total tubes that are not expensive would not bother me to leave it on for the most part.

Thanks, Stavros and Robert

 

[morricab]

Here are my first impressions of the Ianus Essentias. A little background. I am coming from an amp with 16 WE 300B tubes in them that were lush and musical. I do not play music at concert levels. I like all types of music but have a preference for Indie, Jazz, Soundtracks, Classical, Female artists, and rock. I have 98db Viking Acoustic Grande Voix speakers, Lampi Horizon DAC, and Lucas Audio Music server.

I really had no intention of buying another amplifier but after having many discussions with the AC network, I pulled the plug.

My initial impressions using the following artists.....
Nils Lofgen Band Live
Anette Askvik - Liberty
Antonio Forcione Quartet
Ludivico Einaudi

This is by far the quietest amplifier I have ever owned. I mean dead silent. The sound is big and bold. I would not classify it as lush. What I noticed was the level of detail was greater than my old amps. There is much more musical detail that I could hear. I can hear more instruments so not only is their nice separation, everything is super clear and concise. I have the Essentia amps plugged directly into the SR orange wall duplex as opposed to my Inakustic 3500P power conditioner. I might try plugging them into the PC but as I stated they are already dead quiet.

I have not changed any of the settings or gain or lift. It is factory preset and maybe down the road, I will experiment. It is one reason I wanted to start this thread. I am hoping to find other Essentia owners who have experimented and can share different things they have done to change the sound characteristics.

The caveat now is that I do not have a preamp in the loop. I vowed a year ago that I did not need one once I got the Lampi Pacific and the Horizon. Am I missing anything? That is hard to say. It sounds so damn good now. Can it be even better? If so in what way? That is the question I am dealing with now. If I do bite the bullet, the Ianus Ageto would be the matching Preamp.

Some people talk about the last dance or the last man standing. I can say this is going to be my LAST AMPLIFIER. I have my end-game component.

My only complaint is that I wish the on/off switch was more easily accessible.

Does anyone leave the Essentias running 24/7? There is a standby mode. The fact that there are only 4 total tubes that are not expensive would not bother me to leave it on for the most part.

Thanks, Stavros and Robert

Congrats on the wonderful amps!! Great Stuff. There is feedback settings on the amps, did you try those out to see what you prefer?
I would say an AC preamp will elevate things even further. One of my customers that has a Horizon runs it through an Impera to his Concero 65 monos. Another guy runs his Horizon through an Incito with an extra special Gz34 rectifier that totally elevates the sound of the Incito.

In Munich they had the Ageto that was phenomenal.

 

[Phantom-Audio]

Here are my first impressions of the Ianus Essentias. A little background. I am coming from an amp with 16 WE 300B tubes in them that were lush and musical. I do not play music at concert levels. I like all types of music but have a preference for Indie, Jazz, Soundtracks, Classical, Female artists, and rock. I have 98db Viking Acoustic Grande Voix speakers, Lampi Horizon DAC, and Lucas Audio Music server.

I really had no intention of buying another amplifier but after having many discussions with the AC network, I pulled the plug.

My initial impressions using the following artists.....
Nils Lofgen Band Live
Anette Askvik - Liberty
Antonio Forcione Quartet
Ludivico Einaudi

This is by far the quietest amplifier I have ever owned. I mean dead silent. The sound is big and bold. I would not classify it as lush. What I noticed was the level of detail was greater than my old amps. There is much more musical detail that I could hear. I can hear more instruments so not only is their nice separation, everything is super clear and concise. I have the Essentia amps plugged directly into the SR orange wall duplex as opposed to my Inakustic 3500P power conditioner. I might try plugging them into the PC but as I stated they are already dead quiet.

I have not changed any of the settings or gain or lift. It is factory preset and maybe down the road, I will experiment. It is one reason I wanted to start this thread. I am hoping to find other Essentia owners who have experimented and can share different things they have done to change the sound characteristics.

The caveat now is that I do not have a preamp in the loop. I vowed a year ago that I did not need one once I got the Lampi Pacific and the Horizon. Am I missing anything? That is hard to say. It sounds so damn good now. Can it be even better? If so in what way? That is the question I am dealing with now. If I do bite the bullet, the Ianus Ageto would be the matching Preamp.

Some people talk about the last dance or the last man standing. I can say this is going to be my LAST AMPLIFIER. I have my end-game component.

My only complaint is that I wish the on/off switch was more easily accessible.

Does anyone leave the Essentias running 24/7? There is a standby mode. The fact that there are only 4 total tubes that are not expensive would not bother me to leave it on for the most part.

Thanks, Stavros and Robert

Congratulation on the new amp, It may well mate better with the Ageto pre-amp.

Keep us posted on your progress and opinions as compared to your previous electronics.

 

[Levitator]

Congrats on the Essentia amps! I’ll be getting the Aperio integrated early in the new year hopefully and will share my thoughts then…

How do you find the amps from a heat perspective? I think you said there were only 2 tubes per amp (?) so I’d imagine they run slightly warm, as opposed to quite hot with the bigger tube amps, given the amps are still Class A?

You also mentioned that the on/off switch wasn’t very convenient - is that because you have them inside a cabinet? I’d imagine the switch is at the back of the amp near the power connection?

Please continue to share any thoughts you have as the amps run in, particularly relative to what you have had in your system before.

A pre-amp would be interesting for sure - an in-home demo would be ideal although not sure if that’s possible?

Enjoy!!

 

[Willgolf]

Hello Levitator -- These amps do not run hot at all. I actually have the top cover plate off of them in case I want to fiddle down the road with the biasing or tubes. Yes, they are in a cabinet area. Yes, the on/off is in the lower rear corner and I have to snake my arm to reach it. It is why I said I could potentially just leave them on all of the time, but I am getting used to it.
You will love the Aperion. What do you have now?

 

[Levitator]

Hello Levitator -- These amps do not run hot at all. I actually have the top cover plate off of them in case I want to fiddle down the road with the biasing or tubes. Yes, they are in a cabinet area. Yes, the on/off is in the lower rear corner and I have to snake my arm to reach it. It is why I said I could potentially just leave them on all of the time, but I am getting used to it.
You will love the Aperion. What do you have now?

Makes sense re the cabinet and good to know they aren’t hot as I live in a warm climate (hot enough as is!!!)

I was running a D’Agostino Momentum stereo amp, and then switched to a German Physiks integrated amp, which was a real surprise for me besting the D’Ag (to my ears). I have also tried a Dartzeel integrated but preferred the GP so it will be interesting to hear how the AC goes against the GP as the GP is a bit of a sleeper I think, not being very well known in the market yet.

 

[Willgolf]

Makes sense re the cabinet and good to know they aren’t hot as I live in a warm climate (hot enough as is!!!)

I was running a D’Agostino Momentum stereo amp, and then switched to a German Physiks integrated amp, which was a real surprise for me besting the D’Ag (to my ears). I have also tried a Dartzeel integrated but preferred the GP so it will be interesting to hear how the AC goes against the GP as the GP is a bit of a sleeper I think, not being very well known in the market yet.

Well, you have had some of the best-integrated amps, so it will be really interesting once you receive the Aperion. I live in Arizona and it gets to be 115 degrees in the summer. That is hot. With my previous Canary Grand Reference 300B, I had a rear 3-foot door that I kept open to keep airflow. I do not have to do that with the Essentias.

 

[Willgolf]

Congrats on the wonderful amps!! Great Stuff. There is feedback settings on the amps, did you try those out to see what you prefer?

Do you have any insight as to what the feedback settings would do for sound quality? Do you have a recommendation? One amp is really hard to get to is the reason I am asking.

 

[Levitator]

Hi Will - I’ve just received the Aperio so still getting familiar with it…I’m not sure what settings the Essentia’s have but the Aperio has the ability to ‘tune’ the sound by changing the tube bias by rotating the “current” buttons, however this is inside the unit itself. My dealer walked me through how to adjust the settings which is pretty straight forward once you get used to it. There is also an “offset” button you can use in combination with the “current” buttons.

Mine is easy to access but inside a shelf unit like yours does make it a bit tricky…what settings can you adjust on the Essentias?

 

[morricab]

Hi Will - I’ve just received the Aperio so still getting familiar with it…I’m not sure what settings the Essentia’s have but the Aperio has the ability to ‘tune’ the sound by changing the tube bias by rotating the “current” buttons, however this is inside the unit itself. My dealer walked me through how to adjust the settings which is pretty straight forward once you get used to it. There is also an “offset” button you can use in combination with the “current” buttons.

Mine is easy to access but inside a shelf unit like yours does make it a bit tricky…what settings can you adjust on the Essentias?

The Essentias have adjustable feedback but I think Aperio does not.

 

[Willgolf]

Hi Will - I’ve just received the Aperio so still getting familiar with it…I’m not sure what settings the Essentia’s have but the Aperio has the ability to ‘tune’ the sound by changing the tube bias by rotating the “current” buttons, however this is inside the unit itself. My dealer walked me through how to adjust the settings which is pretty straight forward once you get used to it. There is also an “offset” button you can use in combination with the “current” buttons.

Mine is easy to access but inside a shelf unit like yours does make it a bit tricky…what settings can you adjust on the Essentias? First off

First, congratulations on getting the Aperion. I did not get back to you sooner because I had shoulder surgery two days ago and have enjoyed being heavily sedated on drugs to minimize the pain.
I have the same settings as you on the inside that I can adjust. I have left my top panel off of the Amp So that I can access it if I decide I want to go that route. In addition, I have a feedback button that I can also use to adjust the sound quality. And lastly, I have a TVC button that I could use. Right now I am not using any of them because I do not quite understand how they work in conjunction with each other or separately. It is easy enough to adjust them. I just don't know what the results will be. That is also why I am hoping someone who has the essentia can chime in and advise exactly what they did. I am functionally blind and now my arm is in a sling, which makes it tough to fool around with.

BTW, where do you live with the extreme hot weather? Happy New Year!

 

[Argonaut]

@Willgolf … Will … firstly let me extend my best wishes to you in your recovery post surgery , I hope that you are receiving all the care that you need.

With regard to your new AC amplification I would urge that you simply go with the flow in respect to the settings that were in place when your equipment was implemented within your system, and merely get a feel for how the new amplifier works into your system as a whole
I presume that there is no rush in this regard ?

 

[Willgolf]

Yes, you are exactly right. I’ve been happy with the settings that came with the amps. I’m happy with the sound. I will just go with the flow and enjoy for the time being. Happy new year to all.

 

[Levitator]

First, congratulations on getting the Aperion. I did not get back to you sooner because I had shoulder surgery two days ago and have enjoyed being heavily sedated on drugs to minimize the pain.
I have the same settings as you on the inside that I can adjust. I have left my top panel off of the Amp So that I can access it if I decide I want to go that route. In addition, I have a feedback button that I can also use to adjust the sound quality. And lastly, I have a TVC button that I could use. Right now I am not using any of them because I do not quite understand how they work in conjunction with each other or separately. It is easy enough to adjust them. I just don't know what the results will be. That is also why I am hoping someone who has the essentia can chime in and advise exactly what they did. I am functionally blind and now my arm is in a sling, which makes it tough to fool around with.

BTW, where do you live with the extreme hot weather? Happy New Year!

Thanks Will - I hope the shoulder surgery heals quickly for you, especially if you have to move those amps anytime! I’m in the state of Qld over in Australia - a warmish summer so far, nothing too brutal heat wise yet!

 

[Levitator]

Just wanted to share some initial thoughts on the new AC Aperio integrated amp.

The first thing that shocked me was how transparent this amp is! I have revealing speakers and thought I was hearing everything I could especially since the recent Taiko Extreme updates, but the AC has a way of revealing more information without sounding analytical or cold. The AC sound is something I’m not familiar with, but it displays a vivid, wholesome and realistic sound. The amp itself is fast, dynamic, detailed and very musical.

There is lots of tune-ability to this amp, great if you are happy to play around, with the 2 current and 2 offset dials in addition to changing tubes. So far I’m liking the sound but it does require some time I think to get the sound that you most like - poor recordings have nowhere to hide given the revealing nature the amp has.

I’ll share a bit more as I do more listening over the coming week.

 

[Phantom-Audio]

Just wanted to share some initial thoughts on the new AC Aperio integrated amp.

The first thing that shocked me was how transparent this amp is! I have revealing speakers and thought I was hearing everything I could especially since the recent Taiko Extreme updates, but the AC has a way of revealing more information without sounding analytical or cold. The AC sound is something I’m not familiar with, but it displays a vivid, wholesome and realistic sound. The amp itself is fast, dynamic, detailed and very musical.

There is lots of tune-ability to this amp, great if you are happy to play around, with the 2 current and 2 offset dials in addition to changing tubes. So far I’m liking the sound but it does require some time I think to get the sound that you most like - poor recordings have nowhere to hide given the revealing nature the amp has.

I’ll share a bit more as I do more listening over the coming week.

Keep us posted......btw which pre-amp are you using?

 

[Willgolf]

Keep us posted......btw which pre-amp are you using?

The Aperio is an integrated amp.

 

[Phantom-Audio]

The Aperio is an integrated amp.

Ahh yes, my bad kept thinking he had the Mono blocks.

 

[morricab]

The Aperio is an integrated amp.

Any updates from your side?

 

[Willgolf]

Any updates from your side?

No, because I have had an acoustic company working on my ceiling all week. In addition, I have started testing various tubes on my Horizon.