I’ve used Sophia 6sn7’s years ago. Was told they were high spec. TJ’s. So same production line but not really the same thing depending how important the noise and side to side matching are to the application. Can’t say about their other offerings.
LampizatOr Golden Atlantic + TRP
- Thread starter Golum
- Start date
I’m checking elsewhere, but rebranded and produced by someone else to Sophia’s specs are very different. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of good quality audio gear on the market if some parts (or more) were’t produced by others — typically in China or SE Asia — to spec.
I heard from @Golum that there are still some interesting recties out there, so let‘s seeSo one pair is up for grabs for me?
A Sophia follow up. They replied...
"Sophia Electric tubes are of Sophia Electric designs and patent...
Aqua 274B in blue glass would permit up to 47uf in capacitance in the power supply. Mesh plate 274B is more a vintage classic design that limit to 10uf."
So yes, they have someone else make them to spec, vs. rebranding. The Aqua is the one highly praised by reviewers. The non-Aqua mesh plate version is the one on the Woo website next to the 596.
I'm wondering if the trailing capacitor value, whatever the value, is even an issue with a dac.
"Sophia Electric tubes are of Sophia Electric designs and patent...
Aqua 274B in blue glass would permit up to 47uf in capacitance in the power supply. Mesh plate 274B is more a vintage classic design that limit to 10uf."
So yes, they have someone else make them to spec, vs. rebranding. The Aqua is the one highly praised by reviewers. The non-Aqua mesh plate version is the one on the Woo website next to the 596.
I'm wondering if the trailing capacitor value, whatever the value, is even an issue with a dac.
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Andrzej from service says from 8 to 12 uF.
Follow up: Lukasz says "We use 25 mA of total current per rectifier. So we can go over 40 uF and we only use 10uF typically." Not sure yet of the conditions that would take it up over 40uF.
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After spending the entire afternoon and evening with my GA R2R, I've decided I'm going to keep it and not swap out the R2R engine for the new S3 engine.
But, I have an older DSD only Eufora in another room. This has been an amazing bargain ($1100 used), and with JRiver and Roon I can also play PCM with it, but this will be replaced by a standard TRP sometime in the future. I've been following the posts on here and will continue to lurk and occasionally post as I save up the money for a TRP. I have a lot of great tubes for this DAC.
There has been a lot of talk about the GEC KT66. I'm just waiting for someone to also try the GEC KT88, Mullard EL35, Fivre 6L6G, Fivre 6V6G, GEC 6V6G and Mullard 6V6G as these are some of my favorite tubes. If you wait long enough you'll hear my impressions of these tubes with this DAC
I’m a bit late, as I stopped getting notifications for the thread... but, leftside, did you also hear the E53 and decided to stick with your R2R for now?
I haven't heard the TRP yet. I do like the GA R2R a lot though and for my needs (2 rooms) I think it makes sense to have both. Of course, if I decide the newer engine sounds noticeably better than the older R2R I still have the opportunity to swap out the engine. I'll plug both into my preamp and do a comparison. The main selling point of the TRP for me is the tube rolling opportunities.
I can't vouch for now but a while back there was a huge debate about the Sophia 300B on a UK forum.
It got into great depth and argument. The conclusion was the Sophia was a TJ that was supposed to have gone through better testing IIRC.
The trouble was the Sophia pricing was just plain ridiculous compared to the TJ which was peanuts brand new relatively.
I also visually compared other Sophias and they sure looked like TJs.
The tube rolling ability is fantastic and worthwhile, but it would be a mistake to sleep on the improvements the new digital engine brings. It is derived from the Pacific engine and the difference is not subtle.
it is no contest, the E53 is just so much better than the already excellent R2R I really loved before
You can save yourself some precious time and go directly E53
I fully agree hereThe tube rolling ability is fantastic and worthwhile, but it would be a mistake to sleep on the improvements the new digital engine brings. It is derived from the Pacific engine and the difference is not subtle.
You guys always say that when a new model comes out and said the same thing about the GA over the regular Atlantic At these price points, “subtle improvements here and there” I could believe more easily. But, I guess there’s only one way to find out...
Several of us compared all the models at my place and we all came to the same conclusion.
I would not be so vocal about it if the difference would not be so obvious
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