Feliks Audio Euforia AE Review

[responsivevoice_button]

To be honest, I expected more when I witched to the 250Ohm Sennheiser HD650 but that’s mainly because I like the HD650 sound soft and warm, relaxed and smooth. The AE is perhaps tuned too perfectly for this as you get a very fast, more neutral presentation where the warmth and romance is less presence. The other side is that those who don’t like the famous warmer HD650 will probably like this combo, but for me the HD650 sound better with a very warm sounding LaFigaro 339 in example, or even the Bottlehead Crack on good tubes.

The 250Ohm Beyerdynamic DT1990PRO is one of my favourite semi open headphones and it works really well with the Euforia AE. You get a fast, detailed and very energetic sound. Bass is deep, tight and comes in punchy and fast. The mids are spacious, natural and they sound very airy and detailed. The mid timbre, decay and extension is excellent. Vocals are sublime as well end the treble section, is detailed, extended and very lively. What did you expect from a high end amp and a neutrally tuned Beyer headphone? All kidding aside, this combo works really well. Even with metal music. An excellent example here is Bring Me The Horizon’s “Antivist” from their album Sempiternal. The DT1990PRO driven by the AE amplifier becomes an excellent performing all-round headphone. Keywords are speed, tightness, neutrality, energy and detail.

The last dynamic headphone and AE combo we’ll check out is the one with the Focal Utopia. If I’m not mistaken, Focal was one of the very first brands showcasing their Utopia headphone with the Euforia amplifier, and I can see/hear why. You get a full, well bodied sound from top to bottom, with a wide sound stage, a spacious presentation and a whole lot of detail. Bass comes in with plenty of body, yet isn’t always the tightest. The mids have great timbre, extension and depth with excellent layering. Personally the vocals in this combo for me sound just a bit too metalic, but that might be just the way you like it. Treble is exciting and extended, but not as technically strong as with the DT1990PRO we just heard. Again you overall get a more neutral presentation but with a musical presentation and a smooch of tube smoothness. The combo simply works very well. If you’re fan of the Utopia’s tuning, you’ll love it with the Euforia AE.

Switching to planar magnetic headphones, the first one we look at is the Meze Audio Empyrean, the 2018 best headphone award winner. The Empyrean is a full bodied, smoother sounding headphone with incredible timbre. The Empyrean is a pleasure to listen to as it’s smoother, has excellent bass and sounds very musical. The AE really makes the Empyrean shine in the mids section, with excellent timbre, detail and depth. It’s maybe not the fastest sound, but it’s natural, smooth and oh so relaxing. The Empyrean’s treble has never been the most energetic and you get a softer yet lovely sounding treble section, which connects perfectly to the mids. The bass is full and big, goes low and comes with good impact. Like with the Utopia, it isn’t the tightest or fastest, but it’s musical and will you be shaking your head or tapping your feet within minutes. I sometimes find the Empyrean too relaxed but this isn’t the case here, the Euforia AE keeps it lively, energetic, detailed and very musical.

Switching to the very different Hifiman HE6SE, the volume of the AE will have to go up a little. Mind you I’m only listening at the 10 o’ clock position, so no worries there. The HE6SE is a great headphone, too bad it doesn’t have a different, more comfortable headband. But we’re not here to talk about he headband, we’re here to talk about the synergy with the Euforia AE. And synergy there is. It delivers the power the HE6SE needs to really shine and the tubes give it an extra layer of musicality. The HE6SE sounds fast, tight, yet has good body from top to bottom. The speed, width and level of detail are impressive, but the HE6SE and AE combo never gets analytic or sharp sounding. Voices and mids sound natural and realistic and the treble section vivid, detailed and extended. I really love this combo and could listen to it all day long (if there was a better headband ???? )

Finally the Hifiman Susvara, one of the best headphones on the planet if you ask me. Sure it sells for $6K but amp it properly and you will won’t nothing else. “Driving” is what its all about with the Susvara and I usually power it with the Auris Audio Nirvana in balanced mode, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the pairing with the  Euforia AE. It quickly became clear I had nothing to worry out, au contraire. Sure the volume goes up another notch, but boy does the combo sound. Full bodied sound, great sound stage width, excellent depth, precise layering and positioning. The combo is magical, the AE seems to do everything right for the Susvara and the tubes make everything musical. Yes, this is a $10K setup, but when I still get goose bumps after a decade of listening to top quality gear, know it’s something really good.

The Susvara is technically immensely strong and the Euforia AE has no problem providing it with everything it needs as well as keeping it musical at all times. This combo is in my top 3 when it comes to the Susvara & tubes, that surely says enough.

I’ve used many more headphones with the Euforia AE, and I can only conclude the AE is an amp which is easy to use. It performs well with both dynamic as well as planar magnetic technology and it has great synergy with a lot of headphones. The big strength of the AE is that it makes almost all headphones sound very good, unless you want them to sound really warm, like my HD650. The TOTL Euforia AE wasn’t tuned for this either, so that’s perfectly ok if you ask me. It’s just something you need to know.

End Words

Discovering new great amplifiers is something I really like, especially if it are tube amps. When the news came out there would be an Anniversary Edition of the Euforia I wasn’t expecting such a difference in performance, but boy was I wrong. The Euforia AE is awesome, even more so than the regular Euforia.

The AE Euforia is an amplifier which is playing with the big boys on the market, and if you’re in the market for a high end tube amp, the AE with its €2900 price, simply is a no-brainer. The AE offers a great sound stage, both in width and depth, combined with excellent layering, timbre, extension and speed. The detail retrieval is excellent and at the same time the AE sounds incredibly musical. The Euforia AE will immerse you in your music, it’s awesome.

The original €1900 Euforia still gives you great value, performance and musicality and if your budget doesn’t extend AE far, this still is a highly recommended amplifier. The AE however, blows it away on all front with improvements everywhere.

Is the Euforia AE the absolute best tube amp in my collection on the market? No it probably isn’t, but at the same time it is more than really good, especially taking into account its price tag. All the “better” other amplifiers I’m talking about, such as the Auris Audio Nirvana, will cost you at least double or triple what the AE is going for.

The Euforia AE at this price and with this level of performance, deserves a place on our recommended amplifier list, where it replaces the original Euforia.