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Model: | Sophia Electric 126S |
Category: | Integrated Amplifier (Tube) |
Suggested Retail Price: | $5000 |
Description: | Auto biasing EL34/6CA7/KT66/KT77 integrated amplifier |
Manufacturer URL: | Sophia |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by vangstr on January 03, 2014 at 23:43:55 IP Address: 76.112.62.63 | Add Your Review for the Sophia Electric 126S |
This amplifier is finally getting my thumbs up review after nearly a year of ownership. I don't like to give reviews on equipment especially if I haven't really spent a good amount of time with it to fully understand its' good and bad. Only through a fair amount of ownership time then either the product gets a thumbs up or thumbs down.
This unit is the re-designed EL34 integrated amp from amp builder Richard WuGang of Sophia Electric. You may have already heard of their excellent tubes especially their 300B etc. So there's no need for further introduction on my part for the company itself. You can simply visit the company's website at www.sophiaelectric.com
New in 2012 is this Sophia Electric 126S. It has three levels of build pending the buyer's taste for upscale modification by Richard. The one I bought from Richard is simply the US version (120V) level 3 (basic). The upper two levels are level 5 (with upgraded transformers) and top of the line level statement series which incorporates a slightly different circuit to accommodate JBL/horn sized speaker applications. I opted for level 3.
The amplifier came to me delivered in an medium to large sturdy box with the amplifier fully encapsulated with a custom styrofoam container holding the amplifier. I found the tubes included boxed and wrapped separately inside this styrofoam container with this delivery.
The amplifier looks very modern and is built 100% out of an aluminum chassis. There is no steel sheets to be found on the unit which is pretty impressive. From the top transformer cases to the bottom of the amplifier plate - all aluminum. The sockets where the tubes plug into are nicely selected and doesn't look or feel cheap. The speaker connections are the newer WBT alongside 5 rca inputs. On the front of the amp you'll find the volume knob and selector switch. The volume pot is by Alps and is a 100k. I felt that the knobs could be better selected for a more quality feel. They just feel a bit on the flimsy side for me. 3 months into owning the unit, I found that the selector switch was catching the nearby input channels as well. Although this problem went away after a few weeks, it never came back. So I really don't know what could have caused that problem to come and go. A few phone calls to Sue at Sophia Electric too I'd like to add. The bottom feet, I felt, were really cheesy. It came with felt pads stuck on them too which made the amplifier smooth to slide and scratch free for your amp stand of choice. I am into aftermarket accessories so I opted to use my own isolation footers.
Opening the top plates of the transformers and power transformer show 2 completely enclosed/potted output transformers from Sophia Electric in black. The power transformer which sits in the middle is open and you can literally see the wires coming out down into the underside of the amp circuitry. The OPT's are cool to the touch even after long listening sessions but the power transformer can get pretty hot. My listening sessions are about 5-8 nonstop daily. The all aluminum chassis does absorb much of that heat and acts as a big heatsink to dissipate it off. Which I guess is pretty nice. Touching the chassis won't burn you like touching the output tubes!
Looking under the bottom plate reveals only 2 small circuit boards for the 2 input tubes (6U8) and a small circuit relay board for the "ON" switch. This relay switch delays the startup of this amp at start up. Otherwise the rest of the circuitry is all point to point soldering of resistors etc. I recognize the Allen-Bradley resistors but couldn't decipher the other smaller metalized resistors as to what brand/make. There is no use of coupling capacitors so I gather this circuitry is rectified differently. You would have to ask Richard. Overall, don't expect Leben or Shindo - like soldering quality. I think this is definitely one area that Sophia Electric should improve on is the layout of the resistors and how they are soldered together in a neater fashion to better reflect its price.
Well if you can forgive and forget the engine compartment and listen to the sound of this machine, you will be amazed. It is simply magic - hence the name Magic 126S. This amplifier will require 2 matched 6U8 input signal tubes. As for the output tubes, as long as you have matched pairs to form a quad you'll be ok because its all auto biased. I've rolled KT66, 6L6GC (do not use 6L6), KT77, EL34, 6CA7 all run fine with this amplifier - no sweat! As for the input tubes, I've rolled 6U8, 6GH8, 6EA8, 6JW8, ECF82, ECF802 - they all work fine. My favorites are the Seimens and Mazda/RT.
Back to the sound…lush galore! This amps signature is lush and warmer than my friends Leben CS600. The Leben is very transparent but lacks the nice lush warm sound of this 126S. I rate this Sophia 126S to the likes of Shindo. It seeks to find a neutral/transparent speaker and you will not be disappointed! After trying, Harbeth, Sonus Faber, Reference 3A, Joseph Audio, Verity, Devore Fidelity, ProAc, Totem, Von Schweikert…I've finally settled on the new Merlin TSM MMM BME (black magic edition). The 126S is lush but still very detailed. The highs seemed more rolled off compared to the Leben CS600. But very romantic and true like the Shindo. Apples and oranges as one of my friend always says..so whats your taste? Think of 300B sound but with 25W instead of 9W. I love the RCA 6L6GC black plates in this amplifier because it gives the amp better headroom for stretching.
Overall, the amplifier is very musical. It is super quiet even with the 92dB speakers I hooked up to. Internal circuitry build is not like the Japanese boutique amp builds but I gather the company is trying to improve. Aesthetically, Sophia Electric looks very nice and modern. The previous generation of their amps looked horrible but now their amps look way better. Soundwise, it'll give the Shindo and Leben a run for their money. Many audiophiles will pass over Sophia Electric as simply a tube company but take heed, they now build some serious amp gear to rival even the best out there. I could've spent $5-10k on a Shindo, but decided to save my money and go for this Sophia instead. The extra $5k I saved, I'll go on a trip to Japan instead.
Product Weakness: | Internal wiring/soldering needs better presentation to match price point. |
Product Strengths: | Very sweet warm romantic sound. Easy tube rolling feature for the output tubes. |
Amplifier: | Sophia Electric 126S |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | None |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Well Tempered Record Player |
Speakers: | Merlin TSM MMM BME (black magic edition) |
Cables/Interconnects: | Grover Huffman ZX |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Jazz/Pop/Electronic |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 22 x 23 x 12 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | ASI resonators and sugar cubes |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | owner |
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Shunyata |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Your System (if other than home audition): | owner |
******** UPDATE *********** UPDATE **********
I'm simply going to copy my update to this old and original thread here. I've posted it over in "Tube DIY" section but felt it needed to go here as well. Check out the pictures over there in that posting. For here I'll simply just copy the text in case you're too lazy to go search over there.
*********************
here is what i wrote:
A few months ago, I was evaluating my ownership experience per se concerning Sophia Electric’s 126S integrated amplifier (please see the original post “Review: Sophia Electric 126S” here on AA); pertaining to ‘my’ likes and dislikes of it. About a month or so after this 1 year review/write-up (both positive and negative) concerning this my amplifier of mine – the amp gasped me a little hiccup. You can say it! Shall we say premature evaluation? Perhaps. Furthermore, my enthusiasm for the 126S became slightly diluted at best with this unexpected hiccup. My evaluation of this amplifier at the time could have been held in a bit longer, but as they say easy come easy go……and so here’s goes the rest of the story about what really happened and more.
{Please make note that in writing this, it is NOT my intention to harm, hold anyone responsible, defame, torture, bully, excite, etc.. yada yada yadah about any one person/s, products or services sold and/or rendered…but my intention is to simply be transparent with the small audio bubble community in which we all live pertaining to my experience with this Sophia Electric 126S.}
So what was the hiccup? A couple of weeks after my written review about my 126S here on AA, I noticed that one particular tube position (in my case, output tube position number 2) occasionally sparked near the base of the output tube. Along with this spark would be the pop pop noise through my left speaker. I thought perhaps it was just the set of quads I’ve been listening to that was going out and so decided to roll through 2 other different quads. In each different set of quads, the same symptom kept happening at that same tube location. That’s when I stopped blaming my tubes and started blaming the amp.
My initial decision was to call up Sue at Sophia Electric and send it back in for repair but decided not to because of shipping cost. Shipping alone would incur $140 roundtrip not including how much it may also cost for an evaluation (if any) and actual fix. Sue did email me a hand-drawn schematic of one side of the output section for my review – however I’m no expert at schematic reading so I then elected the most cost effective option since the unit was already outside of the 1 yr warranty; I would deliver the amp myself to amp sensei Mike Samra. Surely he would know what to do to fix the hiccup. Cost-wise the roundtrip drive to sensei’s house would turn out to be $40.
Mike evaluated the unit and discovered that the amp hiccup was an oscillation issue. Mike if you’re reading this you can explain it better than I can so go for it! After further evaluation, I simply asked Mike to see if it was possible if he could cast his magic-mod touch to the amp’s existing circuitry. Simply put, I wanted to see Superman ‘the hero’ himself rather than see Superman disguised as Clark Kent. You get my drift? Would Mike be able to conjure up some recipe to add to this already good sounding amp to sound better??? -- aside from just fixing the oscillation issue. Ok, let’s pause a moment here. Some of you are thinking…”sound better” doesn’t literally translate to something being better because its subjective right? One could argue the point of “sounding different” but not necessarily sounding better – ok ok…but just keep reading and I assure you it does sound better (It’s only until you’ve heard it, then you can formulate your judgment. I hope one day Richard at Sophia can hear this thing too. However, Mike and I do agree about the “sounding better” than before.)
Being that I am the owner of this amplifier I guess it’s up to me to do with it as whatever I wish like…. I could burn it, smoke it, sleep with it, paint it - whatever your inspiring minds may think of – yes it was mine to do.
Fast forward 1 month. I finally get the amp back from sensei tech guru Mike and guess what? 1) No more oscillation!!!!! Great for my ears and tube reserve that’s for sure. 2) The amp sounded a tad bit better – It used to distort at around 1-2 o’clock position on the potentiometer but now I could take it all the way to 3-4 o’clock easily before the slightest hint of distortion. The amp became a bit more dynamic and transparent too.
Mike keeps telling me, that the mods he added would need some time to break in before I really hear the effects of them, so I kept on listening everyday. Well this amp has been playing 7 hours everyday for the past 2 weeks. Until just the other day…..wham! bam! Boom! I nearly wet myself! My smile becomes contagious. WTF just happened? This amp that has been sounding just a tad better when it came back from Mike literally morphed sonically into the unfathomably great amplifier! How many adverbs did I just say there? Mike’s mod had finally shown up in aces! The Sophia Electric 126S literally played music super dynamic, super transparent, airy, gobs of texture, yada yada yadah….In the sky..is it a bird?...a plane??...Clark Kent – no! It’s Superman! I’m going to keep listening for another 1-2 more weeks to see if Superman will bring Wonder Woman along too, but if she doesn’t show up, that’s quite ok with me. In my book, Superman is better than a disguised Clark Kent remember? And yes, Mike has heard the amp when he got done with it BUT has not heard this meta-morphed amp he has conjured up for me - even as I write this so there will be another trip back to him so he can have a listen.
I’m not an expert at relaying what Mike actually performed inside of my amp with his mod, but I hope that he will shed some light on this issue for the rest of you inquiring minds. From what I remember him telling me is different diodes, power & coupling caps, NOS resistors. Mike?
I’ll end it here with a picture of the engine compartment where Superman resides.
More to come in the future…so stay tuned.
"the new Merlin TSM MMM BME"
LOL, I will be glad when we get to the XYZ version so we truly can "have it all".
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
I had the Sophia 300b amps and enjoyed them for years. Sadly, all of the issues raised in the recent Stereophile review were accurate. That hurt the resale. Anyway, glad that you are enjoying the new gear. Exterior looks good. Curious...what Shindo did you have in your system?
kev313: I had 4 months time with the auriege-l, monbrison (older version) and apetite (EL34 version) from a friend whom lend them to me in 2011 prior to purchasing decision with this Sophia unit in late 2012. Shindo sounded great but just too expensive for even used gear. When I heard the Sophia, it reminded me of the Shindo sound. I'm not sure about previous Sophia gear/amp quality having never owned one but can definitely say for this one - hearing is believing. I've no hiccups other than the one incident in my original post so for now, it is an amp to stay.
I can easily pick up the phone to talk with Richard - may not happen with Shindo-san.
Here's a picture.
Teng,
She's Abso!utely beautiful.
And another self expressed write-up, once again I'm very very impressed to see/hear that you understand what the function of some components are on an emotional level compared to fashionable boxes that merely produce sound.
Here/H'ear - therein lies the message.
Peace,
O_oh
There's a lot of audio jewelry that sounds like crap. I'll take sound over looks every time.
"It's all fun and games until someone doesn't pick up on the sarcasm"
mt10425: What you say is true! However, I do also feel that at that price point of $3-10k and upwards, the internals show at least reflect the price tag. And this just isn't against Sophia, I've run across some stuff from other audio companies in the past too that were shameful.
There's a lot of audio jewelry that sounds like crap. I'll take sound over looks every time.
Why not have both? Too much ugliness is a deal breaker for me.
Did someone sneeze and forget to cover their nose while building this?
Or maybe they had excess inventory of bathtub sealer around?
I don't care how great it sounds. That goop is not allowed in my listening room!
An example of better assembly technique. Point to point. No circuit boards. Shortest possible wire paths. Use of lead connections only where possible. Mirror image dual mono design.
"Did someone sneeze and forget to cover their nose while building this?"
I agree completely that even for a home builder that type of assembly is unacceptable. It is not just ugly and crude but it makes service and repair a real challenge. I hope that's not a commercial product.
On the other hand I don't think that obsessive compulsive layouts of wires and components makes any sense either. The shortest distance between two points is still a straight line and the nonsense of having all the wires run parallel with sharp 90 deg. bends is complete waste of time and wire and is only intended to please the non-technical "audiophile." The truth is that frequently the most mechanically and technically correct construction will NOT have the most appealing visual aesthetics. Grid stopper resistors, for instance, should always be mounted directly to the socket with no lead and never on a standoff or PC board or it would defeat its purpose. That may look messy to the uninitiated, but it is the mark of proper engineering to those with a critical eye for such things.
Regarding the amp under test, it appears as if it based upon the standard Dynaco ST70 circuit topology without the ability to individually bias the the output tubes. I know this was done to appease non-technical consumers, but one does give up flexibility in the process and the output tubes will have to be well matched. I find it hard to believe they used a 6U8 as the voltage amp and phase inverter/driver. Almost 60 years ago Hafler and Keroes used a combined pentode/triode 7199 for reasons of economy and because that tube was developed for audio. With such outstanding current production pentodes and triodes available today such as the EF86 and ECC99 I just can't understand why they would constrain the user to an obsolete TV tube. After all, Ned Carlson broke the two functions into two tubes 30 years ago for his ST70 boards; the use of the 6U8 seems like a huge step backwards.
It looks like a prototype built in someone's garage but believe it or not, it's a commercially sold product. They offer an entire product line built like that. I won't mention the brand but many people know what it is. ;-)
I agree, overly tidy with parallel runs and 90-degree bends aren't necessary but a little bit of care and effort in assembly method shouldn't be too much to ask for..... especially for expensive 'audiophile' gear.
Abecollins: I agree, but that is why these forums exist is to openly be able to express and share information regardless of having to call out company names etc… the truth can only make us stronger and more aware.
You can search the archives here on the Asylum to find my previous rants about this construction method along with the company name.
Or you can right-click the image (or similar method depending on your browser) to determine the source of the picture and the URL where you can find the product review.
Palustris: some of your questions are interesting and I think Richard at Sophia would be best to answer them. Regarding the use of the triode-pentode 6U8 versus other tubes I'm sure Richard could've easily opted differently but I've noticed only only two other great amp builders use this tube 6U8 as well: James Burgess and Kimura-san. As for me coming as a consumer and listener, I delight at the opportunity to search out a simple pair of tubes as oppose to 2 pairs or more. The 6U8 is way cheaper than say 12ax7 etc... and there are still plenty great yet cheap prices for them.
Edits: 01/04/14
I've also used RCA and Phillips tubes. The el34 tubes are Winged C SED. Also for the $525 I paid for my amp, it looks better by the day.
"It's all fun and games until someone doesn't pick up on the sarcasm"
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