Up for sale is my great-looking, giant-killing Heed Elixir in silver finish in Excellent Condition
Includes all original packaging and accessories (Remote, AC Cable, manual) and FREE shipping in the CONUS.
Asking $799. Retail is $1195. Paypal only, but please add 3% if not using friends/family rate.
Conservatively rated 8/10 but could be a 9. The sound and performance is astonishing and includes an internal phono stage, headphone amplifier, and remote. Definitely among the most tube-like (if I had to name one, it's KT66-like) midbands I have heard from a solid-state amplifier allied to a clean, insistent bass and smooth, airy treble. It is competitive with the ten-times as expensive amps I tend to use in my main rig.
Description: Two-channel, solid-state, integrated amplifier. Inputs: 4 analog, 1 MM phono stage. Outputs: 1 stereo speaker, 1 preamplifier, 1 headphones (6.35mm). Power outputs: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW), 65Wpc into 4 ohms (15.1dBW). Frequency ranges: 10Hz–110kHz, speaker outputs; 3.5Hz–300kHz, preamplifier output; 3.5Hz–320kHz, headphone output. Phono input impedance: 47k ohms/100pF. Line input impedance: 10k ohms. Input sensitivity: 135mV. Negative feedback: 32dB. Damping factor: 150 at 1kHz into 8 ohms. Total harmonic distortion: 0.09% at 1kHz. Channel separation: 59dB into 8 ohms, 10W out. Signal/noise: 91dB, unweighted (0Hz–25kHz). Power consumption: 150W max, 20W idle. Dimensions: 8.7" (220mm) W by 3.3" (85mm) H by 14.2" (360mm) D. Weight: 13.2 lbs (6kg).
REVIEWS
"Rarely have I heard an integrated amplifier, packed so full of features and available at such a reasonable price, sound so good. The sense of clarity was a joy to behold and gave each piece of music life and sparkle. The instrumental separation was aided by the air and space within the soundstage that offered the performers time while the latter also performed with a sense of relaxation and ease and that allowed the music to flow with a sense of style. There is no doubt, the Heed Elixir is a brilliant amp and the best integrated, at this price point, that I’ve ever heard. Buy it now, ask questions later." — The Audiophile Man, 9/10
"The output sections of the Elixir amps are non-direct-coupled. Instead, they use output capacitors that are charged by complementary pairs of Darlington transistors, in an architecture referred to by Huszti as Transcap technology. "We make transistor amplifiers with capacitor outputs," Huszti explained via e-mail. "These capacitors are translator capacitors, as they convert the electronic signal into a form that an electromechanical converter needs. [Sound] is tiny changes in air pressure, the deviation of the basic atmospheric pressure. Sound recordings, however, store absolute levels. A directly coupled amplifier is a level-setting amplifier; it tries to set an absolute air-pressure level, which is not [an ideal] goal. An output-capacitor amp, however, drives the speaker in a changes-only mode, and that is required for the stress-free generation of air-pressure changes [into] the sound we hear.
Tube amplifiers do almost the same thing," Huszti added, "but there is a difference: output transformers are restrictive elements. Capacitors are, however, energy-storing devices. This energy is always directly accessible for the speaker, as there is nothing between it and the output capacitor. The speaker can work with one less electric restriction, and in a mode that is more close to its mechanical needs (as a mechanical result is our main goal). In terms of [sounding natural], this is a huge difference.
Some reviews write themselves: Some audio products, created by designers who understand and implement the key elements required to make music sing, are tuned finely enough to be able to let the music speak. The Heed Elixir is such a product: a versatile integrated amplifier whose strengths include musical momentum, a touchable and delicious midrange, first-row re-creation of voices, and a very large soundstage, and its big'n'bouncy macrodynamics presented me with endless surprises from my favorite reference recordings. That so much amplifier is available for $1195 should have music lovers dancing, unclothed and unhinged, across fields and meadows, melodies on their lips, as creatures great and small join them in song. Incautiously, happily recommended." – STEREOPHILE, Ken Micaleff
