[Rocket]

Hey Guys,

Finally bought a brand new SST Ambrosia with the optional phono stage.  I'm having a slight problem using the headphone output.  It has 3 options, mono, stereo and stereo rev.  When I use mono I get sound from both left and right speakers in my fostex headphones.  When I use either of the 2 stereo options I can only hear music coming from one of the headphone speakers.

Any ideas?  May'be I'm missing something and haven't setup up preamplifier correctly.

Btw after many years I fixed the problematic amplifier.  I sent one mono block all the way to the USA and returns.  SST were great to deal with and fixed the issue for me.  I also upgraded the circuit breaker in the property as it used the trip it when I returned the amps on.

I don't have enough room where I'm working to set up all my system at the moment. Those ampzillas need a lot of room.

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hey Guys,

Finally bought a brand new SST Ambrosia with the optional phono stage.  I'm having a slight problem using the headphone output.  It has 3 options, mono, stereo and stereo rev.  When I use mono I get sound from both left and right speakers in my fostex headphones.  When I use either of the 2 stereo options I can only hear music coming from one of the headphone speakers.

Any ideas?  May'be I'm missing something and haven't setup up preamplifier correctly.

Btw after many years I fixed the problematic amplifier.  I sent one mono block all the way to the USA and returns.  SST were great to deal with and fixed the issue for me.  I also upgraded the circuit breaker in the property as it used the trip it when I returned the amps on.

I don't have enough room where I'm working to set up all my system at the moment. Those ampzillas need a lot of room.

Cheers Rod

Hi Rod, I realize this is a late reply but I have only listened to my headphones in stereo mode and not tried other options.  They work in stereo mode without issue.  Did you get the problem sorted out?

[Rocket]

Hey Greg,

I haven't sorted it out yet.  I live in Australia and I don't want to ship it back to the US.  I'll probably contact EJ and ask him to liaise with my technician here in Perth.

I always seems to have something go wrong with hifi gear.

Thanks for the reply.

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Rod,

That is definitely a hassle to get your gear serviced with that kind of distance.  I live two hour's drive north from EJ so that makes it easy if I ever need anything.  EJ is as cool of a guy as he is talented.  I am sure he will help you get it sorted.

Greg

[Rocket]

Hey Greg,

He was fantastic when I had an issue with the ampzilla mono block.  I'm moving to my own house soon so I'll try it in the system and see if the headphone is still an issue.

Cheers Rod

[Rocket]

Hi Guys,

I've got my system together again in my new house. The room is a little lively and I know the placement of the speakers isn't perfect either.  The system still sounds good.  For whatever reason the phono stage is working fine and also stereo and mono. No luck with the headphone amplifier as it only works in mono.



It's too far to send back for a checkup as I live in Australia.

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Looks good Rod. 

As far as being lively, I am not sure if the speakers have rear ports.  The speakers are close to side walls and the corners behind are hard surfaces.  Not sure if treatments can help.

Sorry to hear about your headphone issue.  I have used mine very little, and when I tried it I was impressed with the sound and it was stereo by default. 

I know it is a pain to send things to another country for service.  If the headphone is a separate board maybe EJ can give you instructions on how to send just the board.  Then you have the rest of the preamp's features and shipping would be more palatable.  Another option is to run a separate headphone amp off the fixed outputs.


 

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the suggestion.  It really isn't a big deal but the OC part of myself just wants it to work lol.

I listen mainly to vinyl and I'm using a denon dp1200 with a ortofon 2m bronze cartridge which is pretty nice.  I have a bryston turntable in storage and one day I'll buy a super nice cartridge and use that in the system.

Cheers Rod

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Well I swapped the preamplifier out of the system for a change and then returned it a few weeks later and the phono stage and the headphone and it went back to the same issue i.e working only in mono.  I sent the ambrosia back the Wyred 4 Sound and they discovered that a plug wasn't connected to the phono stage and this caused the problem. It cost a fortune to send the unit to and from the USA back to Australia but its finally working fine.

The preamplifier and phono stage do work very well with the SOA amplifier. I haven't tried the mono blocks yet.

I'd like to connect a subwoofer but I'm a bit reluctant to do so as I'm concerned I'll damage it again .

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hi Rod,

I bet that freight cost you a small fortune.  I am glad Wyred 4 Sound got the Ambrosia sorted out so everything works as expected. 

The Wyred 4 Sound office is located in a beautiful part of California that is a 2 hour drive from me.  Prior to Covid, it was easier for me to drop off and pick up any item that needs service. 

I have the Ambrosia connected to Digital Amp Company Golden Cherry mono amps.  I am very happy with the pairing.

I have been running dual subs through the Ambrosia since I got it.  I have used different connection methods:

• Pre outs > Mono amps (mains) and dual powered subs (XLR pre outs to amps and RCA pre outs to the subs)
• Pre outs > DSPeaker Antimode 2.0 (connected via the XLR pre outs) > Mono amps (mains) and dual powered subs (outputs from DSPeaker connected to the amps and subs)
• Pre outs > Mono amps (mains) > Dual powered subs (subs connected via REL Neutrik cables connected to the amps)

I ran the Antimode when I was running room correction and had no issues.  For the last couple years I have been running one set of XLR pre outs to my amps, and the subs connected to the amps via REL Neutrik cables.  I had no issues when I ran the pre outs from the Ambrosia directly to the subs, but I prefer the sound quality with the REL cables.

The Ambrosia is am amazing preamp with a list of features hard to find in a single preamp.  It makes looking for a replacement hard without giving up one or more features that I currently use

• Reference MM and MC reference phono
• Excellent quality headphone amp
• HT bypass
• Fixed (tape out)
• Two Monitor Loops
• Tone Controls
• Two sets of XLR and RCA outputs
• 1 XLR input
• Multiple RCA inputs
• High impedance inputs and low impedance outputs

Cheers and happening listening.

Greg

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Just to confirm I should use the xls speakers to the amp? and then also the RCA's to the subwoofer? I should use the same outputs? I'm using A at the moment. Sorry some off this is a little unclear to me.

The phono stage is excellent and I'm surprised it handily beats my new hagerman audio trumpet mc. Well its a different sound I guess as the trumpet mc seems to be less transparent but the bass goes deeper than the Ambrosia phono stage.  I don't have a top line turntable/cartridge combo though.

Thanks for your help Greg.

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hi Rod,

I think all pre outs are active so it does not matter if you use both XLR out, both RCA out, or any combination.  I seem to remember using the XLR A outs for the speakers (amps) and the RCA A outs for the powered sub woofers. 

I would clarify with W4S for your own peace of mind, but that is how I remember doing it. 

Cheers,
Greg

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your help. 

Cheers Rod

[Rocket]

Hey Greg,

I just bought an SST Phoebe preamplifier including the mm phono stage and dac.  I bought it for $4200usd and I hope it sounds great in my system. I'm going to match it with my SST Son of Ampzilla (mark I version).  The Ambrosia is going into my main system when I have the room setup.  I also have a pair of ampzilla mono blocks.

Now I have more gear to sell off  .

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hi Rod,

I saw the Thoebe preamp one time in the Wyred 4 Sound facility and EJ showed me how well the volume knob works. 

Jerry (from 10Audio) reviewed the Thoebe and had lots of positive comments (and a gave it a high rating). 

I would expect the MM stage to not be quite as good as the one in the Ambrosia, but the Thoebe looks to be an excellent all around preamp.  I definitely like the way it looks. 

I will be curious to hear your impressions once you receive it and you are able to compare it to the Ambrosia.

Cheers,
Greg

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Yes I will provide you with my view of the differences.  The reason I bought the Thoebe preamplifier is that it was on sale at a 3k australia discount.  Also the Ambrosia preamp/phonostage trounces my Red Wine Audio and Hagerman Audio trumpet mc combo.

Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hi Rod,

The phono stage on the Ambrosia preamp was good enough that I sold a much more expensive dedicated phono stage that I was using at the time to help offset the cost of the Ambrosia preamp.

Since then I found a standalone phono stage that has become my reference, however, I could easily live with the Ambrosia and not feel like I am missing out.  My current phono stage is a Modwright PH 9.0 with Dan's recent transformer upgrade to PH 9.0X spec.   

I look forward to your impressions regarding the Thoebe II. 

[Rocket]

Hi Greg,

Looks like this is my go to SST post lol.  Okay I have received the Thoebe preamplifier and right out of the box it is quite good.  The phono stage is not as good as the one in the Ambrosia. That is easy to tell.  However, it is still quite good and easily beats my Vision Phonostage with a larger soundstage, dynamics and transparency. The tone controls are pretty handy as well.

I have no idea what the phase option does?

I've compared the Thoebe add on phono stage and it edges out the hagerman audio trumpet mc phono stage.  The phoebe phono just seems to be a little more refined and less bright compared to the trumpet mc.  For full disclosure I'm using a denon dp1200 turntable with an ortofon 2m bronze cartridge.





Cheers Rod

[GregC]

Hi Rod,

Good to hear that the Thoebe is off to a good start.  It looks great in your setup. 

The Thoebe has all of the features I would look for in a preamp, and the user ergonomics seem like they may be even better than the Ambrosia .  However, what the Ambrosia lacks in traditional beauty, it more than makes up for in performance. 

I figured the phono stage would be excellent (but not be at the level of performance of the Ambrosia).  The fact it sounds better than the Trumpet in your setup is a testament (considering the Trumpet was Stereophile class A rated).

The phase control inverts the phase for playback of a song.  Some recordings were purposely recorded out of phase, so on those you can use that phase button to invert the signal to play in correct phase.  Inverted phase is the same as wiring your left and right wires backwards on your speaker binding posts.  Some people are sensitive and can hear a difference, but for me it was never obvious.  I think the Ambrosia has a phase control buried in one of the menus. 

Tone controls are considered sacrilegious by some audio purists, but I agree that they can help make some bad recordings much more palatable. 

Cheers,
Greg

[Rocket]

Hey Greg,

Thanks for the message. I don't have golden ears but I definitely thought there was a slight improvement over the trumpet mc. At any rate I'll sell the trumpet mc and take a bit of a loss on it.

The Ambrosia is clearly a better hifi component and the phono stage is really good.  The sick part is that this is my second system lol.  I also have a pair of Salk Sound HT3's, Ampzilla monoblocks, Ambrosia and a Bryston Turntable. 

Thanks for the information about phase. I get it now.

Cheers Rod