My Endgame Tube Amplifier! Ampsandsound Mogwai SE Review

[@sn4rl277]

When I am jamming to my Atom 2 stack, I will think about what a $3,000 plus tube amp sounds like. It's similar to eating your homemade PB&J sandwich and thinking about that Wagyu steak you saw at the steak house for $180.

[@cxmxc]

Not really. More like you can buy the same stake at Whole Foods for less.Tubes do what tubes do there is nothing more to it. You are paying for perhaps a low noise / distortion schema/built quality/functionality but any sub $500 tube will probably sound the same. Your stack is enough. You can get a darkvoice or any tube pre-amp run it through your stack. It’s going to sound beautiful Tubes v shape and smooth out the highs. Some tubes dry up the sound and give you more detail/holographic sound.

[@keeferdog5617]

“My endgame amp”….(until next week)

[@Jingyih]

To be fair, new tube amp releases are relatively rare each year, so it might take some time to find the next endgame.

[@acecabusas7013]

Can you review the lower-end tube amps from Feliks Audio, specifically the Echo 2 and compare it to other affordable tube amps? Thanks. :)

[@orborbea9844]

I second this motion !

[@BrentLeVasseur]

Excellent photography on the intro. Your camera skills are amazing.

[@rogerhuston8287]

Maguai is really nice. I enjoyed it with ZMF on Justin's recommendation, but went with the Nautilus as it drove Susvara and everything else a bit better. I do like the A&S sound. I also went to CanJam, but 3 years ago and I spent a lot of time in Justin's booth.

[@SkywhiteChannel]

I have the Bigger Ben II and it’s the mids that make it special. Vocals really stand out and sound special. It hits hard too but the soundstage is relatively small compared to my other amps. Nevertheless it’s a great amp.

[@edbrumbaugh9202]

Thanks for the review, looks and sounds like a nice unit. I found my endgame unit in the PrimaLuna EVO300 Tube Integrated that I bought for my 2-channel system setup, that I found to also be the best headphone amp I've ever listened to. Enjoy your gear!

[@jakobolsson586]

On the topic of hd800s and tube Amps. I would love to see you try some diy options. As a person with small pockets but a big interest, getting some awesome alone time and sound to pair with equipment is not to scoff at. Great vid keep it up 😊

[@DefeatPete]

Good review! Zmf Aegis next, since you've touched upon a few Zmf's recently? Haven't seen much on it

[@JustEric1]

The Mogwai SE sounds great with high sensitivity speakers like my Zu DW but it does need some consideration on how you will use it in a speaker/headphone set up. That is half the fun though, right? I've had my Mogwai SE for over three years and it is the one piece of equipment I have never felt the desire to upgrade or change. Nice review.

[@carminedesanto6746]

Taking a break from both the amplifier and DAC merry go round ..but still keeping an eye on/ear out for something special.

[@johnupham6887]

Next one is euforia evo review

[@foldspacenavigator6011]

Thanks for reviewing with the Abyss Diana with this amp. Perhaps will try the ZMF aegis though for now, concur & running them on a tubey & warm sounding state.

[@blejzerosamigos6115]

Thanks for the video a thing you forgot to mention that there's a topology difference between Felix Audio which is an OTL amp pretty much perfect for sennheiser and focal headphones. Ampsandsound has transformers,that's big difference.

[@nightryder21]

Is your Schiit Gunnr review coming up?

[@tremot7143]

This would be an easier sell as a speaker amplifier with an extremely capable headphone section. I know plenty of big, high efficiency floorstanders that could be driven by those 8 watts. Klipsch, Spendor, Tannoy, and certainly vintage Altec and KEF. So these do have some functionality, but a motorised ALPS volume pot with remote and optional phonostage would make this a dream purchase.

[@johnmcdevitt9797]

I owned the Woo Audio WA5-LE for 5+ years and for me the WA5 is the standard go to head-amp around this price range for triodes. WA5-LE is basically 70 pounds of transformers! My other pick at price point that's all solid state is the Ray Samuels Dark Star head-amp (mind-blower) that I never owned but demoed at Ray's workshop with the HiFiMan HE-6 original version back when HE-6 was all the rage and when Zach of ZMF was just getting started. I meet Zach at headphone in the subs of Chicago back when his cans were no where near as impressive as they are now. Anyway the thing I don't like about triode head-amps is that find them to be a bit fickle, there's a sweet spot to the power curve. I prefer the sound of dynamic drivers with triodes however dynamic drivers in my experience are more revealing of tube surf and microphonics while planar drivers seemed to be less sensitive to my gripe. The head-amp I'm eyeing up now is the Enleum HPA-23RMH, I have similar sound signature preferences of density in tone from inky jet back ground with PRaT, for planar drivers I prefer amps with a speed factor err high slew rate.

[@louis-felixcauchon2515]

Still waiting for your Diana DZ review... Also, how come nobody review the elite version of the Woo Audio WA33 ?

[@HiFiInsider]

I need to try some A&S amps at home.

[@NexusS4GIceJelly]

Justin’s amps are amazing! You get a very seductive voicing with his amps from even the cheapest model he sells!

[@cshawnb]

Great review, but I have one thing to address: this amp is definitely well suite for floor standing or larger “bookshelf” speakers in a medium-to-large room, as long as they are sensitive enough at least 90dB, but higher than 94db would be better. Think Klipsch Heritage speakers, Zu Audio, Hasehiro, even Lintons at 90dB.

[@eriknelsen5954]

Would you say the Mogwai can drive the Tungsten as good as other amps? I've heard that a lot of amps can get the Tungsten up to volume easy enough, but can't give them quality bass and definition.

[@necrophoniac]

I wonder if the zmf aegis is an amp worth reviewing. It's around the same price (I think cheaper) and looks about the same quality of power you'd get from the Mogwai.

[@PolishMoon2]

Curious on your thoughts of benefit of headphone upgrade vs amp upgrade... I currently own HD 800 S and Arya V2. When thinking about upgrades, should I target something like Abyss Diana DZ or spend that same money on something like the Mogwai SE? Cheers!

[@grahambinoreviews]

Brother what slider are you using? I appreciate the smooth footage and just want to know if you're rocking with a gimbal or not? I also can see why the mystique may be preferable for you and I respect that too. If you do consulting I'd be curious about your rates. Thanks!

[@andresgallego5727]

One question such tube amplifiers pair well with planar headphones? I was under the impression tube amps and planars don't mix well.

[@patrickzhao9072]

great review, I wonder how it compares to the wa22 and with hd800!

[@Duchuvip]

Amazingness of EL34 tubes :) Im aiming for china more afordable Yaqin MS-34B or MUZISHARE X7. Best thing that those amp are realy simple build, and sound amazing.

[@maxfrorer]

It looks great, it's a shame it doesn't have a 4 pin XLR.

[@amaya897]

Can it drive Immanis and Sus?

[@AmirhoseinHerandy]

You should really try the Bottlehead Mainline too if you can.

[@SpirallingOut]

Better than MASS-Kobo's 475 or 433?

[@tekneek1]

"End Game", Hah! Great tube amp and Amp and Sound is a great company.

[@lextr3110]

this is in LTA price range... can it compete?

[@ThorDyrden]

Just don't feed it too much power after midnight... and avoid it getting wet at all cost! 😁

[@realshit9325]

Right over everyone's head, well done

[@alexandruv847]

at least use some screened RCA wires for the cinematic shots

[@bitterbuffalo8997]

I had this, but it had such a high noise floor on anything I put on it I just sold it.

[@emeruen]

i love how your videos, even for youtube, have incredible sound quality. And you know your audience listens on their headphones and it just makes your videos that much better.

[@OkiMiku]

Things I'll never be able to afford #5201

[@TH-lo8mq]

There's nothing wrong with not being able to afford snake oil.

[@Kalanxe]

​@@TH-lo8mq how is a tube amp snake oil?

[@jlpickles]

is this an amp or headphone review?

[@el_arte]

It’s very good, but there’s less than $800 of parts in that $4000 box. I guess that’s fine for people who don’t DIY and have the money to pay that kind of premium price.

[@jlsquad8096]

How about we all agree, if this video gets 1k likes, Josh gets the approval to buy the amp?

[@_chiaki_nanami_]

@2:00 it would have been nice to see you with a lab coat and goggles there. I mean.. it would have complemented the gloves

[@coardtech]

Do ENLEUM

[@NEilYHY]

10:11 Now I noticed it, this is completely unusable

[@-gg8342]

Drumsandsandandrockandroll

[@liamporter1137]

Look awesome. Sucker for wood.

[@WyattOShea]

Voshua Jalour

[@tho8281]

Snake oil! As always with overpriced amps featuring a "unique tone": you can replicate all of that with a bit of EQ.

[@tothcsaba3461]

Yes, you can make a 100$ sh*t sound like a 10.000$ unit with a little EQ tweak. Everybody knows that.

[@TheRealFlamingNinja]

@@tothcsaba3461 The point this commentor is making is that people seem to like tube amps *because* they colour the signature response of an audio signal, which you could also achieve with solid state amps plus EQ and for cheaper for the same performance.

[@robertthurston6858]

Ok, Mr EQ …..So EQ can change the imaging characteristics of amplifier too ? Me thinks Not.😅

[@masterazlan6999]

Naa ..wa33 better..the best Still aperio IF u knew all this noobs..welcome noobs..Peace!

[@affreuxgalopin]

$$$$$$

[@tomgillett4791]

You lost me when you said "very unique." Unique means incompatible: Sui generis.

[@Lovelacewatkins139]

Terrible intro music

[@PickanPop]

If things always sound so bad at shows, then why bother going? I've never been to a hi-fi show because every reviewer and dealer says that you can't actually discern accurately how a product sounds. It seems like all a big circle jerk.

[@TylersEclectic]

I think it’s more to get an idea how things might jive with you… but, understanding that show floor has a lot of factors that play into both negative and positive outcomes… lots of ambient noise, not your chain or music (potentially)… but you can get an idea or a gut feeling of if something is right for you or not generally

[@marclacasse1]

Build your own SE amplifier and save thousands of dollars.

[@jaybrodnax]

like what? The bottlehead mainline?

[@K-MHamm]

and how?

[@marclacasse1]

@@K-MHamm Sorry, I would answer you but looks like someone is deleting my comments…

[@robertthurston6858]

No they’re Not. Let’s have group build ? Oh, where’d you go ?😢

[@marclacasse1]

@@robertthurston6858 Build your own. It's not hard.