{"id":24258,"date":"2020-07-21T09:44:56","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T07:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/?p=24258"},"modified":"2021-04-19T20:31:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:31:00","slug":"fezz-lybra-parallel-single-ended-300b-integrated-amplifier-part1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hifi-advice.com\/blog\/amplifier-reviews\/integrated-amplifier-reviews\/fezz-lybra-parallel-single-ended-300b-integrated-amplifier-part1\/","title":{"rendered":"Fezz Lybra Parallel Single-Ended 300B integrated amplifier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review sample supplied by Hexagon Audio<\/a>
\n<\/a>Retail price in the NL including 21% VAT: 3.750 euro
\nOptional Accessories:
\n– Tube cage: 100 euro
\n– IR Remote Control: 225 euro (only 100 euro until August 2020)
\n– HT input: 175 euro
\n– Bluetooth 4.2 module: 175 euro<\/h4>\n

Available in Burgundy, Black, White and Red, the Lybra is Fezz Audio’s Top model integrated power amplifier. The cage, IR remote, HT input and Bluetooth 4.2 module are all optional, taking the amp’s relatively modest 3.750-euro price tag close to 4.000 euros if you add only the remote control. Do note that the remote control option is now only 100 euros as a special introductory offer until August 2020.<\/p>\n

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Supplied tubes are 4x Electro Harmonix 300B, 2x Electro Harmonix 6sn7 and 1x Sovtek 12AX7, all pre-paired and numbered for easy installation. Two 300B tubes work in parallel for each channel to output 15 watts of parallel-Single-Ended class-A power into 4 or 8 ohms.<\/p>\n

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In order to make pictures for the Facebook and Twitter announcements, I positioned the Lybra in the main listening room on one of the Artesania racks. Since it was sitting there anyway, I also connected it to the Magico S1 MkII speakers ad fired it up just to see what would happen. Amazingly, it sounded sweeter than it should but also quite robust and well-balanced. Honestly, I was expecting a mushy sound with blubber-bass and no treble but the Lybra just drove them as if they were not the power-guzzling, low-impedance speakers that they are. It wasn’t very expressive or dynamic but that should not be expected either with such a marvelous mismatch. But that the amp did not fully collapse already said a thing or two about its design. Rather than quickly disconnecting it again as planned, I opted to leave it running for about 6 hours to enjoy it at low volume and to get the amp started.<\/p>\n

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First Impressions<\/h3>\n

In a further deviation from my normal practice, I took the amplifier with me when visiting audio buddy MP. At this stage, the Lybra was not yet fully run in, but as it would turn out later, its character does not change very dramatically even after over 40 hours of use meaning that in retrospect these early comparisons are also representative. MP’s setup normally consists of a Jadis JP-80 preamp, Jadis JA30 mono power amps and Sonus Faber Electa Amator II speakers. Substituting the Jadis trio for the Lybra and connecting the existing AudioQuest Water<\/a> interlinks between it and the Mark Levinson 390S CD player, the amplifier was powered with one of my usual Belden power cables. Then, we listened to the same albums as we did prior to the swap.<\/p>\n

Amazingly, compared to the Jadis trio, the Lybra is more refined and airier, more transparent and more subtle. The Lybra is not quite as sweet or as creamy-rich as you might expect from a 300B-based amplifier and even if it sounds less voluptuous, the midrange has a very nice balance between sweetness and neutrality. The bass with the Sonus Fabers is well-controlled, tight and articulate and with very good impact but it is arguably less sonorous and carries less weight than with the more powerful Jadis\u00a0 amps.<\/p>\n

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The Lybra’s linearity and tightness are good traits but they also translated into a relative leanness in this system, making acoustical instruments sound a little less convincingly real than with the Jadis trio. However, it is good to note that this system has been tweaked over many years to sound optimal with the aforementioned full and relaxed-sounding Jadis components. Without any counter-measurements, it only makes sense that a very different-sounding amplifier will not be an ideal replacement. Also, while the Lybra had plenty of gain left in its volume range, I have a feeling that the Electa Amator II’s prefer an amplifier with a little bit more power.\u00a0 Or maybe the speakers just like an amp to be voiced a certain way to perform their best. As I would learn over the course of this review, that’s something that the Lybra simply is not. It is very linear and very neutral. Ok, no probs, I have several other speaker pairings lined up for this amplifier and as I would learn, it the Lybra is actually quite chameleon-like.<\/p>\n

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Remote Control<\/h3>\n

Remote control is optional for the Lybra and it is important to note that the amplifier will not contain a motorized volume potentiometer if it is ordered without. Thus, one cannot simply purchase a handset later.<\/p>\n

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The amplifier is very responsive to remote control input and the handset operates perfectly within a wide-angle but even when pressing the buttons very briefly, the volume control moves in predefined, large, steps. I think that the motor is just triggered for a little bit too long. It feels like perhaps 3-dB steps as opposed to the more usual 1-dB steps. This has the undesired result of one frequently not being able to reach the ideal volume setting. One setting will be too low while the next will be too high. Often, this has made me get up to set it just so manually. Marco is aware and will bring this up with the manufacturer. Surely a fix should be simple.<\/p>\n

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While I’m nitpicking, I’ll also add that the tube cage is made of very thin and bendy sheet metal and in my view is probably only good for shielding the tubes from pets’ tails and curious children’s fingers. I doubt that it will provide any protection when given a good nudge.<\/p>\n

Other than this, there are no operational anomalies and the amp behaves entirely as expected.<\/p>\n

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Listening with Xavians<\/h3>\n

At this stage, the Lybra has played a total of around 16 hours and now it’s time to assess the amp in my secondary system using Xavian La Perla Esclusiva<\/a> loudspeakers. With an Antipodes EX<\/a> serving as a Roon endpoint connected to the Ayon S10 II<\/a> tube CD player\/DAC with FoilFlex<\/a> interlinks and speaker cables, the Lybra is connected in place of the Ayon Spirit III<\/a> tube amp. The power cable is again my standard Belden configuration with a Bals schuko and an Oyaide C-004<\/a> IEC connector.<\/p>\n

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I’ve not yet got a good handle on the Lybra’s warm-up time. Maybe that’s because it sounds so well-balanced and uplifting, in complete control and so focused and clean, right from the start? What you do get after about 30 minutes of playing is that the sound becomes a little<\/em> grander and slightly<\/em> more voluptuous but it remains tight and fully in control even when fully warmed up. The difference is certainly subtler than I’ve heard it with some other tube amps.<\/p>\n

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When comparing other amplifiers with the Ayon, no matter if they are tube- or transistor-based, they usually sound less solid and robust, oftentimes significantly so. Well, not this time! Amazingly, the 15-watt SET amp manages to sound almost as powerful and robust in the bass while being perhaps even tighter and articulate. It’s remarkable given how small the Lybra’s input- and output transformers are relative to the Ayon’s huge water tank-sized pillars but this is some of the very best bass I’ve heard from a tube amp. More specifically, the Lybra’s bass doesn’t have a tube character at all. It’s simply as upbeat and incisive or as solid and weighty as the recording requires it to be.<\/p>\n

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The overall sound of the Fezz Lybra amplifier is very neutral and transparent, more so than the decidedly sonorous and earthy Ayon. What also stands out in comparison to the Ayon is that the Fezz is more highly refined and has subtler and airier treble. And as becomes clear from my tapping feet with every track that I play, it also has very good rhythmic capacities. In spite of its low power rating, the amplifier simply never seems to lose control, not even when used with inefficient or difficult speakers. Of course, 15 watts of power ultimately imposes a limit on how loud you can play, but with the Xavians and my listening preferences, I never found that limit.<\/p>\n

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The Lybra is superbly even-handed and seems to have a very high damping factor but as a result, one could perhaps also describe it as being not characterful enough. Of course, whether or not an amplifier should have any character is a personal matter and it depends on what one expects from a (tube) amp. The Lybra is not creamy or rich, it isn’t warm or cuddly but neither is it cool or clinical. The important thing is that I find it to be convincing, involving and lyrical.\u00a0Given the quad of 300B’s, one might think that the amp might be rose-tinted but in my experience SET amps do not generally sound sweet or particularly lush unless they are underpowered or matched with incompatible speakers. The Lybra actually does not really sound like a typical tube amp at all and, unless one is looking specifically for a certain lushness or sweetness, that is a good thing. There is just none of the transformer-induced hysteresis which makes for the well-known round tube bass nor any discernible ripening of textures anywhere in the frequency range. The interesting thing about the Fezz is that it is very tight and articulate, very well-controlled, very neutral and very linear, but still, it manages to avoid having any of the grayness or electronic signature that is often associated with transistor amplifiers. Especially in the midrange, there is an unmistakable charm that you just don’t usually get with transistors. Yet, you do get bass that is as fast and articulate as the best transistor amps I’ve used in this system. There is a careful balance between neutrality and smoothness that makes the amp thread a very fine middle path between a typical transistor sound and a typical tube sound.<\/p>\n

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Change of scenery<\/h3>\n

The next listening session was at meneer Buis’<\/em> residence. Jan earned his nickname “Mr tube” some time ago following his habit of bringing over tube amplifiers of all sorts to my place for listening comparisons but these days, the tables are more or less turned. And so, I thought it fitting to bring the Lybra with me when visiting him. Jan changes speakers frequently but now was a particularly good time because at this moment he uses the Ayon Falcon-S which are very easy to drive and thus should be ideal for the Lybra.<\/p>\n

Before this session, the Lybra had been playing music for a total of around 36 hours. In the context of an Ayon CD-T<\/a> CD transport with Ayon Sigma<\/a> DAC, the Lybra was connected via Straightwire Crescendo II interlinks, Driade Flow 405<\/a> speaker cables and the very same Belden power cable.<\/p>\n

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In this system, again, the amp sounds very linear and transparent, with remarkable solidity and power and with superbly articulate bass. But with these speakers and in this setting, the balance is just a little bit too lean. The overall feeling is of an overly controlled sound. It’s as if the amplifier has too much power or a massive damping factor. Although technically immaculate, the performers remain locked in a sort of restraint while the soundstage doesn’t really move or flow and this leads to a fascinating presentation that nevertheless remains cerebral and does not really induce emotional involvement.<\/p>\n

While not a good match, this is still an interesting result because it illustrates perfectly that one simply cannot assemble a system based only on specifications. The Lybra should theoretically work beautifully with these speakers but apparently their open and direct character does not play ball with the very tight and neutral Lybra. Jan’s WLM tube amps (now Trafomatic) are indeed very different, quite voluptuous, rich and relaxed, even more so than MP’s Jadis amplifiers. After going back, though, Jan wasn’t entirely happy either, for now, it was also very obvious what the Lybra offers over the WLM’s.<\/p>\n

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Apogee Stage<\/h3>\n

While we were in a playful mood, we decided to set the Ayons speakers aside and replace the Apogee Stage<\/a> full-range ribbon speakers that had been set aside for some time now, given that Jan’s WLM amps had trouble driving them properly. Knowing that the Fezz has no issues with my Magicos, we figured why not go crazy! The Stages are nowhere near as difficult as Divas<\/a>, the Full Range<\/a> or the Scintilla<\/a> but due to a double woofer membrane and the designers’ desire to make them full-range in spite of their diminutive size, they are actually harder to drive than Duetta Signatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Knowing full well that the Fezz is anything but a natural match for these speakers, we just went ahead and fired it up. Well, I’ll be… How is this possible? Not only did the Apogees eclipse the Falcons’ performance with either amplifier, but they also threw a much larger soundstage and created an immediately engaging performance, rhythmically, lyrically and emotionally. On top of this, the speakers had significantly deeper bass (which is admittedly probably room-related) and an overall more linear presentation. Go figure. This was a 15-watt amplifier? We were absolutely flabbergasted.<\/p>\n

When I walked to the amplifier to turn up the volume I noticed that it was already at 11 o’clock. Raising it further did increase the volume slightly but beyond the 12 o’clock position started to introduce compression. Apparently, the amp was now playing at its maximum output. But apart from the volume setting, there was absolutely nothing that indicated that this was the case. The amp sounded simply unflappable and utterly fantastic.<\/p>\n

For some time while packing in the amplifier for its transport back to my place, Jan kept commenting on “what a nice little amp the Fezz is”.<\/p>\n

There’s one more speaker pair to be tried with the Fezz and this is the Qln Sonora<\/a>, a very interesting, high-sensitivity, full-range, bass-reflex design. And as I would learn, this is a match made in heaven. But before I go there I’d like to address a couple of accessories that were delivered along with the amplifier.<\/p>\n

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Fezz power Cables<\/h3>\n

Fezz also makes various cables such as interlinks, speaker cables and power cables and I’ve given the latter a listen in combination with the Lybra amplifier. I’m not sure if it’s from the cable’s insulation material or their sleeves but when first opening the beautiful wooden case a pungent synthetic smell is released. The smell fills the room and it did not wear off during the couple of days that I left the cables outside of their beautiful wooden boxes.<\/p>\n

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This kind of smell is not unique to the Fezz cables, though. There are other brands that have a similar smell when new such as FoilFlex, recent Transparent Audio cables, and, to a lesser extent, Furutech power cables. From these cables, I know that the smell lingers on for months. Let’s hope this is not the case for the Fezz cables.<\/p>\n

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Odor aside, sonically, the Fezz power cables match the Lybra amplifier well. They add a pleasant voluptuousness and warmth to the bass while mixing in smoothness and warmth in the midrange. While such traits often go hand in hand with a reduction of clarity or dynamics and the bass does indeed become thicker and less dry (which can be good or bad depending on your views), the Fezz cable retains good clarity, openness and dynamic impact. While I crave utter neutrality and prefer, even with this amplifier, the cleaner and more neutral sound of my usual Belden with Bals Schuko and Oyaide C-004 IEC connectors, I am pretty sure that many people will prefer for some warmth to be added via cables. I should note that the Lybra’s inherent control and tightness are offset by this cable just so, shifting its range to likely work well with a wide array of speakers.<\/p>\n

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Toroidy<\/h3>\n

Along with the Lybra amplifier and the Fezz cables, I was also delivered a Toroidy DC Blocker, designed to avoid DC from entering the connected component. With a 2000-watt rating, it should be well-specified for the Fezz Lybra. While isolators, filters and other power treatment devices have their proponents I am not normally a fan of power treatment of any kind. Usually, they do provide a friendlier, less edgy sound which for for those in favor, I assume, is a desirable result but I find that nearly always the sweetness comes along with a penalty. The GigaWatt PC-4 EVO+<\/a>\u00a0 was a surprising exception to this but at a very serious cost.<\/p>\n

With the Toroidy unit in place and connected with two Fezz power cables (while minding the correct polarity) the sound became smoother and friendlier which, given the amp’s tight and controlled nature could be a good result when the amp is used with speakers that have slightly hard or edgy treble. Speakers with certain Focal tweeters spring to mind. Whether the Toroidy unit serves its purpose as a blocker of DC I cannot verify but sonically, I do not feel that it is entirely transparent. While there was less impact on the dynamics and the pacing than I expected, the sound was definitely a little bit less spritely in the upper mid and lower treble, a little rolled-off in the upper treble and overall just a little less energetic. To me, it sounded somehow filtered and duller than a straight connection but to others, it may sound more agreeable or less hard. These things remain relative and as always it is a matter of trying it out and judging for yourself.<\/p>\n

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Qln Sonora – The Perfect Pairing<\/h3>\n

As I already disclosed above, the Fezz Lybra and Qln Sonora form the absolute best pairing that I’ve heard. So far, except with the Stages, the amp has sounded fairly tight and controlled and one could argue that this was the case because it was matched with easy to drive speakers but the 92dB-sensitive Qln Sonoras with virtually no crossover prove that it just is not that simple. Either way, with these speakers, the Fezz truly blossoms! And this happens almost irrespective of which speaker cables are used. The FoilFlex cables worked just as musically as the Audio Note Lexus LX 96<\/a> even though these sound very different from one another.<\/p>\n

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All the technical perfectness is still there but perfectly interlaced with an overwhelming sense of musical flow. The music is at once tight and articulate as well as fluid and organic. While technically still flawless it’s like the techniques that are in play have all fallen to the sides to reveal the pure beauty of the music, as if witnessed live, not reproduced.<\/p>\n

The thing is, these speakers do not sound linear to my ears and they are certainly not uncolored but the pairing sounds so emotionally involving and so fantastically engaging that I can only bring my mind to ponder such technicalities for a short part of the first track. Then, I get lost and simply sink into the music. It is this very aspect of music reproduction that I link to SET amps and this is when the Lybra truly won me over.<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/h2>\n

If this review has clearly illustrated anything it’s that an amplifier is only as good as the synergy that it has with the speakers with which it is paired. That may sound like a masked complaint but it’s really not. Rather, the Lybra behaved very consistently in all the combinations that I tried and it proudly retained its poise even when confronted with difficult speakers. The Lybra is always fast, articulate, clean, transparent and fabulously neutral. But when it is partnered properly it is also superbly emotional, highly lyrical, utterly non-technical and just purely magical.<\/p>\n

Just why the Lybra would pair so well with the Sonoras is anyone’s guess. Perfect synergy is often found by accident. In any case, what’s clear is that the Fezz Lybra is a remarkably versatile amplifier that has an uncanny ability to surprise.<\/p>\n

Associated Equipment<\/a><\/p>\n

External Links<\/h3>\n

Distributor for the NL\/Belgium: Hexagon Audio<\/a>
\nManufacturer’s website: fezzaudio<\/a><\/p>\n

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