matthias wrote: ↑2021-05-24 18:41 I just read the complete review on https://www.headonist.fr/products/giella-pi with the help of Google translate:

VERY IMPRESSIVE, GREAT WORK, Fredrik (and Pierre) :-)

Matt

Well, that is a review! So sad that my old STAX Lambda Signature wont fit.

Very nice review. It's too bad reviewers are never very enthusiastic about Lejonklou gear, isn't it? "Nothing is big enough for this little Lejonklou." Indeed!

After a few months with the amazingly good Giella -I became aware that i was on of the few early adopters who had not uprgaded to Giella Pi .

Now two weeks with Giella Pi - what can I say.

Well, its astoundingly good as a headphone amp. With my Grado RS2es it simply beggars belief that music through headphones can be so good, so enthralling and quite so addictive.

For someone who only started listening to music through headphones a few months ago - I am a total convert.

There is something completely immersive and intimate about the whole experience - as musical as the main system, but quite, quite different.

With Giella Pi/ RS2es, when the phone rings - I let it ring; when the doorbell chimes, I wait for someone else to answer; everything just has to wait: its difficult to stop until the track / album finishes.

I am impressed with how good digital sounds with this set up. Vinyl is obviously better, but I am more inclined to continue listening with digital then I am at times. with the main system.

For those Forum members who have never gotten into headphones - I would strongly recommend you try Giella Pi with a decent set of headphones sometime soon.

Many thanks to Fredrik for this amazing box of tricks.

Thank you so much for the review, u252agz! I feel very happy reading it.

Just shipped a Giella ∏ to Norway today. Hope he'll be as pleased as you!

Well, congratulations Fredrik. Giella Pi is one very fine piece of equipment, indeed.

Having recently received #28, I feel like I’ve done the perfect change to my head-fi setup. Until now I’ve been using the much more expensive and powerful Simaudio Moon Neo 430 HA with my headphones. The Simaudio is a high quality amp for sure, but it’s always left me with an «is that all there is»-feeling when using it. The world’s most expensive sleeping pill in a way.

But now I’ve figured it out! Not only have I now upgraded my amp. I’ve upgraded my headphones, too. I’m alternating beween Hifiman HE-1000 and Audeze LCD XC. Gone are the days of falling to sleep late at night with music in my ear. These headphones are both great and now it’s evident thanks to Giella. Now I just want to carry on listening until morning (or until temptation gives in to reason and I go to bed).

Be warned, the Giella Pi is highly addictive. I’ve listed my Simaudio for sale, but I think I need to work on my sales pitch in order to sell it :p

Giella Pi seems to be a great preamp. Any chance it will get a remote control?

mbabst wrote: ↑2021-11-30 22:45 Giella Pi seems to be a great preamp. Any chance it will get a remote control?

No. The design of the Giella ∏ is all analog. To have a remote control would require a remote sensor, some digital circuit to translate commands and either a precision resistor ladder as used in Boazu and Sagatuns or a motor to drive the volume pot. While a couple of these could be integrated into a design based on the Giella circuit it would no longer be a Giella but something else.

OK, maybe a flat no was too strong. If some enterprising person wanted to design a box with a remote sensor, the digital circuitry to translate commands and a very slow motor and then run a belt to the Giella ∏ volume knob it might be able to work. But considering the slimness of the knob and the stiffness of the volume pot, getting the belt to have enough tension to actually move it would require quite a sticky belt and probably both boxes clamped into vises.

Maybe I should have stuck with no. ;-)

Is there any chance of buying a Giella without volume control and line outs?

I would love to buy a headphone amp that I can connect to the power amp outputs of my Klimax DS, use the volume control in the DAC and volume control of the DS.

Hans

HansW wrote: ↑2022-04-02 20:48 Is there any chance of buying a Giella without volume control and line outs?

I would love to buy a headphone amp that I can connect to the power amp outputs of my Klimax DS, use the volume control in the DAC and volume control of the DS.

Hans

That is no problem. You can simply use the volume of the DS and stop using the volume setting of Giella.

What you do then is to set the volume knob of Giella to what results in a preferable listening level when your DS volume is below but close to 80. As headphones can vary a great deal in how loud they play, this is a necessary feature for bringing out the most of your digital volume control, which doesn’t sound good above 80 and also not far below 80. The knob on Giella becomes your coarse setting (which you set once and then forget) and your digital volume becomes your fine and momentary setting.

The line outs of Giella have no negative impact on headphones performance whatsoever. They are disabled when a headphone is plugged in and the output connectors can’t be removed as they are simply a part of the two RCA connectors (there is one RCA connector for each channel, left and right channel, and each connector consists of one input at the top and one output at the bottom).

I never heard both the Giella and the Giella pi.

I'm slowly recovering from a recent knee surgery (nothing serious), after a fall while skiing last winter.

So I had a lot of spare time in the last 3 weeks and, on my recovery bed, I recently read every thread and post involving the Giella's.

I understood that the Giella pi is a lot better for some kind of headphones (but I own a bunch of 10/11 cheap closed cans, tendentially all with 32 ohm and a high sensitivity).

Conversely, I didn't understand if the Giella pi is also much better as a preamp than the Giella and eventually why.

The price difference between the two is not negligible.

Last question (sorry): are the Giella specifications (impedance, output level ...) compliant with the M6100 or the A2000?

Thanks

M.

Matteo wrote: ↑2022-08-04 15:40 Conversely, I didn't understand if the Giella pi is also much better as a preamp than the Giella and eventually why.

Fredrik mentioned that Giella Pi as preamp is musically superior to Sagatun Stereo/Giella and inferior to Sagatun Mono.
I would spend the 600 Euro extra and go for the Pi.

Along with the greatly improved ability to drive headphones with very difficult loads, the Giella ∏ is musically significantly better both as a preamp and driving more forgiving headphones, such as the Grado SR125. The power supply regulation is much improved and this improves all aspects of performance. It should work just fine with the Linn power amps.

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-08-04 19:02 Along with the greatly improved ability to drive headphones with very difficult loads, the Giella ∏ is musically significantly better both as a preamp and driving more forgiving headphones, such as the Grado SR125. The power supply regulation is much improved and this improves all aspects of performance. It should work just fine with the Linn power amps.

Thanks Thomas

Very informative, as usual.

The last post regarding the Kikkin 3 could somehow shuffle the cards though …

;-)

Yes, the Kikkin 3 sounds quite interesting. We have to hope Fredrik can get the parts to bring it out.

+1 😀

I still have my Kikkin 2.2 because its such as great preamp value that I feel that there might be some use in the future. Currently, the Giella Pi is in use as my pre amp now. When I tried to do comparisons in the beginning I gave up due to having to get the volume levels similar between knob and LED ladder and found it very difficult. I didn't want to use any kind of decibel meter also because I felt that might not tell me the whole story of the dynamic range and lead me astray. Also, of course I forgot about the Kikkin reverse phase so I hooked it up wrong which didn't help. Eventually I decided that it had to be better than Kikkin 2.2 since Fredrik had stated that Giella Pi was second only to Sagatun Mono in preamps and I have been having fun ever since. Looks like the post was deleted where Fredrik announced the development of Kikkin 3 as well as his early comparison opinion. Maybe if this product makes it to market I can reuse my remote control someday. Giella Pi is really fun and I still need to buy some Grados or other headphones to get the full benefit. When you have Isobariks in the house and nobody there to bother its hard to even think about using headphones.

If Kikkin 3 was released in the future I would hope the reversed phase output feature is removed because its too easy to make that mistake when connecting and comparing components.

nmakowsk wrote: ↑2022-08-09 15:41 Looks like the post was deleted where Fredrik announced the development of Kikkin 3 as well as his early comparison opinion.

No it is alive:
"This led me down a path of exploring more recent findings applied to the Kikkin concept. It turns out there’s a lot of potential here and the current Kikkin 3 prototype I think is now one of the best preamps I’ve ever built. I think it’s better than Giella Pi but haven’t compared it to Sagatun Mono’s yet. Considering producing 100 units of this new design, but some components have proven very difficult to source, so we’ll see how it goes."

https://fwd.nl/audio/review-lejonklou-g ... tereo-2-5/

A good reading (with the lovely help of Google Translator).

M.

Translated conclusion...

"Although the brand and range of the fanatic and sympathetic Swedish designer Fredrik Lejonklou was completely unknown to me until this test, it soon turned out to have resulted in one of the most beautiful discoveries of 2021! Because however minimalistic, sober and black in color these components may be, their purity and dedicated thinking and working method have resulted in an extremely communicative series of devices. Products that finally really add something to an overcrowded market segment and are also remarkably affordable. This is high-end for the 'ordinary man' with the Giella PI headphone amp/preamp being perhaps the most extreme Lejonklou of the moment! Because not only is this an extremism that has been taken to the extreme, but also, together with the ideal Tundra stereo power amplifier, the most puristic pre and power amplifier combination I have ever seen. As for the Giella PI as a purely headphone amplifier, there is a real winner in front of me. A wonderful gem that can bridge the gap between headphone playback and enjoying music over speakers. Because in particular due to the tonally soft and smoothly outlined spectrum, a greater connection with the music is also created when playing headphones. Add to this the wonderfully basic character, which impresses with its sobriety and the meaningful future-oriented way in which the products can be upgraded and this is a brand that deserves everyone's attention."

Wonderful words. Congratulation Fredrik! :-)

Very nice review, just as we have come to expect of Lejonklou products.

I appreciated also the long introduction (in particular, the "Pink Floyd" episode).

M.

Thanks for bringing this to the surface Matteo - and your translation Charlie1.

Giella Pi is indeed a true and also a bit of a hidden gem. But if you listen through headphones a lot you should really try one - ask your local Lejonklou dealer or drop us a line.

Marco, You should let Werner know that the Giella ∏ knob is solid Sterling silver, not plated.

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-10-19 22:44 Marco, You should let Werner know that the Giella ∏ knob is solid Sterling silver, not plated.

Does the solid silver knob contribute towards an enhanced musical performance?