Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

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Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by nmakowsk »

well folks my story has changed. Although I originally said that the lack of remote was an issue with Giella and that I didn't want to get up and move a volume knob. Well I brought the Kikkin 2.2 into Overture Audio and compared it against Tom's Giella with its sky blue diamond. We played some Jethro tull and did a comparison of the two preamps. The result is that I reverse my earlier stance on the remote control issue. The Giella let me hear a lot more detail and musical work such as the bassist playing better and easier to follow. The kikkin is just outgunned and Giella is much more nuanced and lets information through better as a volume control. I borrowed the unit and listened at home to some Sony studio monitor headphones that I have had since 1997. I used to use these phones with my Sony Discman back in the 90s. It was the best headphone experience I have had yet. I ordered a Giella Pi model to replace Kikkin2.2 and I can't wait to get up and change the volume knob. It will be worth it... Fredrik is making me exercise now which isn't a bad thing. Also, since Tom upgraded the Karousel to Kore torque spec the table has made me want to move more anyways and do lots of pants drumming.

I like how as soon as you plug in the headphones the preamp outputs mute so you don't have to mess with any Linn silvers or turn the tundra off. Its a small win when you lose the remote control capability. I don't know what to expect with Giella Pi as I havent heard it but I am quite impressed with its younger brother like I am the Kikkin. I still plan to keep the Kikkin for shootouts where I need to know exact DB levels.
Last edited by nmakowsk on 2021-03-19 20:53, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by Charlie1 »

Sounds like a winner.

You'll get used to the lack of remote. Good for you too - to get up and move :)

So, can you leave the Giella connected to the power amp during headphone listening - i.e. do you have to disconnect it to play music via the headphone socket?
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by ThomasOK »

Plugging in headphones mutes the preamp outputs so you don't need to do anything with the power amp. So not only does the Giella feature a get up and move volume control, it also sports a get up and move mute!
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by Charlie1 »

Cool

Well people were asking for a new Kikkin so here it is, and the option of an even better one too.

I'm curious how the Giella II compares to a Sagatun.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by tpetsch »

Now if I could only demo one?
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by u252agz »

I did just that and there was no question of posting it back to the retailer.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by tpetsch »

u252agz wrote: 2021-03-22 16:10 I did just that and there was no question of posting it back to the retailer.
Can you elaborate? ...You get a Giella into your home, slip it into your system, hook it up, listen to it for a few days, keep it on all the time to be sure to give it time to settle in, listen to it some more, listen to some more inputs -namely Vinyl/Analog, A/B a few different interconnects perhaps, listen some more, reinsert your old Preamp for clarity and then come to a conclusion which you can break down into a sentence or two declaring ...?
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by u252agz »

My main interest was Giella as a headphone amp . No retailers in the UK had one as a demo so Hexagon audio kindly sent me a new one to try.

It took all of 30 seconds to decide that it was staying-so much better than my existing headphone amp, that there was no need to wait for it to burn in.

There is a more detailed review on the Giella thread however, if you are interested.

I only have the Sagatun Mono to compare Giella as a preamp and have not had the time to do the comparison. Saving that for a rainy day.

After trying. various Lejonklou products over the years, I have learned that when Fredrik releases a new product that he is happy with ( and he does not release one until he is ) - it is always more than good enough for my ears.

But do try Giella and report back. I’m sure one of the retailers/ distributors will be able to arrange a demo .
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by tpetsch »

u252agz wrote: 2021-03-22 21:09 My main interest was Giella as a headphone amp . No reatailers in the UK had one as a demo so Hexagon audio kindly sent me a new one to try.

It took all of 30 seconds to decide that it was staying-so much better than my existing headphone amp, that there was no need to wait for it to burn in.

There is a more detailed review on the Giella thread however, if you are interested.

I only have the Sagatun Mono to compare Giella as a preamp and have not had the time to do the comparison. Saving that for a rainy day.

After trying. various Lejonklou products over the years, I have learned that when Fredrik releases a new product that he is happy with ( and he does not release one until he is ) - it is always more than good enough for my ears.

But do try Giella and report back. I’m sure one of the retailers/ distributors will be able to arrange a demo .
OK, your giving it a positive review, this clears things up. ...You do realize that your post could be read that you didn't like it and sent it right back?. Thanks for taking the time to clear things up.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by Tony Tune-age »

tpetsch wrote: 2021-03-22 21:34 OK, your giving it a positive review, this clears things up. ...You do realize that your post could be read that you didn't like it and sent it right back?. Thanks for taking the time to clear things up. ...Here in the US both myself and a friend contacted Thomas OK over the past few months asking about a demo unit and it feels as though we were forgotten about, so I don't know what to think about that.
I'm sure Thomas is very busy with all the lejonklou upgrades, and the increase of lejonklou orders too. He'll likely get back with you soon...

Cheers
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by u252agz »

Ok

I have now compared Giella as a pre amp to my Sagatun monos , even though it is not raining here in the UK - mainly for the benefit of Tpetsch.

Giella is a shockingly good preamp

I tried it first via KDS/2 ( playing London Grammers ‘hey now’ on Quobuz) and thought wow, it’s right up there with the Sagatun monos. How can such a small Simple box be quite this good?

Then I played via Sagatun monos and realised that Giella is not quite up at those rarefied levels, but close enough to give them a run for their money . If one can manage with no remote and single source Giella is ludicrously good value.

At least, now I know that if the sagatuns have to go for upgrades I will have a great little stand in and need not resort to the volume control of KDS/2 and anti depressant drugs.

The only downside to this back to back comparison is I am now wondering whether I should do the Pi upgrade and max out the Giella.

So my advice to tpetsch is to keep trying OKThomas for a demo.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by Discodave »

Great stuff, thanks for insight.

I'm in a quandary; future plan was to buy Boazu and sell Majik 2100 and Kisto to fund.

But now do I just replace the Kisto with Giella and keep the 2100?

One source/No remote would be a pain but liveable. And I will be doing a lot more headphone listening in the near future. Love the Kisto headphone amp but no doubt it won't be in seem league.

Hmmmmmmm.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by u252agz »

Decisions , decisions.

I am using my Giella as a headphone amp in the bedroom- my Sneaky DS is connected to the Giella pre in and the Boazu to its pre out. The Majik LP12 connects directly to Boazu.

This works well for me although I am not even sure one is supposed to do this . The volume of Giella is set to around 3 O Clock for headphone listening ( fine adjustments via Giella) and 9 O Clock for DS/ Boazu ( here Boazu remote adjusts the volume for DS, )
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by nmakowsk »

I am lucky enough to live 30 minutes drive from Overture Audio so I can pop over easily and bring the LP12 in for torque tune ups rather easily by the LP12 whisperer. He only let me borrow the Giella for two days so I didn't have very much time with it. In that amount of time I could tell that the Giella as a volume control overcomes the current weak point in my hierarchy. With Kikkin 2.2, I always find myself turning up the volume to levels of yellow or orange to immerse me in the music better and I felt that before it was due to the Isobariks being an inefficient speaker. With Giella, it seemed like the music was more dynamic and the knob was only turned halfway there and seemed just as loud. Giella lets more music through so it probably is more immersive at lower volumes. Good report that its fairly close to Sagatun mono which pricewise makes it a steal and Fredrik has already stated that its more fun to listen to than Sagatun stereo unit. The lack of all digital circuitry including the LED scale must really be pushing this box into the stratosphere of performance. My Pi unit has shipped but I have no idea when it will be coming in and very much excited to try it out.

u252agz, can you tell us in what way the sagatun mono was still better than the Giella? It will be very tough to get the volume levels to be the same to make a valid comparison with knob vs color scale.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by u252agz »

nmakowsk wrote: 2021-03-23 17:30
Good report that its fairly close to Sagatun mono which pricewise makes it a steal and Fredrik has already stated that its more fun to listen to than Sagatun stereo unit. The lack of all digital circuitry including the LED scale must really be pushing this box into the stratosphere of performance. My Pi unit has shipped but I have no idea when it will be coming in and very much excited to try it out.

u252agz, can you tell us in what way the sagatun mono was still better than the Giella? It will be very tough to get the volume levels to be the same to make a valid comparison with knob vs color scale.
The volume levels do make the comparison difficult and the relatively long interval as 4 interconnects are disconnected and re connected does not help.

However, Giella sounds very very musical and enjoyable with KDS/2 - heard in isolation one probably would not want for any more- it sounds like a killer system.

But Sagatun Monos are even more musical and allow more of the music to come through - the interplay between other musicians is more impressive and subtle at the same time . The increase in detail enhances the whole experience contrary to many systems where detail often fights with the tunefulness .

The HIFI sounds, as the icing on the cake are also even better with Sagatun Monos.

But if I had the Giella as a pre amp and Tundra Monos, and had never heard the Sagatun Monos - I would consider myself very fortunate indeed

The Sagatun Monos are and always been from day one quite extraordinary preamps which are just captivating and quite magical.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps

Post by matthias »

u252agz wrote: 2021-03-23 22:00 The Sagatun Monos are and always been from day one quite extraordinary preamps which are just captivating and quite magical.
Yes, for sure :-)
However the most interesting comparison is Giella Pi vs. Sagatun Mono.
From Fredrik's comments it was clear from the beginning that the standard Giella can not outperform Sagatun Mono.
Did someone compare Giella Pi to Sagatun Mono?
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Pierre@headonist »

Hi Guys,

One of my client is testing the Giella Pi both headphones listening (Susvara, Abyss TC) and will try it as a preamp with Taskiridis 211 mono blocks (speakers are Harbeth PS3R). Will share his experience soon.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by matthias »

Pierre@headonist wrote: 2021-03-26 11:05 ...and will try it as a preamp with Taskiridis 211 mono blocks (speakers are Harbeth PS3R). Will share his experience soon.
Thanks Pierre,

looking forward to his experiences with Pi as preamp.

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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Discodave »

If one was using Giella as a pre-amp for 2 sources then this would necessitate switching interconnects each time there was a change in source. Is there a possibility that a constant changing of interconnects over a period of time would result in damage? Either to the interconnects (Linn Black/Silver) or the input jacks?
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Tony Tune-age »

Discodave wrote: 2021-03-30 02:16 If one was using Giella as a pre-amp for 2 sources then this would necessitate switching interconnects each time there was a change in source. Is there a possibility that a constant changing of interconnects over a period of time would result in damage? Either to the interconnects (Linn Black/Silver) or the input jacks?
I've seen damage done to both interconnects and input jacks because of constant changing (especially if it's being done in a hurry). Sometimes the input jacks will have to be replaced, and/or the interconnect connectors will have to be repaired.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Discodave »

Dang it, was half expecting that.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by lejonklou »

I switch cables every day at the lab. It works just fine, provided you carefully trim the tightness of the RCAs on your cables so that they fit "snugly" on the connectors of your units. If they're too tight, there's risk of damage.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Discodave »

Aha!
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by ThomasOK »

Yes, I have had a customer break the input connectors of his Sagatun by constant plugging and unplugging with tight RCAs, so as to use the unswitched input with two sources. One word of caution on the RCAs is that you have to be careful when loosening up the ring. On the Linn Silvers the RCA ring can be a bit brittle. I have actually broken a tab of the ring of two Linn RCAs trying to loosen them in what I thought was a careful manner. So now I am extra careful.
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Re: Giella versus other preamps (split from "Kikkin 2.2 stopped playing")

Post by Discodave »

Good to know, sounds like I would have the silvers broken in the 1st attempt.
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