MHDT Havana and Eastern Electric Minimax

Hawk28 I own the Havana and have owned the EE Minimax Plus. I would agree that the EE is more neutral a bit more detailed and has a very nice top end. Unfortunately it didn't meld with my system and over extended listening sessions it came across as too lean and well, digital. I could never just relax and enjoy the music with it in the system after trying virtually every tube out there including Tungsol, Mullard, Seimens Silver Plate, Pavanne and RCA. Everyone that listened to it had the same impression after a few initial "WOWS", a few in their own system. The Havana is not as detailed but more fleshed out and much more enjoyable and engaging without any fatigue factor. It is especially good with small scale works. It doesn't have an edge and gets out of the way of the music which is my chief beef with some of the budget DACs I've listened to. So far as the bass on the Minimax, a bit more controlled than the Havana but not even close to the W4S which is better in every parameter with the possible exception of upper frequencies where they are closer. I have come to the conclusion that to really get it right in this area more money must be spent on a better DAC. The W4S and Havana were both deemed more enjoyable over the EE by everyone that listened in various systems in my circle. A few preferred the Havana over the W4S, YMMV.

I would spring for the Havana if you like a nice 3-d presentation and don't mind missing a little detail and can settle for a bit narrower soundstage compared to the Sabre 9018 chip based DACs. Different tubes will also give a different flavor. I prefer the Tungsol and I also have a quite rare Pioneer Eclypse 2C51 which is essentially a Bendix 2C51, sounds identical. The Minimax might be improved by changing out op-amps but different tubes never changed the intrinsic issues I had with the unit. As Mr. Tennis notes, this unit doesn't sound like a tube unit at all and I wondered why have two separate output stages. I never went the op-amp change route as I felt that at the price increase this should have been sorted out by the designer. After reading so many good reviews on the original I was expecting a lot more on the Plus, it really didn't deliver for me.

P.S. One other thing Mr. Tennis said that I totally disagree with is that the Havana is IMHO less not more euphonic than the Paradesea with more detail as well. Having said that the Paradesea is wonderful with voice, a really nice unit.

Tubegroover, Nice response and thoughtful impression, I'm sure Hawk28 appreciates that comparison.

Hawk28, there is a thread or two from a few months ago that have some responses from guys who owned both the Havana and the EE Dac. I think the subject header was comparing the EE Dac to the Octive?

Mr. Tennis, you posted do you remember?

"The Havana is not as detailed but more fleshed out and much more enjoyable and engaging without any fatigue factor."

Both my SS mhdt Constantine (used in my main full range system) and tube mhdt Paradisea (used in my second system) share these traits, so it does seem common to all mhdt DACS mentioned.

Unless one is looking for a more euphonic tubey sound, I would seek out a Constantine first. IT is least expensive and might be the last DAC you ever need. The tube DACs are better for tweaking sound via tube rolling, if desired, but the Constantine is the most rock solid in all aspects out of the box. My Paradisea with the NOS Tung Sol tube comes close to the COnstantine sound. Both in this case are excellent at large and small scale, electronic and acoustic music. Paradisea with stock RCA tube has its charms with small scale and acoustic music but cannot achieve the same results with electronic and large scale works.

the eastern electric is more defined in the bass, but i would not say more extended.

i did vary the tubes, ending up with a brimar 13d5 (i think that is the designation).

i did not hear major differences.

overall, i did not like the eastern electric because i thought it leaned towards "neutrality", and i wanted a more tube-like sound.

i don't remember posting regarding the octave dac and the minimax, because i have little experience with the octave.