Stellavox Introduces a New State of the Art Amplifier IDEM Monoblocks

[pk_LA]

With respect to the various 'influencers' on WBF, I am of two minds.

First. Sure, I would love to know the details of their relationships etc but that's mostly just out of curiosity. And, it's kind of none of my business. (btw, raise your hand if you paid full bogey for a six-figure component, btw!)

Second. With respect to their recommendations and impressions, I doubt they would ever promote or gush about something they did not believe in or genuinely like. If Mike get the Stellavox's it'll be because he genuinely loves them and they'll have to be at least as good as his beloved Dartzeels. I doubt that even if he were offered the amps for free this condition wouldn't exist. The guy is a true audiophile.

Mike and Steve and others here have advised me multiple times. Not once have have I not completely agreed and appreciated the recommendation.

Oh, and one last thing...Mike, I do not agree that the car business is a good comp. Does Honda US pay 25-30% of sticker for an Accord? in other words, the markup structure is very different.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

With respect to the various 'influencers' on WBF, I am of two minds.

First. Sure, I would love to know the details of their relationships etc but that's mostly just out of curiosity. And, it's kind of none of my business. (btw, raise your hand if you paid full bogey for a six-figure component, btw!)

Second. With respect to their recommendations and impressions, I doubt they would ever promote or gush about something they did not believe in or genuinely like. If Mike get the Stellavox's it'll be because he genuinely loves them and they'll have to be at least as good as his beloved Dartzeels. I doubt that even if he were offered the amps for free this condition wouldn't exist. The guy is a true audiophile.

Mike and Steve and others here have advised me multiple times. Not once have have I not completely agreed and appreciated the recommendation.

thanks Pat, for the kind words.

Oh, and one last thing...Mike, I do not agree that the car business is a good comp. Does Honda US pay 25-30% of sticker for an Accord? in other words, the markup structure is very different.

while i disagree, i think the forum has heard enough of me talking about cars and customer feelings.

 

[Stereophonic]

Give me four !!!!

 

[Kingrex]

Give me four !!!!
View attachment 161342

Needs 2 more monoblock to drive the 3 way speaker!!!!!

 

[Stereophonic]

Hi @Mike Lavigne.

Any news about Stellavox demo?
It seems Lumen Passive preamp has great synergy with Stellavox amps...

 

[LL21]

Give me four !!!!
View attachment 161342

That is the first time I have seen a photo of the famous Divin Lab without the Robert Koda K15EX/K160 Monos at the helm. Very nice...did not realize you can bi-amp the Divin Majestic? Or perhaps they are using the 2nd pair of monos to drive the Sovereign subs?

Did you hear this set up? If so, how was it?

 

[Stereophonic]

Divin Majestic accepts bi-amp.
Sovereign sub is an active sub with internal 2500w amplifier.
No. I haven't listened this system.

 

[LL21]

Divin Majestic accepts bi-amp.
Sovereign sub is an active sub with internal 2500w amplifier.
No. I haven't listened this system.

View attachment 161459

Thank you! There are definitely a lot of elements of the massive Divin Majestic I like. High efficiency combined with massive air displacement, solidity of cabinetry,

Also like the vibe I am getting from those who have heard the Stellas.

 

[Stereophonic]

I'm afraid they will be suffer with less eficient speakers. Just my impresion.

 

[LL21]

I'm afraid they will be suffer with less eficient speakers. Just my impresion.

That is very interesting and definitely something to consider. One of the reasons why I stayed with Gryphon amplification for so long was because I knew it opened options for both efficient and inefficient/difficult to drive speakers.

I have moved to Robert Koda amplification now (pure Class A 235 Watts into 4ohms). Nevertheless, would enjoy hearing a few amps in this world: the YS Sound 998, HiFi One Berning-Ypsilon Ref Monos for sure. For old times' sake, the Gryphon Apex. And then I somehow imagine more for education and fun than personal desire, the Boulder 3060, Goldmund reference monos, possibly the legendary Lamm ML3...and would probably include the Stellas in this category.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thank you! There are definitely a lot of elements of the massive Divin Majestic I like. High efficiency combined with massive air displacement, solidity of cabinetry,

Also like the vibe I am getting from those who have heard the Stellas.

I'm afraid they will be suffer with less eficient speakers. Just my impresion.

i think we confuse what our eyes see, and what Audio Exotics does........because they can and it's their style, with the actual amplifier performance and appropriate amp<->speaker synergy.

our eyes see a relatively diminutive unpretentious amplifier chassis in a very big demo room which is known for, and expected to, deliver visual wows with the audio wows. just two IDEM's might not deliver the visuals that Audio Exotics prefers....with such a massive speaker sitting there.

and Audio Exotics sells double the amps, double the cables, double the amp stands, etc, etc. but at that point who is counting.

you can order the Majestics either single amp of bi-wirable. it's 98db, 4ohm. the Stellavox is a powerhouse, 700 watts into 2 ohms and biased to mostly class A.. so this is not a case of needing more power. OTOH i cannot argue that bi-amping cannot deliver something on some level. so not dismissing it completely.

but then making a case that the IDEM is somehow only for less efficient speakers is absolutely wrong. not true in any way.

btw; good on Audio Exotics to show us super eye candy set-ups. love it. all in on it. glad they are out there doing their thing.

 

[vinyl_mike]

That is very interesting and definitely something to consider. One of the reasons why I stayed with Gryphon amplification for so long was because I knew it opened options for both efficient and inefficient/difficult to drive speakers.

I have moved to Robert Koda amplification now (pure Class A 235 Watts into 4ohms). Nevertheless, would enjoy hearing a few amps in this world: the YS Sound 998, HiFi One Berning-Ypsilon Ref Monos for sure. For old times' sake, the Gryphon Apex. And then I somehow imagine more for education and fun than personal desire, the Boulder 3060, Goldmund reference monos, possibly the legendary Lamm ML3...and would probably include the Stellas in this category.

I'm afraid they will be suffer with less eficient speakers. Just my impresion.

I have some hands-on perspective concerning the power of the Stellavox and its speaker driving capabilities. From my listening experience, the IDEMs are capable of driving my Zellatons in a large acoustically treated room to wall shaking levels. With Pink Floyd DSOTM, they can easily pump out an average 90+dB level with 100+ dB peaks. With some amps as you get closer to their max power, the sound gets a congested or hard. With the Stellavox, the quality does not change at the highest volume - it just scales naturally. Actually, I have to be careful. Often at high SPLs the strident sound alerts you to reduce the level. With the IDEMs I found myself listening at somewhat higher levels because sound is so pure, there is no indication to turn it down due to strain.

From a technical perspective, the IDEM specs show 200 W @ 8Ω , 400 W @ 4Ω , and 700 W @ 2Ω. Based on my layman’s understanding, this implies it is a high-current, stable amplifier with a strong power supply and output stage, capable of driving even demanding speakers easily. Therefore, I would respectfully disagree about its inability to drive inefficient power-hungry speakers.

Maybe Gideon can add to this from his experience.

 

[fbhifi]

the Stellavox is a powerhouse, 700 watts into 2 ohms and biased to mostly class A.. so this is not a case of needing more power. OTOH i cannot argue that bi-amping cannot deliver something on some level. so not dismissing it completely.

What happened to decades long tradition of quoting an amplifier’s power output into 8 ohms???

I’ve recently noticed this new propensity to quote output numbers into 4ohms, which, at least, has some practical value. An amplifier’s output into 2 ohms is largely irrelevant, in the real world.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

What happened to decades long tradition of quoting an amplifier’s power output into 8 ohms???

sure. you are right.

i agree that for both speakers and amps 8 ohm is reference we should use. for speaker ratings in my own head i always lower the efficiency 3 db when 4 ohm is quoted.....to the degree that speaker efficiency ratings are legit.

I’ve recently noticed this new propensity to quote output numbers into 4ohms, which, at least, has some practical value. An amplifier’s output into 2 ohms is largely irrelevant, in the real world.

not qualified to talk about whether a 2 ohm rating is irrelevant. maybe it is. some speakers do dip there or even lower.

in the case of the big Gobel Divin Majestics which are quoted at 4 ohm then we have 400 watts class A, and with the occasional 8 ohm speaker we have 200 watts. my MM7's are 7 ohm nominal.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi @Mike Lavigne.
Any news about Stellavox demo?

the (again wrote 'my' and then thought better of it ) Stellavox IDEM's are suppose to arrive later this coming week. fingers crossed.

It seems Lumen Passive preamp has great synergy with Stellavox amps...

View attachment 161460

beautiful picture. skimmed the 6 Moon's write-up about the Lumen passive. audio jewelry for sure. has a volume remote which does make it real world possible.

 

[Ron Resnick]

That is the first time I have seen a photo of the famous Divin Lab without the Robert Koda K15EX/K160 Monos at the helm. Very nice...did not realize you can bi-amp the Divin Majestic? Or perhaps they are using the 2nd pair of monos to drive the Sovereign subs?

Did you hear this set up? If so, how was it?

The Sovereign subwoofers are self-powered.

 

[Kingsrule]

I feel a 2ohm rating is very relevant...if the manufacturer doesn't quote the 2ohm output it says to me the power supply itsn't very good and folds "like a house of cards" when the going gets tough.

 

[Kingrex]

The IDEM is a 200 watt amp at 8 ohms? That's not particularly special. Its average. But I would accept anyone telling me there is more to it than raw watts. heck, so many threads are about 1 watt and how important that is.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

The IDEM is a 200 watt amp at 8 ohms? That's not particularly special. Its average. But I would accept anyone telling me there is more to it than raw watts. heck, so many threads are about 1 watt and how important that is.

agree there is more to it........200 watts into 8 ohms Class A offers greater linearity than your normal Class A/B 200 watts into 8 ohms solid state amplifier (all other things being equal). better livelier first watt. and more robust tube SET-like less processed watts.

 

[Audioarts]

Please recall this is not a typical voltage as opposed to a CURRENT driven design. It’s actually the first amplifier able to make my prized Celestion 600’s (least efficient speaker besides Apogees?) come to life. Need I say more ?

Specs:

https://admin.stellavox.swiss/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Stellavox-specs.pdf