VIVA Audio Egoista STX Electrostatic Headphone Amplifier Review

The Viva Audio Egoista STX is a beautifully designed piece of Italian audio sculpture. In gloss black and grey with her six tubes all aglow, she is a cross between Darth Vader and some ominous six-eyed spider head. And yet under the spell of this beast, my STAX electrostatic headphones have never sounded so good!

Ozan Turan is a rather interesting fellow, and he has a day job that several audio nuts out there might just dream about. “Oz”, as he is known by those in audio circles, is the US distributor for several fine boutique audio brands. At New York’s CanJAM earlier this year, his company “High End by Oz” was presenting a couple of stunning-looking tube headphone amplifiers from Italian manufacturer Viva Audio.

The first was the Viva Audio Egoista 845. An amplifier that is meant for standard single-ended and balanced headphones. The second, which is the subject of this review, the Viva Audio Egoista STX, is meant to power electrostatic headphones from the likes of STAX, HIFIMAN, etc.

Oz has very good taste and a very good ear, and he was very interested in having me listen to these Viva Audio amps while I was at the show, and honestly, who was I to refuse? Well, besides both being stunning pieces of industrial design, I certainly liked what I was hearing when I sampled both the STX and the 845. Enough that I asked Oz if I could review one of them. At first, I was thinking of the 845, but after some thought, I asked for the STX as I wanted to try it with my STAX SR-L700 ear speakers. I also don’t get to try many electrostatic headset amps and the STX certainly looked and sounded like it had some serious potential. Not long after this, the Viva Audio Egoista STX arrived at my doorstep, reporting for duty.

As a design form, the Viva Audio Egoista STX is a relatively simple and elegant shape. The flat top with gently curved sides paired with the deep gloss black face and back plates give it a decidedly Art Deco appearance. While my review sample’s main body color was a slightly uninspiring grey, Viva Audio will consider any body color options that are practical for their headphone amplifier casework. Their website shows off a striking canary yellow STX with gloss black front and back panels to great effect.

 

The front panel features three larger openings across the top. The leftmost opening has a 3-position toggle switch labeled “ON”, “OFF”, and “WARMUP”. The middle opening houses the volume knob while the rightmost opening houses the input selection knob. There are four available inputs on the Egoista STX, including a “Direct” input that bypasses the amplifier’s preamp stage. Any source connected to this Direct input should have its own volume control for safety’s sake.

Below the center volume control is the Viva Audio company logo with the letter “i” dot acting as the power ON light. Directly under both the toggle switch and the input selector are 5-pin electrostatic headphones connector jacks. These will support electrostatic headphones from the likes of STAX, HIFIMAN, and any other electrostatic headphones wired to work with a STAX amplifier.

The rear panel of the STX features four sets of RCA inputs, three are standard and one is marked “D” for Direct, and one set of balanced XLR inputs. The only other connector on the backside is an IEC power cable connection.

 

The Egoista STX is a self-biasing Class A design (300B tube-based) with zero negative feedback used. This particular 300B model has a mesh plate, compared to a solid plate found in other 300B’s. You can see the small holes in the plate. All internal wiring is point-to-point construction.

Beyond the tubes, power cable, and manual, there are no other accessories that come with this amp.

 

I paired the Viva Audio STX with my STAX SR-L700 ear speakers, a Topping D90 SE DAC, and my Microsoft Surface 3 PRO tablet which runs my ROON core and digital music network. The cables used were Synergistic Research Foundation SX. I also used four (weight correct) EVP isolation feet from AV Room Service Ltd to isolate the STX amplifier on my equipment stand.

 

I don’t often get a chance to review very high-quality tube gear, so I confess that I was very much looking forward to my time with the Egoista STX. I was also trying to keep any preconceived notions I had about tubes and tube sound in check and come at this with as open a mind as possible.

Before each listening session, I would make sure to have the tubes in warmup mode for at least 5 minutes before fully turning the amplifier on, as per the instruction manual.

Some people might think my STAX SR-L700 ear speakers may not be high enough on the ladder to pair with the Egoista STX, but I disagree. Yes, STAX’s higher-tier models may be more resolving, but the L700 is just plain more fun to listen to.

They are a naturally good match with my STAX SRM-D50 solid-state amp. To be fair, I certainly wasn’t looking at this as some sort of head-to-head shootout either. Using the D50 as a control subject, I was mainly curious to see if the Viva Audio Egoista STX would bring something noticeably different to the party.

Here are a few more detailed notes with some selected tracks.

The Viva Audio Egoista STX headphone amplifier will make your electrostatic headphones sing unlike anything else out there. The sound of its 300B tubes and stunning Italian design make it a completely unforgettable experience and a statement piece.

Now, to repeat, I don’t want anyone to think that I am comparing an almost $20K tube amp to a $1200.00 solid-state amp in some sort of head-to-head face-off. That’s not the point here at all. My little STAX amp is being used as a control subject. In isolation, used with my L700 ear speakers, it is a perfectly delightful and engaging listening setup that has served me well for years. The question is more about what something like the Viva Audio Egoista STX brings to the table. Is it simply just a stylish-looking conversation piece for someone with some spare cash burning a hole in their pocket? Or does it bring some additional legitimate, and definable musical enjoyment to bear? Well, honestly, it does both in grand fashion!

The Egoista STX is a visual work of art, and nothing else looks quite like it. Especially with the right body color and with all those tubes lit up. Sonically, it brought out more of what my ear speakers were capable of reproducing than what I thought was even possible. It made me love my L700s all the more. I have no doubt it will do the same with pricier and more resolving cans. Its sound was smooth, detailed, appealing, and very much bordering on addictive. It is simply one hell of a thing.

Yes, there are less expensive options out there to drive your electrostatic headphones. STAX, among others, makes some lovely upmarket solid-state and tube-based energizers. But as our Editor Emeritus John Johnson discovered in his Feliks Audio headphone amplifier review there is something unique and special about the sound of 300B tubes with headphones. And here, wrapped in their fine Italian bodywork, I am hard-pressed to think of anything else that makes as much of a statement or leaves as much of an impression as the Viva Audio Egoista STX. If you have the means, I most enthusiastically recommend an audition, post haste. You won’t regret it!