Fezz Audio Mira Ceti 300B

During the first period of its existence, Fezz Audio launched more amplifiers and gained quite a following in its homeland, Poland. Its tube amplifiers were virtually the only reasonable alternative to Chinese designs. At some point, a few distributors found out about the whole venture, and when they researched the subject, saw, touched, listened, and made sure that no one was mistaken in the price list, they started ordering several shipping containers of Polish amplifiers per delivery. New employees had to be found immediately, conditions had to be created for them to assemble the equipment, all existing supplies of components had to be multiplied by ten, and a million other things had to be taken care of in order to meet the customers' demand. As soon as one order could be fulfilled, another, even bigger one would come along. The company moved from its former plant to a brand-new headquarters located literally a mile away. It was quite a challenge, but even in the heat of the battle with builders and bureaucracy, the process of designing new products didn't stop. In addition to more tube drivers, Fezz Audio introduced three phono stages. The real shock came a little later. The company announced its first solid-state amplifiers, which looked quite different from the colorful but square and somewhat garage-like tube amps we'd seen before. The Torus series models are modern, minimalist, but beautifully designed. The ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan. When more and more visuals appeared online, audiophiles were ecstatic. And they weren't the only ones.

The appearance of the older equipment of the Polish manufactory may not have been criticized because a simple form following function cannot be bad by definition. Since several interesting color versions were introduced early on, and the amplifiers were really inexpensive, it somehow held up. However, as more expensive designs appeared in the catalog, a revolution was only a matter of time. Developing a single, distinctive stylistic language that could be applied to everything from a basic phono stage to a hi-end set consisting of a preamplifier and two monoblocks became necessary for the company to move forward. The task was entrusted to true professionals - Kabo & Pydo, a Warsaw-based design and strategy studio founded by designers Katarzyna Borkowska and Tomasz Pydo. Their collection of awards and accolades is truly impressive. Red Dot, IF Design, Good Design, Designer of the Year 2020, Good Design, Top Design, and German Design Award are just some of them. The decision to cooperate with Fezz Audio caused yet another Red Dot award to "drop in", the eighth in total to Kabo & Pydo's account. If I haven't missed anything, this is also the first Red Dot awarded to a Polish manufacturer of audio equipment. All this made me want to review one of the components from the Evolution series, but which one should I choose? Since I had already reviewed the Silver Luna, Titania, and Gaia MM phono stage, I wanted a double novelty - a new enclosure and a design I hadn't yet listened to. In the end, the choice was easy and obvious - I went for the Mira Ceti 300B.

Design and functionality

Let's start by explaining what the Evolution series is all about. If I'm correct, it's simply about the design. The models from the old and new series are called just the same, with "Evolution" and "Legacy" labels, which quite clearly suggests that the descriptions and photos of the older models are not really relevant anymore. The same is true on dealer websites. Formally, no Fezz Audio devices have been labeled "Evolution." So, for example, the new Silver Luna is still a Silver Luna, although the version made today looks quite different. There is no such thing as a "Silver Luna Evolution." It's possible that the company didn't want to cause confusion, hoping that after a while the older equipment would simply be pushed out of the market, everyone would forget about it and it wouldn't be necessary to emphasize that we were dealing with a device belonging to the Evolution series. Equally important, however, is the fact that the design change took place independently of everything else. It would seem that this was an excellent opportunity to improve something there, to modernize, to make even minor adjustments to the electronics, but let's just look at the scale of the whole operation. The Evolution line includes models such as Silver Luna, Silver Luna Prestige, Titania, Mira Ceti 300B, Mira Ceti 2A3, Lybra 300B, as well as the Titania Power Amplifier and Mira Ceti 300B Mono Power Amplifier monoblocks. Then there are such wonders as the Sagita transistor line preamplifier, Gaia Mini, Gaia and Gratia phono stages, and the Omega Lupi headphone amplifier. Rummaging through the guts of each of these devices could unnecessarily delay the whole operation. Customers who bought the devices in the old chassis will surely be a tad pleased to know that electronically and sonically the "Evolution" and "Legacy" models are the same.

At this point, you probably expect that due to these changes, new customers will have to accept a significant price increase. But no. This is perhaps the biggest surprise about the introduction of the new series - prices have not even budged. The Mira Ceti 300B in the older case, for example, was €3825, and that's exactly what it costs in the new one. Malcontents will say that the changes in the price list have been announced before, and that's what gives us the impression that Fezz is giving us nicer enclosures as a gift. Maybe so, maybe not, but even if so, I don't think anyone expected the Polish manufactory to be the only one not affected by inflation. The Silver Luna Prestige costs €3,150. Comparing it with the competition, this is still a reasonable proposition. And, let's be honest, no Chinese amplifier at a comparable price looks that good. You can also select a few options, such as the HT (Home Theatre) input, subwoofer output, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, or a protective tube cage. Prices for individual options are more than decent. I'd have a much bigger problem with the color because each of the seven available versions looks great. For the review, we got the least distinctive silver version (Moonlight). There is still a choice of black (Black Ice), white (Republic), dim gold (Sunlight), maroon (Big Calm), bright red (Burning Red), and green (Evergreen). You can choose something universal, or go wild and take advantage of the fact that in addition to a beautiful form, our amplifier can also have an original color. Although we are talking only about the external "band", this is enough to make the device impressive. Oh, and there's no need to pay extra for any color. I just thought it was worth mentioning that.

I started my encounter with the new Fezz with unpacking, of course, and already at this stage it was clear to me that after years of making cheap amps, the Polish manufactory has reached a higher level. The Mira Ceti 300B arrives in a nice cardboard box, the contents of which are arranged as if it was a luxurious turntable. First, we take out the documents, tubes, protective cage, remote control, and additional accessories, such as the power cord and cotton gloves. The main course awaits us at the very bottom, packed in a canvas bag. It looks really posh. The amplifier, though suitably heavy, is set on high rubber feet. After my experience with tube amplifiers with sharp spikes, such simple and effective solutions have pleased me very much. The tubes have been numbered, so even a layman should be able to cope with mounting them. All you have to do is put each one in its place, remembering not to touch them with your bare hands. The Mira Ceti 300B uses two Electro-Harmonix 6SN7 double triodes and two legendary 300B triodes supplied by Psvane. These are still not the most expensive tubes that could be installed in such an amplifier, but in a design at this price, I'd be very satisfied with this set. The process of installing and setting up the amplifier essentially ends with the installation of the tubes and connecting cables. The Mira Ceti 300B has an automatic bias control circuit, so we won't have to waste our time doing it manually. Polish company is trying to simplify the process of using tube amplifiers because some music lovers are still afraid of them. Is it safe? Will it blow up? Do you have to get a PhD in electronics to even try? No, you don't. And no, it won't explode.

As for the overall design, well, what can I say other than it's just a work of art? Kabo & Pydo have used a number of elements here that we've already seen in various devices (the base of the chassis reminds me of Cambridge Audio's Edge series components, the tube cover looks a bit like the one we can find in Egg-Shell amplifiers, and the two round transformer covers reminiscent of the ones used by Balanced Audio Technology), but all these elements have been bundled together in an extremely elegant way, creating something truly unique. On the front panel - apart from the tubes - we see only two knobs (source selection and volume control) and a discreetly illuminated logo. Its bluish glow is actually revealed only when we look at the switched-on amplifier from the front. On the rear, we find three RCA inputs, an HT input with an activating switch, a Bluetooth antenna with another switch (when not using this function, this way the entire module can be turned off), a preamplifier output, speaker terminals with selectable taps for 4 or 8 Ω speakers, and a power socket with a mechanical on/off switch. If you check this option, you also get a lovely flat remote control. It has just a few buttons, so in most cases, we'll only use it for adjusting the volume, but at least it's not an ugly thing that deserves only to be put away in a drawer. In lighter color versions, the remote is like the one shown in the photo, while in darker finishes, it's black.

Instead of commenting on what you see in the photos, let me make a few observations related to the use of this amplifier. I really liked the fact that the top surface of the chassis is completely flat, devoid of unnecessary ornamentation. Thanks to this, after removing the tube cover, you can quickly clean the amplifier with a soft cloth. It takes literally two minutes. I say this as the owner of a Unison Triode 25, the thorough maintenance of which - with squeezing into the tight nooks and crannies under the steel slats, which serve only a decorative role - takes a good quarter of an hour. The amp must also be praised for its build quality. The Mira Ceti 300B is not only a beautiful, original object, but also a decent, precisely assembled, heavy, confidence-inspiring heart of a hi-fi system. No one can say that something is wrong here, that some elements spoil the picture, or that the manufacturer went for some truly senseless savings. Looking for nice details, you will surely notice the metal plate on the side, on which the serial number and the names of the people responsible for assembling and checking the unit in question have been handwritten. Thanks, Beata, thanks, Mark. Good job!

Cons? I have to complain about a few minor details, some of which, as far as I've been able to find out, have already been noticed by the manufacturer and will be corrected. The first is the switch located on the back. Admittedly, a tube amplifier should be placed in a visible, well-ventilated area anyway, but you can see that aesthetics took precedence over ergonomics here. The cage protecting the tubes is made of metal, but the front part is clear acrylic glass. Quite a non-standard material for a component of a device that heats up a lot. How will such a cover stand the test time? I do not know, but you certainly need to get a very soft cloth. Otherwise, the acrylic will be quickly scratched. Perhaps that's why for the time of transportation the "glass" is protected with a film on both sides, but with this also comes a small inconvenience. During removal, the film tears at the joints with metal parts, and you have to scoop out the remnants. I recommend doing this with a toothpick. The mounting of the cover itself is also questionable. There are two screws for this, but what exactly are they supposed to go into? The cage is lined with felt, which is nice, but there are no clear holes or any attachments at the front, so even if you lock these two screws, the front part of the cover can still be lifted. In my opinion, it would be good to add some ratchets, hooks, maybe even two pegs in the front, and clear holes in the back. In addition, the upper part of the cage is very, very close to the tips of the power tubes - literally half an inch. It appears that more thought was given here to protecting the tubes from being touched than the householders from being burned. For all intents and purposes, even with the cover on, you can still freely reach the tubes from behind. I doubt that any child or pet would be that curious, but technically such a possibility exists. As you can see, most of my grumbling is limited to one item. However, I'm glad that I received the cage, because without it the amplifier would have looked boring, and the gallery under the article would have contained far fewer than 18 photos. The Mira Ceti 300B stayed with me for a good three weeks, and I couldn't get enough of it until the very end. It's a piece of equipment that's just so nice to have at home. But is it equally nice to listen to?

Sound performance

I started by connecting the Polish amp to the Spendor Classic 2/3 monitors. Maybe I shouldn't have conducted the first test with other equipment that came in for a review, but first of all, I had already become accustomed to the British monitors, and secondly, literally a few days later they were going to be returned to the distributor. I decided to take advantage of this time, and only start listening with my own speakers once the Spendors hit the road. Large, classic speakers and a beautiful amplifier based on the iconic 300B triodes, topped with Auralic Aries G1, Marantz HD-DAC1, Enerr power supply, Fidata, Albedo, and Tellurium Q cabling - sounds like a dream combination for quiet, long-distance listening, right? Yes, to a certain extent, because the sound was 100% tube-like. Concentrated in the midrange, dense, saturated, maybe far from neutral, but extremely organic. And that's pretty much the end of it. I liked the combination of the Spendors with the Unison Triode 25 much more. This is also a tube amplifier, but completely different. With the Triode 25, the sound was definitely more interesting, bolder, more dynamic, transparent, and engaging. I let the Fezz warm up, and then I repeated the comparison several times, but the result was the same. The sound was too smooth, lazy, and over-sweetened, with indistinct band edges and compressed, foreground-focused space. If I were to end the listening session at this stage, I could at most write that the Mira Ceti 300B is a stereotypical tube amplifier, offering warm, sweet, and charming sound, but in many respects, it can't even compete with slightly more powerful tube amplifiers, let alone hybrids and transistors. And you know what? I would have made a terrible, terrible mistake.

It's not a well-known fact that amps with an output power of a few, maybe a dozen watts per channel - and after all that's what we're dealing with here - are, by definition, demanding when it comes to choosing the right speakers. Every owner of a SET (Single-Ended Triode) tube amplifier knows that with the wrong, challenging speakers such an amplifier will not show its strengths, and then the effect is exactly as described above. I didn't expect the Spendor Classic 2/3s to prove so difficult to drive, but the Fezz clearly didn't like these monitors. I was sure that the Mira Ceti 300B would only begin to sing with the Audiovector QR5s, which get along wonderfully with tube designs, hybrids, and class-A transistors. I was looking forward to this listening experience. However, I decided to perform one more experiment and connected the Polish tube to the Equilibrium Nano monitors, essentially expecting another failure, since they too were not designed to work with amplifiers reaching at most 8 watts per channel. To my surprise, it clicked. And boy, oh boy, what a spectacle it was!

The sound was still warm, but far from cloying or dripping with caramel. Dense, but at the same time dynamic and transparent. Saturated not just in the midrange, but across the entire bandwidth. Even the soundstage opened up, spreading freely to the sides. Changing the speakers was enough to hear the magic happening. Even with the Equilibrium monitors, which certainly wouldn't have been my first choice for a few-watt tube, the system played flawlessly, harmoniously, and synergistically. The self-confident Unison Triode 25 began to look at the Fezz with envy. The situation changed completely. From the Spendors the sound oozed lazily, while after switching to the Equilibrium Nano, which plays ferociously and dynamically, but with a certain shift of weight towards the low frequencies, the high frequencies began to shine like tubes polished for a photo shoot. This confirmed that high-end tube amplifiers can serve us much more than overcooked midrange in the analog sauce. They enchant not only with warmth, but also with the ability to differentiate colors on many levels, delicacy, speed, meticulousness, the ability to render the finest details without any effort, and combine all these strengths in an extremely natural way. Such a sound is not only nice, not only pleasant, not only distinctive but also - in fact, above all - very, very good.

I don't know if there is any point in describing what happened when the Fezz was introduced to a second system, in the company of Auralic Vega G1, Audiovector QR5s, and cabling worth more than the amplifier itself. So I'll just mention that the soundstage was phenomenal, with sensational reproduction of the acoustics of the recordings, the sound coming from the side and even from behind my head, and the lows were more energetic and ventured even lower than I expected, given what the Polish tube was doing in combination with the Equilibrium Nano monitors. You can imagine the rest. Maybe it's even better that way, as I seem to be no master at creating audiophile poetry.

The Mira Ceti 300B is an exquisite amplifier and a great representative of its genre. If anyone thought that only the Japanese, French, or Americans could build such amps, it's high time to revise their views. Choosing the right speakers is essential, but there is no need to cross out all models with an efficiency lower than 90 dB. Sure, you can start with manufacturers whose loudspeakers have long had a reputation for being "good for the tube," but this is not the only way. The Mira Ceti 300B is by no means a nightmarish weakling. It only requires a bit of understanding and sensitivity. It's also not an amplifier that sounds warm, heavy, and dark, so when choosing the rest of the components of the system I would suggest to aim rather at devices with neutral sound, or at least start with them. After a few experiments, you will already know which way to go. If you think about it, we would do exactly the same with a powerful solid-state amplifier. It might even be easier with the Fezz because if it doesn't like its company, you will hear it very, very clearly. The conclusion is that the Mira Ceti 300B is not just a pretty device that looks good in the pictures. This is just the beginning. The brilliant design, the high quality of workmanship, the possibility to order a copy with options of our choice and in the original color - these are important details, but the true hero here is the sound. And that's the way it should be.

Build quality and technical parameters

Fezz Audio Mira Ceti 300B is a tube integrated amplifier boasting 8 watts per channel. The output stage uses Psvane's legendary 300B triodes, one per channel, while the preamp uses two Electro-Harmonix 6SN7 double triodes. Thus, we are not only dealing with an amplifier based entirely on triodes but also with a single-ended design with power tubes working in a push-pull arrangement in class A. When configuring your amplifier, we can also choose premium tubes as an option. Neither on the manufacturer's website nor in dealer descriptions, however, I was unable to find information on what exactly is behind this term. It would seem that Psvane's 300B and Electro-Harmonix's 6SN7 is a very decent set. So I contacted the manufacturer and immediately got an answer to my question - these are Full Music 300Bs with nickel-plated anode and Psvane CV181 Treasure Mark IIs instead of 6SN7s. This configuration, as well as the standard one, was chosen by the manufacturer based on listening. We can, of course, buy premium tubes later, but if you have a feeling that you will decide to do so anyway, it is worth noting this option is already at the ordering stage. Considering the potential sonic benefits, I wouldn't give it a second thought. To get to the interior, you need to remove the warranty seals and unscrew the base fixed with twelve screws. As is the case with classic tube speakers, it's a bit hollow here, but at least no one will complain that the wires are routed in a shabby way. You can even clearly see the ones that have been left in case the owner wants to add some optional modules in the future (the free places for sockets have been secured with rubber plugs). What strikes the eye, of course, are the two power transformers - one large and one small. Add to this another two output transformers mounted on the other side, and it turns out that the Mira Ceti 300B is a device in which the number of toroidal transformers matches the number of tubes. We are, of course, talking about transformers made in-house, which is highly regarded in the world of tube amplifiers.

System configuration

Audiovector QR5, Equilibrium Nano, Unison Research Triode 25, Hegel H20, Auralic Aries G1, Auralic Vega G1, Marantz HD-DAC1, Clearaudio Concept, Cambridge Audio CP2, Cardas Clear Reflection, Tellurium Q Ultra Blue II, Albedo Geo, KBL Sound Red Corona, Enerr One 6S DCB, Enerr Tablette 6S, Enerr Transcenda Ultimate, Fidata HFU2, Melodika Purple Rain, Sennheiser HD 600, Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO, Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO, Meze 99 Classics, Bowers & Wilkins PX5, Pro-Ject Wallmount It 1, Custom Design RS 202, Silent Angel N8, Vicoustic VicWallpaper VMT, Vicoustic ViCloud VMT.

Verdict

Going into this review, I was both curious and apprehensive. I wanted to play with one of Fezz's new amplifiers, inspect it carefully, and listen to it in a well-controlled environment, but in my head, I still had the thought that maybe creating an audiophile, hi-end amplifier based on the iconic 300B triodes was too much for the Polish company. In retrospect, it was just unfair. I didn't take into account that almost everything had changed in this company since my meeting with Silver Luna, Titania, and Gaia MM. The transformers, electronic circuits, and the love of tubes remain, but the design, the enclosures, the packaging, and even the factory where Fezz Audio equipment is made - all are completely new. And better. The Mira Ceti 300B is an amplifier that sweeps even more in its category than the Silver Luna in the reasonably priced tube segment. The closest device I know that can hold a candle to the Fezz in terms of design, build quality, and sound performance, and on top of that is somewhat close to it spiritually, is the Unison Research Preludio. A small, sweet, and underrated amp that, in the right company, can sing downright charming. The Mira Ceti 300B also has this gift, but in many ways is even cooler. If the asking price was €10,000, the decision could not be so easy, but at €3825 it's a complete no-brainer.

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If you like the looks of this amplifier, it's no surprise.

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Technical data

Tubes: 2 x 300B, 2 x 6SN7
Output power: 2 x 8 W/4-8 Ω
Analog inputs: 3 x RCA
Distortion: < 0.4%
Frequency response: 20 Hz - 45 kHz (-3 dB)
Bias control: automatic
Options: remote control, HT input, tube cover, Bluetooth 5.0, pre-out output
Power consumption: 115 W
Dimensions (H/W/D): 20/42/38 cm
Weight: 19.5 kg
Price: €3825 (base model), €4373 (with tube cage and remote control)
Manufacturer: Fezz Audio

Sound performance

Editor's rating

8.6Overall9Sound8Functionality9Design8Quality9Price