|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
98.221.76.71
Has anyone tried this 'Eddie Current' Solid State HP Amp,?
Through some recent system configuration changes I've decided that the SQ I'm getting from
my Burson Soloist hp amp is very comparable to what I'm getting from the 2 tubed hp amps
that I've been switching in .out of my system. If anything the Burson may be slightly "polite" at either end of frequency spectrum, but it's overall "Tonality" seems to be consistently more
"Spot on" without being "sweetened" like tubes occasionally will do.
For all intent & purposes the Redtop (being any Eddie Current design) appears to be
capable of competing with SS Hp amps of the Bryston or Auralic or others of that price bracket. Needless to say I'm interested , I suppose I should see if Tyll over on Inner Fidelity
has any insight on this Amp.
Follow Ups:
I'm willing to be that will be one nice SS headphone amp!
Looks swell, costs a lot...
I have received word from Pass Labs that that the designer of their new headphone amp has been temporarily sidetracked. Expect availability by the end of the first quarter of 2015.
I'm very curious. I hope it turns out to be everything one might expect from a company like Pass Labs...
nt
I emailed Pass Labs about it. I was curious as to why Pass Labs never made a headphone amp for this headphone crazy world of ours...Their answer was that they were presently working on one, and that it should be available before the end of 2014.
Edits: 10/09/14
All it takes to convert a speaker amp into a headphone amp is to make/buy a resistive or transformer adapter for headphones. This should work very well on both FirstWatt and Pass labs amps.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
A resistor or transformer based adapter might work but it's not the best or most elegant solution, IMO. Dedicated headphone amps exist for a reason.The typical lo-fi stereo receiver or integrated amp with a headphone jack tacked onto the faceplate uses a resistive adapter in most cases. The results are less than optimal, muddy bass being one of the most obvious colorations in resistor setups. A transformer-based adapter could sound slightly better than a resistor-based one, but as long as the signal is being routed through any adaptive device it is probably being diluted and degraded to an unnecessary degree. The only advantage to using an adapter is low cost.
OTOH, a good dedicated headphone amp draws directly from it's own transformer and provides the cleanest, clearest signal transmission possible. A dedicated headphone amp sometimes provides the user with an adjustable impedance switch too, which is great because some headphones like to be current-driven while others like to be voltage-driven.
While it's true that a good speaker amp used in conjunction with a headphone adapter might sound better than a very cheap dedicated headphone amp, the best results are going to be had with a good, dedicated headphone amp. Good headphone amps are "voiced" to sound good when driving headphones, while an adapter tacked onto a loudspeaker amp is likely to sound like the compromised setup it actually is.
Edits: 10/08/14 10/08/14 10/08/14 10/08/14
For a WHOLE lot of money!
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
It might be expensive or it might be relatively inexpensive. We'll just have to wait and see won't we?
It's been several years since I've heard any Pass Labs equipment,but I can remember that the 'Aleph' amp that I'd heard reminded me of SET sound w/o
having to "fool around" picking the 'NOS'tubes to use w/ it. Very lush but
detailed sounding !
(This would be a nice addition to the $1k price range if there were a possibility to bring it in at that; This will be a niche market for Pass so
maybe us "poor folk" will catch a break)
Looking at Pass' price list, I predict a minimum of 2K for a headphone amp (no DAC).
Will the folks that believe in 'straight wire with gain' like it if it's lush?
One day we will all be enlightened.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
Bipolar transistor output stage. 0.08% distortion. Neutral.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
Yes,I did actually mention that it is a Solid State amp.
So I'm curious, have you had any 1st hand experience(or know anyone who has) with the Redtop ? I expanded my discussion to include tube amps as
no one has specifically responded about this amp.
I'm not familiar with the term "sand" amp either.(I'm sure there's a reference to something to do with "solid state",but I'm not recognizing it)
Thanks
Sand=silicone. The term is more broadly applied to "modern" SS amps with transistor output stages.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
Sand is mostly quartz which is silicon dioxide. Silicone is what my last girlfriend paid big bucks for...
The better tube amps sound more similar than different to the better solid state amps, and visa-versa. An "uncolored" sound is the holy grail, IMO.Good tube amps inject a touch of vibrancy without sounding overly sweet and syrupy, good SS amps provide dynamics without sounding overly dry and sterile.
Edits: 10/03/14
Yes indeed and you are very correct..While large amounts of 2nd order distortion may be desirable to some,it bloats a coloration that would steal the ultimate virtue of a top quality system which is reproduce the sound as it was played at the original source..Here are two fine examples of amplifiers that do the things we love.
"
Honest amplification is better than excessive 2nd order distortion anytime.
DNA, Decware, Wyetech...
For some reason I always seem to forget about Steve Deckert's amps & the
funny thing is many years ago I had one of "ZenHead" portable amp that I used w/ a Zune 120 that I'd loaded w/Burwen Bobcatted WMA lossless files that sounded just superb driving a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770s
I seem to recall that the Decware Headphone Amplifiers have an additional
provision for adjusting the gain so that you have greater range of volume control usage. I think it is just ridiculous that I run out of voluume range
adjustment at about 7 o'clock on the tube headphone amps I have if I decide
to use my HD800s
I've heard nothing but good things about the Decware headphone amp.The DNA Sonett SET amp is known to be a superb match for the HD800s, taming (what some perceive to be) the excessively bright nature of the HD800s without overdoing it in that regard. I would suggest giving it a try sometime, if possible. The Sonett really is one of those amps that combines a touch of tube vibrancy with SS-like control and composure.
Edits: 10/04/14 10/04/14
Thank You !
DNA had(has?)an amp called the "Stratus" that I believe was a bit higher than I wanted to go in price so I had forgotten how impressed I was with the
design. From what I've read on the Sonett page it looks like the volume issue is being specifically addressed.
(I'm just not sure how disrespectful it might be to Beethoven or
Rachmaninoff that I'm listening to their music through a "shiny baby blue"
headphone amplifier; I feel a little funny about that myself)
I wasn't aware of a "volume issue". Please explain.Mine is the Sonett One (balanced output dual XLR version). While it is slightly less powerful than the Sonett Two, I have never experienced a lack of power or any issues related to insufficient gain, etc... The amount of gain I'm getting is just about perfect for the headphones I've been using. Of course, I'm not using orthodynamic headphones that can be pretty hard to drive.
The Stratus really seems like a dream amp, but it is quite expensive. It has different sonic personality than the Sonett, I'm told. Some prefer the Sonett, others prefer the Stratus. I sure wouldn't mind owning both!
Edits: 10/04/14
It's not really an "issue" but I don't really like having only up to 8 or 9
o'clock on my volume control as the "max" I can go before things get louder
then I like to listen at. I would prefer to have at least up to 12 o'clock
(or half of available control setting)before I get to volumes that shorten my listening sessions & lead to "ear ringing"I have a much easier time driving my HFM HE-6s ("satisfactorily")then I do my HD800s. I like a lot of what I can hear from the HD800s,they're really not bright sounding through my Metrum Hex DAC,but they lack a bit of depth & transparency compared to my HE-6s. (So "depth" seems to translate to "dark sounding" to some people, I guess)
It probably comes down to the fact dynamic drivers hold on to the "fundamental" of a musical note slightly longer than a planar driver does maybe a microsecond longer than might be necessary
Edits: 10/04/14 10/04/14
The Sonett seems to be about perfect for the headphones I've been using the most (1/2 to 2/3 on the volume dial for my K701s). My next headphones will probably be HD650s - another great match for both of the amps I'm currently using. It is reported that the Sonett is a very good match for the HD800s.The HD800s shouldn't be "harder" to drive than my AKG K speakers are, it's just that the HD800s are such revealing headphones. Good tone requires a precise matchup in associated equipment.
Edits: 10/05/14 10/05/14
Yes, exactly !!!
The real "trick" is to find the amp that's not "cut from the same cloth" of all the other $800-
$1500 ('which in truth were "voiced" to appeal to listeners whose headphone listening to this point was limited to using any available "headphone input jack") HP amps.
The criteria for what you're looking for changes when you have few $k of "Power Conditioning" & several more $k of Audio components sitting in front of your HP amp.
Like every other component we use in this hobby tubes & solid state are only different
"Filters" that we insert in our systems to get to our desired "sound". Filters are either a necessary or unecessary thing depending on how,were & why they are inserted,
In all honesty I think I'm looking for a HP amp whose greatest strength is to give me the
proverbial "straight wire w/ gain" effect , that does'nt overstep that boundary (For an exceptional price, of course)
Check out the Asylum Trader. There's some reasonably priced amps listed that come fairly close to being the proverbial "straight wire with gain". I've heard or owned two of them listed there.
There are great SS amps. The Redtop might be one of them.
But for $800, I would go for the WA6 from Woo. Ultimately, I always go back to tubes.
Sound, looks, build.
Unless you want portable.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
I don't know that I would lump this 'SS' headphone amp in with your "typical " SS amps.
as it is built by one of the most respected tube headphone amp builders.
The Woo amps are absolute eye candy, but I'm not so quick to discount an SS amp built by someone who knows his way around a tubed circuit, as I'm pretty sure he won't let the typical
SS circuit deficiencies "slide".
Thanks for the suggestion though !
I hope I didn't imply that the Eddie Current was a typical SS amp. I just know it by reputation which is very high.
Enjoy!
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: