Emmeline XP-7 info - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Todd · 10-05-2003, 04:26 AM

HI All,

Here is the description of the upcoming XP-7 amp from Ray Samuels...

The Emmeline XP-7 Headphone Amp is a true dual mono design. It has the simplest and purest circuitry. No caps in the signal path. All signal traces and power lanes are separated by solid grounds. Both of the PC brds, amp and power supply, have military specs with the highest quality dual sited FR4 material with 2oz pure copper oxygen free. No wires are found in this design, as all components are located in their respected places and soldered directly on the PC brds. Polypropylene is extensively used across every electric caps to smoothen the DC supply. Components are located in the proper place to minimize noise and cut signal paths to shortest possible. The IC Sockets are of the highest quality available in the industry gold pins and sockets for better conductivity with op-amp pins. This gives the XP-7 the capability to roll op-amps. Both PC brds are hand soldered with military solder and temperature controlled station. Boards are chemically cleaned from all solder residue and polish. The full size noble pot is hand selected and matched between left and right channels for ohmage and tracking. High quality RCA connectors and headphone jack are implemented. As to the battery pack, it is a state of the art compartment. No snap on wires are involved. Batteries are house in the amp without carrying them around in an external container. Using high quality batteries, the XP-7 gives more then 30-35 hrs of enjoyable music, without sacrificing sound quality. The chassis is custom designed for the XP-7 with high quality black anodized aluminum and knob. It is silver silk screened with good art work and shielded from RF noise through DC ground. The DC connector on the amp and the plug on the power supply DC cable are new in the industry. Its quality and size, is the best choice for this amp. The power supply is one of the well thought of in both design and structure. High quality toroidal power transformer PC brd mountable, with dual primary and dual secondary is implemented. It could be wired to handle both 120 AC volt or to 220 AC volts. Each secondary output has its own full wave rectifier. Again each rectification stage is bypassed by a polypropylene caps to smooth the DC. 2 adjustable regulators are used to tweak the voltage to .01 of a volt accuracy between + and - 12 volts. The custom made power supply chassis has the same size and quality of workmanship as the amp chassis’. It is black anodized with a beautiful faceplate. It is AC ground shielded and has detachable AC cord capability. An umbilical cable 6-8 inches long with three 18 AWG wires, and military specs are used to transfer the power between the 2 chassis. Both amp and power supply are burned in for a 100hrs prier to shipping.

Sounds impressive, eh!

Todd

Audio Addict · 10-05-2003, 01:46 PM

The opamp rolling is great. I switched out the AD825 that came with it for the AD797 and the now the sound is more what I like.

elrod-tom · 10-12-2003, 06:47 PM

I heard one of the prototypes at our Detroit meet, and was frankly blown away by what I heard. A real winner, IMHO.

My only concern is lack of crossfeed. I would be using it at work, and that would be of great importance.

Todd, have you given it a listen with the Meier crossfeed? It would be interesting to know how those two items work together.

john_jcb · 10-12-2003, 06:57 PM

I do not see any reason why the Corda Cross-1 and the XP-7 would not be a great match. I use the Corda Cross with Ray's HR-2 for some recordings and it is great.

elrod-tom · 10-28-2003, 11:28 PM

Well, I decided to buy one regardless...can't wait for it to get here!!

Dimitri · 10-31-2003, 02:44 PM

Can't wait for my XP-7! It'll be my first headphone amp. This is my first post, too (I've been reading for a while). Thanks to Todd and headfi for being very helpful! I called TTVJ for ship date info, and Todd was very helpful. I love the fact that these amps are built to order by Mr. Samuels. What a wonderfully small-scale thing this headphone hifi hobby is!

john_jcb · 10-31-2003, 04:11 PM

Dimitri

Welcome to Head-Fi

You are starting out with a great amp and I am sure you will enjoy it very much.

Another thing that sets Rays equipment apart from most others is that he burns it in for 100 hours then measures everything to make sure it is working exactly right before it is shipped.

I look forward to your comments after you receive your amp.

Old Pa · 10-31-2003, 04:47 PM

Is there a portable CD source up to the quality of this unit?

lan · 10-31-2003, 05:44 PM

Anyword of Stealth availability?

john_jcb · 10-31-2003, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Old Pa
Is there a portable CD source up to the quality of this unit?

I have tried it with the Panasonic CT570's line out and it sounded great. I do not have access to any of the current model players to listen to.

Quote:

Anyword of Stealth availability? ]

The stealth is almost ready to hit the market. The last I heard Ray was waiting on the chassis. He has all the parts, tubes and PC boards. The one at the Chicago meet was actually built with all production parts, however the chassis was bare aluminum instead of anodized.