Lake People G99/2: A German amp rarely seen here (pics)

[JensL]

I got the chance to borrow a headphone amp made by a German company I didn't know of: Lake People.
The amp is the G99/2, and costs about 350 Euro (500 USD).
Here's the offical page.
You can download the user manual here, which includes the schematics.

What they say themselves: "The PHONE AMP G99 is a stereo headphone
amplifier designed for low-, medium- and high -
Z loads (16 ... 600 ohms), as typical for most
high quality headsets. "

The G99/2 got some nice specs:

Balanced inputs: 2 x XLR (L / R)
Unbalanced Inputs: 2 x Cinch (L / R) with priority
Impedance: 10 kohms
Amplifier Channels: 2 (Stereo)
Nom. input level: + 6 dBu
Gain: +20 dB
Frequency range: 0 Hz ... 150 kHz (-3 dB)
0 Hz … 50 kHz (-0,5 dB)
Slew Rate: > 8V / usec
Dynamic range: > 118 dB (A-wtd)
Noise: < -90 dBu (A-wtd)
THD+N: < 0,0016 %
Crosstalk: < -100 / -90 dB (@ 1 / 15 kHz)
Max. output level: > 19.1 Veff in 600 ohms = 610 mW
> 14.8 Veff in 200 ohms = 1100 mW
> 6.7 Veff in 50 ohms = 900 mW
> 2.6 Veff in 16 ohms = 420 mW
Outputs: 2 x 1/4" phone jacks
Power supply: 230 VAC / 8 VA
Dimensions: 130 x 44 x 170 mm (W x H x D)
Case: Stainless Steel

Some features:
- Electronically balanced inputs
- Unbalanced inputs with priority
- DC coupled amplifiers
- NF transmission band exceeds 150 kHz (-3dB)
- High-grade volume control ALPS RK 27 with optimized channel balance and lowest crosstalk
- Highest grade low-noise optimized internal components
- Discrete amplifier design
- Outputs with relays controlled switch-on delay

It might not look like much, but it feels solidly put together, and the components looks to be of good quality.

I intend to compare it to my Corda Opera within the next days. :-)

Anyone else tried this amp?


Here's some pics:

[luidge]

It's sad that it doesn't provide balanced outputs, it would have been a have too look out for amp at this price.

[xxlMusikfreak]

I know that there are a bunch of people in the german hifi-forum who are quite happy with the Lake People amps.

[vcoheda]

what's the point of having balanced inputs if there are no balanced outputs. is there really going to be an audible difference between:

balanced source - balanced inputs - SE headphones

and

unbalanced source - unbalanced inputs - SE headphones

[xxlMusikfreak]

It's originally build for the studio where they use balanced cables most of the time.

[JensL]

Originally Posted by xxlMusikfreak

I know that there are a bunch of people in the german hifi-forum who are quite happy with the Lake People amps.

Interesting.
How's Lake People regarded as a brand in Germany?

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Why are the markings in English if they're a German company?

The internal shots doesn't look very impressive... how does it sound?

[JensL]

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy

Why are the markings in English if they're a German company?

Maybe they don't want to limit themselves only to the German market?
Or maybe English is the dominant language in the pro-market even in Germany?

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy

The internal shots doesn't look very impressive... how does it sound?

Well, I don't know enough about this stuff to be able to judge if it's impressive of not.
I haven't had time to listen to it extensively, but my first impressions is that it sounds really good. Very nice dynamics.

[fradoca]

i'm a former audio mastering engineer and i must say that
the lake people headphone amp is a very good product.
I'm using the balanced out of my esi juli@ soundcard into the balanced
input of the g99 and the sound quality is very good
also my with akg 701 on

cheers

[dharma]

Clear and quick Lake People G99/2 works very well (compensating slightly ''dark'' tonal misbalance) with my Sennheiser 650 and Denon 5000, it also works OK with my AKG 701 (result is maybe little ''bright'' tonal balance for someone). To use Lake People G99/2 with my Shure 500 I need to regulate earphones volume little down (regulating only amplifier output doesn't help), without doing this I get strong audible noise-distortion.