Violectric HPA V200

The V200 seems to be a very well balanced amp in every aspect of its sonic presentation.  By this I mean its frequency presentation seems to be equally consistent throughout the entire spectrum from the very low bass all the way throughout the upper treble. This consistency  gives the V200 a very smooth, even and natural tonal balance.  This well balanced tonal character gives the amp a smooth, almost liquid sense, a somewhat silky feel. Never is there a hint of artificial or electronic reproduction taking place. When I say silkiness and smoothness I do not mean to infer a lack of detail or leading edge blurriness but quite the contrary, there is plenty of inner detail and resolution.  

There is also an overall warmth to this amp but not too much, not overly present or in any way intrusive.  This warmth does not seem to be a manifestation of any undue or excess mid bass emphasis, its just there in the presentation in a beneficial way rather than detracting and does not obscure the the amps detail or compromise definition.  Personally I find this warmth pleasant, inviting and gratifying.

The V200 is at once dynamic and laid back. It delivers the dynamic emphasis required to give instruments the weight and impact needed for palpable realism and it does so without seeming to break a sweat. Dynamics are never constrained nor is there ever any sense of congestion.  There is explosive dynamics when called for and yet fine inner detail and micro dynamics are not sacrificed at the expense of muscle.  Its ability to deliver whatever power is needed is done in an effortless manner, never any sense that the V200 is straining to get the job done. If an amp could have a demeanor then for the V200 it would be confidence.

• With the Beyerdynamic T1's  I find this amp to mate extremely well with them. It's has the power to drive them with complete authority and ease. So don't worry about pairing the T1 with the amp. The warm and smooth sound complements the T1's warmish/neutral tone quite well. The T1's become more intimate and intoxicating. Treble is slightly rolled and smoothed out thus giving the T1's a more mid-centric sound. The added bass is really nice as well and gives the T1 more "oomph". The bass is very well controlled and tight. The soundstage however sounds more confined.
   
• The Sennheiser HD600's (300Ohms) are already quite warm and forgiving. The amp intensifies this. The HD600's treble is further smoothed out and the mids gain a nice full body feel to them. The bass is more powerful, and as with the T1, is very well controlled. The treble detail is a bit masked by the warmth of the amp, though it's not that bad. The amp is able to drive the HD600 perfectly and it sound superb. The soundstage issues are not as noticeable as with the T1 but they are still there.
   
• The AKG K501 (120Ohms) on this bad boy sounds glorious! If you thought the K501's mids were lifelike before, then you will bet a nice surprise from this amp. The mids take on an ethereal quality to them. They are fuller and even more realistic sounding. The treble does not to be subdued or rolled off like what I heard with the previous headphones, it's smoother sounding for sure. The bass fills in nicely and makes this headphone sound even more balanced and I do appreciate the extra bass, and it's not distorted or bloated. You can notice that the soundstage is more constricted as it's like going from a concert hall to a movie theater.
   
• The AKG K400 (120Ohms) benefits nicely from the amp. It already had a sound signature that I would call "right" but the amp intensifies it. More bass, smoother treble, more liquid mids. Also the V200 has no trouble driving the K400 at all. The midrange is more liquid and smooth and even more engaging. The treble is slightly rolled but gives way to a more analog type presentation. The bass is still tight and controlled, just there is more of it now. I have not heard one bit of clipping or distortion from the amp at all. The soundstage suffers bit and sounds more congested but nothing that is too bad.
   
• The KRK KNS-8400 (38Ohms) benefited the most of the other headphones. They are quite lean sounding to begin with and this amps makes them sound a lot fuller. The mids on the stock model were somewhat thin sounding with elevated treble and somewhat distant bass. I'm glad to say that the bass is upfront, the mids are filled in, and the treble is toned down a notch. Really nice! These 8400's seemed harder to drive than the SRH-440. I had to turn the volume up to double of the SRH-440 so that their levels matched. But the amp still drives them fine. I should note that the bass improved a lot. It become much tighter and gained more punch... oh wait a sec..
   
• Lets see, the Shure SRH-440 (38Ohms) sounded pretty nice from the amp but it wasn't as big of a change as with the others. I could definitely hear more bass and smoother highs and more mids, but it was not a huge improvement. The bass was more prominent but not bloated or mushy. The midrange was the best improvement as they a bit thin in the mids before and now they are warm. The 440's are already very easy to amp so they did not need much power. They just didn't improve as much with amping as I expected. I suspect that they are far to easy to drive and don't scale that well.
   
• Next up is the Sennheiser CX500 (16Ohms) does not require that much power. The sound by itself is a bit muddy with too much bass and rolled highs with a somewhat iffy sounding midrange. The V200 adds an unnecessary amount of bass and the highs can be overly smoothed out a bit. The bass becomes quite bloated and the highs are muffled sounding, like you are listening to a HD650. The midrange is quite better than what it was when unamped. Their soundstage is further narrowed . This pairing is not good at all IMO. I don't know what the headphone could sound good on it's own but worse with the amp. I'd say it's just not synergizing with it.
   
• I have the Shure SE215-K here. This headphone has improved quite a bit with my other amps, especially on my ROC and X-CANV8P. It seems they need s a lot of current to have their potential unlocked. With the V200 they become a lot more intimate and resolving, but also have a more gripping and powerful sound. I always thought they were bassy, but the V200 brings them into the realm of bass heavy. The bass gets more body but remains tight and punchy with good extension and texture. I have yet to hear it loose control and get bloated. The headphones didn't have much soundstage and the amp further narrows it. I think it's similar to a Grado's soundstage now, but a tad larger.

German made products always spike my interest. When I think of products manufactured in Germany usually what comes to mind are precise products that are well designed and usually built well. The Violectric V200 is one such product. Developed and designed by Freid Reim and manufactured in Germany the V200 is a superbly built and designed headphone amplifier. The company Lake People has been building both professional and home use amplifiers since 1986 in Germany. Freid told me he hires educated employees and pays them well so his products are always manufactured to high standards. He only uses high quality parts and from the look of the casing you could see this is not a run of the mill design. All manufacturing is done in Germany which makes the cost of this amplifier higher than many others that are outsourced to China. 1K buys an amplifier that is not only built to last but sounds very good as well.

After reading other reviews and impressions of this amplifier I asked Robert from Aphrodite if I could get a unit to listen to and give some impressions and Robert graciously sent me a new unit for the review process. Robert is a first class guy and someone you want to do business with. A better person you will be hard pressed to find. My preference in high end audio design has always been biased toward tube amplifiers.  Some say the V200 is tube like in performance. I figure if so many solid state designers are trying to design solid state amp that sound like tube amps then tube amps must indeed be special. In my 35 years of experience I have yet to hear any product to sound more real or live than a tube based product. Tube amps in my opinion are hard to beat in what they do with tonality. Focus and sound stage is always better in my tube based products than in my solid state counterparts.  I was curious if the V200 could compete with my Decware Tube Amps as well as m my other solid state options like the vintage Pioneer SX650 and the newly acquired RSA Hr-2.

The equipment used for evaluation is my usual assortment of top tier headphones, the Beyer T1, Denon D7000 and the HE500. The source I used for this review was the Marantz SA8004 SACD/CD player. All interconnects were audio quest diamondback.  Also other amps compared were the Ray Samuels Audio Design HR-2, Pioneer SX 650 and the Decware tube combination of the Taboo and CSP2 preamp. Music used ranged from Classical, jazz, vocals and pop recordings and folk. The only music not used was metal and Electronic. Female vocalists recordings used were from Eva Cassidy, Holly Cole, Gillian Welch and others. Male vocalist include Harry Connick and Frank Sinatra

The first thing that strikes you about the V200 is the build quality and you can see where there were few compromises in the design philosophy. The amplifier is described as a hybrid op amp and discrete transistor design    Parts used are all of the highest quality. The power section of the amplifier has 16 total transistors all discrete. The amp will put out a maximum of 2.7W into 50 ohms. The volume control is an Alps 27 in steps. The design is a class AB design. The amplifier is a well built piece of kit and leaves little to be desired in build quality. You can understand why the retail price is 1K when you see the detail put into the build and the casework. The name Violectric is silk screened to the front panel and makes this an amplifier many would be proud to own.

The V200 was a new unit and I heard no changes either at the 100 hour mark or after. The V200 is a smooth performer. The sound is very easy sounding. The music just flows in a quiet jet black velvet background. There is no trace of any harshness or grain I could hear. The V200 is dead silent and would qualify as the quietest solid state amp I have yet experienced.  Signature of the amplifier is different than most other solid state amp designs that I have experienced. Cold and Sterile this amp is not. It also is not analytical or boring. When listening to music you forget there is a solid state or any amp in the performance chain. There are some adjustable gain switches in the rear of the amp that will allow you to adjust the gain of the amp to pretty much tailor the sound to any headphone in use. The T1 required 12DB or 4X gain to sound best while the other two headphones used unity gain stock no gain added was best and also has the smoothest  presentation on the V200. Tube like is not a term I like to use describing solid state amps it’s either a tube amp or it not. The v200 is a solid state amp that has a touch of warmth but not an overly warm or syrupy sound. Musicality and tonality are part of the strength of this product. 

The midrange is excellent on this amplifier.    Instrument tonality is accurate in this amplifier. The V200 is not what I would consider to be a balanced and neutral amp. Bass is very noticeable with the V200 so much so that it has to be considered a strong point but it also make the amp a little restricted as it is more extended than the treble and reduces the sound stage size in both width and depth.   The music is addictive enough to keep you involved.  You can hear clearly the guitar notes and piano keys being struck. Piano sounds very realistic and violins have that delicate sound and you can also tell differences from a viola. The midrange is very liquid. The vocal presentation is done in a very clear precise manner with good detail of both male and female vocalist. The sound is sibilant free with no favoring of either male or female vocalist. Instrument tone is nicely presented with musicality and details something many amps fail to deliver. This amp gets it. The midrange is very good. 

Treble is nice and easy to listen too. It is neither hard nor harsh and extension is good. The tube amps have more extended treble with a more natural sheen to it and the RSA HR-2 treble is also more extended that the V200.  The V200 is better than my Pioneer SX650 in treble extension and the clear winner here for sound stage is the RSA HR-2.  Drum cymbals are not as extended in comparison to the other amps used for this review. They do not have the crisp sheen also that I hear on the HR-2.  Treble while very good is not as extended as the other amps but still acceptable.

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The bass is very extended and deep. It is very fast with good texture and hits very hard. The V200 is black. It is the quietest amp I have ever experienced. Music just seems to come from everywhere when called for. I would hear passages with dead silence and then music just appears. The best part is listening to a classical orchestra is when the orchestra stops and then starts again. The dynamics of the V200 is excellent and competes with most any amps I have heard to date. It is exciting and enjoyable to listen too. I never experienced any fatigue and even after some 14 hr sessions I always looked forward to my next session. Acoustic bass and drums sound very extended. I can feel the drum pedal hitting drum skins.

Comparison to the Ray Samuels HR-2 is fair since the 875.00 price is close to the cost of the V200. The HR-2 has the wider and deeper soundstage with a more extended treble. The bass on the V200 is more extended and deeper but the RSA is no slouch in the area. The tonality of the amplifiers is different.   RSA is livelier and a touch brighter not as warm sounding but it also is neither cold nor sterile. Musicality with more soundstage is what the HR-2 does better than the V200. The V200 is more quiet but only slightly so. The Decware amps are not really a fair comparison. They are a step up in every direction from all my solid state amps. The V200 has less focus and  a more restricted sound stage and does not exhibit the transparency of the Decware  taboo or CSP2. The Decware combo with good tubes is a 2400.00 combination so it’s more than twice the price of the V200. The Pioneer SX650 is as good and in some ways better than the head amps that I have but many will not like the size and weight plus the maintenance that will be required as this receiver is 35 years old and starting to show signs that it will need to be rebuilt at some point. Most noticeable the SX650 has more power and a wider and deeper soundstage than either the V200 or HR-2. Most people will appreciate the size of the headphone amplifiers and more appreciate the idea of using less real estate.

 The V200 is a well built amp. The time spent listened to this amplifier has been very enjoyable. It is well made and manufactured to high standard and pleasure to listen to and have in my possession. Is it worth the asking price? If I had the money for the unit and I was looking for a primary headphone amp I could honestly say I could be happy with this amp. If you have limited funds and want an amp that will play well with any headphone the V200 could be your end all amplifier. I have enjoyed my time with it and it is one of the best solid state amps I have heard and it is the quietest.  If I did not own the HR-2 and the Decware amps I would have seriously considered the purchase of this amplifier. If you are looking for a great solid state amp that does most thing well the V200 can be your solution. The V200 will handle both high and low impedance headphones and do it musically. If musicality is what most important and you do not want a tube amp look no further than to call Robert and order the V200. This amp is highly recommended for its build quality and simplicity and most of all its majestic sound. Sadly this is on its way back to Robert and I will miss it but will fondly remember it. If you’re looking for a top tier product and want one headphone amp that will play well with all headphones you need to consider the V200. It definitely can play in the big leagues and is made by a seasoned veteran of high end design that can swing the bat with anyone. This amplifier will certainly please most and is an easy recommendation.    I want to thank Robert for the loan of the amplifier and Fried for being so available to answer my questions.   The V200 is highly recommended for anyone looking for a fantastic solid state design.

Disclaimer:

The above review are my impressions of this amplifier and in context with my headphones and other gear, It is one man’s impression and others may be either more impressed or disagree with my impressions. The best recommendation I can give is to always audition a product in your system to see if you like it. Hopefully it’s a starting point for some and gives some insight. Robert website is at aporoditecu29.com for additional information regarding this amplifier.