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Head-Fest 2007 Panel Discussion Thread: Questions Wanted! - Page 2

post #16 of 38
3/25/07 at 11:06pm
Since vinyl has the propensity to go from 10htz to 60Khtz compared to redbook CD (20-20K), would an amp specifically designed for turntables and their phonostages benefit from a different topology?
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post #17 of 38
3/27/07 at 7:06pm

Wes Phillips Returns!



I'm not going to disclose exactly what tactics we used to convince him to do it, but Wes Phillips of Stereophile will be attending Head-Fest and covering the meet for Stereophile. He also will be returning as the moderator of the panel discussion, and surely will do another great job in that role. Thanks Wes!

Now, let's get some more topics for the panel members so that The Monkey can put together some good material for Wes to use!
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post #18 of 38
4/4/07 at 2:53pm
Portable headphone amps, although popular in our community, seem to still be a niche market. What are your plans to continue to design and market for an industry whose portable sources are getting smaller and smaller (at least in physical size) without compromising on sound quality, which is why people would want to buy an external amp in the first place?

And do you feel there will ever be a response from the bigger manufacturers like Apple to respond in kind with their own external portable headphone amp?
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post #19 of 38
4/4/07 at 8:19pm

Break in

What do you feel "breaks in" as an amp sounds better to a listener over time, the amp or the listener's brain? If the amp, what exactly changes during the break in period? How long does break in take in your opinion.
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post #20 of 38
4/11/07 at 2:16am
Thread Starter 
Pairing interconnects with your amps? Hocus Pocus? Discuss.
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post #21 of 38
4/11/07 at 6:22pm
- How often do you listen to music to relax? And do you use one of your own amps, or one of someone else's design?
- Do you have reference interconnects, and if so, what are they? Do you take into account the differences between copper and silver during amp design?
- Have you ever built an amp in advance to "stock up" for future orders or do you usually wait for an order to come in and then start building?

Trying to think of a question that incorporates the regular attendance of HeadRoom/RSA/Singlepower at meets but I can't think of one, maybe someone else can?
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post #22 of 38
4/11/07 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asr View Post
Trying to think of a question that incorporates the regular attendance of HeadRoom/RSA/Singlepower at meets but I can't think of one, maybe someone else can?
How about:

For those on the panel who have attended a number of Head-Fi meets around the country, how has your attendance and discussions with Head-fiers influenced your designs and/or your choices of what to design (SS vs. tube, balanced v. single-ended, home vs. portable, etc.)?
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post #23 of 38
4/11/07 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Voltron View Post
How about:

For those on the panel who have attended a number of Head-Fi meets around the country, how has your attendance and discussions with Head-fiers influenced your designs and/or your choices of what to design (SS vs. tube, balanced v. single-ended, home vs. portable, etc.)?
How about this one. Of all the meets you attend, isn't it true that the meets in Florida are the best?
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post #24 of 38
4/11/07 at 8:49pm
But Florida is so humid

Question:
As those who design amps specifically for headphones... where do they see the headphone market going? Do they anticipate new flagship level offerings to continue to be pushed out over the coming years? Or more of a gravitation towards creating headphones at the HD650/K701/RS-1 price point?

Also I know development costs can be higher than really affordable for smaller companies, but have they ever had an urge to design their own headphones whether dynamic or electrostatic?
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post #25 of 38
4/12/07 at 12:09am

We've been blogged!

Wes Phillips posted up a meet announcement with special mention of the panel discussion in his BLOG on Stereophile.com. Thanks Wes!
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post #26 of 38
4/12/07 at 8:40am
here is one based partly on the Meier/headphonia issue raging in the amp forum.
Given the relatively limited optimal circuits out there have you ever seen an amp and later though it was too close for comfort to one of your designs?

Most on the panel design amps in a wide price range how much difference is there as you step up in price and are we paying for the last 5%. This is in response to Ray's famous switch box between his portables and the home amps and the seeming endless upgrades you can get through other manufactures.
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post #27 of 38
4/12/07 at 9:28am
For all:

Can you take us through the design process of your amps from conception to production? As part of the response, it would be interesting to know the differences in the design process for an amp that uses a circuit board as compared to those that are p2p wired.

Does it take more time to get an amp into production that is based upon a circuit board?

Does p2p wired designs allow for more flexibility in design? Can you get an amp to market faster using a p2p wired design?
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post #28 of 38
4/12/07 at 3:36pm
As an aside to tyrion's above question I would be curious to know if when starting out to design an amplifier do you (the designers) first try to pick a price point that you are trying to hit or simply try to design the best circuit for a given purpose and then refine the component make-up to get as close to a price point as you can?

Also, what do you think the next big development in headphone amplifier design will be? We're already seeing a number of integrated solutions (DAC + Amp, Speaker+Headphone amps, etc.) so do you see a continued trend towards unified solutions or will separate components still ultimately be the rule?
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post #29 of 38
4/15/07 at 12:17pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies so far, everyone. I will be sending a summary of the questions to Wes Phillips this evening, so please chime in now. We can always supplement what I send to him, but the more he gets in advance, the better. Thanks!
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post #30 of 38
4/15/07 at 1:30pm
What percentage of the cost of your amps is attributed to the enclosure/cosmetics?
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