Portaphiles get no love? - Page 3

A bit more detail on my views of the Portaphile V2^2 Maxxed w/ LT1210 and Black Gates can be found at: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221951

Vorlon1 still has his which should be well over 700 hours by now. I will re-visit the amp and see what happens. BTW I plan on revisiting the Move as well.

I've been hearing a few more portables lately -- though there are still and always will be more I haven't heard -- and I still find my Portaphile Maxxed to be the best in many respects.

Of course this is all personal and subjective, and there are tradoffs with each of the best amps -- and each has something different to offer for different tastes.

I'm just too tired at this hour to post complete details, but I will at a future date.

We all have different "ears to hear", but I'm still shocked at Skylab's description, which sounded like a completely different amp from mine. Of course I respect his opinions and personal preferences -- it just that I can't grasp how his amp could have sounded as he wrote. He described a very mediocre amp/SQ -- which mine certainly is not.

BTW Miguel -- is there still hope of my getting the SuperMicro IV to hear (after the chain of auditioners)? Am I still "on the list"? Of course I also have to hear the Xin Reference at some point soon, and hope to hear Justin's Pico at the November NYC meet!

I did finally get to hear a current SuperMacro IV LE, and gave it between 2-3 weeks of additional steady play ("burn in") beyond what it already had, considering its 16,000uf cap -- but the sound didn't come close to my Portaphile Maxxed, Hornet or even Tomahawk. HOWEVER -- it had stock AD8656 opamps. Unfortunately I don't have any opamps here so I couldn't roll in some better choices. Pity.

So -- for remarkably layered imaging, lucidity through the extended highs, excellent weight&body to instruments, most complete/complex waveforms for the most complete notes (drums sound most like real drums, as do cymbals, wood-bodied instruments, stringed instruments, etc., etc.) -- IMO my Portaphile still leads. Its one "shortcoming" is its lack of warm and "body" to vocal throat and chest resonances, though that midrange warmth would probably obscure the clarity and inner detail that it excels at.

And again, this is all within the paradigm of my highly personal, subjective and very opinionated POV.

Oh -- BTW -- I still love my Hornet and Tomahawk. The Hornet for its punch, warmth, and more flowing musicality. The Tomahawk for its wide, smooth, refined and very easy-listening sound and of course its supreme portability, which is why it's the one I use portably every day as well and on my work desktop and late-nightable, alternating with Hornet and Portaphile (I neeeeed variety!).

END OF BLAB.

Romanee had my Supermacro IV LE, the one referred to in his post and a few things need explaining: (1) he correctly states that I only had about 250 hrs on it and he so kindly did additional burn-in hours, but (2) more importantly, it did NOT have the 4/11 or later upgrades that are offered by Dr. Xin. That said, however, both Romanee and I have Portaphiles and I still prefer it over the Supermacro. The question now is: do I send the Supermacro back for the interminable wait to have it upgraded and see if it's any better or (2) sell the thing and upgrade to something else??? Dunno

From our local (posted) word-of-mouth -- Xin Reference and Justin's (Headamp) Pico are two exciting prospects. Of course, if you have the scratch, you could order the Supermacro upgrades and if it's still not great sell it then -- and meanwhile buy one or both of the XinRef & Pico … and of course you could always sell those as well.

(What the heck am I doing awake already after being up so late! Ouch. Gooood-nite.)

Romanee - please be aware that it would NOT cost tnmike1 anything for the upgrades. Dr. Xin does them gratis - which is his continuing policy.

Then he should definitely get them done (…get 'er done!).

Howyadoin' Bob? What floats yer boat these days? Anything exciting? No need to answer … I'm just in a chatty mood after some rush jobs at work (!).

Yes Romanee! As far as the Supermacro LE, well I had one and although mine was from before the 4/11 and I tried multiple op-amps it did not do it for me so I sold it.

OK you Porta owners: what switching combinations are you using??? I've tried

1) all switches "on"--real battery killer
2) Bias switching "off" and bandwidth "on"
3) Bias switching "on" and bandwidth "off"
4) all switches "off"--worst sonic performance but better battery life

So here's the question: forget battery life, which combinations doyou think work the best??? To date, I prefer the bandwidth "on" and the biasing "off"

When I had mine all switches were on except Gain, which I kept on low.

ALL OPTIONS ON.

My (older) iPower 500mAh Li-Po batteries last pretty much the full work day now, since I turn it off when not in use (I actually do a lot of high-pressure work and running about at work).

iPower brand WARNING!!!!! It appears, based on experiences that friends have written to me about, that the newer (current) iPower Li-Po 9V batteries are NOT GOOD. From personal complaints related to me, these new ones sound as horribly defective as the original 400mAh Li-Po 9V rechargeables which were pretty much all defective (I returned all that I had purchased way back then) and Thomas Batteries finally withdrew them, after many complaints -- and after which iPower came out with the successful original 500mAh batteries, which I have 6 of and am still very happy with, though they won't last forever.

I don't know why Thomas Batteries (and of course the manufacturer) are still selling these lemons?! I shouldn't assume that the current ones are all bad, and I would like to hear reports from either side.

I was going to post a warning thread, but I don't own the current ones and since I cannot speak from experience I won't do so. All disgruntled owners of the current failed-design iPower Li-Po 9Vs should definitely post in a CAVEAT EMPTOR thread in the accessories forum.

Portaphile X3

Hi,

I bought the Portaphile X3 as my first portable amp and have been very pleased with it's performance and customer service.
I had one issue with the headphone jack and it was taken care of very quickly.
I am interested in the development of the Shohin.

And I have all the switches set on to maximize the sound. I run it off of rechargeables or the walwart. I now have a Tomahawk to travel with, so this stays home mainly.