Portaphiles get no love? - Page 5

LDMES: wondering the same thing myself, but have the Supermacro IV LE--modified with different opamps-- and a Reference is on the way. Will compare the three, and get rid of one. IF the reviews of the Xin products are like everyone sez, the Portaphile goes; if not, the Xin products go.

Bigpoppa: did that with several amps--Supermacro III v.6. went to middle son and total airhead went to older son. Now entering my "greedy" stage where I want the money myself--besides, if I buy/sell properly total cash outlay isn't as great

Just gave my daughter my iRiver PCDP and a pair of Klipsch speakers. She's 2 years old.

You say in your face and laid back. The TH is pretty in your face. Are you saying it's more laid back in comparison to the Portaphile?

I've always wanted to give the Portaphile a listen, but whenever I had funds, something else always came up, or there were never any Portaphiles available. Now that I have no money, there are TWO in the FS forum, and tnmike1 is about to sell his....wtf. At this rate, I'll never get to hear one, lol.

I want to listen to one so bad, but the opportunity never is there...

Save your money and time for the upcoming Shohin instead. I wonder if Cesar will add a DAC to it now?

Yeahm, I was GOING to sell mine then had second and third thoughts. Have a SM IV LE still at Xin land getting upgrades and heaven only knows when I get that back, plus the more I listen tothe Portaphile with all switches "on" love itmore and more. So we'll see if I sell it or not.

I pretty much say that about anyphiles! My family is direct recipients of all my excess audio gears and they love it when I give them things but don't have a clue to what they are getting:-0

I have three sons and they all have better than average and far beyond mass market black box POS's:-0

I have # 51 coming up next Sunday and have asked once again for just funds for more audio gear WHAT!!!!

If I convert just one I've been an accomplished parent:-0 LOL

I'll tell you one thing I've converted a whole lot more in portable than home but then again that probably has more to do with cost ratio more than anything else.

Time for this thread to wake up! lol

I have 2 Portaphiles now.
A V2 silver 2005 one with no switches, but i love it because the battery life is so much better than the one with switches maxxed, also theres plenty of room to fit any 9v battery easily, and the capacitors make a little room inside because of the way theyre positioned and they guard the other componants from being hit by the battery.

I also have a black V2^2 maxxed, and the battery life is about 2 1/2 hours all switches maxxed,and i cant fit my Radioshack 150mah nmhd battery in well. It goes it, but barely,and the wire is a pain to position, so it takes me a long time to change the battery every 2 1/2 hours and its a pita! But it sounds awesome though.....but im not really sure it sounds any better than my V2 without the switches, so as it stands, my V2 is now my favorite amp out of what i own in my profile. If i can get another at the same price i paid,i would for sure.

Sometimes i like different amp combos on different headphones though....but i love my V2 cuz of its simplicity and i got days out of a regular Heavy Duty Sunbeam battery from the dollar store!!!
If i put the same battery in my V2^2 Maxxed,it whistles loud and is unuseable!
But i love both and will prolly never sell them.
Knowing me,i may never sell any of the amps i own. I like all of them....lol.
Anyone have more info on the two vintages i have and the differences?

Also the V2 can use a higher voltage Elpac supply than the V2^2 Maxxed....i have a different supply for each.
I find system matching makes a really big difference also though.
On my Grado SR80 on my pc with a Chaintech AV710 Soundcard.....i cant decide if the Portaphiles sound better or my Shellbrook MaxiMoy, using power supplies to power them. Theyre different, but i dont know about better in this case. But on my Zune with IGrado....the Portphiles win.

First, I'll address your battery issue. Go to Thomas distributing and get the 9.6v PowerX--if I have the name wrong, it's a white battery with black and blue lettering. Should be on the first page of the 9v NiMH page. Fits very well with room to spare in my Portaphile PLUS lasts about 10 hrs.

Second--my Portaphile just came back from Cesar with a switch problem and I asked--because somewhere someone else asked--if I REALLY needed all switches "on" for maximum sonic quality. asked this because I'm running a 5.5g Imod with ALO cryo cables so wanted best sound possible out of the amp. He said if I had the latest version--which I do--then the "wide bandwidth" option could be switched to "off" and that the wide bandwidth option was better used in the older maxxed Portaphiles. So if you have a recent, or latest, version, would suggest you switch it to "off" and will get better battery life.

If the battery is whistling, it means it's about dead, so probably wold not be worth putting it in the Portaphile.

But yeah, you me and Romanee--and I suppose some others--praise the quality of this little amp. Too bad, asyou say, battery life is so low, but Cesar helped in his suggestions on how to stretch it a bit.

O forgot to mention: those batteries are 300 mah and 275 mah so you should be getting longer life between charges than the one you're using

This is an understated little amp right here. It gets shadowed by the bigger names, but I think out of the portables, this is a pretty safe bet.

My fully burned-in V2^2 maxxed with all switches "On", powered by a 15V wall-wart, attached to my vintage Sony D-335 via a Zynsonix cable powers my 2005 DT-880's with ease and sounds so good I don't miss my old rig - consisting of a Millet Hybrid + Rotel CD player. Take that, you $500 portable amps!