Well, after working my butt off the last couple of months on a non stop
project I finally have some well deserved time off from work !

So, do I take a short trip away interstate ? Go fishing/camping ? Nah !!!

I know ! Stay home and crank up my headphone amps and do a head to head
comparison and enjoy some soothing tunes at the same time !

So, who's in the ring ?

In the left corner we have the Meier Corda Cantate fresh from Germany with just
over 200 hrs burn in under it's solid state belt ->



In the opposing corner we have the Canadian sourced MAD Ear + Purist Custom ( same as Purist HD1 ) using red label RCA 12B4A's & Triple Mica Grey Plate GE 5751 with over 1000 hrs under it's vacuum tubed belt ->



With Sennheiser HD650 cabled with Revelation Audio Lab Cryo Silver as the adjudicator ->



Both will be fed source material from an Arcam FMJ CD36 compact disc player cabled to each amp with
van den Hul D102 Mk III interconnects and all will be running on Aupen CSA 2.5 power cables.



How will this showdown go is anyones guess ???????

Woots. I'll definitely be following this thread closely.

Keep us updated!!!

I've heard neither amp, but in the looks department, I'd say it was a tie. Beautiful pics.

My Guess : The MAD completely destroys the Cantate... for Grado's ! : P

Yes... this's what i'm waiting for
Keep us updated !!

this is going to be interesting.... i'm a fan of the meier amps so i'll be rooting for the cantate hehehe

LoweArt, I secure four (4) matched NOS GE 12B4A red labeled. I have heard these are excellent tubes but I have not tried them on the MAD yet.

In your opinion, how good are they? also how much does a matched pair go for? Thanks.

You need to throw a Grado of some kind into the mix IMHO amp impressions can be completely different depending on the cans used

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Hi Mrarroyo, I have a pair of these myself but must confess I haven't had them in my MAD for a while, I recall that I paid something like $20US for a pair of them about 2yrs ago off eBay. I used them for good while and loved them and IMHO they were miles better than the Sylvania & Rayethon ones that I had up to that time. I then got hold of some NOS RCA ones which although appeared to be identical in construction to these GE ones, but sounded tighter in the bass with most of the rock genre I played through the MAD so I left them in my EAR.

I just went through my "spares" box and I think I have way too many tubes in there !

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I agree wholeheartedly with your comments about different CANS with the amp and I will endeavour try out my Grado SR80 on these amps after I have put my Sennies through their paces !

I really dig the witch hat knob on the MAD! Excellent choice. It would look like run-o-the-mill offshore without that nod to old school. Nice!

I think both those amps represent classic offerings from their class- which is to say, they will do what each will do. My money would be on the MAD for musicality.

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Thanks for your most kind comments Bluetick regarding the volume knob.

When I was making the wood case for my MAD I didn't want the front facia to look "disjointed" with the wrong knobs and switches and went through different ones to get that "look". Something that I can't capture in photos for everyone in regards to the work I've done around that volume knob is that it's not only recessed into the front wood panel, but behind the knob itself is a piece of smoked acrylic hiding a 3mm blue LED. When the amp is powered up, the volume knob has a soft blue hue around it, but also the LED acts as the marker at the 12 o'clock position for volume. I decided against using a chrome toggle switch to keep the front facia as flush as possible.

OK, I can't say that I'm an "old hand" with CANs or Headphone Amps but I have been learning lots over the past 4yrs with this love interest and wouldn't be classed a noob either!

I come from purely a 2 channel Hi Fi listening background and will do my best in posting my thoughts of the MAD Ear + purist and the Meier Corda Cantate headphone amps respectively. I don't have a preference of solid state or valve, but have always tried to have a bit of each in my gear and what is important to me is that it sounds good to my ears !

For those newbies/noobs out there, I can't stress how important it is to "burn in" any new equipment you buy before making any critical assessment of your new toy. That said, for some equipment there still may be a "warm up" period for your kit before it starts getting into it's stride.

Meier Corda Cantate - This solid state amp sounds warm when new and straight out of the box although slightly "congested" ( didn't want to use the "V" word ) and does benefit by the suggested >150 hrs burn in time. After you've achieved the recommended "burn in", this amp is ready for critical listening after 3-5mins of being powered up.

MAD Ear + purist HD1 - This all tube amp sounds clinical/sterile when new and straight out of the box but its detail and drive is immediately apparent. It was initially suggested to me that the tubes needed >50 hrs burn in. After you've achieved the recommended "burn in", this amp is ready for critical listening after 30mins of being powered up but even sweeter after an hour has passed.

Caveats -

Please keep in mind that your listening experiences with the MAD Ear may differ to mine based on the tubes you are using. In this review I have used a pair of red label RCA 12B4A's ( originally NOS ) tubes and a triple grey plate GE 5751 ( also originally NOS ) tube.

Also of note is that I use the Aupen CSA 2.5 power cables on ALL my Hi Fi equipment and both these amps. It is the only power cable that I have tested to date that does make a difference that I CAN hear. It uses solid copper conductors that are coated in Ferrite powder before being wrapped by the insulator. If you think of electronic equipment that have the little ferrite magnet clamp on the end its power cable to try and reduce RFI/EMI, what this cable has effectively had done is apply this same principle on the entire length of the cable with the ferrite powder. The benefits that I have noticed using this cable is a quieter background and in some cases, more focussed/articulate bass notes.

Ok, enough about the contenders, I'm heading off to hide in my sound room for a few hours.

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Agreed! Those are two GREAT looking amps. I'll be rooting for the MAD. Haven't used the GEs but I've tried a sovtek, couple of RCAs (including Command) and Sylvanias, and found the Sylvania 3M BP to be my favorite so far. Of course, this is with Grados, so YRMV.

Sounds like a fun weekend. Can't wait to hear your results. Enjoy!

Ok boys and girls my 4 hour listening session with the MAD & Meier amp is over.

Firstly, let me say that I’m very impressed with the sonic character/virtues of The Meier Cantate and it’s the first solid state headphone amp I’m happy to own that is non fatiguing, has a great headstage and delivers very well on both the micro as well as macro dynamics of most recordings that are played through it. Other solid state headphone amps I have owned/demo’d include the Stello HP 100 and the Original MASTER as well as the headphone sockets of NAD 3020i and Denon PMA 1500 integrated amplifiers. This was originally meant to be a review of the Meier Cantate but several head-fi'ers had written to me asking if it was possible to compare it with the MAD Ear+purist HD1.

I have chosen to use a 5751 tube in my MAD amp for this comparison with the Meier as it has lower gain than the 12AX7 tube, this means that the volume on both amps are more closely matched. That said, the MAD’s volume dial was at 5 where as the relative position on the Meier to achieve the same volume would be the equivalent of a 6 on the same dial. Also of note is that at no stage of the listening sessions did I have the Cantate's crossfeed switched on. All listening was done through a Sennheiser HD650 cabled with Revelation Audio Lab Cryo Silver cable with the source CD player being an Arcam FMJ CD36.


I have used the following songs/tracks to evaluate both amps –

( JAZZ Vocal ) Diana Krall – Popsicle Toes
Notes: The MAD Ear is the clear winner when playing this track with it’s more than seductive midband giving you the impression that Diana is singing just for you and no one else while with the Cantate she is singing to a crowd in a room. The MAD also has a better sense of timing and ability in being able to start and stop virtually on a dime that makes Diana’s phrasing even more sexy and lush when compared to how the Meier Cantate presents this piece. The difference is that the sense/impression of being there with Cantate is not the same approach the Ear takes.

( Modern Electronic ) M People – Moving On Up
Notes: On 1st listen to this track, both amps appeared to be very close. It was only after a second listen to this track that I noticed that some of the electronically produced bass notes on this track was a little muffled coming through on the Cantate but not so on the MAD Ear. Upon a 3rd listen, it became apparent to me that the Cantate tended to roll off the notes on either frequency extremes earlier than that of the MAD Ear.

( BLUES ) Blues Company – Cold Rain
Notes: Both amps played this track extremely well and once again the MAD Ear not only showed its more than nimble ability to be articulate and give soul to the guitar being played, but also quite clearly showed how many plucked notes would hang in the air much longer than what the Cantate could achieve. That said the Cantate was certainly no slouch either and didn’t show any sign of congestion when it came to some of the heavier bass notes in this piece that normally would have choked many other amps.

( ROCK ) John Cougar Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A
Notes: Fast driving rock track that only accentuated the MAD’s sense of timing and ability to start and stop with no lag. This was most noticeable in not only the guitar playing, but also in the drums and kick drums. The Cantate really excelled at playing this track and is only “showed up” because I had the MAD Ear to compare it with.

( JAZZ Instrumental ) Candy Dulfer with Dave Stewart – Lily Was Here
Notes: Great number only let down by average recording quality, this was the only track where I couldn’t hear any difference between the MAD Ear and Meier Cantate regardless how many times I went back to replay the track.

( POP Vocal ) Madonna – Vogue
Notes: The Meier Cantate showed off it’s headstage here when it gave the impression that some of the echo effects done in this track where Madonna sings and repeats the word “vogue” sounded like it was coming from behind my head as well ! I had to do a double take as the MAD Ear has never done that before. It only loses out to the MAD Ear in that it doesn’t sustain the reverb as long and the leading edge notes decay much quicker.

( CLASSICAL ) The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Strauss’ Waltz on the Beautiful Blue Danube & Tritsch-Tratsch Polka
Notes: In some sections of the Blue Danube, the bass heavy instruments reduced the presence of the woodwind instruments when heard through the Cantate, the Ear didn’t have a problem in respect to this. The Cantate excelled with the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka which demonstrated that it is well and truly able to keep up with sudden variances in speed, pace and pitch. I wasn’t able to discern any differences when it was the MAD Ear’s turn in playing this Polka.

( FOLK ROCK ) Chris Isaak – Blue Hotel
Notes: The Cantate plays this tune with a great deal of heart and is only showed up when put up against the MAD Ear in the quick guitar riff portion of this song. As mentioned previously, the Cantate is certainly no slouch and is only showed up when compared with the MAD Ear playing the same tune next to it.

CRUNCH TIME !

Based upon the above notes that I wrote whilst listening to both the MAD Ear+Purist HD1 and the Meier Corda Cantate, I will summarize my impressions by saying the following -

The Meier Corda Cantate is a very well designed and constructed headphone amplifier that exhibits none of the shrill/sibilant/edginess that some poorer or lesser designed solid state amplifiers are known for. It has a touch of warmth that is more apparent upon initial listening when the amp is new and hasn’t had the required burn in time on it as yet. The warmth is still present even after the required burn in period but as the amp has had the required hours under it’s belt the sound has now opened up a great deal more that its warmer characteristic is no longer such a dominant feature.

Some may hesitate on deciding to “pull the trigger” on the Cantate and the other models based on reading how they are warmer sounding, but I can confirm that it doesn’t do it to the severe detriment of drive, pace or timing. Only when in direct comparison like I did today with the MAD Ear + purist HD1 do you notice that the Meier Cantate appears to roll off at either end of the frequency extremes earlier than that of the Ear. If it wasn’t for that, I think many a listener wouldn’t pick it with the majority of music they would listen to when connected to the Cantate. The MAD Ear+purist HD1 is also more articulate and faster to respond in starting/stopping with musical notes which in certain circumstances gives the feeling the Ear is more up to the pace and more rhythmic than the Cantate. In some situations the Cantate had more headstage which in turn gave it a more holographic sound reproduction than the Ear but not by a big margin at that.

This review isn’t about bashing one with the other one and I’m actually glad that the actual results from my listening session today didn’t show a large gap between the two amps. In summing up, the Meier Cantate ( as this was my original intension until I received requests from fellow head-fi’ers to compare the Cantate with the MAD Ear ) amp was beaten by the MAD Ear+purist HD1 but by a noticeable but not wide margin.

I would like to say that –

If you want to have a well made solid state headphone amp that is non fatiguing ( even with cross-feed switched off ) and has great detail, headstage and smooth mid-band, just buy the Meier Cantate !

If you want some of the benefits of a good tube amp but don’t want/like tubes, buy the Meier Cantate !

If you want a headphone amp that is the next step up from the Meier Cantate, I would suggest you consider the MAD Ear+purist HD1 or give the Meier Opera a listen ( I haven’t yet ) to hear the improvement gap over the Cantate.

I would like to thank Dr Jan Meier for creating such a good sounding headphone amp in the Cantate and I’m very pleased with my decision to purchase this amp despite not having listened to any Meier amps prior to this purchase.