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REVIEW: Purity Audio K.I.C.A.S. Caliente home headphone amp - updated with comments on regular KICAS - Page 2

post #16 of 379
5/30/08 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon L View Post
Internal Pics, puleezee.

"Power Supply: class 2 - unregulated, 12VDC, 0.6 to 1.0 A input."

I'll bet a better PS will transform that amp. 12VDC battery or linear PS are a plenty out there..
I also would like to hear how this works with a battery power supply. Maybe Purity could offer one.
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post #17 of 379
5/30/08 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nirmalanow View Post
I also would like to hear how this works with a battery power supply. Maybe Purity could offer one.
I also wonder how difficult it would be to have a switch to turn on/off the "Caliente" function, as it seems to be a bass boost function?
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post #18 of 379
5/30/08 at 8:37pm
So what is the current draw of the amp? This would be a good indication if a battery source would be reasonable. I may have missed this but what are the measurements of the amp.?
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post #19 of 379
5/30/08 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamato8 View Post
I may have missed this but what are the measurements of the amp.?
Dimensions: 17cm (6.5") wide x 16.5cm (6.25") deep x 5cm (2") high
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post #20 of 379
5/30/08 at 9:37pm
deleted to beat the mods to it - sorry mods, I won't post in this thread any longer...
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post #21 of 379
5/30/08 at 9:45pm
I don't think that SLA's are the best way to go. I have used them a lot and find that they are only suitable in a few areas of audio, imo. I used a good one for a constant current source on a preamp then as a bias supply and didn't like the results. I find other batteries work batteries sound better. It can be helped with good caps after the battery though. It would be interesting to have a fully discrete portable but then there are excellent portables now that aren't.
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post #22 of 379
5/30/08 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by omendelovitz View Post
We've flirted with a portable design roughly the size of a PINT amp with good success (only trade off is soundstage and battery life); we're also trying to make a portable design that would fit the standard Hammond case used by so many portable amp makers (Practical Devices, Xin, et. al), but are hampered by the immense cost of such a unit (selling price of $400-$500 w/o a DAC).
If it sounds as good as a LISA or an iQube or even better, I don't see why people wouldn't buy it for that price within that price range, especially with the size, as you said, being pint. But yeah, this is just my own personal opinion.
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post #23 of 379
5/31/08 at 12:04am
Skylab,...How does it sound compared to the Lisa?
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post #24 of 379
5/31/08 at 1:00am
Hi Skylab, do you have any pics of the guts ? I'd like to know if its 2-channels or 3-channels active ground design.
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post #25 of 379
5/31/08 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
Here are some pics of the guts. This is not an easy amp to take apart, at least for me...





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post #26 of 379
6/4/08 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drag0n View Post
Skylab,...How does it sound compared to the Lisa?
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post #27 of 379
6/4/08 at 1:46pm
Thread Starter 
I haven't had the Lisa for a while, so a comparison is tough. From memory, the Caliente would get the nod for overall smoothness, and for bass authority and definition, as well as for having a slightly more balanced treble. But again, I am unable to directly compare them.
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post #28 of 379
6/4/08 at 2:12pm

A Question To The Mods

NM - please feel free to delete this post.
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post #29 of 379
6/4/08 at 3:43pm
I found it very useful to have available in this thread the current draw information on the K.I.C.A.S. Caliente. I emailed omendelovitz and asked him for it. This is his reply to my question:

"Anyway, the minimum current draw is 0.4A on the amp; the average draw runs up to 0.6A. She is a low power system, (about 6W power draw, on avg). I keep my unit on constantly to keep her fresh - saves me from waiting for the capacitors to warm up."
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post #30 of 379
6/4/08 at 5:41pm
I've never seen the insides of an all-discrete amp before. What are those four white, rectangular box-shaped structures? Also, since it appears that the electronic components on the PCB are all in symmetrically-placed, mirror-image pairs, I take it that this is a two-channel design?
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