Perreaux SXH-1 Headphone Amp at AA - Page 9

dd3mon, Willian have owned both, if you read carefully he stated:

"...But after hearing it, I'd have to say that this is THE amp to have in it's price range, and probably a little over it's price range as well..." (it costs 349.00 same as MGHead)

And later on:

"...I would say this one's a winner. For the money, it can not be beat. And I know I definitely preferred this to the Gilmore I owned, or heard before..."

Hope he was saying the truth, I just placed an order for it...LOL...nah..even when sometimes I do not share an opinion with him, I trust him, he has owned a lot of good amps, and have lsitened a lot of good cans, which I do not, so let's try.....

We'll, let me say this. I would rate it on par with the MG Head as far as sound, but the difference to someone would be whether they prefered the tube sound or not.

Having said that, I think the Perreaux is a better buy. Very close to a Tube sound (for me) as far as smoothness, plus you don't have the maintenance issues of the tubes in general, (whether this is an issue for anyone is up to them). Solid state wise it's IMO the best amp again for the money. And I do prefer this sound to that of the Gilmore, as I found the Gilmore to be somewhat harsh with some of the phones I used it with.

If you like tubes though, this is not a substitute.

Plus the Perreaux handles high impedence phones as well as low impedence phones. It'd probably do a better job overall with the low impedence cans (something the Head does not), as I went to 3 o'clock on the volume to sufficiently power the 880's. I can't imagine it could handle the 600 ohm models of Beyer's well.

It's a great amp with the 3000's though, IMO. It doesn't exhibit any of that harshness I've experienced with the 3000's on other numerous setups I've tried them with. Plus it's adds a touch of lushness and depth to the music.

William how about comparing it with the Cordas you have heard? I know that Prehead is not on the same price range, but I can't afford it anyway, so......just to know.....

Other than the Prehead, the only other Corda amp I've heard is the HA-2. Compared to that I prefer the signature of the Corda. It's has more power (and because of that might just have a touch more clarity), and adds a certain "shine" to the highs that I really really like.

But again, that's a $600 amp.

And of course it doesn't touch the Prehead.

I haven't heard the HA-1 or the HA-1 MKII

Sov, I think you'll be really pleased with the Perreaux.

Well two thumbs up for the little perreaux...it seems to be a winner (it doesn't matter if I like it or not, if everybody else does) and dirty cheap...

Well in fact I'm very pleased with the highs I got from mine here, with no amp, so I do not think that the highs should be an issue, I'm more worried about the bass extension and the impact, for rock is a most, than the highs itself...it seems than "maybe" my system is a little bright

Well, I wanted to touch on this in my previous post but didn't want to get too ahead of myself given it's still breaking in. That said I think I'd have to say I am even a hair more enthusiastic than even Bill is about this amp. But he has a lot more experience than I do. Though I can't be completely clear about how exactly the SXH-1 and Emmeline compare I know I can conclude that I wasn't getting anymore music then with with the Emmeline than I am now with the Perreuax. The Perreuax amp is very, very good. In regard to the Gilmore V2 it's clear and unquestionable the performance of the Perreaux is simply superior, at least in my experience anyway. Compared to the MG Head I'd say with the Perreaux you get more air, unquestionably better definition overall, more speed and deeper bass. As Bill has eluded to, the Perreuax sounds rich and full with a smooth treble and it very much competes with the MG Head in these areas (the MG Head's strengths) but with better definition and focus.

As to power I'm not seeing any lack of power with the HD600's at all. I don't know if maybe the voltage output of my source and the source Bill and John used is a factor here but in my case I haven't been able to get much past 12 o'clock on the dial before it's just way too loud. There are a couple recordings, Rebecca Pidgeon I remember in particular, where I did have to go past 12 o'clock. What's working well for me personally is the very neutral character with the controlled and smooth upper mids and treble. Any more extra energy up there and could throw it over the top for me. The balance is working out well for me. I usually prefer a slightly richer, sweeter sound. I should note too that I am using a really good (Alan Maher recipe) DIY power cord on the SXH-1 right now, which goes into a Monster HTS-2000 which is plugged into an ACME silver plated AC receptacle. This is unquestionably elevating the performance as well.

I'm also in the process of evaluating the little Grado RA-1 amp right now too and damn if this isn't a great amp as well!!! I can see why people say it synergizes well with Grado's, the SR-225's sound fantastic. But surprisingly the HD600 pairs extremely well with the RA-1 as well! It sounds REALLY good. Not quite the depth in bass, resolution or dynamics of the Perreaux but it's completely jet black background is something special. The RA-1 is surprisingly fast and full sounding. Very musical amp.

I've been advocating the HD-600/RA-1 combo for years now. I have no idea why, but that particular combo comes together very well indeed. When I did a direct comparison, I had a slight preference for the HD-600 over the RS-1 using the Grado amp.

Well according to specs and IIRC the HD600 was designed to be feed by a 0 ohms jack, that means low impedance....so for me, at least, is not a surprise that it will perform with low impedance amps, if they have also some juice to give....

It's been interesting hearing the views on the new Perreaux Amp. Seems like a good deal!

Would you guys(New SXH1 Owners) say that this amp needs quite a few hours of break in before it actually sounds good and opens up? In one post someone said it dosen't have a lot of power, but in another post someone said it can drive both low and high impedance phones very well.

Could it be the that the discrete design(Transistors) need to break in, opposed to an Op-Amp design?

It's very surprising. I was expecting there to be some good things but nothing near this good. I am using the Plainviews by the way. I would concur that I too prefer the HD600 to the SR-225's with the RA-1. Surprisingly impactful bass, fullness, very good dynamics and very quiet. One could live with this combo for a long time. Just not any of us around here.

Honestly I think it sounded good from the start. The transparency was actually quite good to my ears early on, though my amp of late has been the MG Head. The biggest changes I have noticed in the SXH-1 is a refinement (smoother, richer, relaxed, effortless) overall as the time goes by with even more developing transparency.

As to power I'm finding it has oodles of power. It's every bit as powerful as any amp I have owned. It drives both my HD600 and Grado's with ease.

If there is any sort of message of there being lack of power coming out of the impressions from myself or Bill/John I'd be left confused. Again, lack of power never entered my mind over here anyway. There is one thing I like about the power that may be what Bill had eluded to earlier about volume. What I have noticed and really like is the volume seems to allow for fine control of level, where it seems you hit loud volumes very gradually, very cleanly, instead with some amps you hit LOUD volumes with a hairs turn of the dial. And again as to break in I thought the amp sounded darn good off the bat. It is sounding better with break in but most amps do with break in.

I hear what you are saying about the "Loudness". It actually "is" better when an amp hits those higher levels gradually.

I think that is what was referred to and meant in the post about the Perreaux's Power. Loud enough, but not too loud, like you said.