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Looking for $$$ balanced amp for HD800s - Page 2

post #16 of 46
7/28/09 at 1:25am
I have it in mind to build a single-ended EHHA, then expand it to balanced to see how it performs.
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post #17 of 46
7/28/09 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
This is great discussion guys. The Balancing Act is very tempting with its lower price point if it can indeed hang with the best. However, I am worried about tube supply for the tubes it uses. Should this be a concern as this amp would be a long-term investment?
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post #18 of 46
7/28/09 at 2:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianS View Post
This is great discussion guys. The Balancing Act is very tempting with its lower price point if it can indeed hang with the best. However, I am worried about tube supply for the tubes it uses. Should this be a concern as this amp would be a long-term investment?
How many lifetimes worth of tubes do you need? :O
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post #19 of 46
7/28/09 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
Not that many haha
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post #20 of 46
7/28/09 at 3:14am
I have the Zana Duex and it works great, Craigs Balancing act may be the way to go. The B52 sounded very good to me at Canjam, the 307a matched very badly with the 800s from my there listening though. I wouldn't even consider it for the 800s, may be good with other phones though.
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post #21 of 46
7/28/09 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
I'm strongly considering the BA with the silver transformers and attenuator.
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post #22 of 46
7/28/09 at 6:35am
I will soon be able to speak about balanced HD800's via the TTVJ 307A. I will be getting them recabled (brand and type to be revealed later) and hopefully in a few weeks I'll have an informed opinion based on long-term listening in a controlled environment.

And as for the match of the 307A to the HD800's (single-ended), I think it is extremely good. This is a headphone amplifier that seems to take on all comers. I have not heard one headphone on this amp that I did not come away impressed with, the HD800's included. I presume via the balanced outputs the HD800's will be even better.
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post #23 of 46
7/28/09 at 11:00am
I don't get all the TTVJ 307A hate in here. I thought the balanced HD800s sounded great from this amp at Canjam. I didn't get a chance to exhaustively run through my music, but I liked it just fine. And how can people make such definitive statements about amps when the sources were different? Anyways, I still think that amp is great; it may be more expensive than the Balancing Act, but I think it makes up for it in impedance settings (versatility)... and ugliness. =)
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post #24 of 46
7/28/09 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by atothex View Post
I don't get all the TTVJ 307A hate in here.
I wouldn't sweat it, it's one guy, who heard it once in loud meet conditions. There are several of us who've spent quiet listening time with the 307A and have better things to say about it.

I only heard it briefly in Todd's room at CanJam so my impressions of it with the 800s are pretty limited. I'll be very interested in what 4N6 has to say about it going forward.
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post #25 of 46
7/28/09 at 12:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by n_maher View Post
I wouldn't sweat it, it's one guy, who heard it once in loud meet conditions.
Yeah, I am a fairly "mature" audiophile and have been to a number of audio trade shows. I have learned from experience that the last place to make definitive opinions on any audio product is at a show, especially really large shows such as CES, Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, or even a CanJam. Poor acoustics, loud environments, poor power supply to equipment, no knowledge of how the sum of the parts (components/cables/speakers or headphones) affect the overall sound, tiredness/fatigue on my part when going from room to room...just a myriad of complicating factors that can serve to unfairly alter my perception of any given component.
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post #26 of 46
7/28/09 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 
I look forward to your impressions 4N6.

I wonder which tube would be best if I went the Balancing Act route. Most preferring 307a that have heard it?
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post #27 of 46
7/28/09 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianS View Post
I look forward to your impressions 4N6.

I wonder which tube would be best if I went the Balancing Act route. Most preferring 307a that have heard it?
I'm not positive which tubes he was using at CanJam, but whatever it was I enjoyed it. I think most of the buyers are going with the 307, although they're a bit hard to find FWIR. The AD1 is supposed to be good too, but it's a little bit more since you have to buy from Emission Labs; on the plus side it's still in production. The last option is the 300B, but I think 300B tends to be tubey (haven't heard it with the BA though). However, it is available both new and used more easily than either of the other tubes.
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post #28 of 46
7/28/09 at 4:27pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info. There are pluses and minuses to each tube type
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post #29 of 46
7/28/09 at 10:52pm
Be prepared for a long wait time though. Craig mentioned somewhere that it would be around two months for the second batch so that would have October if the BAs had shipped this month. So maybe late October or November for the second batch now?
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post #30 of 46
7/29/09 at 4:12am
Yeah I've been talking to Craig recently & you're looking at November delivery. Worth the wait imho for a top-of-the-line, limited amp like this.
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