REVIEW: Meier Audio Concerto headphone amp - Page 55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_Himself 

You guys, I listened to one of these with HE-500's the other day. Has to be the best **** amp you could ever buy for 300+ dollars used. 

I respectfully disagree, but I suppose it depends on type of sound you're looking for. I bought a Concerto and HiFiMan EF5 around the same time for my D7000s. The EF5 beat it hands down, displaying more warmth, power, and overall musicality. The Concerto was detailed and generally sounded good, but was bright and somewhat dry in comparison.

Didn't know you can get an used Concerto for $300 now. I think it's a steal at $300 and probably the best amp you can get at that price range. The EF5 is no doubt a better amp but it sells at $500+.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1974 

I respectfully disagree, but I suppose it depends on type of sound you're looking for. I bought a Concerto and HiFiMan EF5 around the same time for my D7000s. The EF5 beat it hands down, displaying more warmth, power, and overall musicality. The Concerto was detailed and generally sounded good, but was bright and somewhat dry in comparison.

A tube section will do that to an amp sometimes haha!

But yeah I would figure a D7000 would be transparent enough to the point where you could use them as reference to give a decent perspective on headphones. I don't think I could find an EF5 anywhere though

As for price, yeah they're around 3-400 now.

Everyone is getting rid of theirs so they can pair their StageDAC with the new Corda Classic that is coming out. Jan's being very secretive. I'm not fortunate enough to be able to partake in Jan's desktop amps but these things are like sports cars to me haha. I get really excited whenever a new Meier product rolls around...

I have the Concerto paired with the StageDac to drive Beyer T1 headphones.

Would like to try something clearly better to evaluate an upgrade to this system. Don't have strong budget limitations as long as the improvement is very noticeable. What do you suggest?

Thanks.

Take a look at the Decware CSP2 thread if you don't mind tubes. I don't have experience with it myself, but there's a consensus it's one of the outstanding combinations with the T1.

Mind you, I think the Concerto/T1 is extremely good too. IIRC FrankI - who had both Concerto and CSP2 - considered the Concerto the best SS match he had tried with T1.

I regard the StageDAC very highly and it is my preferred DAC with my speaker system. Very clean, detailed and neutral, and reproduces loud/soft contrasts superbly. However, with my HP rigs, I think I begin to prefer the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC with Concerto. The MiniMax is more energetic, and seems to unleash more of the Concerto's dynamics - which it has in abundance.

Edit: here's the thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/338147/review-decware-select-zen-csp2-tube-headphone-amp/360