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Creek OBH21

post #1 of 21
10/23/03 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Has anyone heard the creek OBH21 amp?
Reviews?

What sort of closed headphones would be good with it?
thanks
Fil
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post #2 of 21
10/23/03 at 3:19pm

Re: Creek OBH21

Quote:
Originally posted by Filipe
Has anyone heard the creek OBH21 amp?
If it's anything like the OBH-11, it's probably a very versatile amp that will match well to pretty much any closed (or open) headphones. I listened to one briefly with HD-600s at a local audio shop -- pretty nice little amp, but I'm not sure it's much better than the OBH-11.

--Chris
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post #3 of 21
10/23/03 at 3:38pm
Have not heard the obh-21, the obh-11 didn't improve on the headphone out on my old sony tape deck.
IMHO it would need to be a substantial improvement over the older amp to make it a worthwile purchase.
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post #4 of 21
10/23/03 at 3:41pm
from what I remember of the obh21, i'd use a "soft" pair of cans. With the grado sr125, it was overly bright and aggressive.
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post #5 of 21
10/23/03 at 4:12pm
If it's anything like the OBH-11.....it is an amp....and period. It will be very prone to upgrades like the predecessor, otherwise IMO, it won't be a good amp at all, see Pink Floyd thread for the upgrades on the OBH-11, here :
It has one of the cheapest manufacture ever made, just for curiosity do a search for the total cost of parts, IIRC is was aroound £2.30 or so, and it sells for £130.00 more or less, of course at that price point, the OBH-11 is a low budget amp, even though, the profits on this are huge, even bigger than in other more expensive amps....more than 98% of the total cost are profits (divide them later as you wish, adds, profits, D&R etc.....)

FYI I'm not very picky with the amps, and I returned it with premium power supply included, the next week I got it, sorry the Edcor 2020 sound better for 40.00, it is all socketed and you can easyly upgrade it, I had both....give it a try, if you are thinking on the Creek....

BTW try the Perreaux, man!!!!! This is bargain now.....
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post #6 of 21
10/23/03 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
Would the MF X can V2 sound better?
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post #7 of 21
10/23/03 at 4:33pm
I have not heard it but hirsch like so it should be better...just ask him, with a proper OPamp rolling and tubes it will sound amazing...
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post #8 of 21
10/23/03 at 9:26pm
"If it is like the OBH-11..."



It isn't like the OBH-11... the circuitry is different, and the design of it is different. Imagine if you were asking about the Sony CD3000, and someone said 'If it's like the Sony CD780, it's decent but nothing special..."

Anyway... if you can audition it at a local audio dealer, it might be worth doing so... imo Creek makes decent budget amps.

P.S. to Sovkiller -- I wasn't replying to you specifically, just to all the "if it's like the OBH-11" replies in general.
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post #9 of 21
10/23/03 at 10:06pm
Just for the records, I have not heard the OBH-21 not even see the inside of it, and yes, Creek made budget amps, making huge profits on them, see PINK FLOYD's post for horror!!!!! They must be a lot cheaper....
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post #10 of 21
10/24/03 at 4:18am
What cans are being used here?

Senn & OBH21 (SE) = pretty good - Clean and Clear - fast paced
Senn & MF X-Can V2 = Warm, and lush - slow(er)

Grado & OBH21 (SE) = potential to be bright and unforgiving of harsh recordings
Grado & MF X-Can V2 = Slow, distorted, bloated mids, sharp treble... not nice.

Oh... and this is from personal experience

Oh... and the OBH-11 - It might be cheaply constructed, but would YOU like to build one from the ground up, and then mass-market it???????????????
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post #11 of 21
10/24/03 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally posted by Duncan
Oh... and the OBH-11 - It might be cheaply constructed, but would YOU like to build one from the ground up, and then mass-market it???????????????
No, but nobody wants a cheap bad product, OTOH I preffer TO PAY MORE for other, as I did (and I think you will do also) and will do it again, if the case requires that, that will be better constructed, and not advertised as the Creek OBH-11, and with a lot less profits....Did you read Pink Floyd's thread about how Creek products are advertised, here is a quote, just to illustrate a little bit what I was saying:

Quote:
Originally posted by PinkFloyd
A few of you seem to be missing my point here. Creek advertise this amps components as:

"No expense has been spared to enable the OBH-11 headphone amp to faithfully reproduce a music signal. Only the highest quality components are used in its classic amplifier circuitry, to achieve low distortion and noise, with good stereo separation"

There are no high quality components on any Creek OBH11 circuit board neither past nor present.. there are certainly no "highest quality" components on show.

The creek PCB is adorned with the cheapest components I have yet come upon. You reckon stock Nichicon caps are good.. well I have news for you...... they may be classed as "acceptable" but they sure as hell aint "no expense spared finest quality caps"

You'll be telling me next that I can't purchase a Samwha capacitor for less than 4 pence (uk) and that they are high quality.

You can check whatever electronic suppliers lists that you have and you'll see that the components Creek use are not "high quality" as they state but indeed the "cheapest of the cheap"

Nichicon makes a good enough capacitor but certainly not "the best components on the planet"

Gotta stick with my initial evalualtion....... maybe upgrade it to £3 manufacturing cost....

A cheap and nasty piece of electronics dressed up as a lamb.. I really used to be proud to be British but these days would prefer to be german.

"there is no kidding a kidder"

Pinkie
.....BTW the Edcor 2020 sounds better has about 5 chips inside, all socketed and cost you only 40.00, and is made here in the USA, not in HK or Taiwan, which manufacture will make it a lot cheaper....
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post #12 of 21
10/24/03 at 3:06pm
I don't agree with any of the above about Creek products, specifically the OBH-11. The OBH-11 is a decent amp for the price to my ears -- I don't care what's under the hood so long as it sounds good, and to me, it does.

It is also a very versatile amp: not source dependent, handles pretty much all cans. For an entry-level amp, I think it's just fine.

--Chris
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post #13 of 21
10/24/03 at 4:40pm
For 175.00 you can get a more that a decent META, or almost two Minies, that will sound a few times better, the X-Can is even cheaper 169.00 and according to many members sound a lot better also (I can't tell you for sure, I haven't heard it, but the author of the above, did) have you ever tried the edcor 2020, it is a modification of pro headphone amp, for home use, it sounds a lot better for only 40.00, if the OBH-11 sounds good to you, great, and this is OK, enjoy it, but to me, the problem is not only under the hood, is at the jack also, BTW he opened it because he didin't like the sound of it, and was trying to find out why, IMO is one of the more unpleasant, sterile and analitic sounds I ever heard....Sorry but as an intrance level amp you can get a better stuff that this one for 175.00, but of course everybody is entitled to his own opinion. And thanks God it seems that I'm not the only one on this one, I was even worried about that, honestly, but after reading the above, now I know now why, I didn't like it....

But anyway the thread is about the OBH-21, not the 11...sorry, and I have not heard it, so I can't comment about it.....
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post #14 of 21
10/24/03 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Sovkiller
For 175.00 you can get a more that a decent META, or almost two Minies, that will sound a few times better, the X-Can is even cheaper 169.00 and according to many members sound a lot better also (I can't tell you for sure, I haven't heard it, but the author of the above, did) have you ever tried the edcor 2020, it is a modification of pro headphone amp, for home use, it sounds a lot better for only 40.00, if the OBH-11 sounds good to you, great, and this is OK, enjoy it, but to me, the problem is not only under the hood, is at the jack also, BTW he opened it because he didin't like the sound of it, and was trying to find out why, IMO is one of the more unpleasant, sterile and analitic sounds I ever heard....Sorry but as an intrance level amp you can get a better stuff that this one for 175.00,
Who's paying $175 for the OBH-11 anymore? They routinely go on the Gear FS/Trade forum for around $100 (and usually in mint or near mint condition too). Add a $28 Elpac regulated power supply and you have a decent entry level amp for $128.

That said... after hearing a maxed out Meta42, there's no doubt in my mind that it's better than the OBH-11... quite a bit better in fact. I don't know about the mints and cheapies, but a fully decked out Meta42 ($200-$250) whoops the OBH-11 pretty good.

Anyway, the OBH-11 isn't the OBH-21, as you pointed out... I'm out of here too.
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post #15 of 21
10/24/03 at 5:31pm
I just mentioned that price because that was what I paid at that time for it brand new, long time ago.....I have no clue of the real price now....
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