Matrix M-Stage amp review: simple, cheap, and excellent. - Page 11

Already shipped.

I still have about 30 units in stock.

know how this unit compares to headroom desktop amp or a meier corda contate?

super awesome tier 1 review by the way

Any silver ones amongst them?

Great. Please email me the tracking number. It would be appreciated and thanks.

Just for interest, I ordered one of these units from Hlly audio before reading this thread all the way through. I too got an email saying that there would be a delay due to a new version becoming available in a couple of weeks.
I elected to continue with the order, but asked what changes were being made, here was his response:

Hello:

The new version have better feature, the circiut has been adjust and has good sounds!
Hope you will like it!

Regards

david gao

I then asked him specifically about the suggestions in this thread regarding the authenticity of his units. Here was his response to that:

We are one of the reseller for Matrix audio, so the Matrix M-Stage headphone amplifier is from Matrix audio directly, we are HLLY audio, we also have our own products such as a HLLY DMK-IV DAC, TAMP-90, TAMP-20 and so on

I would like to point out that I have no affiliation with Hlly audio, and have never bought anything from them before. So far however I have had very prompt response to my queries via email and have no cause for concern.

I am not trying to take anything away from Coolfungadget, he clearly deserves his good reputation. I will post my impressions of the unit when it arrives from Hlly just for interests sake if thats ok with everyone!

I have never ordered from Hlly and I hope you have no problems. He also states he was an authorized seller for Little Dot and then he made the same amp. Coolfungadget hasn't addresed if a new model is coming out yet. Please do post your impressions and hopefully your transaction goes smoothly. Keep us posted.

I didn't see where Coolfungadget said anything about an upgrade,? unless I missed it?
Maybe USB add on? I know it's based on the Cube and I think one of their best sellers is the USB version. It makes perfect sense IMO.
The amp needs no change as it's right on and a hell of a decent buy besting a lot of amps in the same price range and even higher. I'd like to see Toslink added personally being a Mac user there's not many DACs with just Usb and or Toslink without being one of the whole amp/dac combo things. What maybe only a handfull of just a Dac with out an Amp that has Toslink?

Coolfungadget did not say that - hlly did. To be honest, I would be slightly pissed if there was a USB version around the corner (it would make perfect sense though) having just ordered the normal one...

Sure

Mine is with EMS and dispatched. Quick shipment as promised. Should have it hopefuuly next week.

Has anyone heard this and a real Lehmann Linear?

I've heard the Lehmann, but still wonder just how much does this sound like the real thing.

Alright - arrived today - great shipping! Left China EMS on Friday, arrived in NY City yesterday morning, at my door in Buffalo this morning. That's fast!

What a nice, solidly built unit. I've hooked it up to listen to my k701s tonight and it really provides a wonderful and dynamic first impression to me out of the box. It makes me really appreciate these phones...it's why I bought this in the first place.

I only have a Little Dot I+ (and MKIII previously) to compare it against and this is my first real SS amp - therefore I have no baseline against other similar amps. The default low gain 0dB just didn't have the juice so a quick and easy switch to 10dB finds me the right spot. I can really appreciate the ease of this - with my LDI+ I have to remove the case and fiddle with tiny little jumpers to change from a gain of 3 to 10 so this is a nice treat for me. This thing is dead, black silent when the tunes aren't flowing - I love that. I'm all in!

Great hopefully I will get mine as quickly. Mine is showing as being despatched by EMS 4/27. I was hoping for Friday but Monday may be more realistic. I also have 701 and am anxious. Keep us posted.

I've spent a couple of days with my new M-Stage - mostly paired with my k701s and listening to a variety of different music (Alt Rock, Vocals, Acoustics, Blues). So far, at the risk of the placebo effect of falling in love with new gear, I am incredibly impressed. Specific to my k701s - I really have never heard them sound even close to this good - by a wide margin. I only have ever heard them out of my LDI+ and MKIII (sold) and although I have no negative comments on these amps (and plan on keeping the LD I+ for a long time) - It's obvious to me that they were just never able to bring out the best in these awesome phones.

The vast soundstage and incredibly detailed presentation from the k701s is really apparent to me - a night and day difference I think. This is the the amp I decided on when looking for a great SS match for the AKGs (I considered the Sheer Audio, GLite, Heed Canamp, etc.). I obviously have no comments on those other amps and am sure they are great - I have never heard them. I can only tell you the M-Stage and k701s really seem to be a fantastic match for me.

I briefly tried the k271s (an outstanding/under-rated phone IMO) and felt it sounded fantastic as well. A notch or 2 below the k701s but I expect that. I only listened to my D2000s for a short while with the M-Stage. It sounds great but didn't blow me away the way the k701s did - however I plan on doing a more intensive comparison between the M-Stage and the LD I+ with the Denons. Plus - whenever I pop the Denons on my head after listening to my AKGs for an extended period of time I need a bit of an adjustment period before they grab me again. I'll reserve judgement on those cans for now.

Great power while being dead silent - it absolutely reveals every minute detail in my source (which can be good or bad depending on what you have feeding this little beast). What a great addition to my set-up - just a superb value for the price. I'm very pleased I made this choice!

Thats great news with the 701. Since I own the Little Dot Mk11 and now I am very anxious to get my amp. LOL EMS had mine leaving on 4/27 and USPS has the same info but no updated info is available since the 27th. Wondering if the amp is in the US yet but who know. I expect it sometime early next week and am looking forward to the 701 840 combo and glad your enjoying the amps so much now I am antsy.Thanks for posting