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Shanling PH100 - Page 4

post #46 of 53
3/29/11 at 1:13am



 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bostonears View Post

Thanks for the comments. I already own a PCD3000A. Its headphone output is not bad, but there's room for improvement, which is why I was wondering about the PH100.



 

Hi,

 

I have not heard the PCD300a headphone output but I would definately not describe the PH100 as "not bad" in fact i think it is unbeatable at the price. The only reason I can think for it not being popular is it's price as even with the great build and sound quality it comes in at under $200.

 

At present the only headphones I would have reservations using with the PH100 are my Sony SA5000 which sound just a little too bright, other hedphones that work fine include the (very fussy) audio technica ath-w50000, denon ah-d5000, sennheiser hd650 and beyer dt990 pro.

 

The other amps I have are

 

Sugden Headmaster (x2) - not evryone's taste  but definately mine!

Shanling PH300 (on its way to replace my second PH100)

Matrix  (over rated - ph100 eats it alive)

 

 

Plus the following dacs with built in amps :-

 

matrix i-mini (dac excellent, headphone amp ok)

Yulong DAH1 (good but not recommended as I have had a couple 3 faulty items out of 4 ordered from yulong)

Aune (good basic amp but overrated)

Hilly  (still listening)

 

My favourite source dacs would be the following

 

Xindak dac 5 and Keces 131.1 and 131 mk iii.

 

I have converted a few people to the PH100 by loaning them a unit for a couple of weeks!

 

regards

 

Michael

 

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Shanling CD 300 Top Loading Vacuum Tube CD Player
post #47 of 53
5/4/11 at 2:31am

I've found a good deal on a PH100. 

 

Anyone know why the old thread was deleted? I'm a bit worried there were many bad reviews on the PH100 in it... basshead.gif

 

Anyway, I've read it's a good match for my AKG k701. I've also got a DT770 80ohm for studio work, still a good match?? dt880smile.png

 

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post #48 of 53
5/4/11 at 10:46am
Thread Starter 

The thread was deleted because a discussion about the Shanling PH100 vs. Hotaudio Thunderbolt Max got way out of hand and started an endless flamewar (which resulted in several bans), and instead of cleaning up the thread, the head-fi admins decided it was easier to permanently delete it. It did contain lots of useful information indeed, too bad it's gone forever.

 

In any case, I have both the Shanling PH100 and a DT770pro and are using them right now! It's a great combo, I'm using it at home as a "standard" pc rig, paired with a Hotaudio DAC-WOW, for all-round usage (music, gaming, movies).


Edited by RazorJack - 5/4/11 at 10:49am
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post #49 of 53
11/13/11 at 10:31pm

Sorry to dig this up again, but isn't this a clone of the AT-HA5000?

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post #50 of 53
12/22/11 at 5:53am
Thread Starter 

A little update: my Shanling PH100 has developed a sporadic buzz in the right channel. And I can hear a (ground?) hum in both channels, but it's more dominant in the left. None of this can be heard when music is playing, but it's still extremely annoying to me, as I use this amp with my computer and keep my headphones on at most times, even when not listening to anything. This malfunction slowly developed over a long period of time, I think, because when I first got the amp it was very quiet.

 

I must say that I'm not very happy with Shanling's build quality. In the past I noticed that my Shanling PCD300A (cd player) analog left channel line output sometimes failed due to a cold solder joint. And even worse, the digital coax RCA out did not output a signal at all because the wire was hanging loose. Thankfully I was able to fix both connections easily using a soldering iron and some common sense.

 

Due to these experiences I will definitely not buy anything ever again from Shanling, or anything designed in China, and am not sure if I could recommend the PH100 or PCD300A to anyone. I did enjoy the PH100 a lot when it was working properly, but failure in less than 2 years with normal usage is pretty pathetic. Something else probably worth mentioning is that the PH100 amp has two inputs, and the signal from one pair of inputs can faintly be heard in the other... how horrible is that?!

The PCD300A is still used daily and works like a charm, I can only pray that it keeps doing so for a long time to come.

 

The PH100 will soon be replaced by a Meier Audio Corda JAZZ.


Edited by RazorJack - 12/22/11 at 6:09am
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post #51 of 53
1/2/12 at 5:06am

I've had similar issues with my PH100. According to my thread here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/headphone-systems/198815-shanling-ph100-non-volume-input-dependant-hiss-through-one-channel.html, it could be a fet/transistor/cap/solder joint (although all joints look good to me), or something else. I don't have the electronics knowledge to look into it further, and as I have a modded 708B, I really CBA to do much with it at the moment either.

 

It's a great shame really, as it's a very good sounding amp for the money. I might try to sort it one day, but have no need to ATM.

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post #52 of 53
2/8/12 at 10:01pm

I bought a Shanling PH300 initially. The first unit I received had a slight crackling sound on the left channel. The crackling was sporadic. It comes and goes, and it was very irritating when it kicks in. It does not vary in volume when you play with the volume knob, so I suspect there is something wrong with the preamp stage. I doubt that it was a cold solder because the soldering joints were all beautifully done. The crackling goes away for a while if you leave the unit to burn-in for many hours. However, it will come back after a few days. So, I suspect one of the tubes the PH300 used in the preamp stage was faulty.

 

I sent it back and received a new unit. Unfortunately, the new unit has the same problem with the right channel! So in the end, I sent it back and exchanged it for a PH100. After running the PH100 for about a month, it is still running great and the sound is opening up after some burn in. It is a beautiful amp and I would recommend it.

 

I would not recommend the PH300 though. It uses a pair of Russian tubes at the preamp stage.Tubes being tubes, are finicky, even the most reliable ones. Unfortunately, these tubes are soldered in. So, there is no way to roll them if you get bad ones, other than desoldering and resoldering. I do not think that this is worth the trouble for most of us... even though it was quite unlucky of me to get 2 sets with bad tubes.

 

I think if we really want tubes, we should just buy a tube amp, like the Little Dot amp for example. If those tubes turn bad, just clean their contacts, or change them.

 

The seller (Wai Wai Valves) is top notch. Mr Wu, who runs the web service is super and I cannot say enough good things about him. He replaced the faulty amps very quickly. I just needed to send the faulty ones back to him.

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post #53 of 53
2/8/12 at 11:41pm
Thread Starter 
Decent service indeed. Although they offered little to no help when I contacted them about my faulty PCD300A coax-out, other than "out of warranty, should work, open up and check connection". And it indeed turned out to be a loose wire... Simple fix.
Nice to hear your PH100 sounds good! Mine is sitting around collecting dust. The crackling noise is also sporadic, but a loud hum van be heard continuously, which makes the amp unusable.

Does yours also leak the signal from one input to the other, like I described in my previous post?
Edited by RazorJack - 2/8/12 at 11:44pm
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Shanling CD 300 Top Loading Vacuum Tube CD Player
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