Gilmore Lite Amp Owners Unite! - Page 3

my g-lite (no dps) is my stand by/ go to amp in the home office. it's a quite pleasant workhorse.

akwok raved about his amp paired w/ a 650 and monarchy dac comparing it to his O2/es1 combo. i think at one point (in a different thread than the one below) he described it as a baby orpheus/aristaeus like set up (and he's owned most of the top cans/rigs at one time or another):

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/215066/wow-a-cheap-headphone-amp-that-brings-the-hd650-to-omega-ii-es-1-level

Edited by daveDerek - 7/30/10 at 8:55am

 

how does this amp do with the HD650's. I'm curious, has anyone paired the two?

Quote:
Originally Posted by David.M  
" how does this amp do with the HD650's. I'm curious, has anyone paired the two?"

I felt the GLite was finally the amp that let the HD650 realize it's full potential. I had the excellent Headroom Micro Amp just prior to the GL and the improvements were apparent. The GL, to me, gave the 650 the control it lacked with other amps I heard with it. The HD650 just wasn't my to my taste, but the GL/650 combo, I felt, was an excellent one.

Well, I've never used my HD650s with anything but the Gilmore Lite, but I can say that I enjoy it tremendously. I've never felt like I was ever missing anything in the sound, all details were able to be presented.

I'm a very happy owner of a Gilmore Lite w/ elpac power supply.  Works great, build quality is second to none, and you really get the impression that it's not adding or subtracting anything from the music, just silently putting power behind it.  The best part is the absolute dead silent background; you can turn the volume knob all the way up and you will hear absolutely nothing, no hum, no buzz.  That alone gives me huge confidence in its fidelity to the source.  

 

One concern I have is the gain, though.  I bought mine based on its reputation for synergy with Grados.  True enough, it's great with my SR-325i, but I have to wonder if they're not using all of what the Gilmore could be giving because of the amp's high gain.  I have never gotten past nine o'clock on the volume knob--even that far is usually extremely loud.  I've always wondered whether this is normal.  Anybody else end up topping out at around nine o'clock for comfortable listening with Grados?

 

This doesn't seem to depend on the source; I've tried with a MHDT Dialogue II DAC, a normal headphone-out from a Mac, and now with a MF V-DAC.  The relative position of the volume knob required for equal volume always ends up being approximately the same.  

 

I've got a pair of HD-600s that will arrive in a few days... from what I've heard about the differences in power usage between Senns and Grados, I'm expecting to use more of that volume knob.  We'll see.  

Actually, there's one other strange thing I've noticed about my Gilmore Lite recently, in addition to not using much of the volume dial.  Mine actually seems to generate static electricity of some kind.  This is most noticeable if you pull out your headphone plug, and let it brush against the metal case of the Gilmore.  You actually get some crackling through the headphones just from contacting the case!  

 

Once again, I have no idea whether this is normal or what.  Doesn't seem to cause any problems, and the amp still (as I keep repeating) sounds like a million dollars, but it's just kind of strange.  Anyone else have similar experiences?  I suppose I should just get in contact with Justin at HeadAmp and ask him...

 

 

I think that is normal, as my dial is usually between nine/ten o'clock between my sound card and CDP.  Grados are just easy to drive, and if anything, it just means that the Gilmore Lite has more than enough juice to drive much more demanding headphones.

 

============

 

I have had the pleasure of owning a secondhand Gilmore Lite with the Elpac for over three years now, my first and only headphone amp for my HF-1.  I was skeptical about amplification because Grados seemed to work well un-amped through headphone jacks anyway.  However, this Gilmore Lite came up for sale locally, and after reading all the feedback about it here with regard to Grados, I took the plunge.  When I opened it up, I didn't realize how small it was, as I'm not good with scaling things from pictures on a screen!  The fit and finish on it was solid, the loop out a great touch when I wanted to listen on my Promedias (now iFi's) and that was all nice and dandy.  With the HF-1 plugged in, I fired it up and immediately, I understood what all the praise here was about, and I started to wonder, with each passing track, why I went so long without amplification. 

 

Maybe the story would be the same if I started out with just about any other amp within my price range at the time and this were a different appreciation thread, but it isn't, and that's okay.  Even after trying many other higher-priced amps from other vendors, I honestly would have a tough time justifying another amp, nevermind even thinking of replacing this amp.  It is kind of a shame that it is now discontinued, but the price had gone up quite a bit from the time I had purchased mine.  In fact, just like headphones, there are so many more offerings now than ever, and if one was indecisive about an amp three years ago, you are likely more indecisive now!

 

Thankfully, it's a decision I don't have to worry about, for now anyway.  And after reading baka1969's post on the last page, I can fret about whether I really want to save up for an HD-800 or a T1, and know that whichever cans I may decide to splurge on, the Gilmore Lite should be able to handle it just fine.

Edited by portaprokid - 7/24/10 at 10:57pm

David, did you bother to read any of this short thread before asking your question? go back one post, two posts, four posts, seven posts, (nine) ten, eleven, fourteen, and fifteen posts immediately preceding yours as they all directly address this combo - sheesh!

Edited by daveDerek - 11/12/10 at 1:17pm

I'll chime in. Mine is a MisterX built Dynalo. I use a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic fed by an Apple Airport Express as source. My headphones are the Denon D7000. This has been my reference rig for about 6 months now, with no plans to change it in any way (actually, I'll lower the gain when I get around to it). I find this amp to be cristal clear and virtually without a sound signature of it's own. I love it with the D7000's. I didn't like it so much with my ultrasone HFI780's. The amp seems best paired with a warmer sounding headphone. I've listened to my D7000's on some very high end tube gear, and they really sounded wonderful. That said, my rig to me is 95% or better of the high end gear at 10% of the cost. The dacmagic filter options help here, I think.
Edited by aamefford - 7/26/10 at 7:49am

Which effects do you hear with the respective filters?

Tough to describe.  The Ln is very spacious and open sounding, almost lush, but probably gives up detail to smoothness and lushness.  It appears to offer the largest soundstage.  It is the second most used by me.  It used to be the most used.  It almost sounds like a hint of echo.  The Min filter is similar, but less.  Slightly tighter sound stage, tighter bass control and a bit more detail.  This one is my current favorite.  The steep filter seems to truncate the high end a bit.  It seems smaller, more contained and a bit glaring and present.  It has that "hey - Listen to Me" initial presentation that quickly becomes annoying.  I'll listen to it once in a while, there are a few songs it suits, but it is my least favorite.

 

Note these are all really subtle differences.  Hope that helps a bit.

 

And the disclaimer - All "in my opinion."

Thanks! I'll have to start messing around with those, I guess.

I pulled up Stereophile's review - it covers the filters pretty accurately. Worth a read:

http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/cambridge_audio_azur_dacmagic_da_converter/

I received the DPS for my Gilmore Lite today, and I must say that I am very impressed. I haven't really read many impressions of the differences between the Elpac and the DPS, but what I noticed before anything else was much more realistic imaging. Instrument placement seemed much more precise than before. All in all, the sound just felt more vivid, more robust, and more enjoyable period in ways that are more difficult to qualify. Maybe this it added a bit of warmth to the system. Take my words with a grain of salt, though, because it was more than a week since I had last listened on my GLite because I had to cross-ship the Elpac.