Violectric HPA V200 Why not sufficiently appreciated?? - Page 10

oqvist, did you pay atention that "When a cinch plug is inserted, it cuts possible signals applied to the balanced input automatically...", if need see the V200 manual page 13

I´ll be getting my V200 tomorrow or so... Upgrading from a Nuforce HDP (my first dac+amp), so I´ll be first testing with its DAC part. DAC upgrade coming next month then... Anyways, I´ll let you guys know my first impressions as soon as I get it :)

Some more painstakingly A and B:ing. Focusing solely on LCD-2.

V200 is closer to the Auditor then the Goldpoint headphone Pro in signature. Germans think alike perhaps.

Goldpoint headphone Pro is slightly darker then those two with I suspect a bit more performance in the low mid range.

It works well for enhancing the strengths of the LCD-2 I feel. .

Vocalists are constantly more lifelike on the GHP but closer to you as well.

V200 does throw a larger soundstage like the Auditor but there is something with the mid range that sound a bit off at times. Something hollow about it in direct comparison.

Gonna focus on the Auditor vs V200 next. 

Interesting, as with my Violectric v181 I feel the lifelike vocals are one of its strong points.  Also I don't notice the hollow thing in midrange on v181 with LCD-2s. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist 

Some more painstakingly A and B:ing. Focusing solely on LCD-2.

 

V200 is closer to the Auditor then the Goldpoint headphone Pro in signature. Germans think alike perhaps.

Goldpoint headphone Pro is slightly darker then those two with I suspect a bit more performance in the low mid range.

It works well for enhancing the strengths of the LCD-2 I feel. .

 

Vocalists are constantly more lifelike on the GHP but closer to you as well.

V200 does throw a larger soundstage like the Auditor but there is something with the mid range that sound a bit off at times. Something hollow about it in direct comparison.

 

Gonna focus on the Auditor vs V200 next. 

 

Well the V200 is a very good amp surely. It drives the LCD-2 just as effortlessly as the GHP.  It´s only a "issue" when A-Bing the two amps against eachother. Both are extremely pleasant to listen to music with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist 

Well the V200 is a very good amp surely. It drives the LCD-2 just as effortlessly as the GHP.  It´s only a "issue" when A-Bing the two amps against eachother. Both are extremely pleasant to listen to music with.

I appreciate the impressions!  you have me curious to try a goldpoint for the heck of it... even though I am completely satisfied with the v181... its a pretty low price too!  But I am thinking about going the turntable route next also...decisions .. decisions...

Nakamichi was a big name in audio about 30 years ago. For those of you who, like me, were born with a tube TV and radio set in the house, who have used turntables, magnetophones, decks etc, this legendary Japanese brand rings more than a bell. The Dragon was (and still is) one of the finest audio sources I've heard to date.

Why this introduction? Because of the Nakamichi-based design of the V200. While it doesn't mean anything to most of you, to me it brings out a lot of memories. Over the course of time I owned at least three Nakamichi receivers/amplifiers and, if it wouldn't have been for space issues, I would have kept at least one. Neither the most powerful, nor the most transparent, the Nakamichi sound was something really special, analogical in character , fluid, organic, a pleasure to listen to for hours on end. The last Stasis I had, a mid-eighties design, feeding a pair of nearfield S3/5 Spendors (the famous, original BBC design that made history and holds it own even to today's standards) was one of the most musical combos I've ever had the pleasure to listen to.

So this was my background when I heard about V200 and their Namakichi-based design. Obviously, because of my everlasting love for the Japanese brand, I had to try one for myself. And I have to say from the beginning that it was the most pleasant encounter. V200 manages to strike an excellent balance between the modern hifi standards and that warm, musical sound I fell in love with many years ago. Just like the original Stasis design, I wouldn't say the V200 is the ultimate amplifier when it comes to soundstage, transparency or the last, ultimate, tiniest detail. In this respect I feel Mr Meier's Symphony (long gone bot not forgotten) is better. But what might be lost in absolute performance, is gained in spades in musicality, fluidity, warmth. V200 is a wonderfully sounding amplifier, reminding me a lot of its famous Japanese ancestor. While Mr Meier's designs are generally better performers, they sound to me on most headphones rather sterile, analitical, lifeless and somehow with the Symphony I could never find a good synergy with any of my headphones. Even the Symphony - D7000 combo, highly praised on this forum, was far from getting the most out of the Denon's. The Phonitor, on the other hand, feels like a lesser amp to these ears. It's neither as transparent, nor as detailed as V200 or Mr Meier's amps. But once you start playing with the crossfeed knobs, you forget everything. Ed.8 miraculously disappears with the proper settings and everything, from music to movies, becomes a completely new and unheard of experience. While I was never satisfied with Mr Meier's or Headroom's crossfeed algorithms, I have to say this is the strong selling point of a Phonitor and therefore, in my opinion, the Auditor is only half of a great amplifier, and not the better half. I've always had mixed feelings about the Headroom amplifiers and, while I haven't had the chance to listen to their high end offerings, I've never been impressed with their portable, Micro or Desktop line (and I had the newly designed Desktop Portable for more than a year). 

Bottom line - V200 strikes gold with this small amplifier. It has no major flaws, it's beautifully detailed while keeping the presentation fluid, musical, enjoyable. The Nakamichi spirit is here, the sound has a certain refinement, warmth, a tube - like midrange, while the bass is strong, tight and nicely controlled and the treble is detailed without any harshness. Is it the best SS amplifier in the price range? Difficult to tell really as there are many factors involved. Since there is no perfect headphone, there are always combos to better compensate for certain shortcomings (what people call it synergy in these parts of the WWW) of certain transducers. But you would be hard pressed to find an amplifier to do a better job with any headphone. Because this V200 is a true Jack of all trades, with a consistent performance no matter the can or the source. In this respect it reminds me of another venerable masterpiece, Mr Meier's Prehead.

Thank you, revenge, for the nice perspective on the V200.  I remember reading that its design was in part based on an older generation Japanese unit, but I misplaced the reference.

oqvist - looking forwared to more of your impressions and A/B testing.

BK

Quote:

Originally Posted by BK_856er 

Thank you, revenge, for the nice perspective on the V200.  I remember reading that its design was in part based on an older generation Japanese unit, but I misplaced the reference.

 

oqvist - looking forwared to more of your impressions and A/B testing.

 

BK

The Stasis was designed by the legendary Nelson Pass for Nakamichi

Well put. This kind of mirrors my experience with the V200. It's shortcomings only become apparent when compared to much higher end units. It's only then that I notice it's a bit dark(with LCD-2's) and has a touch less resolution. Overall, I'm still very pleased with the amp and will continue to enjoy it. 

Been listening to my brand new V200 for a few hours now... Unfortunately my new DAC is still on the way and I decided to move my Icon HDP to serve as a DAC+Preamp to a few active speakers so I can´t do any direct comparisons.

I can already say that it´s very, very different (even though I´m using its built-in DAC now, got it for free from Thomann; this is one of the original units that all had the USB port): there´s a lot more air. All in all the HDP sounds a lot leaner. There´s a nice warmth to the sound, I´ve never heard tubes but I could imagine that the V200 is probably leaning in that direction a bit :) My favourite feature is the flowing musicality and the added air compared to the Icon HDP. It´s far too early to make any real comparisons though. Very happy here! Build quality is top notch, it´s like a small tank! 

The V200 is more tube sounding than my tube amp, and I am using my DX1000s much more often that's for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan 

The V200 is more tube sounding than my tube amp, and I am using my DX1000s much more often that's for sure.

I came close to the V100 or V200 and I'm sure they are wonderful, but this statement makes me feel glad that I went with the Concerto only for the reason that I wanted a SS amp (that sounded like a SS amp) to compliment my Mapletree tube amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vrln 

Been listening to my brand new V200 for a few hours now... Unfortunately my new DAC is still on the way and I decided to move my Icon HDP to serve as a DAC+Preamp to a few active speakers so I can´t do any direct comparisons.

 

I can already say that it´s very, very different (even though I´m using its built-in DAC now, got it for free from Thomann; this is one of the original units that all had the USB port): there´s a lot more air. All in all the HDP sounds a lot leaner. There´s a nice warmth to the sound, I´ve never heard tubes but I could imagine that the V200 is probably leaning in that direction a bit :) My favourite feature is the flowing musicality and the added air compared to the Icon HDP. It´s far too early to make any real comparisons though. Very happy here! Build quality is top notch, it´s like a small tank! 

I am wondering if they use Mosfett transistors. Nelson Pass design have that warth to them and they use Mosfett which would give that type of signature. Sounds interesting and please do post more impressions.