REVIEW: Violectric V181 balanced headphone amp - Page 2

I think he meant "relatively cheap" in the context of being good enough.... in contrast to spending the extra $900 for a Woo Audio 22, or  $2000 more for the Luxman, or $1500 more for a Zana Deux, or $1000 more for a Phonitor, etc. The Violectric gets you into that top tier of performance for a fairly decent price. It might not be the equal of some of those, but it is not that far behind either. 

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Originally Posted by TigzStudio 

Very nice and well thought out review! I agree with pretty much all of your findings. When I think Violectric certain words come to mind; Versatile, Powerful/Dynamic, Neutral, Tonal balance, Black background, Built like a tank, space saving...etc. Really the only drawback with the V181 is that you need to open the amp housing to manually change the jumpers for single ended vs. balanced operation. I personally use the V181 in balanced mode and use my other amps single ended so it really is a non issue for me. Apart from that I have not found really any other weaknesses. The v181 really is exceptional value for the money and I am glad to see Violectric getting more attention / into more systems. The V181+Antelope Zodiac+LCD-2 combo is still one of my absolute favorites. The V181 will remain a permanent member in my arsenal.

Are you referring to page 29 in the manual of the V181, where it talks about configuring balanced operation via jumper settings? Because that actually has to do with using both of the 1/4" headphone jacks at the same time in balanced mode. That would require a special cable, such as this one: http://www.diyhifisupply.com/node/575

So the jumper is to switch configurations between having 2 normal stereo output jacks, or a single output using dual mono jacks. And that's separate from the 4-pin XLR jack. So in normal operation this wouldn't really matter. You might have to switch cables on the back from RCA to XLR, but then you could plug in either a single ended headphone or a balanced headphone and never have to open the case. At least that's been my experience.

Aside from that, you make some excellent points. I haven't personally heard the Zodiac/V181/LCD-2 combo but I imagine it is the bees knees. It seems like there are lots of people out there who own and very much enjoy the Violectric amps, yet somehow they don't get as much exposure around her compared to others. Maybe that will change. 

Ah, I see. So you are actually powering the monitors with the V181? I guess that could work since it delivers about the same power as some "flea-watt" amps I've seen.