Review: Violectric HPA V200 amp - Page 120

A question for those of you that have heard the V200 paired with the Sennheiser HD 800s, how does this combo deal with older recordings, e.g., classical recordings from the 50s? Can this combo bring out the beauty of these recordings without always reminding you that you're listening to an inferior recording? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Best,
Joel

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by avrosse 

A question for those of you that have heard the V200 paired with the Sennheiser HD 800s, how does this combo deal with older recordings, e.g., classical recordings from the 50s? Can this combo bring out the beauty of these recordings without always reminding you that you're listening to an inferior recording? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Best,
Joel

 

The HD800s are by far the preferred headphones for classical music. http://www.head-fi.org/t/612250/headphone-comparison-sennheiser-hd-600-hd-700-hd-800-hd-25-1-and-the-amperior-audio-technica-ath-m50s-audeze-lcd-2-rev-2-and-the-lcd-3  And I have no hesitation in recommending the V200 along with the HD800s for classical music. Of course, the source material and DAC are all important consideration as well.

As to your question about vintage recordings, I think it is fair to say that state-of-the-art high quality audio equipment is never the friend of earlier technology recordings.  Who, afterall, still listens to 78RPM disks?  (I know you are out there !!!)

The question of whether earlier recordings (classical or otherwise) stand up to the clarity and precision of today's qudio equipment is really a matter of trade-offs. In general, any audiophile would prefer excellent performances over mediocre ones, and they would prefer higher audio quality over inferior recordings. So the question for the collector is whether the performance quality of an earlier recording outweighs the disadvantages of possible lesser audio quality. I think it becomes a matter of personal taste. I love the Horowitz 1941 recording of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, but even with re-mastering and even though "RCA Victor had reached a new standard in high fidelity, which was only limited by the surface noise of the shellac discs". There is just too much audio missing for me to truly enjoy these recordings. On the other hand, the Fritz Reiner remastered Scheherazade (1956) is a truly magical performance that outweighs the audio limitations in my opinion. On the bright side, there are many newer recordings that combine both superb performances and high quality audio. You may enjoy hunting them down on Amazon, and in the Gramophone Guide.

As for price and shipping on the V200, I would check with Robert at http://aphroditecu29.com/Violectric/Violectric.aspx

If you order from Germany, there will be a surprise import duty of about $50 when it arrives.  I got mine from Germany in about 4 days, but the final price was almost the same as ordering from Aphrodite.  http://www.violectric.de/Pages/en/products/hpav200.php

Sorry, I tried to read through it but missed that it comes with an Dac option.  How is the Dac inside the Violectric V200 compared to the V800 and other Dacs (the Dac in the Burson, ODAC, Bifrost, NFB-3, HRT STreamer II, Pico Dac, Centrance Dacport, etc)?  Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico613 

 

The HD800s are by far the preferred headphones for classical music. http://www.head-fi.org/t/612250/headphone-comparison-sennheiser-hd-600-hd-700-hd-800-hd-25-1-and-the-amperior-audio-technica-ath-m50s-audeze-lcd-2-rev-2-and-the-lcd-3  And I have no hesitation in recommending the V200 along with the HD800s for classical music. Of course, the source material and DAC are all important consideration as well.

 

As to your question about vintage recordings, I think it is fair to say that state-of-the-art high quality audio equipment is never the friend of earlier technology recordings.  Who, afterall, still listens to 78RPM disks?  (I know you are out there !!!)

 

 

 

The question of whether earlier recordings (classical or otherwise) stand up to the clarity and precision of today's qudio equipment is really a matter of trade-offs. In general, any audiophile would prefer excellent performances over mediocre ones, and they would prefer higher audio quality over inferior recordings. So the question for the collector is whether the performance quality of an earlier recording outweighs the disadvantages of possible lesser audio quality. I think it becomes a matter of personal taste. I love the Horowitz 1941 recording of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, but even with re-mastering and even though "RCA Victor had reached a new standard in high fidelity, which was only limited by the surface noise of the shellac discs". There is just too much audio missing for me to truly enjoy these recordings. On the other hand, the Fritz Reiner remastered Scheherazade (1956) is a truly magical performance that outweighs the audio limitations in my opinion. On the bright side, there are many newer recordings that combine both superb performances and high quality audio. You may enjoy hunting them down on Amazon, and in the Gramophone Guide.

 

As for price and shipping on the V200, I would check with Robert at http://aphroditecu29.com/Violectric/Violectric.aspx

 

If you order from Germany, there will be a surprise import duty of about $50 when it arrives.  I got mine from Germany in about 4 days, but the final price was almost the same as ordering from Aphrodite.  http://www.violectric.de/Pages/en/products/hpav200.php

Hey Rico613, thanks so much for your great response. My primary interest lies in opera. In that genre, unfortunately, nobody that sings today can really match the great talents of the past such as Callas, Pavarotti, Bjorling, etc. My question relating to the HD 800s and the V200 is whether this specific combo compared to other combos does fairly well with older recordings or whether, because of the highly detailed sound signature of the HD 800s, the hiss and other mistakes in older recordings make them very unpleasant to listen to. My only comparison is the Grado RS1 connected to a Lehmann Linear amp. That combo seemed to do very well with these older recordings. Yes there was hiss, etc., but these issues were very much in the background and the beauty of the music was really allowed to shine through. My hope with using the V200, which seems to be a warmer SS amp, is to take just a touch of the edge off of the HD 800s to make these older recordings sound more pleasant without really compromising the overall sound picture too much. Any thoughts?

Quote:

Originally Posted by avrosse 

Hey Rico613, thanks so much for your great response. My primary interest lies in opera. In that genre, unfortunately, nobody that sings today can really match the great talents of the past such as Callas, Pavarotti, Bjorling, etc. My question relating to the HD 800s and the V200 is whether this specific combo compared to other combos does fairly well with older recordings or whether, because of the highly detailed sound signature of the HD 800s, the hiss and other mistakes in older recordings make them very unpleasant to listen to. My only comparison is the Grado RS1 connected to a Lehmann Linear amp. That combo seemed to do very well with these older recordings. Yes there was hiss, etc., but these issues were very much in the background and the beauty of the music was really allowed to shine through. My hope with using the V200, which seems to be a warmer SS amp, is to take just a touch of the edge off of the HD 800s to make these older recordings sound more pleasant without really compromising the overall sound picture too much. Any thoughts?

The HD 800 is quite 'bright' at higher frequencies, around 6.3 KHz for example. However, the operatic voice does not reach those frequencies.  I just sampled a Maria Callas CD that included a couple early mono recordings.  One of these was a bit "scratchy", but every other cut sounded fabulous.  I've never heard "hiss" coming from the V200.

I'm not familiar with the Grado RS1 or Lehmann Linear Amp.  If you only listen to the early operatic recordings, and you are satisfied, maybe your curent setup is sufficient for you needs.  On the other hand if you want to get into a full, deep, rich sound stage that brings out the maximum from high quality CD's or SACD's  you won't regret the V200 with the HD 800s.  (feel free to PM me if you would like to continue our discussion.)

Hello! Long time lurker and first time poster.

I'm seriously considering the V200 and V800 combo. The stack would look nice and save me some space on my desk. I've read all 120 pages of this thread but I several questions.

What headphones would pair best with the V200/V800 - the HD800 or the LCD v2? (I listen to pretty much anything aside from classical and jazz)

My original plan was to get a Sonos, an iPad and a nas but I've decided against it, so I'm looking for a great headphone solution instead. My thought is to the plug the V200 into the V800 via XLR and plug that into my PC via USB but reading this thread it seems this isn't the best option and I should get a Hiface 2 and use a coax cable? My PC doesn't have a soundcard but it does have an optical input and so does the V800 - so would that be an option?

I was looking at the prices of some of the cables you guys are using and it makes my eyes water! Going for the V200/V800 and 1k's worth of headphone would put me on the back foot way past Christmas, but if I can figure out what sort of cost I'm looking at for everything, it would really help.

Could any of you recommend decent XLR cables (and possibly a coax) in the budget of around £250-300 which I can find in the UK?

I'm not even sure this whole idea is a good one as the dac will be fed into my PC (and I guess this would be the weak link in the chain?) . Should I scrap the whole V200/V800 LCD/HD800 combo and look elsewhere instead? I don't mind eating beans on toast for the next 3 months if it means I can get awesome sound for the rest of my life.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Anyone know if someone here (head fi) plans on selling their V200.  I've been checking the "for sale" thread and nothing.

A used one is really hard to fine.  I guess it's a good sign. 

And I've never seen single Violectric amp on ebay for a month. It's very good sign too.

I'd been using the V200 together w/ an M1 DAC-A and my HD800 for quite a while, loved how these sounded. Just got a V800 to replace my M1 DAC, the improvement is quite obvious to me. This setup makes me tap my toes when listening to my favorite musics. I don't have any experience with many amps except an X-CAN V8P which was replaced by V200 w/o any regret. 

And I agree w/ some guys here, the stack of V800/V200 doesn't take much space, they look great together, and they make my HD800 and RS1 sound very nice too:

gorgeous setup, and I love your headband cover!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyerlove 

gorgeous setup, and I love your headband cover!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks :)

Other than headphones, my other hobby is photography. Other than taking my kids photos, I just love to take photos of my gadgets.

Yeah, I noticed that I forgot to mention to your photos' very high quiality after I pressed submit button.

Very detailed and beautiful pictures indeed. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyerlove 

Yeah, I noticed that I forgot to mention to your photos' very high quiality after I pressed submit button.

Very detailed and beautiful pictures indeed. 

Thanks again :)  

Is there a phone no for Aphrodite Cu29?  Would like to someone before I order?  They don't seem to reply to email.

Anyone also know there return policy? 

Just ordered.  Hoping for best of SS and Tube.  :)

Will use with LCD-2, Magnum (Grado hybrids) and JH13pro

Tube qualities I'm hoping for: warm, musical and 3D but not slow, smeared and syrupy

SS qualities I'm hoping for: fast, dynamic and punchy but not bright, thin, sterile, and flat

Well I'm sure I won't get all these on my list but hopefully most of them.  :)