Review: Violectric HPA V200 amp - Page 122

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 

LifeAspect - if a black background is what you are after, free of any grit, hum, hiss, etc, the V200 is the one for you. It's absolutely dead silent, whether I used a 600 ohm T1, a difficult planar model, or a low impedance high sensitivity IEM. You can't even tell it's on but for the blue power LED. 

Is that while in balanced use or just in general?

Quote:

Originally Posted by project86 

LifeAspect - if a black background is what you are after, free of any grit, hum, hiss, etc, the V200 is the one for you. It's absolutely dead silent, whether I used a 600 ohm T1, a difficult planar model, or a low impedance high sensitivity IEM. You can't even tell it's on but for the blue power LED. 

+1

I have recently been using my V800/V200 pairing with my collection of In Ear Monitors and it is fantastic. No hiss whatsoever. The sonics are great!

I gave Fred an email about the internal optional dac and here's what he had to say:

The DAC option for V100 / V181 / V200 is made with PCM 1798 which is a "better than average" D/A converter which can be found in medium to upper class CD players. 

The problem is not the D/A converter but more the USB interface which wont eliminate Jitter artifacts as good as the one inside V800. So, if you have the opportunity to go for coaxial or optical interconnection, I would recommand this instead of the USB version.
Of coarse V800 with all of its inputs and the resampler inside is a class of its own.

But there are many users who are content with the "budget" solution of the DAC Add-on for the headphone amps.

Best Regards

Fried 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

Is it too early to judge?  

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

 

Is it too early to judge?  

I recently read something about a solid state amp needing "break-in time" . ??? . . not too sure about that, but I do know from experience that it is important to run the V200 with the volume pot turned up to at least the 3 o'clock position.  I leave mine set there all the time and control the volume from the pre-gain switches and from the DAC volume control.  Let us know how it goes . . .

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

 

Is it too early to judge?  

The best solid state amp to get that "tube magic" like SQ is IMO the AMB M3 with the OPA627/637, so perhaps you can look into that as well (since they come up for quite cheap these days anyway). V200 is definitely much more on a neutral side compared to those. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

 

Is it too early to judge?  

The V200 is quite a revealing amp, and it scales up well with different source components and cables. Are you using the optional on board Dac for the V200? If so, that may be the root of you being underwhelmed. The amp does lend itself to some burning in, plus you can do the internal adjustments like lifting the grounds, and taking out the low pass filter. Adjust the pre gains so that you are listening at between 12-3 on the volume pot! Hope this help you enjoy the amp a little more.

I have the LCD2 and I find it quite magical with the V200... 

Can anyone help with the pre-gain switch.  When +6 is switched up, it's double gain.  For the quadruple gain, are you supposed just switch the +12 gain alone or both the +6 and +12 up?

Aren't you suposed to lower the gain rather than increasing it, if you wanna use the V200's volume knob some place between 12 and 3?

Anyway; regarding the gain switches. In theory+12 should equal the quadruple factor. 12 and 6 combined would provide even higher gain. I say in theory, because you should use your ears to determin the optimum gain switch positions taking your DAC into account. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

 

Is it too early to judge?  

That's interesting.  I can't speak from experience as I haven't heard this amp (planning on getting it!) but I've read this entire thread over the past few days. There were a few discussions about how the initial impressions may not be a 'wow moment', and that gear that does have an immediate WOW effect often doesn't maintain long-term appeal.  Maybe the amp will open up with time, maybe there's room for improvement upstream in your setup, maybe your ears will adjust to the sound, or maybe this just isn't the amp for you.  It's tough purchasing these kinds of items without hearing them - I'm planning to place my order based solely on recommendations from here.  Keep us posted on how it goes though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Just received the v200.  Listening with LCD-2 and JH13.  Kind of underwhelmed.  Maybe I expected too much.  Expected a little more magic-tube magic.

But it's not warm but neutral.  At least to my ears.  It does have deep bass extension but I expected it to be more dynamic with a little more punch.

Maybe I was expecting a Lry sound but only solid state.  It does remind me of the O2 amp, except with just a hint of more warmth and midrange fullness.  

But I don't know if I can justify the price between O2 vs V200.  

 

Is it too early to judge?  

I thought the V200 was supposed to be a neutral sounding solid state. Wouldn't getting an actual tube amp be the thing to do if you want some "tube magic" ? 

Either my ears are opening up to the sound and it's presentation or the amp is opening up.  I do notice the more lively and "wet" (not flat and dry) presentation of the music.  It's subtle but it's there.

Each new equipment tends to train your ears, I guess this is no different.  I think there was more a "wow" with the Schiit Lyr- the the V200 is more subtle.

Ok.  I think I'm getting why all the "love" for this amp.  But I do think my internal dac is definitely holding the amp back.  But just don't have the budget at this moment. 

After about 20hours, my impressions have changed.  Definitely a keeper.  

I don't know if it's the resolving strength of the v200 amp but even with the optional dac, I'm hearing things I didn't hear before with my other amps and dac: audio gd c-2 and audio gd nfb-3 combo; Lyr and Bifrost combo; pico dac/amp; centrance dacport and so on. 

wow, imagine with the v800.  I envy those who have the v800. 

Thanks project86.  I know I whined a bit in the beginning but I'm really loving the v200 thanks to you and your review.  In some way, at least to me, the v200 possesses the vintage sound that I find in pioneer series like the Pioneer SX-737.  It's hard to find modern gear that has that same sound.  many thanks