Review: Violectric HPA V200 amp - Page 126

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan 

I actually found the rca's better by a good margin and returned the xlr's.

Yes, it varies and depends on many things. That is why the statement: "There isn't a difference between rca and xlrs" is wrong in my opinion. Seems like you agree.

Of course sometimes there may actually be little or no difference, sometimes rca's are better, but every time I have compared the two in my setups XLR has come out ahead.

If I compare RCA vs. XLR - the RCA wins. If I play music - it doesn't matter. 

Hi all, i got hold of a new v200 demo unit (about 40-50hrs use) a few days ago, but i'm really puzzled about the sound. From all the comments and reviews i read it appeared to be the perfect amp for my lcd-2 r2. I auditioned it at the hifi store alongside the burson conductor (amp only) connected to my naim cd5 player.

Comparison Notes

V200

- Increased bass presence, but less natural, slightly artificial
- Vivid & lucid female vocal tones
- More exciting. A kind of high energy "electric-y" sound, but not lush like tubes
- Rolled off highs
- Mid range glare
- Wood instruments sound like they're being played through an amped up guitar speaker

Soloist

- Much more natural bass notes
- Vocal tones similar to v200, but less "colourful"
- Higher resolution sounding, greater high frequency clarity
- Wider soundstage
- Slightly pale sounding


Prior to listening I'd made the decision to go for the amp that was most engaging, regardless of detail retrieval. I felt the v200 won here, but obviously wasnt 100% on buying it. I took that demo model home to give it a chance, because i did enjoy part of the sound and wasnt sure if the unpleasant aspects i'd noticed were due to my cd player or if maybe i just needed to get used to the sound.

Its been 3 days now and i've tried both my naim cd5 and my asus xonar essence st with flac format. The mid range glare is there on both sources. That glare isnt there when using the built-in asus amp or my little dot i+ amp. The asus and little dot amp are a much nicer listen compared to the v200 even though the v200 sounds fuller, wider and more vivid.

My amps sound more like hifi and the v200 sounds like a good PA sound system, but with little finesse. There's a kind of hardness and the usual dead space between instruments seems to be filled with glare. There's never any of the softness and lushness to the sound that i'm used to with my other amps.

This is why its puzzling. I'm sure this isnt the sound that so many have raved about. Makes me suspect there's something wrong with it. Any ideas?
 

No ideas, but why did you get the v200 if you like the asus and little dot?

I dont think i'm getting the best out of the lcd-2 with those amps though and the v200 is a big improvement in some areas "sounds fuller, wider and more vivid". Thats why i'm trialing it at home to give it a chance. I expected my initial issues might disapear as i got used it, but they havent yet.
 

I get the feeling that the V200 is more like a Ferrari than a Ford -- meaning that it is more sensitive than other amps to things like the DAC, cables, volume adjustments, etc.  I had to make a few adjustments with all those before my V200 showed it's stuff.  Of course it is possible, but unlikely, that you somehow have a bum unit . . .
 

I know most don't use the optional dac, but I got to say, to my ears, I really like it and prefer it to all the budget dacs I had(pico dac, hrt II+,bifrost, odac, audio gd nfb-3), maybe except for the corda symphony.

I think it's definitely a good option to get it if budget dacs are all you going to use.  Honestly, I used to be detail freak who had to hear every little thing, but now I care more about the tone, timbre and presentation. 

So having said that, the optional dac is really sufficient.  To me, after a certain minimum point(at which most budget dacs suffice), the amplifier becomes more important than the dac.  This is just my opinion but just wanted to share for those struggling about the optional dac in v200. Cheers. 

When I told Robert at aphroditecu29 that I was enjoying the V200, he said, wait until you get to 200-300 burn in.  Is there any significant change? 

ha ha . . . he said the same thing about my HD800s  I just got them back last week.  The headphones were used when I sent them in for balanced cables.  So I'm a little skeptical that breaking in copper wires makes a big difference.  When it comes to breaking in vacuum tubes or the mechanical parts of headphones, it seems more plausible.  So breaking in transistors in the V200? -- why not.  Who knows, my newly balanced headphones sound better and better every day.  Maybe it's the wires being broken-in, or other adjustments made to the system.  I chalk it up to headphone lore and enjoy . . . .
 

ok so i've got it set up like this right now:

computer --> Nuforce HD amp/dac --> V200 --> HD800.  i want to include my 5.1 speakers + receiver... so that when I unplug the headphones, the sound goes directly to the receiver/5.1 speakers.  how can I do this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

I know most don't use the optional dac, but I got to say, to my ears, I really like it and prefer it to all the budget dacs I had(pico dac, hrt II+,bifrost, odac, audio gd nfb-3), maybe except for the corda symphony.

I think it's definitely a good option to get it if budget dacs are all you going to use.  Honestly, I used to be detail freak who had to hear every little thing, but now I care more about the tone, timbre and presentation. 

So having said that, the optional dac is really sufficient.  To me, after a certain minimum point(at which most budget dacs suffice), the amplifier becomes more important than the dac.  This is just my opinion but just wanted to share for those struggling about the optional dac in v200. Cheers. 

I might be able to score a V100 in the short term and I was wondering if retrofitting it with Violectric USB Dac would give me acceptable performance compared to other budget alternatives...

sling5s if it's not asking to much from you could you elaborate a bit more on your impressions of the Violectric Dac?

Using the USB input version hopefully shouldn't mean much differences sonically...

I'm going to use this amp to power my modified GMP400 and I expect to hear an improvement over the Yulong D100 amp (sold), and I'm hoping that the Violectric USB Dac doesn't become a noticeable bottleneck...

Does anyone else some use a built-in Dac in the V100/200 amps?

Any more impressions to share?

Thanks!

What inputs do you normally use on the receiver?  Are there alternative inputs to the receiver?

paceee

What inputs do you normally use on the receiver?  Are there alternative inputs to the receiver?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

When I told Robert at aphroditecu29 that I was enjoying the V200, he said, wait until you get to 200-300 burn in.  Is there any significant change? 

I have had my stack for about 4-5 months and it is sounding better than ever!