Review: Violectric HPA V200 amp - Page 65

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

 

Numbers and measurements?  Take it to the appropriate forum.  The science forum. They have plenty of threads there for that.  In this thread we use our ears.

x2!

And how are we supposed to give numbers for soundstage?  That's not something you can bust out a tape measure for. 

As for hormonal changes and the like, you're getting a bit carried away there.  I don't expect any upsurge or plummeting of my hormones in the second that it takes me to unplug my headphones from the V200 and plug them into the amp of the Benchmark Dac1.  You might've missed the part where I mentioned an A/B comparison.
 

X2 this is the VG200 review thread and seem like everyone comparing phonitor and such and amps other than the V200. I have over 100 hou rs listening to the V200 and its a very  good solid state amp. I like what I have been hearing and hopefully by the end of next week I have  enough information for me to write the review. This one is especially not easy for me as there is two other SS amps I have in house for comparison and both do have their strong points as well. The Decware amps are not really a contest for the V200  as IMO both the Taboo and CSP2 are much better but for a solid state amp the V200 is a special amp indeed. More next week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

 

In terms of the V200 soundstage I have been able to actually increase the soundstage in my rig (W4S DAC-2, V200, LCD-2 r.2) by adding a Shunyata Venom 3 power cord to the DAC-2.  This not only increased the dimensionality of the entire rig but also increased the   width of the sound stage.  Many folks have found a Venom 3 to be most helpful on their digital source.  then when I added another Venom 3 to my V200 the inertia of the benefits form the Venom 3 on the DAC-2 carried into the V200.  
 

i agree with this 100%.  i own this rig, and it is outstanding.  and it took a quite distinctive step up with the venom 3 power cables.

it made a believer out of me...

also, in my humble opinion, also having owned the Phonitor for a short time, the V200 is a better amp for most headphones.

that, however, could be argued.  yes, the Phonitor is more analytical and thrusts detail at you more.

but, the V200 is a more enjoyable listen...

My V200 is louder using the RCA than the XLR.  I was under the impression that the XLR connection has more voltage?  Does anyone know if this is something to do with the settings on my Benchmark or the V200?

you have to check the output specs of the Benchmark for the RCA and the XLR, I doubt they are the same.

For me when I went to XLR from the DAC-2 to the V200 I had to lower the volume because the RCA and the XLR outputs are different.

As you can see here the unbalanced output level of the W4S DAC-2 is much lower than the Balanced output.  seems to be half the output of the Balanced. the stronger XLR output for me is what seems to have opened up the V200 more when I went Balanced out from the W4S into the V200.    Your situation may be different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

you have to check the output specs of the Benchmark for the RCA and the XLR, I doubt they are the same.

 

For me when I went to XLR from the DAC-2 to the V200 I had to lower the volume because the RCA and the XLR outputs are different.

 

 

As you can see here the unbalanced output level of the W4S DAC-2 is much lower than the Balanced output.  seems to be half the output of the Balanced. the stronger XLR output for me is what seems to have opened up the V200 more when I went Balanced out from the W4S into the V200.    Your situation may be different.

There are internal jumpers in the Benchmark.  Maybe the previous owner adjusted them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saintly 

There are internal jumpers in the Benchmark.  Maybe the previous owner adjusted them.

 

Still you need to find out what the RCA and XLR outputs are for your model.  It will give you better insight as to how it is combining with the V200.  there are a few who have found the RCA connection to be better, I believe in those instances it was more up to the quality of the DAC than anything to do with the V200.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

Still you need to find out what the RCA and XLR outputs are for your model.  It will give you better insight as to how it is combining with the V200.  there are a few who have found the RCA connection to be better, I believe in those instances it was more up to the quality of the DAC than anything to do with the V200.

Just read the manual and it turns out that the XLR is preset at +4dBu while RCA is at +8.2 dBu at 0 dBFS. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the sound quality. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saintly 

 

 

Just read the manual and it turns out that the XLR is preset at +4dBu while RCA is at +8.2 dBu at 0 dBFS. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the sound quality. 

From those numbers it would seem the XLR output is lower than the RCA output which would mean a smaller signal going into the V200 from the XLR output than the RCA and thus the need for more volume from the V200 when using the XLR of the Benchmark.  does it say what the voltage output is?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

From those numbers it would seem the XLR output is lower than the RCA output which would mean a smaller signal going into the V200 from the XLR output than the RCA and thus the need for more volume from the V200 when using the XLR of the Benchmark.  does it say what the voltage output is?
 

 

Yep, does seem that way.  The RCA preset value is 2V rms.  They have instructions on opening the case and adjusting the internal jumpers but I'm not sure if the current situation is important enough to warrant that.

Btw, I have my Apple earbuds plugged into my V200 being fed through the Benchmark right now.  Honestly, it sounds really good.  I'm not the pickiest person when it comes to audio and most things sound pretty good to me, but this is shockingly good considering what they are.
 

I received a new v200 amp today from Robert at Aphroditecu29.  It's gorgeous. This forum, again, helped me with my decision, thanks.

Question:  I am currently running a pair of unbalanced RCA interconnects from a nuforce icon hdp dac/pre-amp to the inputs of the v200. However, I am unsure about which device to use as my primary means of controlling the volume, the nuforce icon hdp or v200?  When connected to my nuforce dac/pre-amp, I essentially have two ways of controlling the volume, through the pre-amp and the v200.  

Is there a way to break away the DAC output of the nuforce and bypass its amplification sending just the DAC output to the V200?   From what I can see from The specs below theICON was not designed to run its RCA line out for the purpose you are trying to achieve.  It is my understanding that the LINE OUT is for a subwoofer connection.  Either way even if you can use the RCA out into the V200 you'd be double amplifying and I'm not sure you want to do that either.  To be honest I'm not sure you can use the ICON in the manner in which you desire but I could be wrong. Maybe someone else can offer better speculation than I can on this matter.

Thanks warriorant.  That is what I feared. I tellya, when I A-B, the dang nuforce sounds better, and I don't think that's possible.  I do usually have the icon's rca's going out to some audioengine A2s. I took those RCA interconnects off the A2s and connected them to the V200.  Does not sound bad, but there is no wow with the V200 in my current set-up. I did run this all by Robert at Aphroditecu29, and he did not indicate that this would not work, but you have done some extra research here, and maybe that this is news that is important to note.  I wonder if I should reach out to Fried at Lake People?

Yeah, it's not close, the bass coming out of my HE-500s and the details and the treble and the blah blah blah are superior with the nuforce.  My connection cannot be correct.

BTW, I have had this avatar here for like ten years, and your signature is like a crazy coincidence.

It can output to an amplifier.  It uses a special adapter in order to get the subwoofer out.  According to their diagram (bottom right going from HDP to amplifier).

"Subwoofer connection - a RCA male to two RCA female AudioQuest adapter can be used to provide extra connection to subwoofer."

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

Is there a way to break away the DAC output of the nuforce and bypass its amplification sending just the DAC output to the V200?   From what I can see from The specs below theICON was not designed to run its RCA line out for the purpose you are trying to achieve.  It is my understanding that the LINE OUT is for a subwoofer connection.  Either way even if you can use the RCA out into the V200 you'd be double amplifying and I'm not sure you want to do that either.  To be honest I'm not sure you can use the ICON in the manner in which you desire but I could be wrong. Maybe someone else can offer better speculation than I can on this matter.

Good question shoot Freid an email he will give you a detailed explanation on whats going on . He good that way.