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Ray Samuels "Dark Star" Initial Impressions - Chicago MiniMeet May14, 2011 - Page 3

post #31 of 56
5/24/11 at 4:47pm

i gotta say RSA comes up with the coolest names evar. 'Dark Stars' is impressive even without an audition. wonder if we up in canuckistan will ever get a chance to audition one.

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post #32 of 56
5/24/11 at 6:08pm

Dark Star? Is it suppose to run Darth Beyers and Luke Skybeyers?tongue.gif

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post #33 of 56
5/24/11 at 6:45pm

Ray Samuels is a headphone god. He is the man of the hour. Very cool designs man.

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post #34 of 56
5/24/11 at 9:18pm

looks interesting. i assume more expensive than Apache but less than or about equal to B52?

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post #35 of 56
5/24/11 at 10:26pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by warp08 View Post

On that one I will quote Audio Addict's relevant post, which has the answer:  http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/554091/chicago-meet-impressions-5-14-11#post_7473534


Not sure what "well over 50% pure class A" means. First 40-60 Watts/ch in class A? Hard to believe. For an example, the Parasound JC-1 monoblocks do their first 25 Watts/ch in class A, and they've got WAY more heat dissipation capability. Or, look at the Pass Aleph 3 @ 30 Watts/ch pure class A - the thing looks like a porcupine with all its heat sinks, and it still gets hot enough to turn the black anodized aluminum purple after a few years.

 

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post #36 of 56
5/25/11 at 6:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottiebabie View Post

i gotta say RSA comes up with the coolest names evar. 'Dark Stars' is impressive even without an audition. wonder if we up in canuckistan will ever get a chance to audition one.


The name "Dark Star" came from the latest USAF UAV, as the pictured on the cake.  The series name "Emmeline" came from the first name of Ray's lovely daughter.

 

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post #37 of 56
5/25/11 at 6:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by vcoheda View Post

looks interesting. i assume more expensive than Apache but less than or about equal to B52?



I hope it won't be as expensive as the B-52.  It depends largely on the cost of the chassis, which was not yet known at the time of the meet.  Should be cheaper than the chassis of the A-10.  The B-52 chassis does not yet feature the expensive milled extrusions which make it not only cooler looking, but a lot sturdier since it enables the amp to be safely stacked on top of the PSU.

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post #38 of 56
5/25/11 at 4:23pm

I hope at some time in the future I will actually be able to hear and touch one. It would be like going for a ride in an ultimate concept car or blasting off to the moon. :^) 

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post #39 of 56
5/25/11 at 4:31pm
I should be getting one for review in a week or so - really looking forward to it.
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post #40 of 56
5/25/11 at 6:26pm

^^ try to get hold of a balanced HD800. would be interested in impressions.

 

thanks

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post #41 of 56
5/25/11 at 6:29pm
I own the HD800, and a balanced Moon Audio cable, so that's no problem at all.
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post #42 of 56
5/25/11 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mulveling View Post

 


Not sure what "well over 50% pure class A" means. First 40-60 Watts/ch in class A? Hard to believe. For an example, the Parasound JC-1 monoblocks do their first 25 Watts/ch in class A, and they've got WAY more heat dissipation capability. Or, look at the Pass Aleph 3 @ 30 Watts/ch pure class A - the thing looks like a porcupine with all its heat sinks, and it still gets hot enough to turn the black anodized aluminum purple after a few years.

 


have to say this more than makes sense. i've seen home stereo 20wpc class A amps & they had wayy more heat sinks than anything the Dark Star's showing...plus its 20wpc at 8ohms which makes it about wot 4-6wpc@50ohms? regardless 5wpc 8wpc or 50wpc, its wayy more than any headphone will need or use so lets hope its sounds greatwink.gif

 

lookin forward to your review skylab

 


Edited by scottiebabie - 5/25/11 at 9:11pm
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post #43 of 56
6/21/11 at 9:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post

I should be getting one for review in a week or so - really looking forward to it.

Skylab,

Did you receive the Dark Star for review?  If so, were you able to compare both the Dark Star and Lyr?

 

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post #44 of 56
6/21/11 at 9:44am
I have not received the review Dark Star yet. Ray knows I only review final product - no prototypes. So I am sure he is waiting for that.

Also I have never heard the Lyr unfortunately so cannot compare those.
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post #45 of 56
6/21/11 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 

There are three units in existence, final specs, all that's left to do is the silk screening of the faceplate graphics.

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