Audio-gd Master-5/6/8 balanced head amp/ preamp - Page 4

yippee, mine shipped too!

You are almost done !!!! Looks like just a few more hours of work FD !

 

You are in a for a real treat once you have the RE"X" back in the signal pathway. The DM with the Pinkie is a nice low cost alternative (relatively low cost) but be prepared to pick your jaw off the carpet once RE"X" is inserted.

 

Excellent....congrats !!

 

Peete.

Edited by Pricklely Peete - 9/27/11 at 4:59pm

Delivered!

 

Heavy & sturdy as all Audio-gd stuff.

No scratches and dents.

Posted a quick pic in my gallery.

Have to go to work now, will upload some more pics later today.

Looking forward to your opinions vs Phoenix

 

really interested to know how it compares the leben or LF though price tag is twice as much

A quick first impressions.

Packaging was perfect as always.

Some light damage on the left back corner. Nothing really serious. Probably happened during packaging. Unfortunately still "standard" on Audio-gd stuff. Also, degreasing is necessary. Build precision is fair. Also a really sharp edge on the back side. It's heavy and sturdy though. This is still "as good as it gets" with Audio-gd. I buy the brand for it's sound quality, so for me it's perfectly acceptable.

Because the DAC and Master-5 have the same size, I can put the latter on top. I expect it to get as hot as my Phoenix. On top there's better heat dissipation.

The new ACSS connector is a lot better, it clicks and locks. I like the short black cable (the older one was pink). No pink power cable. No serial cable.

As a rule, do not listen to new Audio-gd stuff before burning in at least 200 hours. After connecting everything, I could not resist putting the HD650 on my head. Wow, this thing sounded great COLD! My Phoenix has to warm up at least an hour to get some bass and clarity, but the Master-5 is cold almost on the same level. This is promising...

 

 

Edited by BenBau - 9/30/11 at 1:45pm

How much did everything with shipping costs and custom fees set you back Ben?
 

 

Total: 1380 euros.
Tax was "only" 95 euros (we even have to pay import tax over the shipping costs over here).
Customs value $300 - Stated as "PC sound card"
Edited by BenBau - 10/1/11 at 6:05pm

But you don't need to wait with pictures. :p

Thanks Tim, it looks amazing on top of your DAC. 

They do look good together. I liked the separate PS with the Phoenix but it does make sense that they'd make a HPA to match their larger DACs. Of course it must make for a very large system?

Do you still need to use the DI?

Do you have different phones? I'm curious how you like the push button volume esp wrt to switching phones. I like being able to tell where the volume is before I turn my amp on and I like knowing exactly where to swing the knob for my grado's or sens or etc.