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Grado sr-80 + SOHA?

post #1 of 12
11/14/11 at 7:05am
Thread Starter 

So i've been lookin around at building my next amp. So far i've built a cmoy and it sounds pretty good...but needs a few tweaks and i need a dac. there are some other solid state amps that i've considered building, but now i'm lookin at the SOHA because i want to hear the 'tube sound'. i guess my question is...would that be overkill for a pair of sr-80's?

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post #2 of 12
11/17/11 at 9:37am
Thread Starter 

anyone own a SOHA and tried it with grado sr60's or sr80's?

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post #3 of 12
11/17/11 at 9:48am

Can't speak for the SOHA, but I've owned the SOHA /w JISBOS (much harder implementation) with my Grado cans and it did them justice.  If you want to try the tube sound, the MSSH is another relatively cheap option.

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post #4 of 12
11/18/11 at 4:58am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your input. I was thinking of building just the SOHA, then tweaking it later on (jisbos, cap tweaks, tube rolling, etc). From what i've read about the MSSH it seems the SOHA has the better sound, but i'll certainly have to do some more research. the problem i have is that most of these amps were tested using higher model cans, like the sr-225.

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post #5 of 12
11/18/11 at 10:23am

Yes I agree with the SOHA sounding better than the MSSH as the SOHA current is higher, which is what Grado's need to really sing.  I wouldn't worry to much about how your SR80 compares to the SR225 and up.  In general, from my experience if it sounds good with one Grado, it will sound good to the rest of the model line.  Of course YMMV.   Save some coin and go at a meet or hook up with local head-fiers that has higher end Grado's  to listen with your new creation and determine for yourself if going higher up makes a big difference or not.  The SR80 is a great can for its respected price range.  If you plan on listening at a more critical level especially with more complex tracks made of symphonies and the like, the wooden Grado's does add a nice touch to the sound that for me was noticeable. 

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post #6 of 12
11/18/11 at 7:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by alphaphoenix View Post

Yes I agree with the SOHA sounding better than the MSSH as the SOHA current is higher, which is what Grado's need to really sing.  I wouldn't worry to much about how your SR80 compares to the SR225 and up.  In general, from my experience if it sounds good with one Grado, it will sound good to the rest of the model line.  Of course YMMV.   Save some coin and go at a meet or hook up with local head-fiers that has higher end Grado's  to listen with your new creation and determine for yourself if going higher up makes a big difference or not.  The SR80 is a great can for its respected price range.  If you plan on listening at a more critical level especially with more complex tracks made of symphonies and the like, the wooden Grado's does add a nice touch to the sound that for me was noticeable. 


Sorry, but I think you have that backwards, re: MSSH vs. SOHA.  The origiinal SOHA only used an opamp output with no Class A bias at all.  So current was limited to basic CMoy-type output.  Even with the JISBOS buffers (a fairly difficult implementation as you say), the Class A bias was only up to about 50ma even with heat sinks.  Without heat sinks, the recommendation was about 25ma.

 

Conversely, the Starving Student used a MOSFET output buffer that was biased by the tube heater current in each channel - 150ma, minimum.

 

You are right that Grados like something with a lot of current output capability and the Starving Student is only exceeded in that regard by other MOSFET amps such as the M3, MOSFET-MAX, or B22.

 

You're also correct that the tubes are better in the SOHA, but there are some Starving Student implementations that use 12AU7 tubes, too.smily_headphones1.gif  

 

 
 

 

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post #7 of 12
11/18/11 at 9:44pm

Thanks for the corrections Tom.  To the OP, Tom is the man for the MSSH and the Minimax. There are authoritative threads on both amps with Tom being a major contributor. 

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post #8 of 12
11/19/11 at 5:56pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the suggestions. I've heard the sr-225's and 325is's through the grado ra1 amp. My local shop has Grado in their headphone lineup so i got to listen to a special test cd i made. Quite the difference from my headphones in my opinion. Some songs where my 80's sound like they were struggling those sounded like they weren't even trying.

 

As far as the jisbos buffer goes it doesn't look that hard to implement. Helps that i'm goin to school for circuits and such. Something that does catch my interest is a Starving Student using 12au7 tubes. Any idea where i can find a schematic on such a design? And yeah, certainly dont want my headphones begging for more current. They do that with my cmoy and it really shows when the bass hits.

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post #9 of 12
11/19/11 at 7:43pm

Start here:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/319231/millett-starving-student-hybrid-amp/3870#post_6024902

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post #10 of 12
11/20/11 at 5:22pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for that. after a brief look through of that thread i'm now considering doing the regular ssmh. apparently the 12au7 tubes dont glow much. and if i have tubes i kinda want them to glow...blink.gif

 

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post #11 of 12
11/20/11 at 5:44pm

The issue with the standard MSSH build is that the 19J6 tubes are becoming more scarce and much more expensive than it use to be.  If the glow is of higher priority over sound, to each their own, I guess.


Edited by alphaphoenix - 11/20/11 at 6:59pm
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post #12 of 12
11/20/11 at 7:20pm
Thread Starter 

oh certainly not. sound reigns supreme. guess i'll have to cheat and use some led's. :(  want to keep the costs to a minimum.

 

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