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Bakoon HPA-21 headphone amplifier

Sep 18, 2014 at 11:23 AM Post #541 of 644
Also, any Bakoon-ites going to be at CanJam/RMAF this year? (Oct. 10-12 in Denver)
 
Looks like Bakoon was just added to the exhibitor list!
 
I'll be there on Friday and the first half of Saturday if we want to get a Bakoon user's group meeting/drinking session pulled together. 
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Sep 18, 2014 at 11:24 AM Post #542 of 644
The Japanese Bakoon looks perfectly fine, except the ugly orange volume knob... LOL

They should put a silver or black metal volume knob and I bet it would looks much better. :p
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 11:27 AM Post #543 of 644
archeryc said:
The Japanese Bakoon looks perfectly fine, except the ugly orange volume knob... LOL

They should put a silver or black metal volume knob and I bet it would looks much better.
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Yeah, I'm much more partial to the design of the Bakoon International products than the Japanese versions, although the former engineer in me does feel a certain attraction to the industrial-like nature of the Bakoon Japan products, orange accents and all! 
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 11:36 AM Post #544 of 644
appleheadmay said:
I think I'll wait for your comparison first.  :D

No, seriously, after a lot of digging I chose for two amp: the Japanese Bakoon and GS-X.
I'm expecting the GS-X end of the year and after comparing both for a few months I will then decide which of them to keep for the phones I like (closed dynamics) and use the money for buying a Zana again so I have a top SS and tube amp.

As I mentioned in the TH-900 and JP Bakoon threads I had no time yet to do some serious listing, just enjoying some music when still working at home late at night.
It's a really powerful amp without distorting, has a nice warmth and brings the mids forward, something I feel is needed on the TH-900.
From what I could gather from PM-ing with a fellow HF-er it seems the Japanese version has more bass slam. But that's only talk, I have no way to back that up.
The Satri boards in my amp are not the standard ones the Korean version uses, so there will be more of a difference than you would have with the standard JP version that uses the same boards as the Korean version I can imagine.
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Yeah I gonna buy the one with upgraded SANTRI-UL board as well. But it's the standard version. Looking forward to hear it with my TH900. :)
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 11:52 AM Post #546 of 644
vert said:
  It would be interesting to hear the Bakoon AMP-12R to see if it's better in the department.
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I own both the EAR HP4 and the Bakoon AMP-11R. I pair the LCD-3 with the Bakoon which is a very synergistic combination. I notice no lack of quality or quantity of bass but one must keep in mind that the Bakoon does not accent any particular frequency range although it has been said that the sound is just a tad warm, especially for an SS amp.
 
According to Darin at Jaguar Audio, the AMP-11R does have a rather long break-in period for optimal performance.
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 11:53 AM Post #547 of 644
appleheadmay said:
You mean the standard volume control?
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Maybe? I'm not so sure, as they recommended me to do the standard SANTRI-UL upgrade. (They have Winging, Metal Film and Variable Resistance ATT), I chose the variable resistance which is the standard version of SANTRI-UL.
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 11:59 AM Post #548 of 644
The variable one is indeed the standard volume control, on both the Satri UL and Satri EX versions of the map.
 
It's like that;
First choose with Satri boards you want: EX (standard) or UL (at upgrade cost).
Then choose the volume control you want: variable (standard), metal film or winging (both at upgrade costs).
 
So that makes for 6 possible versions of the amp.
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 12:35 PM Post #550 of 644
appleheadmay said:
The variable one is indeed the standard volume control, on both the Satri UL and Satri EX versions of the map.

It's like that;
First choose with Satri boards you want: EX (standard) or UL (at upgrade cost).
Then choose the volume control you want: variable (standard), metal film or winging (both at upgrade costs).

So that makes for 6 possible versions of the amp.
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Do you know what's the differences between these 3 resistance volume control? Does the standard one are far not as good as the Winging version?
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 12:57 PM Post #551 of 644
archeryc said:
Do you know what's the differences between these 3 resistance volume control? Does the standard one are far not as good as the Winging version?
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I'm far from an expeert on the matter but I prefer stepped volume controls.
 
There's a discussion going on about them now in the JP Bakoon thread.
 
Sep 18, 2014 at 6:08 PM Post #552 of 644
dr. roberts said:
   
I own both the EAR HP4 and the Bakoon AMP-11R. I pair the LCD-3 with the Bakoon which is a very synergistic combination. I notice no lack of quality or quantity of bass but one must keep in mind that the Bakoon does not accent any particular frequency range although it has been said that the sound is just a tad warm, especially for an SS amp.
 
According to Darin at Jaguar Audio, the AMP-11R does have a rather long break-in period for optimal performance.
Click to expand...

 
Yes and yes on the synergy and warmth. If you looked up synergy in the audiophile dictionary you would find a picture of the Bakoon and LCD-3. 
 
My only complaint at this point is it takes some time for the amp to warm up and reach the magic level during a listening session.
 
Sep 19, 2014 at 5:54 AM Post #553 of 644
Few months ago I tested:

HUGO -> HPA-21 (European version) -> Th900 and... I did not find it better than HUGO direct -> TH900 !

Am I the only one that do not find the Bakon-Fostex synergy fantastic ?
 
Sep 19, 2014 at 6:19 AM Post #554 of 644
bmichels said:
Few months ago I tested:

HUGO -> HPA-21 (European version) -> Th900 and... I did not find it better than HUGO direct -> TH900 !

Am I the only one that do not find the Bakon-Fostex synergy fantastic ?
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I like the synergy of TH900 - Bakoon combo, that's with HPA-21, but speaking the best amp for TH900 I think it would be the Luxman P1u or the HDA-5210MK3
 
Sep 19, 2014 at 8:27 AM Post #555 of 644
bmichels said:
Few months ago I tested:

HUGO -> HPA-21 (European version) -> Th900 and... I did not find it better than HUGO direct -> TH900 !

Am I the only one that do not find the Bakon-Fostex synergy fantastic ?
Click to expand...

 
I had a Neko Audio D100Mk2 and the HPA21 + TH900 combo. Way too much bass. The bass was nice but I didn't have enough treble or midrange. Changed DAC to Audio GD NFB-2. Much better. Still a bit too bassy. I ended up giving up. Sold TH900 and HPA21. Apparently the Eximus DP1 would have been a great DAC to try with it. 
 
Considering trying again. I now have Audio GD Reference 7 coming and might try recabling a TH900 with Hybrid OCC Copper and Silver Litz. Will try it with HPA01. 
 
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