[john57]

If the H10  and the Violectric on the warmer side I think that I would prefer neutral to slight cooler. 

 

[zilch0md]

....and I did! The PollyChen fellow from eBay seems to be responsive and wants to make a good name for his store, so we'll see how it goes. I'll report back when the H10 arrives.

 
Thank you for taking one for the team!  
 

 

 

[Kyno]

....and I did! The PollyChen fellow from eBay seems to be responsive and wants to make a good name for his store, so we'll see how it goes. I'll report back when the H10 arrives.

Found how to order it, I'm probably going to pull the trigger in the following days too 

 

 

[stuartmc]

  Found how to order it, I'm probably going to pull the trigger in the following days too 

 

If you are dealing with pollychen0306 on Ebay, tell him Stuart sent ya! ha ha...maybe he will expedite my order.

 

[Kyno]

  If you are dealing with pollychen0306 on Ebay, tell him Stuart sent ya! ha ha...maybe he will expedite my order.

Hehe, I need to contact him about shipping so I might 

 
The only thing I'm afraid about this amp is the lack of warranty. I'd have 5 years with the Garage 1217 Polaris now known to pair well with the HE-560, whereas this one would be a pure loss if it stopped working :/

 

[stuartmc]

   
Thank you for taking one for the team!  
 

 My pleasure, but really FlySweep get's the main credit - proper attribution, don't ya know.  I've always gotten the most pleasure from finding the really affordable over-achievers in audio. Back in the day when I was a...ahem, stuffy highend reviewer for the big rigs, I eschewed the ultra expensive offerings from the likes of Audio Note, Jadis and Wilson and instead discovered and promoted some super affordable products of some really cool unknowns at the time.  I was the guy who put Von Schweikert's VR-4 loudspeakers on the map and the Golden Tube Audio SE-40 amp.
 
I'm just getting back into the game after a long hiatus and I'm very new to the headphone world, but nevertheless, I get a big kick out of researching the snot out of things and finding the affordable, often obscure, gems. I really think the H10 may be one of them.

 

[stuartmc]

  Hehe, I need to contact him about shipping so I might 

 
The only thing I'm afraid about this amp is the lack of warranty. I'd have 5 years with the Garage 1217 Polaris now known to pair well with the HE-560, whereas this one would be a pure loss if it stopped working :/

Pollychen's site says he gives a one year warranty. I think he requires you to pay shipping to him and then he covers the return shipping.  It may not be the most practical of warranties, but at least it is offered.  Most amplifier failures occur way before the one year mark, so I'm not too worried.

 

[Kyno]

  Pollychen's site says he gives a one year warranty. I think he requires you to pay shipping to him and then he covers the return shipping.  It may not be the most practical of warranties, but at least it is offered.  Most amplifier failures occur way before the one year mark, so I'm not too worried.

Ha! I wrongly assumed there wouldn't be a warranty... lesson learned
 
Well, being in Europe, I'd also have to pay shipping to the US for a failed Polaris so it's about equal for me. Remains the 1y vs 5y, but I suppose most failures bound to happen because of a deficiency indeed happen rapidly, although I still wonder how likely it is to fail after a while. Does this kind of amp generate a lot of heat?

 

[stuartmc]

Ha! I wrongly assumed there wouldn't be a warranty... lesson learned

Well, being in Europe, I'd also have to pay shipping to the US for a failed Polaris so it's about equal for me. Remains the 1y vs 5y, but I suppose most failures bound to happen because of a deficiency indeed happen rapidly, although I still wonder how likely it is to fail after a while. Does this kind of amp generate a lot of heat?

Well it is class A biased, but there is a fairly massive heat sink running the length of the cabinet, so I would think it dissipates it's heat handily. Flysweep could let us know definitively, but I'll wager it's way cooler than any of the Schiit amps.

 

[Sergey Kor]

Hello everyone! 
Yes wondering how it differs from the sound Violectric V200, advantages and disadvantages, if any (other than price).

 

[No_One411]

  Ha! I wrongly assumed there wouldn't be a warranty... lesson learned
 
Well, being in Europe, I'd also have to pay shipping to the US for a failed Polaris so it's about equal for me. Remains the 1y vs 5y, but I suppose most failures bound to happen because of a deficiency indeed happen rapidly, although I still wonder how likely it is to fail after a while. Does this kind of amp generate a lot of heat?

Hi, 
 
I have the Gustard H10 on daily for about 6 hours and it does not seem to get very hot at all...
 
Compared to other Class A amplifiers, it actually runs quite cool. 
 
Hope this helps!
 
--Jeff

 

[Kyno]

  Hi, 
 
I have the Gustard H10 on daily for about 6 hours and it does not seem to get very hot at all...
 
Compared to other Class A amplifiers, it actually runs quite cool. 
 
Hope this helps!
 
--Jeff

Thanks, it does. I guess some heat isn't an issue, or we would all have our computers failing within a year, so as long as I can't cook eggs on it... 

 
Out of curiosity, how would you compare your H10 to your O2?

 

[No_One411]

  Thanks, it does. I guess some heat isn't an issue, or we would all have our computers failing within a year, so as long as I can't cook eggs on it... 

 
Out of curiosity, how would you compare your H10 to your O2?

I don't think the two can even compare. The H10 is overall a better amplifier than the O2. 
 
I'll put it this way... I haven't listened to my O2 at all since I got the H10. It got relegated to my work desk.

 

[stuartmc]

I don't think the two can even compare. The H10 is overall a better amplifier than the O2. 

I'll put it this way... I haven't listened to my O2 at all since I got the H10. It got relegated to my work desk.

Thanks for your input Jeff. I'm most intrigued by your comments about running balanced from the Anedio. One of the things that sold me on the H10 was it's fully balanced inputs. I have noticed in the past with preamp and amps, that the balanced xlr connections seemed to lower the noise floor and slightly expand the soundstage. I'm hoping that this holds true with my balanced DAC feeding it. I have identical interconnects with rca's and xlr's, so I'll play with this when the H10 arrives.

 

[No_One411]

Thanks for your input Jeff. I'm most intrigued by your comments about running balanced from the Anedio. One of the things that sold me on the H10 was it's fully balanced inputs. I have noticed in the past with preamp and amps, that the balanced xlr connections seemed to lower the noise floor and slightly expand the soundstage. I'm hoping that this holds true with my balanced DAC feeding it. I have identical interconnects with rca's and xlr's, so I'll play with this when the H10 arrives.

Hmmm....
 
The Gustard only has single ended output, so I don't know whether there is technically any advantage from using the XLR inputs. 
 
With that said, I do notice that there is a slight improvement with clarity, and I do notice a slightly wider and deeper soundstage with my large orchestra tracks. I simply use the XLR inputs so that I can use my Anedio's RCA outputs to simultaenously power my Vali. With balanced outputs, I'm able to use the 0 dB pre-gain setting, and stay below 12. This is probably because of the increased output levels from the Anedio XLR outputs.
 
Even from the RCA inputs though, the Gustard never sounds boring, thin, or harsh. The amp is very dynamic, and lies slightly warmer side of perfectly neutral. If you've heard the Matrix M-stage, the Gustard servers as an improvement in every aspect. This statement also extends to the O2 as well. 
 
While the Gustard H10 is very similar to the Violectric amps, I'm afraid I can't comment much on that comparison since my experience with those amps is very very limited.