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The Astell & Kern AK240
Apr 5, 2014 at 10:25 PM Post #2,657 of 9,131
Hey kh,
 
Didn't you order a Cypher Labs amp recently? Did you ever get in?
 
I'm actually thinking about getting a Vorzüge VorzAMP Pure II. It never stops with us head-fi guys ... 
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Apr 5, 2014 at 10:32 PM Post #2,658 of 9,131
jwbrent said:
Hey kh,

Didn't you order a Cypher Labs amp recently? Did you ever get in?

I'm actually thinking about getting a Vorzüge VorzAMP Pure II. It never stops with us head-fi guys ... :D
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Yeah Fed Ex dropped it, and my new cables off a few hours ago. I'll be home tomorrow to play with it. I hear very good things about the Vorzuge amp, would have got that, but no balanced out, for my HD-800
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 10:44 PM Post #2,659 of 9,131
kh600rr said:
Yeah Fed Ex dropped it, and my new cables off a few hours ago. I'll be home tomorrow to play with it. I hear very good things about the Vorzuge amp, would have got that, but no balanced out, for my HD-800
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Great news on your amp. Burn that baby in over night with your new cables. I can't wait to hear your thoughts ...
 
Yeah, I know, no balanced out. I've been going back and forth on that. I ordered a set of cables from Double Helix terminated with their custom made, solid bronze and hard anodized gold plated connector with a bead blasted aluminum barrel. I may have to get a second cable with a 3.5mm if I go with the amp ... or just change my order and have it terminated with a 3.5mm. I've never played with balanced headphone outs, so I'm not really sure what improvements I would hear. I am familiar with high end home gear using fully balanced circuity and XLR connections—definite improvement there.
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 10:57 PM Post #2,660 of 9,131
jwbrent said:
Great news on your amp. Burn that baby in over night with your new cables. I can't wait to hear your thoughts ...

Yeah, I know, no balanced out. I've been going back and forth on that. I ordered a set of cables from Double Helix terminated with their custom made, solid bronze and hard anodized gold plated connector with a bead blasted aluminum barrel. I may have to get a second cable with a 3.5mm if I go with the amp ... or just change my order and have it terminated with a 3.5mm. I've never played with balanced headphone outs, so I'm not really sure what improvements I would hear. I am familiar with high end home gear using fully balanced circuity and XLR connections—definite improvement there.
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I was just getting ready to look at double helix. I think I might pop for a pair of Noble K-10's, and was gonna look at some balanced cables, for the AK-240
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 11:22 PM Post #2,661 of 9,131
kh600rr said:
You guys are killing me, I just got the AH-240 a few weeks ago, and now you got me thinking about adding a Hugo to it!! Your gonna Bankrupt me ..
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I listened to the AK120 (which I already had) into Hugo and the AK240 side by side at the LA Head-fi Meet-up. For me it was a choice, and a difficult one, because I couldn't really justify both. My takeaway was that you wouldn't need the Hugo if you had an AK240. You've arrived at the current state of the art. You should wait for the next step forward before buying more. But if you haven't done balanced yet, there's more quality to be had from your AK240. I listened to my own HD800's and a pair with a balanced cable and the differential connection is a very big improvement.
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 11:24 PM Post #2,662 of 9,131
Ted at teds headfood is still my favorite vendor, but Peter seems like a great guy too. He's very meticulous on building his cables which is something I really like. Peter had a supplier of his custom build 2.5mm TRRS plugs that Peter feels are the very best available.
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 11:29 PM Post #2,663 of 9,131
Yeah,Double helix is so expensive though. Once I get new ciem's & cable , I'm done spending money for a long while. I'll keep shopping around. I've checked out Teds before, I'll have to give him another look.
 
Apr 5, 2014 at 11:29 PM Post #2,664 of 9,131
sam edwards said:
  I listened to the AK120 (which I already had) into Hugo and the AK240 side by side at the LA Head-fi Meet-up. For me it was a choice, and a difficult one, because I couldn't really justify both. My takeaway was that you wouldn't need the Hugo if you had an AK240. You've arrived at the current state of the art. You should wait for the next step forward before buying more. But if you haven't done balanced yet, there's more quality to be had from your AK240. I listened to my own HD800's and a pair with a balanced cable and the differential connection is a very big improvement.
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Thanks, Sam, for your observations. I may have to sell some gear to get the Pure II amp and a second set of DHC cables for my XCs ...
 
Apr 6, 2014 at 8:58 PM Post #2,669 of 9,131
I try to make all areas in my system the best I can afford. It's only as good as it's weakest link. That said, it's hard to do a direct a/b with USB cables. So, out here it is kind of a can of worms, in fact much cable discussion deteriorates eventually if not immediately. In other areas that are cable related, I find little difference for instance in optical cables but big difference in digital coax so it can be a mixed bag to sort out.
 
Apr 6, 2014 at 9:05 PM Post #2,670 of 9,131
That's one heck of a quagmire you're entering into.
 
Since yesterday, I've been smitten with an amazing violin recording, the first I've owned where the full glory of the sound of a violin was audible (maybe I need more music!). It is Julia Fischer playing Sarasate from HDTracks.  Violins and piano, are, of course, the hardest instruments to reproduce in a digital format. 
 
Out of curiosity I've been switching between using a regular USB cable and a short Oyaide Neo d+ with an adaptor. I expected no difference. With a regular USB mini cable, the sound of the violin felt very slightly off, even before I switched cables, but even enough I wouldn't have felt like listening. Much to my annoyance, the sound is very slightly more open and the violin sounds more natural. It is very subtle. I have no doubt that with, if not all, then most of the rest of my music, I wouldn't have noticed a difference.
 
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