I’m selling my Violectric V281. This particular one has an interesting history - it is the actual unit that John Grandberg reviewed back in 2015 on Inner Fidelity. You can still find his review here:


https://www.earsunlimited.com/uploads/V281-Inner-Fidelity.pdf


As soon as that review was published, I called up Arthur Power to see if he would sell it to me. Thankfully, he did, and I've used it for many years now, driving a variety of headphones, including Focal Utopias, JH Audio 13's, Sennheiser 800 and 650, HiFiMan HE-5 etc, etc. This amp does great justice to them all, and allows you to appreciate the differences between them. It gets out of the way, and lets the music talk to the headphones. It also makes for a wonderfully capable preamp. (It doesn't have the DAC, just the amp.)


I used it, and loved it, for many years. I’ve since moved on to two-channel listening, mostly vinyl. No point in this one sitting around being used infrequently. Knowing I would be selling it, I sent it back to Arthur for him to check everything out. He replaced the volume knob. It's got the upgraded stepper type, and it's really lovely, with tight balance at low levels and even with sensitve IEMs. Everything is working great and sounding great. (My preferred mode is balanced. That's where the V281 really distinguishes itself with refinement and control.)

The front and back panels are flawless. The top of the case has a blemish and some small discolorations, and there's another one on the bottom edge. You'll see that in the pictures. Also in the pictures you can note that it has no serial number - confirming it is the unit in Grandberg's review. I'm told manufacturers take particular care in making sure their demo/review units sound just the way they want them to.

All in all, this is really an excellent specimem of a paradigmatic headphone amp. I am eager for it to find a good home where it will continue to receive lots of use and love.