http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/
It takes a lot of confidence to name your product after the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. If your going to honor the legendary mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft, your design better not blow or your reputation in HiFi will become worthless.
The Emmeline "The Black Bird" SR-71A Portable Headphone Amp lives up to its name. Here I have it strapped to my iPod Classic 7th (now almost a relic/collectors item) and the HiFiMAN HE-400 magnetic planar headphones. I think the HE-400 sounds better with this amp, yeah the HE-400 has 93db sensitivity, but I'm not going to debate that sensitivity here.
I'm using the pricey Mil-Spec (military specifications) silver wire 30 pin line out dock, I'm not going to make the claim that the silver wire is better than copper wire or that interconnects in general are just a HiFi scam. I do believe that balance connections have proven fidelity advantages over single ended designs, shielded has an advantage over un-shielded line, aftermarket headphone cables can alter the sound compared to stock cables, tubes and solid state amps sound different, military spec components measure better than bottom bin mass produced components, some circuit designs sound better to me than others.
Recon Mach 3 setup..
iPod Classic 7th Gen, CD quality WAV files only
Mil Spec 30 pin LOD by Ray Samuels
Emmeline "The Black Bird" SR-71A Portable Headphone Amp by Ray Samuels
HiFiMAN HE-400 Headphones with HiFiMAN silver coated copper cables
(2) 9-volt Duracell Copper Top Batteries
Rubber Strap
Clear for take off
Both the original SR71 and the SR71B also have distinctly powerful and clear sound signatures too. Don't hesitate to try them and compare them to the SR71A sound if you should come across either at a meet.
Happy listening.