A great Solid State amp?
Apr 2, 2011 at 2:02 PM Post #31 of 58
I have been using a HR BUDA with balanced HD800s for the past year or so and it is an excellent amp IMHO.  I absolutely love the sound.  Very liquid mids, smooth highs and very powerful and controlled bass.  This amp effectively stopped any upgraditis dead in its tracks.  Paired with the UDAC it is an awesome combo.  Not talked about much unfortunately here on Head-Fi but with the great customer service and return policy, how can you go wrong?
 
Apr 2, 2011 at 10:11 PM Post #33 of 58
Of the six amps you've mentioned, I've only heard two: β22 & Luxman P-1u. Assuming you're going with a HD-800, I think you would be happy with either choice (I'm not saying that the other four are not as good, just that I've no personal experience with them). The biggest difference between those two amps is whether or not you want to go balance with your HD-800. To me, a balanced HD-800 sounded different than single-ended, not better or worse, juse different. I liked them both, and at the end I went with a P-1u.
 
Since this is a pretty big investment, I do recommend you to find either a local dealer or attend a local meet to see which one of these amps best cater to your taste.
 
 
Apr 3, 2011 at 3:05 PM Post #35 of 58
I guess not if you don't like opamps
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Apr 3, 2011 at 3:12 PM Post #36 of 58
I guess not if you don't like opamps
beerchug.gif

I didn't realize that designs incorporating opamps are carte blanche labeled as toys!
 
Apr 3, 2011 at 3:13 PM Post #37 of 58
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Apr 4, 2011 at 5:47 PM Post #39 of 58
I heard an old version of the UDA Maxxed at the meeting, having AH-D7000, GS1000i, PS1000 and T1 on hand. It's not hi-end yet. Op-ampish sound tonally put on the warm side of things. I rated it below two other designs - solid state and a hybrid amp built on a dual triode and a single-ended MOSFET transistor output biased with a current source based on the same type of transistor. Both didn't show the characteristic harshness and distortion caused by most op-amps especially working in a global NFB loop with a discrete or integrated buffer at the front. Sure all the amps were unbalanced but given the same price I guess the BUDA and the UDA utilize components of the same quality, just the choice is between more outputs and power stages or the internal DAC. You can obtain better sound after thorough modification of the Lovely Cube amp or alike.
 
Apr 4, 2011 at 6:21 PM Post #40 of 58
Quote:
majkel said:
I heard an old version of the UDA Maxxed at the meeting, having AH-D7000, GS1000i, PS1000 and T1 on hand. It's not hi-end yet. Op-ampish sound tonally put on the warm side of things. I rated it below two other designs - solid state and a hybrid amp built on a dual triode and a single-ended MOSFET transistor output biased with a current source based on the same type of transistor. Both didn't show the characteristic harshness and distortion caused by most op-amps especially working in a global NFB loop with a discrete or integrated buffer at the front. Sure all the amps were unbalanced but given the same price I guess the BUDA and the UDA utilize components of the same quality, just the choice is between more outputs and power stages or the internal DAC. You can obtain better sound after thorough modification of the Lovely Cube amp or alike.
Click to expand...

When you listened, do you remember what the source was?  Or was it using the built-in DAC?
Thanks!
 
 
 
Apr 4, 2011 at 11:29 PM Post #42 of 58


Quote:
brasewel said:
If you read my comments, I have actually heard it and thought it was an awesome amp.
 
 
Click to expand...


I realise it could have looked like I implied you didn't hear the amp, which was not my intention, sorry.
I was just in general wondering why it is that this amp is not spoken of more on these forums. There seems to be very few owners,
 
 
Apr 4, 2011 at 11:36 PM Post #43 of 58


Quote:
majkel said:
I heard an old version of the UDA Maxxed at the meeting, having AH-D7000, GS1000i, PS1000 and T1 on hand. It's not hi-end yet. Op-ampish sound tonally put on the warm side of things. I rated it below two other designs - solid state and a hybrid amp built on a dual triode and a single-ended MOSFET transistor output biased with a current source based on the same type of transistor. Both didn't show the characteristic harshness and distortion caused by most op-amps especially working in a global NFB loop with a discrete or integrated buffer at the front. Sure all the amps were unbalanced but given the same price I guess the BUDA and the UDA utilize components of the same quality, just the choice is between more outputs and power stages or the internal DAC. You can obtain better sound after thorough modification of the Lovely Cube amp or alike.
Click to expand...


Thanks,
Op-ampish sound? I thought op-amps could sound quite different, also depending very much on their implementation.
Harshness and distortion while still being on the warm side of things?
I have a difficult time trying to get a picture of it's sound signature. 
 
 
Apr 5, 2011 at 1:55 AM Post #44 of 58
Quote:
kees said:
Thanks,
Op-ampish sound? I thought op-amps could sound quite different, also depending very much on their implementation.
Harshness and distortion while still being on the warm side of things?
I have a difficult time trying to get a picture of it's sound signature. 
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was hoping for balanced wire with gain ... and lots of it! 
wink.gif

 
 
Apr 5, 2011 at 7:16 AM Post #45 of 58


Quote:
kees said:
I realise it could have looked like I implied you didn't hear the amp, which was not my intention, sorry.
I was just in general wondering why it is that this amp is not spoken of more on these forums. There seems to be very few owners,
 
Click to expand...


Hey no problem, I hadn't taken any offense to it. What's wierd is a few people own it as well. I was at a large meet a month ago and just 1 person turned up with the BUDA. Strangely it's always out of stock on their website. I'm planning on selling my Concerto/Stagedac combo and getting the BUDA and Matrix-i Dac to power my balanced LAs for a fully balanced setup.
 
 
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