[Energy]

I currently have a HeadAmp GS-X MKII & AMB BETA 22 (Balanced) in hand and am planning to do a comparison.
 
Since they are both high-end reference amplifiers, I decided to throw in another amplifier that's sparked a lot of commotion nowadays, the Schiit Raganrok in which I am in the process of purchasing from a fellow Head-Fi'er.
 
One thing I've noticed over the last few years is that love for the AMB BETA 22 has depleted.
 
My question is:
 
1. Who still owns a Beta 22?
2. Do you still like it after having tried other products? (Cavalli Liquid Gold, Auralic Taurus MKII, Chord Dave, etc)
3. Have you ever compared it to the GS-X MKII or Ragnarok?
4. What's your verdict?
 
To me, I have gone back and forth countless times listening to the GS-X MKII and Balanced β22. Both sounds extremely similar, but in the end, I kept the β22. Now having another GS-X MKII in hand years later, I part of me wished I kept it due to it's smaller form factor. Don't get me wrong, I still think a balanced β22 is better to my ears, but sometimes by a 2-5% it doesn't matter as much when other factors are taken into consideration.
 
What's everyone else's input?

 

[jh4db536]

Beta22 - reeks of MOSFET (positive or negative depends on your taste). Quite neutral tonality with a splash of warmth which is good. Forward presentation with slightly scooped mid, slightly laid back. Highs well extended, but smoothed like MOSFET...better than glare of many ss amp however still unnatural (vs totl tube). Average in fullness of sound, but given current SS amps actually might be relatively above average. My biggest gripe about it is that I wish it had tighter bass control and a little more crispness. Was expensive back in the day, I see them for bargains now. Worthy competition in my mind is those krell ksa5 variants, dynahi, and AGD balanced amps. It's still currently my main SS amp, but doesn't get as much use as I like (toob bugs got me right now). Going to get a loaner Master9 and see what happens.

Raggy, is textbook bright tonality like hd800 stock and you hear this things sound signature from a mile away. Has completely rolled bass. Highly resolving and clear (strong point). Very lean and sterile sounding. Balanced only due to topology, not sure why they even bothered with se output jack. Cost double+ used b22 balanced, doesn't work for me.

 

[riemann]

Hello Energy, I'm interested in building an AMB Beta 22.

Have you then managed to do a comparison between the Beta 22 and the Schiit Ragnarok?

 

[Energy]

Hello Energy, I'm interested in building an AMB Beta 22.

Have you then managed to do a comparison between the Beta 22 and the Schiit Ragnarok?

I prefered the BETA 22 by a long shot. I recommend building a balanced one.

 

[riemann]

Yes that was my idea...

Have you ever tried an headphone amp that you consider better than a balanced Beta 22?

 

[Energy]

I found the HeadAmp GS-X MKII to sound close to the BETA 22. It was a hair or two more neutral (slightly less bass with more lean treble rather than smooth). I still found the AMB one more to my liking and for the money if you were to DIY one, worth.


I recommend using decent parts though. For me it really helped with the sound output. I used things like Elna Silmic II’s over conventional electrolyic capacitors which helped to provide a smoother sound with better bass impact. Certain parts I even went as far as finding hard to sought out parts and even matched all of my output MOSFET’s. Pure silver solid core wires were used instead of copper ones to adjoin several areas on B22 PCB. Extra heatsink was mounted to the MOSFET’s so I could increase it’s output power. I felt like all of them attributed in improving the overall resolution.


Here is my build guide.
https://www.amb.org/forum/beta-22-build-log-by-energy-t2777.html


I’m making another one soon with a LCDuino-1 and R2R Ladder Stepped Attenuator for fine adjustment. That’s the only thing I felt my current BETA 22 was not good at.. and that was proper volume adjustment.

 

[riemann]

Really nice build!

Do you have a rough estimation on how long did it take to complete it and how much was the total cost fot the build?

 

[chillysalsa]

Haven't heard the Beta or Ragnarok, but the GS-X is basically a balanced Dynalo. I built a couple of those, and the sound is very similar to the Krell KSA5, but more refined. Not surprising, given the Dynalo was based partly on the Krell. The Dynahi was much more open and authoritative sounding than the Dynalo, and so it stayed as my reference to this day. Compared to the Dynahi, the Krell sounds a bit etched and grainy through the midrange. The Dynahi is the more smooth, and refined of the similar designs, with much bigger sound stage. Though i have always preferred the sound of discrete class A designs which don't use coupling capacitors. My choices would be, based on budget going upwards:

KSA5 clone
Dynalo
GS-X
Dynahi
Balanced Dynahi

 

[Energy]

Really nice build!

Do you have a rough estimation on how long did it take to complete it and how much was the total cost fot the build?

Took a couple of weeks to acquire everything. I can build it in a single day if I wanted to. Cost around $800-1000. It can be even cheaper if you use flat-line parts (parts that are just enough to meet specs and not boutique).

Haven't heard the Beta or Ragnarok, but the GS-X is basically a balanced Dynalo. I built a couple of those, and the sound is very similar to the Krell KSA5, but more refined. Not surprising, given the Dynalo was based partly on the Krell. The Dynahi was much more open and authoritative sounding than the Dynalo, and so it stayed as my reference to this day. Compared to the Dynahi, the Krell sounds a bit etched and grainy through the midrange. The Dynahi is the more smooth, and refined of the similar designs, with much bigger sound stage. Though i have always preferred the sound of discrete class A designs which don't use coupling capacitors. My choices would be, based on budget going upwards:

KSA5 clone
Dynalo
GS-X
Dynahi
Balanced Dynahi

I got the same impression listening to those although I haven't had enough time with the Krell. To me the Beta 22 is better than them all including Dynalo & Dynahi (balanced). I had time to compare it to the GS-X MKII and found it to sound better but not by a long shot. It was slightly warmer, more detail retrieval, forward in the mid-range (slightly). less treble happy, and a splash of warmth (hair below neutral). It's a perfect combination for my Focal Utopia's and Holo Audio Spring DAC. I am soon having it re-made using a ladder type stepped attenuator instead of a series one so that there will be less resistors in the signal path for higher fidelity. Not sure why so many people utilize shunt network but the idea of the variable input impedance being affected is not a good idea. Anyways you should really try one out in the future. I'll try to bring mine to as many meets as I can.