AMP >= Pheonix

[peanuthead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukja /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any Sonett users kind enough to pitch in? Thanks! Bear with my ignorance on the DAC. For a DAC like DLIII, will the RCA output be non-balanced (since lower output voltage) and inferior to XLR output? This would be bad for Sonett. Thanks for some education.

Well, Sonett is a very very good amp. I've auditioned a lot of well regarded amps (including balanced set ups) and I'd say Sonett is definitely among the best. I chose the single-ended version for simplicity and flexibility.
I have a DLIII with stage 4 mods, and it's a very good match with the Sonett.
I could've gone for much more expensive amps, but Sonett just hit the mark for performance/price/satisfaction balance.

 

[dukja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by not_sure /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry I dont have too much experience with dacs and amps like you but I am interested what amps did you hear? There is many good amps which are unknown to headfi and are for normal money. I dont think you heard everything so be careful with it. Audio-gd is not only one company who keep lower prices.

If you have a change to try Phoenix or any excellent amp, you will know the difference and can easily tell them apart. Good for the ear, bad for the pocket.

 

[dukja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about an used Rudistor RPX-100, or HeadAmp GS-1. I really like the sound of Rudistor amps, although they do not have much of a following here.

Yes, the reply from this post raised my interest to Rudistor's offering. GS-1 was on my list, but I am not sure about SE setup after listening to the balanced setup.

 

[dukja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanuthead /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, Sonett is a very very good amp. I've auditioned a lot of well regarded amps (including balanced set ups) and I'd say Sonett is definitely among the best. I chose the single-ended version for simplicity and flexibility. I have a DLIII with stage 4 mods, and it's a very good match with the Sonett. I could've gone for much more expensive amps, but Sonett just hit the mark for performance/price/satisfaction balance.

Thanks for your impression on Sonett. I found some music that has more spatial information will benefit most from balanced set. On the other hand, if there is no such information in the music, then SE and balanced will sound similar.

I do hear the difference of SE/balanced connection between DAC & AMP but I am not sure if the difference mainly comes from DAC or AMP side. If AMP side takes more weight, then Sonett is way to go. Otherwise, it will suffer from not having XLR to use better signal from DAC side. This is my reasoning.