antique sound lab MG HEAD DT OTL MKIII

[PaulSiegel1]

Does anyone have any experience with this amp, it seems like a good amp for the money. How does it sound? would it work well with a wide variety of headphones? im a noob in all this, so use small words...


Thanks,
Paul

 

[milesbeyondjazz]

I have one and I really like mine.It has a nice warm sound.I use it with all of my phones but it really sounds best with my Senn 600s and my AKGK501s.Sometimes I use it with my Grado 325is but I really prefer my Gilmore lite for them.Their have been some quality control issues with Antique Sound Labs in the past but I think that was with their older units.Mine works great.Hope this helps.

 

[spaceman]

My MKII worked/sounded just fine with Beyer DT880s and Ety ER-4Ss. Like a lot of other things, kinda wish I had kept it around.

 

[Orpheus]

The ASL MG Head's are famous for souding extermely well with the Senn HD-6xx series. They work very poorly for low impedance phones though. And ASL has had some very serious build issues. I've owned 4 ASL products and all had significant defects. However, many report having no problems with theirs, so... I dunno. Perhaps ASL finally got their game right. I do still have my original ASL MG Head (mk I you could say) that has been fixed and modded... and it works superbly. I'll never sell it.

 

[PaulSiegel1]

Sounds like a gamble really, any word on their return policy? i general use that as a marker of a companies reliability, and if ll theyll stand behind their own products.

i would have to say that at that price the look and potential sound, with tube rolling, would be my top choice, right now. That or a Meier Audio Corda aria. anything really in that price range w/ good potential to resell is good for me. can you all recommend any tube headphone gear in this price range?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Gradofan2]

You should also check out: XCAN v3, WooAudio 3, Laconic EC-01, Bada PH12, and G&W T2.6f. You can find all these between $300 and $400 new, or "like new" used. They're all great.

All have some tubes in the signal path - and "that's a good thing."

Check the reviews on Headfi (just do a search), www.audioreview.com, www.6moons.com; and do a general search for each with Google.

The latest ASL's may be OK... but, I'd get it from www.audioadvisors.com, which has a 30 day return policy, if you don't like it, and they'll honor the warranty. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews of the amp, and you've got several reports of reliability issues with the early units. Several report it sounds great with Senns... but, so do all the others noted above.

GF2

 

[Orpheus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 You should also check out: XCAN v3, WooAudio 3, Laconic EC-01, Bada PH12, and G&W T2.6f. You can find all these between $300 and $400 new, or "like new" used. They're all great. All have some tubes in the signal path - and "that's a good thing." Check the reviews on Headfi (just do a search), www.audioreview.com, www.6moons.com; and do a general search for each with Google. The latest ASL's may be OK... but, I'd get it from www.audioadvisors.com, which has a 30 day return policy, if you don't like it, and they'll honor the warranty. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews of the amp, and you've got several reports of reliability issues with the early units. Several report it sounds great with Senns... but, so do all the others noted above. GF2

yeah, just buy from a reputable dealer, and you'll be fine. as for the lack of reviews... this amp was all the rage back in the day. probably the most popular amp a few years ago. so, just use the search and you'll find billions of matches i'm sure.

 

[PaulSiegel1]

i think when i have the funds i may pull the trigger on this one...i feel like i just surrendered my wallet to head-fi, and im staring into the abyss that is audiophilia.

Paul

 

[go_vtec]

I'm with most of others in this one. Most of low end ASL products I've used were fine with high impedance cans like Sennheiser HD-6x0 series, but they were not great with low impedance cans like Sony. They generated fair amount of background noise with low impedance cans. I did like their sound signature and eventually owned ASL MG Head OTL 32 for a while, but the quality wasn't the greatest. Their higher end models seem better quality, but with your budget, I would recommend trying some other good amps, such as WooAudio 3 or Bada PH12.