hodgjy
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2010
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Hum? How loud is it?
Loud enough to be unacceptable for a $3000 amp.
Hum? How loud is it?
X-HA1 is slightly narrow ranged. The characteristic of the HD800 is wide ranged sound, so many people say X-HA1 is mismatched to HD800. I think too.
Furthermore, X-HA1 has a little white noise. When you use high or middle impedance headphone, this noise is not audible. But with low impedance or high sensitivity headphone, slight noise can be heard. When 'Phone Gain Switch' is turned to HIGH position, obvious noise is heard even with Beyer T1. X-HA1 stays cool during operation. It consumes only 9W. I think X-HA1 is good for HD650, HD598, T1.
ORB JADE Casa is also popular. It costs approx. $480. It is single ended only. The unique characteristic of JADE Casa is 'Dynamic Switch'. When this switch is pushed, the alternative opamp is selected, the sound becomes powerful. It is not a tone control circuit. This product becomes very hot. I do not have JADE Casa, but I have JADE-2 Limited, the precursor of Casa. Its sound is mild and slow. It is suitable for relax listening, not for severe monitoring.
I have Blossom BLO-3090, fully balanced amp. But this is discontinued item. 1 year before, the last one is sold at $1000. This is good for balanced HD700.
Loud enough to be unacceptable for a $3000 amp.
Don't forget the CEC HD53N balanced headphone amp. I have this amp and I love it.
There's a lengthy thread on this portable, hand-built tube amp from "Analog Squared Paper" from Japan. Lot's of information, tube rolling etc: http://www.head-fi.org/t/632518/analog-squared-paper-discussion-and-appreciation-thread
Designer's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Analog-Squared-Paper-Japan/262588443852940
And the website: http://www.analog2p.com/index.html
Ii am happy with luxman p-200. Perhaps a used one?
Make sure whatever you get will work on international voltages, otherwise you'll have to buy a large and heavy voltage adaptor transformer with the amp, which may compromise sonics.
I think there were about a dozen Japanese manufacturers in one room making amps at the Tokyo headphone festival. Of those I'm not sure many will sell to overseas buyers, but even those that do, the amps are very expensive -- $2k and above at least. Analogue Squared Paper is probably the least expensive.
Many japanese audiophiles simply belive that "more expensive, is better". So some products are obviously overpriced. But we must consider that the japanese audio market is relatively small (most of manufacturers do not sell to worldwide).
EDIT: and why the hell can we not find decent cheap stuff like monoprice cables?! I mean... its the simple things that you just cant find in Japan.
When and if they sell cables its all but 100% impossible to find the impedence of cables. Hell. Even some major firms.... Audio Techinca looking at you... wont even publish the impedence specs of their headphones amps, and I can find no reviews sites, English or Japanese that have measured it. Yet it remains one of the highest selling, most popular amps in Japan. BTW I am looking for an extension for some headphones. Everyone recomends monorpice. I would like to use my IEMs at home but the cables are FAR too short to reach my setup. Any ideas?