[master83]

So, anyone got the SuperMicro from Xin yet? Just wanna hear as much impressions as possible.. how would you compare this amp to a non-portable amp in power and sound quality? I got an e-mail from Xin today saying that my amp is shipped (but I live in Norway so it takes awhile) and that it took so long (about 3 weeks) because he didn't want me to recieve a unperfect amp.

 

[Ray Jr.]

That Super Micro is in the top of my list right now (along with the Super Mini, another SS and SET amp later on for wall and/or battery use). I might try it with Sennheiser HD 650 headphones.

If I had lower power Grado headphones, they would drain the battery less. But even with the Super Mini larger version, I'm tempted to beef up the battery capacity with my own Sanyo NiCad or NiMH pack. Sanyo’s are THE PREFERRED rechargeable batteries in the RC and hobby industry where reliability and performance are of concern. If the drain were higher, I'd lead more toward NiCad.

I'd even beef up the 9-volt battery supply in the Grado RA1 amp, after all a 9-volt battery is simply 6-1.5 (or 1.2 volt for NiCad or NiMH) volt tiny N cells inside. Just wire some AA or AAA cells in a proper voltage pack. A 9-volt battery to me is like a cell phone battery - they make you pay A LOT extra per milliamp or watt-hour. Nothing a simple solder and good shrink-wrap couldn’t cure.

To me a few more AA's or AAA's wouldn't hurt portability much (even as an "extra external pack").