[PeterCraig]

I have the Master 19 which I use as both a pre and headphone amp. It drives both my Arya and HE6se with ease and authority. You will find the quality is top notch.

I would suggest the Master 9 if you can stretch it. I'm going to move that way when I get the chance. Why? Because I love the M19 so much.

 

[Astral Abyss]

I have the Master 19 which I use as both a pre and headphone amp. It drives both my Arya and HE6se with ease and authority. You will find the quality is top notch.

I would suggest the Master 9 if you can stretch it. I'm going to move that way when I get the chance. Why? Because I love the M19 so much.

I only have the NFB-1AMP and even it powers my HE6 no problem. Don't worry about quality, their equipment is very well made. No noise even on my super efficient headphones.

I quoted the wrong person.

 

[dougms3]

I am resident in Australia and currently considering purchasing a MASTER 19 direct from the manufacturer, as I do not know of any sellers in Australia.

The majority of reviews and posts appear to imply the musical ability of the MASTER 19 is very good, but I have also seen posts nominating reliability issues with their Audio-Gd equipment.

If purchased I would be using the MASTER 19 with a Mirus Pro DAC and a ME850 Speaker Amplifier, but have yet to purchase any headphones.

I would appreciate any constructive advice on the above to help me evaluate if the MASTER 19 would be a worthwhile purchase.

I have the M19 and I love it but I found it to be quite a noisy amp. I live in an apt and I think my filthy power supply is one of the culprits. And to be honest I don't think that thin aluminum wall is doing much to shield the noise generated by the power coils from radiating into the components on the other side. Maybe it amplifies noise really well also?

I found that adding a PLC and upgrading to high quality interconnects and power cord removed alot of noise and distortion.

I have only one complaint about the build quality, one of the screws came cross threaded on the top panel. Otherwise build quality is excellent. Kingwa wouldn't offer a 10 year warranty if he was selling poor quality equipment.

 

[jjthorn]

I have the Master 19 which I use as both a pre and headphone amp. It drives both my Arya and HE6se with ease and authority. You will find the quality is top notch.

I would suggest the Master 9 if you can stretch it. I'm going to move that way when I get the chance. Why? Because I love the M19 so much.

I was considering the Arya but am unable to listen to them owing to COVID restrictions and will also seriously consider the Master 9.

I would be looking for a headphone for mainly classic music, vocals, no heavy bass.

Is the sound quality from the Master19 dependent on using expensive high quality XLR and RCA cables?

 

[jjthorn]

I have the M19 and I love it but I found it to be quite a noisy amp. I live in an apt and I think my filthy power supply is one of the culprits. And to be honest I don't think that thin aluminum wall is doing much to shield the noise generated by the power coils from radiating into the components on the other side. Maybe it amplifies noise really well also?

I found that adding a PLC and upgrading to high quality interconnects and power cord removed alot of noise and distortion.

I have only one complaint about the build quality, one of the screws came cross threaded on the top panel. Otherwise build quality is excellent. Kingwa wouldn't offer a 10 year warranty if he was selling poor quality equipment.

I live in a house with underground power cables so no issues with my power supply.

Answers to my post to now would imply the reliability of the Audio-gd equipment is just as good, if not better than the many of other hifi equipment makers products.

 

[realmassy]

Are there any Master 9/HE9 owners that prefer this amp with a non Audio-GD DAC? I’m just curious about the usual pairings

 

[sajunky]

I have the M19 and I love it but I found it to be quite a noisy amp. I live in an apt and I think my filthy power supply is one of the culprits. And to be honest I don't think that thin aluminum wall is doing much to shield the noise generated by the power coils from radiating into the components on the other side. Maybe it amplifies noise really well also?

.LOL.

You found a solution, isn't? This is a life, and also why HE9 do exist.

Seriously, lot of a noise comes from PC source. Once it became a popular choice, it require more attention. It is why DDC was born...

 

[Jandu]

Are there any Master 9/HE9 owners that prefer this amp with a non Audio-GD DAC? I’m just curious about the usual pairings

I have the HE9, it can pair with any good quality DACs. I prefer the Audio GD dac for the reason that it has ACSS connections which allows to use inexpensive cable for good results.

Dacs I have tried are from Audio GD, toppings, Schiit, sonic frontiers,

 

[PeterCraig]

I was considering the Arya but am unable to listen to them owing to COVID restrictions and will also seriously consider the Master 9.

I would be looking for a headphone for mainly classic music, vocals, no heavy bass.

Is the sound quality from the Master19 dependent on using expensive high quality XLR and RCA cables?

Every system requires good quality cables. They don't have to be expensive but that is a relative term.

Master 19 doesn't require anything extraordinary compared to other gear. But you want to connect decent equipment with good cables.

I have never had any noise with my gear. I also live in an apartment tower and did get the HE version of the Audio-gd DI-20. The amount of improvement with the clean power generated by this unit was astounding.

The Arya is a great headphone and super comfortable. I balance it with the neutral HE6se which has the punchy dynamics which the Arya lacks and you need for rock music etc. Otherwise it has most everything going for it.

 

[dougms3]

.LOL.

You found a solution, isn't? This is a life, and also why HE9 do exists.

Seriously, lot of a noise comes from PC source. Once it became a popular choice, it require more attention. It is why DDC was born...

I'm sorry what is DDC?

I have noticed that the PC emits alot of noise and carrys it downstream, dacs seem to emit alot of noise also. A decent usb cable helped along the chain as well. One thing I"ve learned with noise is that generally its hard to know its been there until its been removed.

I did not fully understand the difference between the m9 and m19 but from the pictures it seems that the aluminum walls shielding power from components are much thicker and there is isolated organization of the cables that carry power.

 

[spacelion2077]

Is Audio Gd M9 or M19 worth getting? Audio Gd has a notorious reputation for having high distortion on ASR.

 

[sajunky]

I have noticed that the PC emits alot of noise and carrys it downstream, dacs seem to emit alot of noise also. A decent usb cable helped along the chain as well. One thing I"ve learned with noise is that generally its hard to know its been there until its been removed.

I feel, I smell that in your case was digital noise a primary cause. We usually don't hear jitter till it dissappears...

It is why I have mentioned DDC, it protects a place where conversion to analog takes place. Read a comment from @PeterCraig about DI-20.

 

[PeterCraig]

I'm sorry what is DDC?

I have noticed that the PC emits alot of noise and carrys it downstream, dacs seem to emit alot of noise also. A decent usb cable helped along the chain as well. One thing I"ve learned with noise is that generally its hard to know its been there until its been removed.

I did not fully understand the difference between the m9 and m19 but from the pictures it seems that the aluminum walls shielding power from components are much thicker and there is isolated organization of the cables that carry power.

The only time my system had been noisy was when I had a ground loop issue years ago. Try lifting the ground on your audio components you may be pleasantly surprised. Another simpler test which will fully isolate your main source is to switch in a laptop in place of your pc and run it off of the battery.

 

[dougms3]

Is Audio Gd M9 or M19 worth getting? Audio Gd has a notorious reputation for having high distortion on ASR.

I would recommend being careful about making decisions based on anything from ASR.

If all that matters is measurements then all good measuring equipment must sound good yes? and all bad measuring equipment sound bad? not the case.

See if they do any measurements on tube amps. People pay good money for that type of distortion.

I would be wary because he receives allot of free stuff and has built a reputation on measurements, even if he was wrong he'd never admit it because that's his cash cow.

Measurements are valuable but is not the only thing that matters.

 

[Jandu]

I would recommend being careful about making decisions based on anything from ASR. ......

In my opinion, using measurements to judge the quality of sound is similar to using numbers to tell how good looking a girl is.

By that one can discard all tube gears.