[Astral Abyss]

What sale?

 
They just lowered the price on most all of the non-PCM1704 chipped items by around 7%, and then the current New Years discount is 5% on top of that.  You may need to refresh each page to get the new price to appear.

 

[oneguy]

They just lowered the price on most all of the non-PCM1704 chipped items by around 7%, and then the current New Years discount is 5% on top of that.  You may need to refresh each page to get the new price to appear.

Thanks

 

[cpzzy]

Looking for an used HE-9, since it'll take a while to order from the company and the shipping cost is quite high...If anyone is willing to sell theirs, plz pm me, thanks!

 

[TonyNewman]

My Master 9 arrived today and I have been playing about with it, getting some first impressions.
 
This amp is HUGE and weighs a ton. Far heavier than any previous SS headamp I have owned. Might be as heavy as my 300B tube amp, perhaps even slightly more so - its close. A sack of iron in this thing.
 
Packing is excellent - no damage or marks from its travels from China to New Zealand. Build quality is not quite up to the 430HA standard, but it is more than good enough. Design is clean and functional. Honest without being particularly eye catching.
 
Sound is very clean and clear. Neutral with a tiny touch of warmth, I think. Ran some bass and treble test tracks - ticked all the boxes. Vocals are clear and nice. Good body.
 
I am told that Audio-gd put 300 hours on the M9 before shipping and it sounds like it. Amp is performing superbly right out of the box. Will see if anything improves over the coming weeks.
 
Seems to have tamed the treble energy from my Bricasti DAC to a degree. Will have to spend quite a bit more time with it to be sure.
 
Some quick comparisons with other headamps I have owned previously:
 
vs Taurus Mk2.
Taurus was bright and thin. None of that here.
 
vs 430HA.
Not slow. Not veiled. Not sacrificing punch and dynamics in order to pretend to be a tube amp. That's a win for the M9.
 
vs V281.
At last, some real competition. I think the V281 is a touch darker, which I like. I am not getting any hint of the 2 areas where I feel the V281 has some weakness - treble that can go a touch harsh and a bass that can get a little bit woolly / boomy. Another win for the M9.
 
Overall I am very, very pleased so far. This is NOT a pretend budget amp. It is a serious bit of audio kit that competes with (and beats) the best amps I have heard, some of which cost considerably more.
 
I don't think it gives up anything to the Taurus or V281 for detail and dynamics.
 
A winner as a headamp for me. Will try it as a preamp in the chain driving the HE6 shortly and see how that goes. I suspect it will be a significant improvement on the Hegel P20, which can be edgy and brittle sounding for headphones. Driving my Utopias very, very well at the moment. So well that I might delay the HE6 testing and enjoy some music.
Bricasti + M9 + Utopia + Melody Gardot is quite something. Now all I need is some booze to complete the moment

 
A pic (my setup is in some disorder at the moment as my 300B amp is out for modification).
 

 

[Rossliew]

  My Master 9 arrived today and I have been playing about with it, getting some first impressions.
 
This amp is HUGE and weighs a ton. Far heavier than any previous SS headamp I have owned. Might be as heavy as my 300B tube amp, perhaps even slightly more so - its close. A sack of iron in this thing.
 
Packing is excellent - no damage or marks from its travels from China to New Zealand. Build quality is not quite up to the 430HA standard, but it is more than good enough. Design is clean and functional. Honest without being particularly eye catching.
 
Sound is very clean and clear. Neutral with a tiny touch of warmth, I think. Ran some bass and treble test tracks - ticked all the boxes. Vocals are clear and nice. Good body.
 
I am told that Audio-gd put 300 hours on the M9 before shipping and it sounds like it. Amp is performing superbly right out of the box. Will see if anything improves over the coming weeks.
 
Seems to have tamed the treble energy from my Bricasti DAC to a degree. Will have to spend quite a bit more time with it to be sure.
 
Some quick comparisons with other headamps I have owned previously:
 
vs Taurus Mk2.
Taurus was bright and thin. None of that here.
 
vs 430HA.
Not slow. Not veiled. Not sacrificing punch and dynamics in order to pretend to be a tube amp. That's a win for the M9.
 
vs V281.
At last, some real competition. I think the V281 is a touch darker, which I like. I am not getting any hint of the 2 areas where I feel the V281 has some weakness - treble that can go a touch harsh and a bass that can get a little bit woolly / boomy. Another win for the M9.
 
Overall I am very, very pleased so far. This is NOT a pretend budget amp. It is a serious bit of audio kit that competes with (and beats) the best amps I have heard, some of which cost considerably more.
 
I don't think it gives up anything to the Taurus or V281 for detail and dynamics.
 
A winner as a headamp for me. Will try it as a preamp in the chain driving the HE6 shortly and see how that goes. I suspect it will be a significant improvement on the Hegel P20, which can be edgy and brittle sounding for headphones. Driving my Utopias very, very well at the moment. So well that I might delay the HE6 testing and enjoy some music.
Bricasti + M9 + Utopia + Melody Gardot is quite something. Now all I need is some booze to complete the moment

 
A pic (my setup is in some disorder at the moment as my 300B amp is out for modification).
 

Interesting impressions as i personally found this amp to be too smooth and lacking bite for something with its quoted power output...or perhaps its the HEK that was smooth..

 

[Khragon]

Interesting impressions as i personally found this amp to be too smooth and lacking bite for something with its quoted power output...or perhaps its the HEK that was smooth..

I'm on similar page, although not heard M9 yet, I've have the same impressions for M11's amp section.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Interesting impressions as i personally found this amp to be too smooth and lacking bite for something with its quoted power output...or perhaps its the HEK that was smooth..

 
I haven't found that at all, but I am running a Utopia which is a very punchy headphone. Might be the combination of M9 + HEK.
 
I need to spend a lot more time with the M9 and run some comparisons using my HE6 via the power amp and via the M9. That should tell me more.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Interesting impressions as i personally found this amp to be too smooth and lacking bite for something with its quoted power output...or perhaps its the HEK that was smooth..

 
 

I'm on similar page, although not heard M9 yet, I've have the same impressions for M11's amp section.

 
Ran some punchy test tracks and I think this is a fair criticism. Not as soft as the 430HA, I think, but the V281 definitely punched harder.
 
Not a fault that is going to cause me all that much grief, given my music preferences. I still believe that the M9 is a terrific amp, and great value, but it isn't flawless (is any amp?).

 

[Rossliew]

Ahh...so its not my ears deceiving me. Perhaps the smooth HEK could be a contributing factor as well. 
 
Please share your impressions with the HE-6 And other dynamics if you have as well.

 

[Khragon]

Depends on preferences for sure. My dad for example, much preferred the softer sounding M11 compared to the more dynamic Glenn 300B or V281. Another amp to consider is the iFi Pro iCan.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Ahh...so its not my ears deceiving me. Perhaps the smooth HEK could be a contributing factor as well. 
 
Please share your impressions with the HE-6 And other dynamics if you have as well.

 
I am hearing the same thing, but I think this needs to be considered in the audio chain. Both my DAC (Bricasti) and HP (Utopia) are a little forward and punchy, so I don't really miss much with the M9 being a little laid back. It works for my current setup, but maybe with another rig, and a can like the HEK, it could get problematic.
 
I am starting to think that amps sit on a spectrum of Bright/Punchy/Detailed/Thin to Warm/Musical/Euphonic. It is a matter of taste, and your rig, on where you want to sit on that spectrum.
 
I found the Taurus too far on the bright side - it irritated me no end with the HD800 + Vega setup I was then using.
 
The 430HA was too far on the warm side for me. It gives up too much technically to be of interest to me.
 
The V281 and M9 are more my thing. Neutral-warm, if that makes sense. I can sacrifice some punch for the smoothness of the M9 - I prefer that to having sharp / fatiguing treble.
 
Still very early days for me with the M9, so please take all this with a hefty lump of salt.

 

[Rossliew]

   
I am hearing the same thing, but I think this needs to be considered in the audio chain. Both my DAC (Bricasti) and HP (Utopia) are a little forward and punchy, so I don't really miss much with the M9 being a little laid back. It works for my current setup, but maybe with another rig, and a can like the HEK, it could get problematic.
 
I am starting to think that amps sit on a spectrum of Bright/Punchy/Detailed/Thin to Warm/Musical/Euphonic. It is a matter of taste, and your rig, on where you want to sit on that spectrum.
 
I found the Taurus too far on the bright side - it irritated me no end with the HD800 + Vega setup I was then using.
 
The 430HA was too far on the warm side for me. It gives up too much technically to be of interest to me.
 
The V281 and M9 are more my thing. Neutral-warm, if that makes sense. I can sacrifice some punch for the smoothness of the M9 - I prefer that to having sharp / fatiguing treble.
 
Still very early days for me with the M9, so please take all this with a hefty lump of salt.

Fair comments there. 
 
I too prefer something along the lines of neutral-warmish but of late have been craving some more extra treble energy hence loving my T1 to bits at the moment vis-a-vis the HD600. Must be getting old so these ears are not digging the details so clearly nowadays
 
Having said that, bass punch is very important since i listen to metal 90% of the time and that aggressive energy/bite/punch is paramount for full enjoyment of the music.

 

[manpowre]

Awesome read @TonyNewman
 
And grats with a complete new setup during winter ! awesome !

 

[punit]

  Interesting impressions as i personally found this amp to be too smooth and lacking bite for something with its quoted power output...or perhaps its the HEK that was smooth..

It does not synergise well with HE1000. But is amazing with almost everything else I have tried it with. Does a reasonably decent job with HE 6 too (though i wouldn't recommend it if HE 6 was your primary HP).

 

[Rossliew]

It does not synergise well with HE1000. But is amazing with almost everything else I have tried it with. Does a reasonably decent job with HE 6 too (though i wouldn't recommend it if HE 6 was your primary HP).

The local dealer here used the HEK as the accompanying headphone which I found to be too polite. Wouldn't attract anyone to either equipment imo.