[marhol]

Does anyone know specs for "modded" Master 9 (customized for HE-6) ? I can´t find it anywhere. Probably personal emails with Mr. Kingwa would be required...   Anyway, I know HE-6 is a beast but do you guys seriously believe that 9 Watts into 40 Ohms is not enough to power HE-6 ?  Hifimans own head amp EF-6 provides 5 Watts into 50 Ohms. The amp was designed to work with HE-6. Why would they manufacture this amp if it wasn´t good  enough?  I mean this sounds totally ridiculous to me that you need  100000 Watts to fulfill  "the potential " of HE-6. Whats your listening level then, 120 dB ? 

 

[DrWhite]

İ think he6 needs lots of current to shine, and poweramps can do it and some totl headphone amps may be.. For 120 db, it reguires 4 watt, i have cayin iha6, it can deliver it but, it sounds thin... İ think it is not a mw or spec thing...

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

Is Master 9 preamp section equal to Master 1, or Master 1 is better?

 

[punit]

I had the M1 before the M9. I could not make out any difference. Of course this is based on memory, I did not do a side by side comparison, so IMHO, YMMV etc..

 

[enigmus12]

We did a comparaison at my home with my Master 1 (2015) and a Master 9 (both with acss on my Master 7).
 
We were three, the two others found the bass bloated on the Master 9 vs the Master 1 and they think the Master 1 was better. On my side, i didn't found it was that obvious (they were a little bloated but nothing serious to me) but i was not in front of the speakers.
 
And here are the words of the man itself (i asked him at the time) :
 
"The M9 sound is warmer and smoother slightly than M1.
I am advice if customer want the headphone amp, the M9 is better choice.
Or like the sound slight on warm side, the M9 also better choice.
Kingwa"

 

[Articnoise]

M9, shrill sounding? To me, my position is the opposite. If anything M9 can sound a bit too smooth, especially together with some smooth sounding cans and DACs and I can wish for some more liveliness and treble sparkle. My stock M9 in balance have never run out of power and start to sound underpowered, i.e. shrill and compressed. 

 

[Hifi59]

Does anyone know specs for "modded" Master 9 (customized for HE-6) ? I can´t find it anywhere. Probably personal emails with Mr. Kingwa would be required...   Anyway, I know HE-6 is a beast but do you guys seriously believe that 9 Watts into 40 Ohms is not enough to power HE-6 ?  Hifimans own head amp EF-6 provides 5 Watts into 50 Ohms. The amp was designed to work with HE-6. Why would they manufacture this amp if it wasn´t good  enough?  I mean this sounds totally ridiculous to me that you need  100000 Watts to fulfill  "the potential " of HE-6. Whats your listening level then, 120 dB ? 

I have a Burson CV2 amp (8w @16 ohms) and it drives my HE-6 extremely well. Volume is at about the 2-3 o'clock position for my preferred listening level but everything is there. I also have a Wells Audio Milo amp which has 10 watts at 40 ohms and the fundamental sound of the HE-6 is the same between amps. Only differences are amp sound signatures. The Milo will drive them to louder levels that exceed my normal listening levels. Bass not lacking and the headphones sound full and visceral with either amp.

 

[a1uc]

.

 

[a1uc]

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).

. Did you get the custom M9 ? I was thinking of picking up a M9 to use with my
Uptopia

 

[TonyNewman]

. Did you get the custom M9 ? I was thinking of picking up a M9 to use with my
Uptopia

 
Custom for the HE6? No - the standard unit has plenty of power to drive the HE6 to very, very close to the performance of my speaker amp. Maybe a touch better in the bass via the speaker amp, but there isn't all that much in it to my ears.
 
Custom for not shorting disused inputs? No - thought about it, but I only ever have a single input connection plugged into the M9 as I use it only as a headamp, fed from the Yggy DAC via XLR. If you plan to use the M9 with multiple inputs, and those inputs might be sensitive to a shorted connection, then it might be worth doing.

 

[TonyNewman]

Quick post to report back on my M9 now that I have put a bunch of hours on it.
 
What a fantastic amp. It still surprises me how badly under-reported / under-rated this amp is. Where is the love for the M9?
 
I have owned Auralic Taurus / Simaudio 430HA / Violectric V281 - M9 is the best of the lot. Powerful, transparent, neutral, great value. Excellent amp.

 

[kazsud]

Quick post to report back on my M9 now that I have put a bunch of hours on it.

What a fantastic amp. It still surprises me how badly under-reported / under-rated this amp is. Where is the love for the M9?

I have owned Auralic Taurus / Simaudio 430HA / Violectric V281 - M9 is the best of the lot. Powerful, transparent, neutral, great value. Excellent amp.

What headphones are you using there?

 

[TonyNewman]

What headphones are you using there?

 
HEKv2 (almost new - 2nd day - still fresh).
Modded HE6.
Utopia (sold it - shipping it out in a week or two).

 

[a1uc]

I take it you like the HEK V2 over the Utopia ?

 

[TonyNewman]

I take it you like the HEK V2 over the Utopia ?

Very much so. The Utopia is technically brilliant, but is also very forward and edgy sounding - at least it is via a very transparent DAC/Amp chain like the Yggy + M9. It is just too much intensity for relaxed listening (at least for me). After about 30 minutes to an hour fatigue sets in. That's not what I am looking for. HEKv2 is more my thing (at least so far).
 
Interesting to me that Tyll uses a 430HA as his reference amp for testing. That amp is - in my opinion - quite slow, veiled and warm - exactly the sort of amp that will mask the Utopia's edgy character and emphasize the HEKs slower, more relaxed nature. No surprise then that the Utopia goes onto the WOF and the HEK drops away. I wonder the result would have been with an amp like the M9?