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).