Audio-gd Phoenix balanced headphone amp.
Apr 1, 2009 at 4:30 AM Post #16 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by LostOne.TR /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Without knowing much about it, I don't see how it'd be competition for anything.


true enough. but for those who have dealt with Kingwa and have listened to his offerings, there is a lot of expectations. and he has yet to disappoint me (or others on this board)

I would liken his amps to LD - lots of bang for the buck

Kingwa is SS while Sword has tubes.
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 5:09 AM Post #17 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by sandchak /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This one is the type I have - pics don't do justice at all..

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I like the look of this remote
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Apr 1, 2009 at 5:14 AM Post #18 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by insyte /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I like the look of this remote
smily_headphones1.gif



You will love the feel of it in your hands, it goes very well with the killer amp ! well actually you can kill someone with the remote too !!..
bigsmile_face.gif
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 5:29 AM Post #21 of 3,352
Ah, the cat's allowed out of the bag! Now where am I going to find a 1000 USD. Can I place an IC for one of my kidneys here, or should that be in the cables and tweaks for sale forum?
smily_headphones1.gif


Quote:

Originally Posted by LostOne.TR /img/forum/go_quote.gif
looks like those might be rca inputs on the bottom. might be hard for some rca cables to have a split that wide


I don't really know of any decent RCA cables that even have a split, they are always separate.
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 5:49 AM Post #23 of 3,352
Since the volume control is electronic, the data port would connect the volume control and selector in the power supply box to the headamp box. It seems the power is connected separately between the two boxes, so I guess there will be three cables between them.

I don't know what RCA cables people use, but all the decent ones I've seen are 2 separate cables. Only the cheap Ratshack ones are joined. On the Ref 1, the connections are very far apart, about a foot!

As far as I understand, balanced amps are really two separate amps, one driving each side of a pair of headphones. The result is supposed to be a significant improvement in performance with many headphones. In the C2C thread, someone compares it to a Headamp Balanced Desktop and describes the difference in sound between balanced and unbalanced use. The only disadvantages is that you have to re-cable your headphones with a 4-pin XLR plug, or 2x 3-pin XLR plugs.
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 5:49 AM Post #24 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by sandchak /img/forum/go_quote.gif
You will love the feel of it in your hands, it goes very well with the killer amp ! well actually you can kill someone with the remote too !!..
bigsmile_face.gif



Oh good, I knew it. It looks very sturdy from the pic
smily_headphones1.gif


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I noticed that there are two serial port outs on the volume control box. Im just curious what is the 2nd one for.
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 5:50 AM Post #25 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by ExtraNice /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ok ok. Forgive me ignorance, but what is a balanced amp?

Advantages?
Disadvantages?



Read here and the articles linked.
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 6:20 AM Post #27 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't know what RCA cables people use, but all the decent ones I've seen are 2 separate cables. Only the cheap Ratshack ones are joined. On the Ref 1, the connections are very far apart, about a foot!


I really hate to start that little debate here, but Ratshack gold series are a lot better than people give it credit for. There are a couple other cables that "bond" the pairs (Grado Signature Series) but looking through some sponsor's sites they appear to be a really rare beast after all.

It's sort of a moot point now anyways considering they don't make them anymore, having sold their soul to Monster
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Still strikes me as a little odd. If the connectors have to be separated (guessing they might if it's literally two C2C boards in the chassis) identical right/left sections might be more natural than center symmetry, but it'll probably be a little ackward no matter what the final details are.

btw, I'd love it if the unit came with a remote meeting their previous standards. It's a lot more than I expected considering some of the absolute crap I've seen with some really expensive pre-processors/receivers.

Wish I could afford $1K right now. I really wondering what the final price will be after the promo period, on paper it looks like it might be competing with SS amps way above this price range.

(By the way, what is the unit on those drawings? 250mm is ~9" which seems a little small for the width of the front panel (unless the pictures of the C2C/Compass make it seem a lot bigger than it really is), 235cm would be about 7 feet long.)
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 6:33 AM Post #28 of 3,352
Quote:

Originally Posted by Chu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Still strikes me as a little odd. If the connectors have to be separated (guessing they might if it's literally two C2C boards in the chassis) identical right/left sections might be more natural than center symmetry, but it'll probably be a little ackward no matter what the final details are.


It's probably the best way to do it with those RCA connectors so far apart, because that keeps the signal paths within the amp the shortest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
(By the way, what is the unit on those drawings? 250mm is ~9" which seems a little small for the width of the front panel (unless the pictures of the C2C/Compass make it seem a lot bigger than it really is), 235cm would be about 7 feet long.)


The unit is mm. The actual measurements are: 80 (H) X 250 (W) X 350 (L) (again in mm). One box is about the size of the Compass (a few cm deeper).
 
Apr 1, 2009 at 7:49 AM Post #30 of 3,352
I have been talking with Kingwa about his pre-amplifiers, like the C3SE and the C39.
I was wondering whether I could use them as headphone amps too.
He said that should work fine, for headphones that are 50 ohms or higher impedance:
"C3SE use the BU2 output modules, it can drive upon 50 ohms HP, but if low than 50 ohms, will don't very good. If you want to drive low impedance HP, you maybe want to replace the output modules."
So if you don't have a HP amp, just buy a C3SE!
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