[nnotis]

I recently procured a balanced B22, and I may finally have reached an understanding of what the K1000s are about. Before the B22, my only desktop amp was the one included in the Lavry DA10. Plugging the K1000s into its balanced outs lead to a very thin sound, roughly on par with the SA5000s in terms of detail. And both headphones were noticeably less detailed than the MD5000s. But with the B22, the K1000s become stunningly revealing. They even made me aware of nuances in my own mixes that I'd not heard before. They sound clinical, as I always imagined super high end near field monitors would. I'm guessing that the DA10 is contributing to the clinical signature. As others have suggested, I get the impression that a multi thousand dollar DAC is needed to get the most of the B22, especially when paired with such transparent headphones.

The B22 puts out enough power to drive the K1000s. But how does it compare with some of the highly regarded K1000 amps, like the Sig 30.2?

Cheers,
Nick

 

[krmathis]

Nice to see that you enjoy the K1000 as well!

Very few, if any, around here own the Signature 30.2, K1000 and B22. I really love the K1000 / Signature 30.2 combo, but have so far not heard the B22.

Anyone have had the pleasure to audition these three items?

 

[nor_spoon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice to see that you enjoy the K1000 as well! Very few, if any, around here own the Signature 30.2, K1000 and B22. I really love the K1000 / Signature 30.2 combo, but have so far not heard the B22. Anyone have had the pleasure to audition these three items?

No, but maybe at our next Norwegian meet?

 

[krmathis]

^ Yeah, thats to be expected.

 

[Kraps]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice to see that you enjoy the K1000 as well! Very few, if any, around here own the Signature 30.2, K1000 and B22. I really love the K1000 / Signature 30.2 combo, but have so far not heard the B22. Anyone have had the pleasure to audition these three items?

Krmathis, now that you've had both for some time, what would be your comments? I am considering a new amp for my K1000 and would appreciate your impressions of these both higly appreciated pieces of gear.

 

[vvs_75]

Since not lot of people owned/ heard two amps at the same time with K1000, I give my 2c.
At the last micro meet not long time ago I heard K1000 out of my balanced B22 and like it quite a bit. Never heard 30.2

, but the K1000 owner, well known enthusiast who owned and tried pretty much every amp available, said that he don't remember his K1000 sound that good. Also he said that, when he compared the two amps he liked B22 better. The other person at the meet said the same thing. This is only impressions of few people and I am not saying that 30.2 is a bad amp. I just want to point, that if you got balanced B22 with appropriate gain level, you don't need to look for another amp to drive your K1K, because your K1K at the top of their performance. Important to note that the source is important. In my case it was Dac3.
Happy listening!

 

[DannyB]

We will have the Isabella, the 30.2, a B22 and the K1K at CanFEST 2009. I, or someone, will try to post some impressions of these after the Show, if that would be helpful.

 

[krmathis]

vvs_75. Yeah, I have now been living with the Signature 30.2 and β22 for a couple of months. And have to say they both have their forté.

* The Signature 30.2 have a more warm and rich sound signature, tube-like I guess I could say. It has a stunning midrange and top end performance, but seems to come a little short in the lower frequencies compared to the β22.
Its small form factor and off-grid operation is also nice.
* The β22 have a more neutral, cleaner sound. And the dual σ22 give it power resources the Signature 30.2 can't stand up to. Which reflects in overall better control, most noticeable in the lower frequencies.

That said, I find both amplifiers to be stunning amplifiers for the K1000.
...and could happily live with either of them.

 

[qusp]

yeah from what I remember of the sydney meet; the 30.2 had soundstage to die for (like K1K so good synergy there) but the bass was kind of hard to get my head around. of course that may have had something to do with K1K since I had not heard them before that time. I also spent some quality time with that rig later that night at the hotel. the bass is well extended but obviously not as present due to the (very) open design. steve suggested the combo rocks with a sub at your feet

gonna be building a B22 this year so perhaps at the meet we will do another comparo. I would trust KRmathis's opinions on this matter sionce he's been living with the 2 for some time now.... lucky ^%^$