Thank you.
The most expensive part on my cMoy is the enclosure considering the actual cost. I originally had it as passive preamp made by Art at ambox (
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ampbox/page5.html). It's polished block of aluminum and his work is stunning. The cmoy and mini^3 amps were made by John (aka blackinches). cMoys are less than $100 and case is (cough!!) $300. The two populated mini^3 boards cost <$200. The assembly and cabling I did it. I never drained the SLA battery...typically, I just change the battery every 2 weeks or so. I have a spared SLA battery that I have charged that I rotate.
Sound wise, it has the basic characteristic of most balanced system. It's background is absolutely pitch black...like blackhole. Soundstage is wide. Bass extends lower and treble is also extended with very nice mids. Most surprising thing is micro detail can be heard easily because layers of music can be heard more easily. I guess it's another way of saying 3D sounding.
As I move up to Mini^3, the soundstage increase and micro details are even more present. When I moved up to VHP2/VAC combo, the soundstage and micro detail is even increased further with very nice mids.
I use electronica genre with balanced cMoy. Balanced Mini^3 is used to hear Rock and pop. Balanced VHP2/VAC is used to listen to Jazz, orchestra, and more mature music
Keep in mind, you need to ask the builder to set the gain to lowest possible. Gain of 2 or 3 is good range for even high impedance cans In balanced mode, the gain doubles.
I made the balanced cMoy and balanced Mini^3 to prove myself mega $$$$ is not needed to make a nice sounding, good for the wallet, simple balanced rig. I would put more $$$ towards better source and decent cans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by antonyfirst /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Beautiful. How much did it cost you? How much does the battery last?
Can you elaborate more about the sound? How big is the improvement over the balanced cmoy? And how short does it fall compared to your balanced CIAudio VHP2?
Thanks in advance.
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