[Soundscape]

Quote:

Originally Posted by egglick Are you assuming because you haven't gotten the Little Dot II yet, or because you haven't heard the other amp??

both. the little dot will be here in about a week, and it will be the first dedicated headphone amp i've ever heard. although i've owned some vintage, guitar, tube amps in the past and they generally tend to be much warmer, more dynamic, and fuller sounding compared to solid state amps.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenja I guess I might as well ask here what's been on my mind since it's sort of related.. I'm going to start building a wall powered pimeta (transformer + tread in same case) to drive my MS-1 very soon, and my main concern before starting is whether an OPA2227 be quite noticably worse than OPA637's would for the L/R opamps? The OPA6*7's are so expensive and I don't know if I can justify the cost. However, I could maybe get the 637's used here (some went up for $16 for a pair a little while ago). If I were to use a cheaper chip like the 227 for the ground channel, would that greatly negate the 637's? I'm just concerned about using an inferior opamp to save a bit of money (although money is a concern with this build).

IMO the AD8610/20 is not actually inferior to the OPA6*7, it just sounds different. More bottom/top extension, to the point of harshness with the wrong matching gear. Less oriented toward air/soundstage and more toward punch, liveliness and treble energy. It's also significantly cheaper. I haven't heard the OPA2227 though.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by egglick Hey guys, I'm new to head-fi, and I'm about to start setting up my first decent headphone system. I haven't bought a pair of cans yet (I was hoping to do some listening tests soon), but I'm trying to get everything else in order first. I've got about $150 to spend on an amp, and I'm not going to be using it on any portable players. My source is a Klipsch DD-5.1 decoder/preamp, hooked up to the digital out on my Audigy2ZS. I'm mainly going to be listening to Mp3's and Mpc's, ripped from my own CDs and encoded at the highest settings. I'd like to get the best all-around amp in that range, as I listen to many different types of music, including classical, new age, orchestra, etc.

The Xenos 1HA should now be about to be released (end of April, if I recall exactly). For some $130 it will be possibly the best thing under $200.

It'll use either the new TI TPA6120 very hi-performance audio chip for power stage, or a discrete output stage, at your own choice.

 

[shimage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea The Xenos 1HA should now be about to be released (end of April, if I recall exactly). For some $130 it will be possibly the best thing under $200. It'll use either the new TI TPA6120 very hi-performance audio chip for power stage, or a discrete output stage, at your own choice.

From the website:
Quote:

Originally Posted by ATP Systems Projected prices for the X1HA models: High Performance version - US$205.00 Enhanced Performance version - US$299.00 We expect to release the X1HA sometime in May or early June of 2006.

 

[egglick]

Interesting, although the enhanced version is out of my range. In any case, how do you guys think these amps will compare to the above mentioned Gilmore Lite??