[dannyandelyse]

I had a chance to listen to Headamps Gilmore design BHSE at the New York meet a few days ago. Bravo to Dr. Gilmore and Justin. This amp energized O2's like gunpowder energizes a shotgun. To my ears the Stax phones were electrifying and opened up totally. If you are looking for lush and pretty, this is not gonna do it. If you desire transparent and direct, you have it in spades with this combo. Would love to hear it with Mullards and the like.

I probably was the only one to also connect an HE90 and I loved it but still thought the HEV90 was a finer symbotic match. Stax O2s.....just excellent.

Damn amp looked and sounded world class and have no doubt that lucky owners will be enjoying for a long time. Power that just grabbed the phones and gave them a dynamic energy and life.

What do I know?

Dan

 

[Skin]

Thats nice to hear though for $5000 [6 with RK50] i'd hope it was great. It will be nice to see what the other coming options [Woo/Current/Samuels] offer and hopefully at a more reasonable price point.

 

[boomana]

I heard it first at CanJam, really fell in love with it with the O2MK1s, then confirmed that again at a dc meet. I know Justin's building them now. Mine's #13. Hope the wait won't be too much longer now. Oh...and I did spring for the RK50. I'm looking at this as an end-rig...well, at least as far as a stat rig goes. Can't see me wanting more.

 

[vcoheda]

i listened as well. about 4-5 songs on one CD. here are my impressions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif the BHSE was very impressive. there has been a lot of hype about this amp, but it did not disappoint. the KGSS is a very competent amp for the O2 but i still don't think it does the headphone full justice. the KGSS maybe gives you 75 percent of the O2's potential, but the BHSE seemed to give you all of it. on the BHSE, the O2 just came into full bloom. you hit a certain point on the volume knob where everything just completely opened up - the music had great presence and the sound was of crystalline clarity. should be a top combo for some time to come.

 

[powertoold]

Not to mention it has a superb design. The heatsinks give the amp a certain personality, which is something you rarely see in audio designs. To me, it's as if the amp is saying, "I'll eat up any headphone"

 

[n_maher]

This thread needs a few pictures. But first some brief impressions based on the time I spent with the BHSE recently. As some of you know, Justin sent me the amp for the NYC meet. I gladly played sherpa and shuttled the amp back and forth from the meet and at the end of the meet had fully intended to simply return the amp to Justin on Monday. However, much to my delight and surprise Justin asked if I'd be willing to set the amp up at home and give it a bit more of a shakedown before sending it back. Uh...geee...lemme think about that.... HELL YES! So early Sunday morning while my daughter and wife headed out for a play date I re-unpacked the beast and set it up in my home rig. Nothing like having an utterly silent listening environment to enjoy it with, no meet noises, in fact no ambient noise what-so-ever.

What followed were 5 hours of absolute aural bliss with the BHSE and my recently acquired OmegaII MKII's (the ones used primarily by the NYC meet folks). I cycled it through countless CD's all fed through my transport and DAC (see sig) varying the genres significantly. Everything from Draconian to Duffy, it never failed to seriously impress. What stuck me so much about it was exactly what I remembered from my lunch time audition at CanJam, just effortless, powerful reproduction from top to bottom. The detail retrieval is just otherworldly. I could go on but I'm guessing that all I'm really succeeding in doing here is making the folks who have deposits on BHSE's go a bit crazy. Suffice it to say I think Justin has something truly special here. There is no aspect of this amp, from its sound to its construction that will leave owners wanting. That said, a few more pictures, just to solidify the madness.

There, I think I've done enough damage for one day...

 

[progo]

Great pictures! The BHSE looks certainly better than the original.

 

[vvanrij]

It would look better if it had those heat fans on boths sides imo. But its a gorgeous little thing!

 

[gp_hebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif It would look better if it had those heat fans on boths sides imo. But its a gorgeous little thing!

They are on both sides.

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gp_hebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif They are on both sides.

Yup, it's just hard to tell from my pictures I guess. Here's a back side shot from Justin's site.

 

[zippy2001]

That is a beautiful amp. Justin does a great job with both the aesthetics and performance of this amps.

Nate - thanks for the impressions, it definitely sounds like a must listen to rig at Can Jam.

 

[vvanrij]

Ah wow, my wish got granted instantanious!! Now I totally love it looks

 

[jhellow]

Danny:

Thanks for posting. Mine is coming with silver fronts. I am now wishing I had gone with black after seeing these pics. I cannot wait. Justin is checking out some NOS GE Big Bottles I picked up for mine. Hope to get it soon.

 

[krmathis]

Drool! Stunning looking amplifier...

Took Justin a bit longer time than expected (estimated 3-4 months in March 2007), but boy did he deliver in the end. Based on looks and impressions by others, as I have not heard one in person.

 

[spritzer]

The basic BH amp circuit is by leaps and bounds superior to anything else out there and now it has build quality to die for. The level of thought that has gone into every part of this amp simply boggles the mind and I can't wait to get mine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhellow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Danny: Thanks for posting. Mine is coming with silver fronts. I am now wishing I had gone with black after seeing these pics. I cannot wait. Justin is checking out some NOS GE Big Bottles I picked up for mine. Hope to get it soon.

Silver fronts here as well (I wanted the whole thing in silver but that wasn't an option) and I'm sure that they will look stunning.