how does the Sparkos SS2590 sounds compare to SS3602/V6 Vivids?
Burson V6 Vivid and V6 Classic Discrete Audio Opamps Discussion and Reviews
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how does the Sparkos SS2590 sounds compare to SS3602/V6 Vivids?
The Chief
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The 2590 is definitely the better one. It even can keep, what the 3360 did not promise. It´s opener than vivid, but not rough, more space, more air, mor micro information in the descending reverb tail, something in that direction. I only can suggest to make a listening comparison, I can´t promise that you like the result....
the 2590 is a single op amp only and is nearly 4 times the size of the 360x series. This can create fit issues in small spaces and if your device has dual op-amps it is an even tighter fit as you'll need a pair of the 2590s and adapters to convert two singles into a dual for use in those. The upside is even higher open loop gain and better noise reduction tech that wouldn't fit in the 1/2 inch 360x. I've played around with them and found fit to be a real challenge in small devices as some of the benefits are negated by having to run long leads over other components in order to be able to fit the 2590s into the existing geography.
Im thinking to get 2590 pairs for my Sound Card ZXR for the Buffers, and will post the review if I ever buy them for cheap price on ebay.
20% Off for V5i and V6 for 2 days.
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
Hello. I know we have members from around the world here, but I wanted to try speak to a much narrower group of readers. I am located in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. I came across a thread where a Head-Fi'er had wondered about organizing a get together in Halifax. I wanted to post in this thread and talk to anybody that lives in or around Halifax or even if you were planning to visit the area in June. Just food for thought. If anyone is interested, you could post a reply in https://www.head-fi.org/threads/halifax-ns-meetup-2019.905499/
It would be cool if we could find five or six people with a few cool toys each. It could be a very interesting afternoon or evening.
Shane D
It would be cool if we could find five or six people with a few cool toys each. It could be a very interesting afternoon or evening.
Shane D
adeadcrab
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Quick little review -
Some quick impressions of the opamps first,
1) Stock opamp is the OPA2134 - widely regarded as on the darker side, these have the narrowest sound stage/imaging of the three. Instruments bleed into one another and sounds muddy overall.
2) V6 Classic open the soundstage substantially, and imaging is much more precise. Everything has its own space in the mix. Instruments like guitar and vocals that are panned near the center of the mix are pushed closer to the center, making a more intimate experience than the Vivid. Treble is rolled off compared to the Vivid; cymbals lose their sheen and snare loses its edge. Mids like guitar and vocals are boosted up, becoming the centerpiece of the song. Bass is loosened; eases up and doesn't demand attention. Overall the sound is more relaxed, less realistic than the Vivid but still leagues better than the OPA2134.
3) V6 Vivid widen the soundstage more than the Classic. Imaging is still as precise also. Depth of soundstage increases; intimacy is lost at the gain of a wider and all-encompassing soundstage. Treble is back compared to the Classic, cymbals sound pretty realistic (maybe as good as being behind the kit itself
). Mids are no longer the feature, the Vivid is a mirror of the source material and the rest of one's audio chain. Bass is tight and accurate, and a little more present than the Classic.
I used a Topping D50 DAC feeding an Audio-Gd Fun Preamp which uses one opamp in the output stage. I found changing the opamp has a big effect on the sound going throughout the chain.
Impressions with a couple headphones,
1) Koss ESP/95X - The Vivid shows the effortless natural reproduction capabilities of this headphone, which can be too much if you are working at your PC as the sound is so detailed. The Classic makes the sound more of that classic ( ) tubey, mid-centric relaxed sound which is what I've been using most of the time so far.
2) Grado GS1000 - If you've heard these you might know they have an excessive V-shaped signature, with over-exaggerated mid-bass and treble. The Vivid brings more of this to the table which I found too much. The Classic, however, breathed new life into the GS1000 as it tames the bass and treble, while boosting the mids just enough that the V-shape is no longer unbearable to listen to. It also brought the massive soundstage into line and let me enjoy a pair of headphones that had been collecting dust for the better part of 5-6 years .
I should also mention both opamps have 100+ hours on them. I left the opamps to burn in day and night, listening occasionally during the day.
The Classic sounded thin and lifeless right out of the box, as others have said. I listened to them for the first few hours, and after hour 4 I noticed their signature sound starting to come around. After 24 hours I couldn't notice a difference, and they've probably had ~200 hours at the time of this post.
The Vivid sounded -- really -- bad out of the box, really not good. The bass was mushy, treble was muddy and totally whack, but I knew what was coming so I kept them burning in night and day. Again, after 24 hours they were getting there in terms of soundstage and treble extension, and at 100 hours they are pretty damn good. I don't know if I could tell much of a difference between hour 24 and hour 100+.
I've seen the SparkoS recommended, I have zero desire to check them out at the moment, as I enjoy comparing the 2 V6 opamps and they are leagues ahead of the stock IC opamp that I had been using for years. And according to some, they can only get better
.
Some quick impressions of the opamps first,
1) Stock opamp is the OPA2134 - widely regarded as on the darker side, these have the narrowest sound stage/imaging of the three. Instruments bleed into one another and sounds muddy overall.
2) V6 Classic open the soundstage substantially, and imaging is much more precise. Everything has its own space in the mix. Instruments like guitar and vocals that are panned near the center of the mix are pushed closer to the center, making a more intimate experience than the Vivid. Treble is rolled off compared to the Vivid; cymbals lose their sheen and snare loses its edge. Mids like guitar and vocals are boosted up, becoming the centerpiece of the song. Bass is loosened; eases up and doesn't demand attention. Overall the sound is more relaxed, less realistic than the Vivid but still leagues better than the OPA2134.
3) V6 Vivid widen the soundstage more than the Classic. Imaging is still as precise also. Depth of soundstage increases; intimacy is lost at the gain of a wider and all-encompassing soundstage. Treble is back compared to the Classic, cymbals sound pretty realistic (maybe as good as being behind the kit itself
). Mids are no longer the feature, the Vivid is a mirror of the source material and the rest of one's audio chain. Bass is tight and accurate, and a little more present than the Classic.I used a Topping D50 DAC feeding an Audio-Gd Fun Preamp which uses one opamp in the output stage. I found changing the opamp has a big effect on the sound going throughout the chain.
Impressions with a couple headphones,
1) Koss ESP/95X - The Vivid shows the effortless natural reproduction capabilities of this headphone, which can be too much if you are working at your PC as the sound is so detailed. The Classic makes the sound more of that classic (
) tubey, mid-centric relaxed sound which is what I've been using most of the time so far.2) Grado GS1000 - If you've heard these you might know they have an excessive V-shaped signature, with over-exaggerated mid-bass and treble. The Vivid brings more of this to the table which I found too much. The Classic, however, breathed new life into the GS1000 as it tames the bass and treble, while boosting the mids just enough that the V-shape is no longer unbearable to listen to
. It also brought the massive soundstage into line and let me enjoy a pair of headphones that had been collecting dust for the better part of 5-6 years .I should also mention both opamps have 100+ hours on them. I left the opamps to burn in day and night, listening occasionally during the day.
The Classic sounded thin and lifeless right out of the box, as others have said. I listened to them for the first few hours, and after hour 4 I noticed their signature sound starting to come around. After 24 hours I couldn't notice a difference, and they've probably had ~200 hours at the time of this post.
The Vivid sounded -- really -- bad out of the box, really not good. The bass was mushy, treble was muddy and totally whack, but I knew what was coming so I kept them burning in night and day. Again, after 24 hours they were getting there in terms of soundstage and treble extension, and at 100 hours they are pretty damn good. I don't know if I could tell much of a difference between hour 24 and hour 100+.
I've seen the SparkoS recommended, I have zero desire to check them out at the moment, as I enjoy comparing the 2 V6 opamps and they are leagues ahead of the stock IC opamp that I had been using for years. And according to some, they can only get better
.
Last edited:
DjBobby
1000+ Head-Fier
V6 Vivids and Classics are still 20% off. Burson seems to have prolonged the offer, still a chance to grab some: https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/supreme-sound-opamp-v6/
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
Quick little review -
Some quick impressions of the opamps first,
2) V6 Classic open the soundstage substantially, and imaging is much more precise. Everything has its own space in the mix. Instruments like guitar and vocals that are panned near the center of the mix are pushed closer to the center, making a more intimate experience than the Vivid. Treble is rolled off compared to the Vivid; cymbals lose their sheen and snare loses its edge. Mids like guitar and vocals are boosted up, becoming the centerpiece of the song. Bass is loosened; eases up and doesn't demand attention. Overall the sound is more relaxed, less realistic than the Vivid but still leagues better than the OPA2134.
Impressions with a couple headphones,
2) Grado GS1000 - If you've heard these you might know they have an excessive V-shaped signature, with over-exaggerated mid-bass and treble. The Vivid brings more of this to the table which I found too much. The Classic, however, breathed new life into the GS1000 as it tames the bass and treble, while boosting the mids just enough that the V-shape is no longer unbearable to listen to
I should also mention both opamps have 100+ hours on them. I left the opamps to burn in day and night, listening occasionally during the day.
The Classic sounded thin and lifeless right out of the box, as others have said. I listened to them for the first few hours, and after hour 4 I noticed their signature sound starting to come around. After 24 hours I couldn't notice a difference, and they've probably had ~200 hours at the time of this post.
The Vivid sounded -- really -- bad out of the box, really not good. The bass was mushy, treble was muddy and totally whack, but I knew what was coming so I kept them burning in night and day. Again, after 24 hours they were getting there in terms of soundstage and treble extension, and at 100 hours they are pretty damn good. I don't know if I could tell much of a difference between hour 24 and hour 100+.
I've seen the SparkoS recommended, I have zero desire to check them out at the moment, as I enjoy comparing the 2 V6 opamps and they are leagues ahead of the stock IC opamp that I had been using for years. And according to some, they can only get better
I would certainly agree with you on the Burson/Grado magic. Right now I have two amps and several pairs of headphones and no combination sounds as great as the Burson Fun-Classic matched with Grado GH2's.
I also have Vivid's on order from MassDrop. They should be in by the end of the month.
Shane D
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adeadcrab
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Classic is also very nice with a neutral headphone, really brings up that electric guitar and makes it gorgeous and sweet sounding.
HD650 is a bit too warm as it is though.
HD650 is a bit too warm as it is though.
Classic also sounds really nice as the input op-amp on the Bang paired to my KEF 350s
Would like to give my two cents on the V6 Vivid in the Burson FUn. So I have had the Vivid's for about three weeks now and I must say I like them a lot. To be honest it took me a bit to get use to the sound I was hearing for them. But after a few hours of listening guess my ears adjusted to the signature sound of them but yes very nice.I thought stock Fun sounded very good to me but after installing these puppy's wow. The detail retrieval on these are remarkable and not to mention the imaging and soundstage is just great love them. I will say these Vivid's brought the fun to a new level. Haven't heard the Classic's but would be fun to add a different flavor to this little amp. Guess I should say I'm running the fun via my Audio-gd NFB-28.38 haven't listened to the NFB in sometime now. Almost forgot speaking of the detail on these op-amp's what struck me was the detail in the low end just great. If I had never heard the Vivid's in the Fun would of be happy with the stock version. But since I have don't think I will be going back to stock anytime soon that's for sure. Have to say what a nice little compact amp with just great versatility. Thanks for hearing me out.
Very nicely said!
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
Just got an email from Drop (MassDrop). My Vivid opamps are delayed. No date given.
Shane D
Shane D
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
My opamps will arriving this week. Any tips on changing them? Straight up? Rock them from front/back/side?
Thanks for any guidance.
Shane D
Thanks for any guidance.
Shane D
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