project86
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Feb 21, 2007
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We've already had some discussion over at the main Silver Fox thread, but I wanted to separate this into a dedicated discussion as I feel it deserves consideration on its own.
The 9i-806 "Little Silver Fox" is the second headphone amplifier from Cen.Grand which is basically a scaled down version of its bigger sibling. It still uses the same array of 8 Exicon lateral MOSFETs, and has equivalent I/O functionality with two sets each of RCA and XLR inputs along with outputs in 4-pin XLR, dual 3-pin XLR which double as dual 1/4" jacks, and then a 4.4mm balanced jack. It also sports the same selectable sound modes: Normal, BTL, Active Ground, and Parallel, which lead to different sonic results depending on the headphone.
The designer explains that the main differences involve a simplified Alps balanced potentiometer (versus the resistor ladder solution in the bigger Fox), a slightly smaller power transformer (leading to less total power, though 15W at 32 ohms is still extremely potent), and some less exotic components used throughout the design. I also note that the Little version is in fact smaller in terms of width, and seems bit simplified in some of its details (chiefly the side panels and footers). It's still an incredibly well-built amplifier and looks right at home in a high-end audio rig.
The Little Silver Fox sells for $2,399 which is nearly $1,800 less than its older sibling. I've got a review unit here and my goal is to see how much of a sonic impact those design changes end up having. But all discussion is welcome in this thread.