[silence]

Just heard my first amps - the creek obh11 and obh11se. Nice experience. Bought the obh11 se with the obh2 powersupply (the better one) for 210$.
But after looking at this forum I´m not so sure I made a good buy. I think the crossfeed option on some headphones sounds appealing.

The source will be a marantz 57 / pioneer 207 CDplayer and the headphones a pair of etymotics (haven´t decided on the er6 or er4)

Any better alternatives to the Creek in the price range. Might go for the er6´s with a more expensive amp or vice versa.

The music is classical and a some jazz - no pop, no rock and absolutely no techno.

DIY is not an option for me.

 

[bifcake]

Quite honestly, I don't know what you can get that's any better for this kind of money. Keep in mind that the cross feed circuit degrades the sound quality. It's like adding Matrix surround to the stereo sound. You may like the effect, but you definitely lose fidelity.

The only other amps in the sub $300 range (non DIY) are Headroom and Musical Fidelity xCan v2. The Musical Fidelity amp is very nice. I like Creek a bit better, but it's definitely a nice amp, alas, no cross feed. The Headroom Little has the cross feed, I believe, but it doesn't sound better than OBH-11 and it's $260. Those are about all the choices you have in this price range.

 

[Moonwalker]

Hi, silence!

Having Creek 11Se too, I can't reccomend other so great amp for that price. You've made very good purchase with Creek. No hiss, clean sound, quality parts, great pot, big power supply and detached from main amp! I decided between Rega Ear, X-CansV2,Creek 11 and Creek 11 SE. The Creeks were apparently made for my ears. I liked the SE version a little, very little bit better than the standard version. Rega was more bassy, and probably not class A operated, X-Cans has slight hiss that wasn't present in the source. So, Creek is clear winner fo me!

And to the crossfeed-I was very happy at the beggining, but sure it makes very drastic change to the sound, not only making it more in front of you, bout it destroys a lot of tonal balance and details. Good recording are best listened without any processing IMHO.

Your
Moonwalker

 

[redyolk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Moonwalker Hi, silence! Having Creek 11Se too, I can't reccomend other so great amp for that price. You've made very good purchase with Creek. No hiss, clean sound, quality parts, great pot, big power supply and detached from main amp! I decided between Rega Ear, X-CansV2,Creek 11 and Creek 11 SE. The Creeks were apparently made for my ears. I liked the SE version a little, very little bit better than the standard version. Rega was more bassy, and probably not class A operated, X-Cans has slight hiss that wasn't present in the source. So, Creek is clear winner fo me! And to the crossfeed-I was very happy at the beggining, but sure it makes very drastic change to the sound, not only making it more in front of you, bout it destroys a lot of tonal balance and details. Good recording are best listened without any processing IMHO. Your Moonwalker

Hi Moonwalker,

Can you elaborate on your expperience/comparison between the Rega Ear and the Creek OBH-11SE? I am trying to decide which of those two (or another alternative) for my AKG K501....

TIA!

 

[silence]

In my opinion the obh11se was absolutely superior to the obh11 with the obh-1 power supply - much more detail and a more warm sound playing classical and jazz. But they really need to be burned in before they play good I´ve found out.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by bifcake Quite honestly, I don't know what you can get that's any better for this kind of money. Keep in mind that the cross feed circuit degrades the sound quality. It's like adding Matrix surround to the stereo sound. You may like the effect, but you definitely lose fidelity.

I don't know what crossfeed you guys have listened to, but good crossfeed does not "lose fidelity" or necessarily "degrade the sound quality."

The new line of HeadRoom amps have *excellent* crossfeed circuitry. They roll off a slight bit of treble, but that's by design: you lose treble when you play back music through loudspeakers, as well. And even if that bothers you, the filter switch will restore the treble loss.

What none of the people in this thread who criticize crossfeed have mentioned is that a good crossfeed circuit can dramatically improve the imaging and realism of listening to headphones. Instead of the left/right/blob effect, you get a more natural soundstage. "Good recordings should be listened to without crossfeed" simply doesn't make any sense. There are good recordings that sound much better with crossfeed, and there are bad recordings that sound much worse with crossfeed. It's not necessarily how good/bad a recording is that makes it good/bad with crossfeed. It's how the instruments and soundstage are represented in the recording/mix.

Personally, I also disagree with bifcake about the Little. After auditioning them side-by-side I found the Little to be a better amp, even without crossfeed. The HeadRoom processor made it that much better when enabled. That said, if you like the Creek, don't worry too much about "what I could have bought instead." It's still a good amp.

 

[andrzejpw]

Gotta agree with macdef. I audition the little at home, and at the WOH tour, so I'm VERY familiar with it. I have to say: the little is a better amp than the creek. The crossfeed doesn't degrade the sound. Maybe a slightly rolled off treble. . . but that's it.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

The Creeks were apparently made for my ears. I liked the SE version a little, very little bit better than the standard version.

Wonderful amp, that. Very neutral and smooth. Works well with a plethora of headphones.