[phuque]

I'm currently using Grado SR80 with my iPod. I've loaned a PA2V2 to test drive my setup and also tested a GoVibe petite. From my limited knowledge on how to describe them, the PA2V2 is warm and nice on jazzy tunes. The GoVibe Petite is sharp on the treble tunes, and I think people describe that as being "bright".

I'm interested to get one of Ray Samuel's amp, but I don't have a chance to test them. Can you help describe how they'll sound on SR80, in relative to PA2V2 and GoVibe, if you own or have compared them with Tomahawk and Hornet?

 

[oicdn]

In short, the Hornet and TH will sound very similar to each other. The only reason you should consider the Hornet is for driving harder to drive cans as the size is SLIGHTLY bigger, but SQ difference for the price (unless you get a non M, which are getting rarer and rarer) isn't worth the hassle. Both in comparison will sound grainy but be punchy.

In comparison to a GoVibe Petite, you will miss the smoothness that it has to offer, and IMO is a TAD punchier than either RSA amps. The TH is about the same size as the Petite, SLIGHTLY bigger.

Check my sig for my impressions on a more detailed level. but for a short answer, that's about right...

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phuque /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm currently using Grado SR80 with my iPod. I've loaned a PA2V2 to test drive my setup and also tested a GoVibe petite. From my limited knowledge on how to describe them, the PA2V2 is warm and nice on jazzy tunes. The GoVibe Petite is sharp on the treble tunes, and I think people describe that as being "bright". I'm interested to get one of Ray Samuel's amp, but I don't have a chance to test them. Can you help describe how they'll sound on SR80, in relative to PA2V2 and GoVibe, if you own or have compared them with Tomahawk and Hornet?

Welcome to Head-fi, and sorry about your wallet!

My RSA Tomahawk works fine with Grado SR-80 but you'll really want to have it fully burned in for about 400+ hours to really appreciate it. Mine has 850+ hours on it, and it has smoothed out more even in the last 150 hours of use. After my son took over my MS-1 I bought SR-80 in early January, and then returned them about 2 weeks ago to look for some HF-1 instead. So, I can't compare the RSA Predator to the SR-80, but it sounds even better with all of my other Grados than the Tomahawk does. It is smoother and more refined than TH.