[mjg]

*

*

stop. You are mesmerised. You have fallen under hypnotic suggestion.
You will no longer, bitch, moan or whine. You will feel sedate and weak and listen to my hypnotic suggestion.


We will discuss opinions on rays amps "high end". We will do this. You will do this.

read the relaxing blank lines.... and count backwards from 10 as you read relaxing... blank ... lines. At the last blank line you will be back to the topic.





























*
*

the thread has returned to the topic.
Talk about ray's amps having a "rolled off high end"

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjg * * stop. You are mesmerised. You have fallen under hypnotic suggestion. You will no longer, bitch, moan or whine. You will feel sedate and weak and listen to my hypnotic suggestion. We will discuss opinions on rays amps "high end". We will do this. You will do this. read the relaxing blank lines.... and count backwards from 10 as you read relaxing... blank ... lines. At the last blank line you will be back to the topic. * * the thread has returned to the topic. Talk about ray's amps having a "rolled off high end"

Thats just kickass

 

[tyrion]

I fell asleep.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjg * * stop. You are mesmerised. You have fallen under hypnotic suggestion. You will no longer, bitch, moan or whine. You will feel sedate and weak and listen to my hypnotic suggestion. We will discuss opinions on rays amps "high end". We will do this. You will do this. read the relaxing blank lines.... and count backwards from 10 as you read relaxing... blank ... lines. At the last blank line you will be back to the topic. * * the thread has returned to the topic. Talk about ray's amps having a "rolled off high end"

Dude you are so cool.

Seriously dudes First Mikhail and singlepower now ray and his products. I have never heard either. Geographically difficult. Seriously I wonder why people like Mikhail and Ray even bother. So who's next on your hit list???? Headroom????? Earmax?????Cmoy?????

No wonder I hardly come in here anymore. It's the amp manufacturers hit squad.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjg the thread has returned to the topic. Talk about ray's amps having a "rolled off high end"

I thought we were done with that one too.

A couple people say they do. More say they don't. Ray pointed to a chart on his site that says his amps have a flat-as-a-pancake frequency response.

What else is there to say?


"Say goodnight, Gracie."

"Goodnight Gracie"

 

[mjg]

at the snap of the finger, the thread closes

*snap snap*





(magic happens)


....

still happening


to be continued!

 

[Budley007]

In 6 months when we run out of manufacturers we can head on over to the DIY forums and string a few up there. Time to hide the soldering iron fellas.

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels the load. I am really thinking very seriously to stop this none sense of making headphone amps once for all, as I am getting nothing from it eccept pain in the neck. Ray Samuels

Dont you ever think or say that again!

I will not only call you but I am not to far from your house RAY!

take out the pain with some A10 exercise...or something.

 

[pigmode]

Well, I'm glad this has turned out to be a productive and non-provocative discussion after all. Not....

 

[jude]

First of all: GainHead, I know Mikhail knows you (he told me himself), and that you're also local to him. Given what I do know of your background, it would be nice to see you contribute some nuggets of wisdom I'm sure your vocation affords you some knowledge of, especially in matters discussed in the past couple of weeks (should you decide to, please choose the appropriate threads). As it stands now in this thread, if you've nothing on-topic to add, then back off. If you're trying to divert attention away from other issues, then back off. At this point, it appears to me that, at the very least, you're merely trying to further the silly Ray's fans versus Mikhail's fans lunacy, which I find completely unnecessary.

Secondly, and on-topic: I don't find the HR-2 to have treble roll-off, even with the AD797 opamps installed. With the AD797's, there is an overall smoothness to the presentation, certainly helped along by what I perceive to be some highlighting of the midband. Despite its smoothness, the HR-2 with AD797's remains pretty detailed. Of course, its smoothness might not find favor with some, but the ability to swap opamps like some swap tubes is a big plus in terms of versatility with the HR-2. Yes, I find the AD797's pleasant, but I do like the greater detail and neutrality provided by the OPA627BP's (while still being smooth, too). If one wants an even greater sense of treble energy, then I can't imagine the AD8065-equipped HR-2 could ever be blamed for being treble-shy (so far the most neutral opamp in the HR-2 to my ears), and definitely not the AD8610-equipped HR-2, which I find a bit too treble-spotlit for my tastes. A nice, balanced opamp in the HR-2 (to my ears) is the LT1028, which does much of what so many love about the stock AD797's, but with a bit less highlighting of the midband, and, to my ears, a bit more neutrality overall. Long story short, if the question is whether or not the HR-2 is rolled-off at the top, my answer is no. And, given some myriad op-amp rolling options available, then I feel the answer can definitely be made "no" for just about anyone wishing to find the right opamps for his own ears.

As for the other Ray Samuels amps: I haven't spent much time with the XP-7 or the SR-71, but I have spent some quality listening time with the Stealth (I don't think I've heard it with anything but stock tubes), and if someone says that that amp has treble roll-off, I'd say I seriously disagree. To my ears, the Stealth is definitely without treble roll-off, and is quite neutral overall, and with healthy treble extension.

 

[gaboo]

Quote:

I am really getting sick of reading all these sickining posts about rolled off highs, & mid range being over emphezised, if it sounds that way to your ear then change the op-amp in the amp & put your favorite in there & the problem is solved, Why do you think I put the IC sockets in the first place? If you want the graphs of the frequency go to my web site & see the Emmeline CA2, it is the same circuit as the HR-2 & uses the same op-amp AD797 & read the review of one of the greates writer Dick Olsher regardind the sound, but the later, HR-2, has the buffer to drive the load. I am really thinking very seriously to stop this none sense of making headphone amps once for all, as I am getting nothing from it eccept pain in the neck. You don't like it don't buy the amp, how simple can it get.

This is a different matter. You website has lots of nice pictures of SR-71, but SR-71 is completely missing from the "specs" page. Even for the (similar?) amps that are listed there, not many details are given. E.g. for XP-7 all that is given are dimensions and "made in USA".

While "word of mouth", reviews and demos at meets are useful marketing tool, so are published specs, especially if they are reproducible by third parties.

Look at soundcards and the now "standard" RMAA testing. While it has its flaws compared to better testing equipment, RMAA is good enough that card-A scoring better that card-B translates in real world better listening experience with card-A vs B. This is WAY better than simply relying on purely subjective reviews. Take a look at E-MU soundcards. They sound good to many people, and also happen to score damn' well. In fact, when measured with better equipment they do even better.

I'm not saying that RMAA is "the" benchmark for amps, but some amp builders do use it (Fixup, morsel etc.). People still claim that they hear the unmeasurable (e.g. how “fast” the sound is), but using RMAA we know at least know how the measurable part stands. In brief: RMAA may not explain everything, but there is damn good correlation between benchmark score and real life performance.

As for the unmeasurable part, your attempts to have people AB amps at meets are very welcome. The technical issue that affected amps with active ground channel was unfortunate. I hope it does not deter you from pursuing this in the future.

Quote:

If you dont like the sound of my amp then you will never ever like the sound of Meridian 508 24 bit CD player, that is the sound that I trust & voice my amps accordingly.

I trust this voicing stuff is only for the unmeasurable part.

 

[braillediver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jude First of all: GainHead, I know Mikhail knows you (he told me himself), and that you're also local to him. Given what I do know of your background, it would be nice to see you contribute some nuggets of wisdom I'm sure your vocation affords you some knowledge of, especially in matters discussed in the past couple of weeks (should you decide to, please choose the appropriate threads). As it stands now in this thread, if you've nothing on-topic to add, then back off. If you're trying to divert attention away from other issues, then back off. At this point, it appears to me that, at the very least, you're merely trying to further the silly Ray's fans versus Mikhail's fans lunacy, which I find completely unnecessary.

Pretty much sums up an obvious fact.

No location listed?

No equipment listed?

Spends an inordinate amount of time bashing Ray Samuel’s designs?


Could you clue the membership in on which of Ray’s amps you’ve heard and for how long?

When, in what environment and for how long did you hear the amps you’re commenting on- since meets aren’t considered the optimum setting for analytical listening.

What supporting equipment did you use to establish a baseline for your observations?

And with what headphones.

Also could you establish your preferred system/equipment so the membership could get an idea of the type of sound you like and the system components you lean towards?


Inquiring minds want to know.

Mitch

 

[jude]

Keep this discussion on topic.

 

[ipodstudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GainHead RS, I don't know who Prue is and I have not said anything about the sound of any of your amplifiers here or anywhere else. All I have done is point out what some other, apparently knowledgeable, people have said about what opamps are used in the SR-71. Based upon my previous post here, you can see what I have independently deduced. If I am wrong, now is your chance to say so. If the circuit is so straight forward, then why so secretive? No one is going to go through the trouble of cloning your build quality.

Gainhead, it's my opinion that you've stepped way over the line of respect with this post. Ray Samuels is a very well respected and liked amp builder and audio enthusiast. His designs are his intellectual property and he has no obligation to share them with you or anyone else. Asking a question is one thing: badgering in order to forcably illicit ones required response is quite another.

Ray Samuels, I believe, has earned the respect he enjoys here. Let's make sure we all afford him that respect, including you.

 

[S_Dedalus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GainHead Uh, whatever you say chummy. Yours and gsferrari's posts prove my point that no one is going to clone the SR-71 build quality so there is no reason to keep the opamp and buffer a secret. Unless, as I said before, it is an obvious choice. If that is the case, then people would question paying $400 for the SR-71 when they could just buy a Mint or a Pimeta. That is why I think RS paints over the opamps. If he does not want to reveal what they are, that is obviously his decision but I think that decision speaks volumes.

Jude, I'm sorry if this post goes off-topic, but this guy needs to learn something very simple.
Ray Samuels has already explained that the topology of the SR-71 is a very simple opamp gain stage, buffer ouput stage amplifier, this is used in almost every headphone amp I've seen, and has very little to do with the overall sound or quality of a headphone amp. If the topology is similar, which is going to be true of any opamp-buffer amp, what really matters are the way the ground signal is dealt with(this is where most of the DIY amps on tangent's site differ), the power supply, the actual pcb layout, the construction, and the quality of parts. I've listened to a mint, and a ppa, both of which have similar opamp-buffer topologies, and the ppa blows the mint away, but you don't hear anyone complaining about how the ppa, meta42, or pimeta share a similar design to the mint.

What matters is the sound, so don't comment on the topology of the amp and how it is similar to another amp's, because in the end most amps that use opamps and buffers are going to share relatively similar designs. When you can compare the way two amps sound, then come back and talk about it.