Emmeline HR-2 headphone amp?

[markl]

I saw the announcement and decided to have a look. Looks very promising indeed. It sells for $875. Here's a link to Emmeline's web page for the HR-2: http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/index2.html

It's a solid state bruiser with a separate power supply and lots of beefy-looking parts:

Can someone more savvy than me figure out a way to post the full-size image?
Quote:

The HR-2 is a very high resolution headphone amp. It incorporates 2 state of the art audio IC's ever made AD797. It is tweaked on a very high resolution audio system as a pre-amp. Thus having that appealing magical characteristics and fullness of a well detailed headphone amp. The HR-2 is hand built with very high quality electronic parts. All resisters are .1% Dale (vishay). All the caps are polypropylene and tantalum. The volume control is a full size noble which is directly soldered to the PC board with no wires that can create noise or hum, like wise the headphone Jack. The PC board is the best quality FR4 material with military specs. 2 oz copper and double sided. All power and signal traces are separated with blocks of grounds and lanes. All parts are matched between the left and right channels to perfection (resisters and caps). The output stage is capable of driving any load at any ohmage. The PC board is housed in a black anodized chassis with a custom face plate and Red LED indicating unit being on. Two quality gold RCA input connectors are placed on the back plate. Click image to enlarge

Looks like those are captive power cords, alas. Also, sadly no specs like power output, output impedence etc. No indication whether it will drive low-impedence phones or high or both.

The announcement said someone here already had one, a "serial reviewer" no less. Care to come forward mystery man?

Mark

 

[jude]

I asked Ray to send it to kelly first. If I've cleared up my review queue by the time he's done with it, I'll give it a shot, too.

 

[markl]

I'd certainly be willing to review it, too. No waiting!!

Mark

 

[eric343]

Big Images:

A few comments - FR4 is standard PC board. Nothing special about it. (though 2oz/in copper is twice as thick as normal) Same with the caps - polypropelene can mean anything from cheaper Panasonics to Auricaps. Tantalum caps SUCK for audio, so I assume he's using them in the power supply. The separation of power/signal - good idea. And apparently the AD797 is not too shabby - though I can't say I've ever heard it.

"any load at any ohmage"? Yeah, right. Ever heard of K1000s? (and anyway, this also means it can drive regular speakers... since speakers are a "load" with an "ohmage")

However, Markl, you're incorrect in saying that the power cord is captive - true, the one connecting the separate power supply to the amp proper is captive. But the mains cord - the one you'd swap with a VD Nite - isn't... you can see the IEC jack and plug in the photo (it's right next to the blue Talema transformer).

 

[jude]

[size=xx-small] Quote:

Originally posted by eric343 ...."any load at any ohmage"? Yeah, right. Ever heard of K1000s? (and anyway, this also means it can drive regular speakers... since speakers are a "load" with an "ohmage")....

[/size]Actually, I believe, for fun, Ray did run some 8-ohm speakers with them. However, he made it very clear to me that this doesn't represent an ideal load or use for this amp.

 

[eric343]

I stand corrected

 

[jude]

Martin DeWulf of Bound for Sound used Ray Samuels gear in his reference rig.

Here's a cached page from September 10, 2002, which indicated he was using a Ray Samuels Audio preamp and phono stage:

http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Here's the page as of November 14, 2002, which indicates he still has Ray's phono stage in the rig:

http://www.boundforsound.com/rig_text.htm

 

[markl]

eric,
Thanks for posting the pics.
Also.. the K1000 is hardly a "normal" headphone is it? I wouldn't hold it against any headamp if it couldn't drive the K1000. Not many can...
Quote:

However, Markl, you're incorrect in saying that the power cord is captive - true, the one connecting the separate power supply to the amp proper is captive. But the mains cord - the one you'd swap with a VD Nite - isn't... you can see the IEC jack and plug in the photo (it's right next to the blue Talema transformer).

OK, but still that intermediary cord will not be up to my Signature (not Nite) cable's capability. Sure, I can plug my cord into the power supply, but then I have to rely on the stock cord between the power supply and the amp. That's a no-no for this freak.

Still-- I'm more than willing to audition this promising amp.

Jude/kelly,
Any chance the demo unit can be sent to me for review?

Mark

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

"Martin DeWulf of Bound for Sound used Ray Samuels gear in his reference rig."

Guess it looks like Marty is still at it. I actually used to live right across the street from him, and his family; pretty cool cats if I remember correctly. N.B.O.T.

 

[MooGoesTheCow]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl OK, but still that intermediary cord will not be up to my Signature (not Nite) cable's capability. Sure, I can plug my cord into the power supply, but then I have to rely on the stock cord between the power supply and the amp. That's a no-no for this freak.

I take it your melos has an internal power supply? If so, I'm guessing (I could be wrong here) that the internal wiring is not VD wonder cable. How many components (including headphone amps) have external power supplies? And how many of them have a proprietary, bnc, xlr, or other non-iec type connector from power supply to component? Most?

Most headphones don't have detachable cords, including your R10s. Most ears are also not wired to the brain with detachable cabling, either.

I personally like to look at a product I haven't heard before for what it does have, as opposed to what it lacks.

 

[carlo]

Extra info in case people care:

I'm of the opinion that high quality parts in the power supply is a wiser investment than a high quality power cord. From the pics that looks like an IEC recepticle and IEC power cord to me, look closely at the cord coming from the rear of the PS unit. I like that the power supply can be stored so far away from the main board, but it looks like there's more than a few filter caps on the main board so more than likely keeping the cord between the two chassis short would be beneficial*. Lack of source selection is the thing that jumps out at me (along with the ICs), but a part of me suspects that was a purposeful move to have less in the signal path. If this thing sounds as serious as it looks that'd be a tradeoff I would be willing to make... once again I haven't heard it. Just going by pics and experience and what looks like a very nice amp.

for what its worth,
carlo.

* = since there's some filter caps before the umbilical to the main board whats passing through is DC, not AC wall voltage. Arguable that cable quality is very important for this part, also arguable that it isn't important at all since its going through more filter caps anyway. Note that Khometko from BAT doesn't like keeping the power supply away from the main board since he feels the long length of cable introduces problems, in my experience an outboard PS can be very beneficial.

edit: incorrect information removed per john's suggestion below.

 

[kelly]

What carlo said.

The PSU has an IEC cable and a permanent cable between PSU and amp--I'd suspect due to potential damage and liability issues.

 

[markl]

Come on, kelly..
Give us a hint (at least) of how it sounds, especially in comparison to the Gilmore amp you recently raved about...

Mark

 

[kelly]

Sorry, reviews take time. I'm not big on the "initial impressions" thing. I get my foot stuck in my mouth often enough as it is. The Gilmore review came after weeks of audition as well as a good bit of conversation with Gilmore, Antness and several DIYers. I'll be glad to answer any factual questions I can in the meantime but the subjective stuff needs to simmer. And the Prehead is ahead in line anyway.

 

[Possum]

Quote:

I see four Black Gate standard series caps, what look like Sprague Orange Drops (which I haven't experimented with but are used in my Conrad Johnson Amp)

I dunno, all the major capacitors in there look to be of various Panasonic series: TSHA (the really big black ones with white stripes), FC (the smaller blue ones with the gold stripes), and polypropylenes (the reddish ones). The Black Gate capacitors I've seen were actually black, and the Sprague Orange Drops of various series (715, 716, and 225) were also actually very orangey. It'd probably be easier for a manufacturer to stick with one brand of capacitors. Not that tha Panasonics are bad, they're pretty good, but probably not considered exotic.