Quote:
I'm a very happy owner of a Gilmore Lite w/ elpac power supply. Works great, build quality is second to none, and you really get the impression that it's not adding or subtracting anything from the music, just silently putting power behind it. The best part is the absolute dead silent background; you can turn the volume knob all the way up and you will hear absolutely nothing, no hum, no buzz. That alone gives me huge confidence in its fidelity to the source.
One concern I have is the gain, though. I bought mine based on its reputation for synergy with Grados. True enough, it's great with my SR-325i, but I have to wonder if they're not using all of what the Gilmore could be giving because of the amp's high gain. I have never gotten past nine o'clock on the volume knob--even that far is usually extremely loud. I've always wondered whether this is normal. Anybody else end up topping out at around nine o'clock for comfortable listening with Grados?
This doesn't seem to depend on the source; I've tried with a MHDT Dialogue II DAC, a normal headphone-out from a Mac, and now with a MF V-DAC. The relative position of the volume knob required for equal volume always ends up being approximately the same.
I've got a pair of HD-600s that will arrive in a few days... from what I've heard about the differences in power usage between Senns and Grados, I'm expecting to use more of that volume knob. We'll see.
I think that is normal, as my dial is usually between nine/ten o'clock between my sound card and CDP. Grados are just easy to drive, and if anything, it just means that the Gilmore Lite has more than enough juice to drive much more demanding headphones.
============
I have had the pleasure of owning a secondhand Gilmore Lite with the Elpac for over three years now, my first and only headphone amp for my HF-1. I was skeptical about amplification because Grados seemed to work well un-amped through headphone jacks anyway. However, this Gilmore Lite came up for sale locally, and after reading all the feedback about it here with regard to Grados, I took the plunge. When I opened it up, I didn't realize how small it was, as I'm not good with scaling things from pictures on a screen! The fit and finish on it was solid, the loop out a great touch when I wanted to listen on my Promedias (now iFi's) and that was all nice and dandy. With the HF-1 plugged in, I fired it up and immediately, I understood what all the praise here was about, and I started to wonder, with each passing track, why I went so long without amplification.
Maybe the story would be the same if I started out with just about any other amp within my price range at the time and this were a different appreciation thread, but it isn't, and that's okay. Even after trying many other higher-priced amps from other vendors, I honestly would have a tough time justifying another amp, nevermind even thinking of replacing this amp. It is kind of a shame that it is now discontinued, but the price had gone up quite a bit from the time I had purchased mine. In fact, just like headphones, there are so many more offerings now than ever, and if one was indecisive about an amp three years ago, you are likely more indecisive now!
Thankfully, it's a decision I don't have to worry about, for now anyway. And after reading baka1969's post on the last page, I can fret about whether I really want to save up for an HD-800 or a T1, and know that whichever cans I may decide to splurge on, the Gilmore Lite should be able to handle it just fine.
