[helios4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif And... I would guess the new Musical Fidelity XCAN v8, or the XCAN v3, would also, though they are tube hybrid amps. The XCAN v3 sounds good with the Grados (32 ohms).

Correct

The D5000 is very good with a hybrid amp like the x-can v3. Probably the same with the v8.

 

[coolshot]

the singlepower website hasn't been updated in years. There was a 'press release' of sort in the mall-fi section. However i think we lost it when head-fi crashed.

 

[HDen]

ah ok makes sense

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't want to sound dumb or anything, but I can't see the "Extreme" on the SinglePower website?

Yeah... that's because... its not there. SP doesn't update their site.

The Moon Audio site is a better site to see all the amps, prices and options - though I'm not sure it's current either.

Seems like SP loses a lot of "marketing potential" by not maintaining a good site, with all current info. But... when you're "running flat out" with no major need/desire to "grow" your business - what's the point? It seems SP stays very busy with just the "word-of-mouth" business from Head-Fi.

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by helios4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Correct The D5000 is very good with a hybrid amp like the x-can v3. Probably the same with the v8.

I may try the new v8 - if I can "accept" its "new ugly face" - the v3 was sooo much more "elegant."

But... right now I'm giving the Solo a try with them.

Or... its possible... I'll just "end it all," dump all my other electronics and "move on up to the East side" with an Extreme... if... I can accept their new price of $1200. Not sure I can - "its the principle of the thing."

 

[Skylab]

The SP Extreme is terrific with the DX1000's, IMO. Really terrific.

 

[jamess71]

Anybody have any comments on pairing them with a Millet Max? Thanks

 

[markl]

Several months back, before I owned a D5000, someone sent me an old-school Singlepower amp in the old case. It could not drive the R10 or the JVC DX1000 without clipping. I could only get the cans up to about 70% of my normal listening level (yes, loud) without it clipping away.

Yeah, it was an old amp, I don't know which version of his product it was, and it's probable that he has designs specifically for low-z cans that will work better than this one did.

All that said, I still haven't heard a pure tube amp (non hybrid) that could drive the picky low-impedence R10 without issues (not that I've conducted some exhaustive survey; I haven't). The MicroZOTL did OK, but it was extremely bland and soft sounding amp.

What's wrong with good ol' solid state? If you choose wisely, you can get all the tonal goodness of tubes plus you'll never have to worry about having sufficient power for any phone, agonizing over whether you have the "best" tubes for your amp, worrying about how much life is left in your irreplaceable NOS tubes, etc.

I don't know what the OP's budget is, but an amp like the Rudistor RPX-33 has fantastic rich tonality and power to burn.

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's wrong with good ol' solid state? If you choose wisely, you can get all the tonal goodness of tubes plus you'll never have to worry about having sufficient power for any phone, agonizing over whether you have the "best" tubes for your amp, worrying about how much life is left in your irreplaceable NOS tubes, etc. I don't know what the OP's budget is, but an amp like the Rudistor RPX-33 has fantastic rich tonality and power to burn.

Nothing's wrong with "good ole SS"... if... one can afford (or is willing) to invest the huge sums required to get "the high-priced spread." And... it sure would be nice to dispense with the "tube hassle" - in exchange for the simplicity of SS (assuming you could find the component with the right SQ to suit your preferences).

The Rudistor stuff is simply priced "out of the reach" of most / many folks, who either don't have the budget, or refuse to spend that much for their "toys." And... I don't know whether the "low-priced spread" (lower priced - such as the GS-1, or HR-2), can really compete with good tube equipment, in the richness of its tone. Maybe... but... I've not heard it, nor read about it.

Though... I must admit... I'm listening to the Graham Slee Solo with the D5000s at the moment... and... it does seem to sound virtually as good as my DV332 with them. It may be a bit more clear and detailed... and... its not far behind in the richness of the tone. Both amps control the bass about the same - but, the DV332 may provide a bit more slam / impact.

But... I'm still not sure whether the Solo has resolved the rough mids of the D5000s though - which I previously thought was inadequate current provided by the DV332 to the low impedence D5000s.

Perhaps... this is another area, where the Chinese designers / mfrs... can "come to the rescue - with some really great SS components that rival "the high-priced spread" - at "bargain basement prices." Nothing could be better... or... more welcome. If they did it with tubed gear... why not SS gear.

 

[markl]

The Ray Samuels HR-2 is a fine-sounding ss amp, can be had cheap used.

 

[Asr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't want to sound dumb or anything, but I can't see the "Extreme" on the SinglePower website?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f61/ex...lifier-210429/

 

[falcon_wizard]

I guess my case's closed... I just bought MrLA's Opera.... (so much for the spending...)

Next will be the D5000... unless someone tells me otherwise. I'm looking for the best possible closed can I can get.

Cheers

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Hi folks,

This thread is getting interesting to me for the OT going on. I'm a tube amp user and my speakers are currently driven by a little tube integrated so far. I've tested many amps, for speakers and cans in my life, and I keep a good amount of both types of amps in my stash.
IMHO nothing sounds as clear, pure, natural, human and believable as a SET amp. But you need the transducers that can sound good and loud with less than 9wpc for speakers and a few miliwatts for cans with a highish output impedance. There aren't many SET amps for cans, and they have the same limitations, you need the right cans for them.
From my experience, any other type of non-SET circuit has always some tonal and resolutive flaws compared to SETs, but when things are well done and the implementation and parts quality is good, SS and tube amps tend to sound very very similar. Tubes still have an edge on timbric richness, but SS do have it driving difficult loads, be it low sensivity and low impedance speakers or cans.
Mark has a good point, SS is more convenient, saves you a lot of expenses and hassle looking for your "wonder tubes", but that's also a part of the fun for some people. I love tube swapping on my tube amps. But when you need power to drive difficult cans or speakers, IMHO SS is more adequate. Nevertheless good amps, either tube or SS, are expensive and finding powerful devices doing things simply right, requires time and money. If you spend big bucks on an amp and you want it to drive anything from 16Ohm to 600 and from 80dB/mW to 115dB/mW, you have more chances to find it into the SS camp than in the tubes' one.

Knowing a bit the D5000 I'd recommend better a good SS than a tubes one, but by no means I'm suggesting SS is "the way to go", just that you're more likely to find a good match and not falling short of power with "decent" SS than with "decent" tube amps. OTOH you might prefer that plus of richness and texture of the tubes, at the expense of losing grip and real control of the HPs as soon as you're listening to any complex music program, or want some loud listening.
To each one his own

Rgrds

 

[GordonFreeman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cool_Torpedo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi folks, This thread is getting interesting to me for the OT going on. I'm a tube amp user and my speakers are currently driven by a little tube integrated so far. I've tested many amps, for speakers and cans in my life, and I keep a good amount of both types of amps in my stash. IMHO nothing sounds as clear, pure, natural, human and believable as a SET amp. But you need the transducers that can sound good and loud with less than 9wpc for speakers and a few miliwatts for cans with a highish output impedance. There aren't many SET amps for cans, and they have the same limitations, you need the right cans for them. From my experience, any other type of non-SET circuit has always some tonal and resolutive flaws compared to SETs, but when things are well done and the implementation and parts quality is good, SS and tube amps tend to sound very very similar. Tubes still have an edge on timbric richness, but SS do have it driving difficult loads, be it low sensivity and low impedance speakers or cans. Mark has a good point, SS is more convenient, saves you a lot of expenses and hassle looking for your "wonder tubes", but that's also a part of the fun for some people. I love tube swapping on my tube amps. But when you need power to drive difficult cans or speakers, IMHO SS is more adequate. Nevertheless good amps, either tube or SS, are expensive and finding powerful devices doing things simply right, requires time and money. If you spend big bucks on an amp and you want it to drive anything from 16Ohm to 600 and from 80dB/mW to 115dB/mW, you have more chances to find it into the SS camp than in the tubes' one. Knowing a bit the D5000 I'd recommend better a good SS than a tubes one, but by no means I'm suggesting SS is "the way to go", just that you're more likely to find a good match and not falling short of power with "decent" SS than with "decent" tube amps. OTOH you might prefer that plus of richness and texture of the tubes, at the expense of losing grip and real control of the HPs as soon as you're listening to any complex music program, or want some loud listening. To each one his own Rgrds

Can you list a few SET headphone amplifiers?

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordonFreeman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you list a few SET headphone amplifiers?

That I have used none. My opinions about SET amps are based on my experience with them feeding loudspeakers.

Most of the claimed SET HP amps are actually OTL designs (like the Earmax, MicroZotl, etc), and again for my experience using OTL with speakers, they're not quite the same thing, though they have an edge over conventional OT push-pull amps. I'm not sure if the Antique Sound Labs OTL mkIII in its high impedance output gets rid of the OTL circuit and uses an output transformer preserving the SET topology.
Other likely SET HP amp would be the Cary Audio 300SEI, it's a SET integrated with a HP output which should preserve the SET topology, but I'm not sure about it, maybe other members are more familiar with it.
The only SET HP amp I'm completely sure is SET and uses output transformers is the Opera Audio Consonance Cyber20. It's very likely there are more chinese made headamps using similar approach.

If any serious tube amp maker released a HP SET amp I'd be willing to try it. Being a SET for its own sake is warranty of nothing, but if it delivered that special and unique texture of SET speaker amps, it'd be very worth investigating.
Were you aware of more pure SET, not OTL, headphone amps, please share with me.

Rgrds