[DefQon]

An shots of the resistors used for the impedence adaptors?

 

[Zoom25]

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I can type out more if you're interested.

 
Yea would love it hear about it.

 

[modulor]

Quote:

An shots of the resistors used for the impedence adaptors?

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=RN55D4990FB14virtualkey61300000virtualkey71-RN55D-F-499

 

[elwappo99]

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Quote:

 
Yea would love it hear about it.

 
Alriiighty then.

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Burson Soloist:
Pros: 
Really great and cohesive soundstage. Every piece of music sat right infront of me, and just smoothly spread out. Instruments would easily separate out in space
Very airy sound, while still giving weight to instruments. Very very transparent
Treble was very clear and sparkly. This alone really maintained the great characteristics of some headphones (Mad Dogs, T1, LCD2)
Sound was very non-fatiguing. Could easily listen to this amplifier for hours without feeling worn out at all. 
I really don't recall ever finding a noise floor with this amp at all. It was dead silent at any volume
Gain settings allow this thing to work with just about any headphone you would throw at it from Denon D7000s through Hifiman HE-500
 
Cons:
Mid range at times could feel slightly recessed and didn't have as much weight as I would like. To be fair, I just back and forth between SS and tubes all the time, so maybe I like a little more meat in the mids. 
Stepped attenuation was total killer on high sensitivity headphones. 
Not enough power for the HE-6, although quite a bit for a headamp
 
Fence:
Bass was very tight and controlled, but in some ways was a little bit recessed. It was very light and airy which was great for electronic, but I felt in many ways it was lacking a bit, which also pulled down the midrange impact
 
Winning Headphones:
Beyerdynamic T1
Hifiman He-500
Mad Dogs
AKG Q701
 
Notes:
This is really a stellar amp. Any comments I had were really nitpicky and probably exaggerate in some ways the actual impact of the amp to show some differences. I think this amplifier is really close to neutral, but has a slight treble tilt to it. Between the slight tilt in treble and stepped attenuator, I didn't end up keeping this amp.

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Emotiva A-100:
Pros: 
Lots of power
Great instrument separation, but not necessarily sound stage (I'll talk about it in notes)
Very musical sounding and very cohesive sound
Bass is more impactful. It's hard to say if it's more controlled than the Soloist, because the Soloist's bass is lighter in comparison, but I think the A-100 has much more control in the bass region.
 
Cons:
Not extremely detailed like the Soloist, but still retains a lot of detail. I think this is in part due to the bump in bass warmer sound
Soundstage was a little off at times. 
 
Fence:
 
 
Winning Headphones:
All orthodynamics (HE-500, HE-6, HE-400, Mad Dogs)
 
Notes:
Although this thing has stellar instrument separation, soundstage itself was a little bit off. Listening felt more emerged in the music, but sounds tended to follow the "three blob" soundstage. By this I mean music was either left, right, or center in three areas. The soundstage didn't necessarily blend together. This reminds me a lot of the Mjolnir's sound stage, and makes me wonder if the Mjolnir is more of a speaker amp in disguise :/
 
Overall, I would say the emotiva has a slight bass tilt. This gives the HE-6 a really sweet sound. However, for a lot of headphones, the bit of a bass bump means a bump in the weight of the sound while a bit of a loss in details, although the unit is still very detailed. 

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With that said I'm still on the prowl for an amplifier. I would be pretty set with the Emotiva, but I'd like a better SS and slightly better details. The Burson would be great if it didn't have that treble tilt and didn't have a stepped attenuator. I'm afraid of getting a Mjolnir because the SS is so similar to the "3 blob" one of the Emotiva. Blegh! Why can't I get the amplifier that sounds perfect at a reasonable price! 

 

[zilch0md]

Hey elwappo99!
 
Thanks so much for that very insightful comparison!   I was very pleased to see this and found reading it to ring true with my own experience with the Soloist and LCD-2.   Spot on, in fact.
 
Which makes your comments regarding the mini-X A-100 all the more credible, in my assessment.  I have been following this thread for quite some time, even coming close to buying the Emotiva amp during their holiday sale period, and since then, frankly, but I always stop short, for fear of liking it more than my Soloist!  
 

 
Now, reading your comparison, I am relieved of that concern, though somewhat ashamed that I have not pursued sound quality independent of price differences.   Still, I've spent a lot of money working my way up to my current desktop solution, so I was reluctant to spend another $200+ for yet another experiment.   

 
Regarding your continued search for something better than the Soloist, I've been thinking about the Marantz PM8004 for quite some time - perhaps with 360- or 500-Ohm resistors when connecting the LCD-2 to its speaker terminals, so you might want to give that a try and let us know what you think!  

 
http://www.avguide.com/review/marantz-pm8004-integrated-amplifier-tas-220
 

 
 

 
Go for it!
 

 
Mike
 
UPDATE:  Having since bought the Emotiva a-100 Mini-X for use with LCD-2 rev.1, I don't think I would bother using resistors with the Marantz PM8004.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

Hey elwappo99!
 
Thanks so much for that very insightful comparison!   I was very pleased to see this and found reading it to ring true with my own experience with the Soloist and LCD-2.   Spot on, in fact.
 
Which makes your comments regarding the mini-X A-100 all the more credible, in my assessment.  I have been following this thread for quite some time, even coming close to buying the Emotiva amp during their holiday sale period, and since then, frankly, but I always stop short, for fear of liking it more than my Soloist!  
 

 
Now, reading your comparison, I am relieved of that concern, though somewhat ashamed that I have not pursued sound quality independent of price differences.   Still, I've spent a lot of money working my way up to my current desktop solution, so I was reluctant to spend another $200+ for yet another experiment.   

 
Regarding your continued search for something better than the Soloist, I've been thinking about the Marantz PM8004 for quite some time - perhaps with 360- or 500-Ohm resistors when connecting the LCD-2 to its speaker terminals, so you might want to give that a try and let us know what you think!  

 
http://www.avguide.com/review/marantz-pm8004-integrated-amplifier-tas-220
 
 
Go for it!
 

 
Mike

 
 
It has been a strange journey for me with this amp. It provides so much that when I stop and think about how much it cost, I try to pick out flaws and devalue it in a sense. Keep in mind that Emotiva offers a money back period as well. I think these units come down to like $180, which isn't too bad at all. 
 
I've always been intrigued by doing this same thing with a Marantz unit. I asked over and over in the HE-6 thread and no one had done it with a modern Marantz. I ended up grabbing a emotiva because of the price and reputation. Emotiva has become a pretty hefty "bang for buck" audio dealer.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

 
 
It has been a strange journey for me with this amp. It provides so much that when I stop and think about how much it cost, I try to pick out flaws and devalue it in a sense. Keep in mind that Emotiva offers a money back period as well. I think these units come down to like $180, which isn't too bad at all. 
 
I've always been intrigued by doing this same thing with a Marantz unit. I asked over and over in the HE-6 thread and no one had done it with a modern Marantz. I ended up grabbing a emotiva because of the price and reputation. Emotiva has become a pretty hefty "bang for buck" audio dealer.

 
I currently use a Marantz CD5004. I was also thinking on getting a modern Marantz piece for use with the planars and bookshelf speakers although didn't find much feedback. Might try it down the road for experience's sake.  

 

[elwappo99]

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I currently use a Marantz CD5004. I was also thinking on getting a modern Marantz piece for use with the planars and bookshelf speakers although didn't find much feedback. Might try it down the road for experience's sake.  

 
As preproman says: 

 
I don't think anyone has hooked up headphones to a modern Marantz unit. Of course the vintage are reported to be stellar.

 

[Zoom25]

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As preproman says: 

 
I don't think anyone has hooked up headphones to a modern Marantz unit. Of course the vintage are reported to be stellar.

 
Yea there are a couple of vintage receivers ranging anywhere from $100-$300, usually with a model number of 2XXX. I've noticed them to have typically closer to 20 Watts of power @ 8 ohms. I would consider picking them up but feel scared about maintenance about them, and plus none of them would have any warranty.
 
The newer Marantz are usually closer to the 50W area and are all built exceptionally well. I have tried couple of Marantz units before, but not with headphones at that time, since I didn't know about that prospect. Marantz's amp as well as integrated amps all have great sound quality, and don't cheap out in their combination equipments like I've noticed with some Sony and Onkyo models. Denon usually does better, same with Pioneer. Although I always end up preferring Marantz stuff better. Better looks, simplicity, built condition, sound quality, also prefer their sound signature a lot.
 
So I guess my point is that if someone has to go on faith to try a speaker amp for headphones, Marantz would probably be one of the better choices out there.  

 

[eddiek997]

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Yea there are a couple of vintage receivers ranging anywhere from $100-$300, usually with a model number of 2XXX. I've noticed them to have typically closer to 20 Watts of power @ 8 ohms. I would consider picking them up but feel scared about maintenance about them, and plus none of them would have any warranty.
 
The newer Marantz are usually closer to the 50W area and are all built exceptionally well. I have tried couple of Marantz units before, but not with headphones at that time, since I didn't know about that prospect. Marantz's amp as well as integrated amps all have great sound quality, and don't cheap out in their combination equipments like I've noticed with some Sony and Onkyo models. Denon usually does better, same with Pioneer. Although I always end up preferring Marantz stuff better. Better looks, simplicity, built condition, sound quality, also prefer their sound signature a lot.
 
So I guess my point is that if someone has to go on faith to try a speaker amp for headphones, Marantz would probably be one of the better choices out there.  

I will disagree with the 'built exceptionally well' statement. While that was true when they were still 'Marantz' the company, but since they became part of D&M Holdings they're all about profit and therefore build quality has suffered. A lot. So much so, we stopped selling their products and went to Yamaha instead.
Had so many failures with Marantz and Rotel receivers that it was bad for business.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

I will disagree with the 'built exceptionally well' statement. While that was true when they were still 'Marantz' the company, but since they became part of D&M Holdings they're all about profit and therefore build quality has suffered. A lot. So much so, we stopped selling their products and went to Yamaha instead.
Had so many failures with Marantz and Rotel receivers that it was bad for business.

 
Really??? Many of my friends also have Marantz, some of them were recent in the past 1-2 year. They all seem to have no trouble either. I guess I lucked out with my units.

 
When did this switch over take place?

 

[eddiek997]

Quote:

 
Really??? Many of my friends also have Marantz, some of them were recent in the past 1-2 year. They all seem to have no trouble either. I guess I lucked out with my units.

 
When did this switch over take place?

Early 2000's I believe.
Phillips was a major holder which was one of the inventors (Sony the other one) of 'Planned Obsolescence' - whereby a product would be engineered to fail after a certain period of time (warranty expiration +so many days) in order to get you to buy another of their products. They figured that it's more lucrative to get you to buy another in 3 years instead of making it last 10 and you be proud of it's reliablility. Reliability doesn't sell product. Requirement for a replacement does.
 
Anyway... trying not to get off topic on what has been a very enjoyable thread.. 
 
To that end, I wouldn't use a 200wpc amp to drive headphones, 50 is plenty with more headroom than can possibly be used.....

 

[ToInfinity]

In case anyone is close to pulling the trigger on a speaker amp and needs an adapter cable, I'm selling a custom female 1/4" to banana plugs brand new from BTG Audio. I have it listed in the sale forums, message me if interested.

 

[28980]

Interested in the a100. The biggest issue for me is that I'm not sure how to deal with a potential power surge? I think me and my roommate have somehow overloaded our circuit breaker thrice these past few months and I wanted to know if that made the a100 a bad choice for me or of there was a solution to this problem.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Interested in the a100. The biggest issue for me is that I'm not sure how to deal with a potential power surge? I think me and my roommate have somehow overloaded our circuit breaker thrice these past few months and I wanted to know if that made the a100 a bad choice for me or of there was a solution to this problem.

 
Heya,
 
I would think an UPS would be a simple solution for anyone with power issues in their house/office. Doesn't matter if it's a computer, a television, or an amplifier. A simple $40~60 UPS should cover you from surges and power loss, etc. Or you can just run from a basic surge protector. Loss of power is better than allowing a surge to occur, and those are like $10. You're not just plugging into the wall with all your electronics are you?
 
Very best,