[estreeter]

Hi,

I auditioned a brand new Heed tonight, and was both intrigued and disappointed. For those who own the Heed, are you able to tell me if :

- they are ok with low impedance/high sensitivity phones like my Grados ?

- there is a noticeable (as in quite loud) hum when the volume is at either end of the dial (6-9am and 9pm-midnite) ?

- for a cold, brand new solid state amp, it had a certain warmth which I found attractive. The hum, however, had me handing the amp back to the store owner - he tried everything, saying he had never had this problem before. beats me.

- the other thing that I didnt like was that there seemed to be very little sensitivity in the volume control - probably fine with really hard to drive phones, but with the Grados I think it would be a brave person indeed who would take it past 9am, 10am being about as loud as most headbangers would want. Again, it may simply have been this unit ...

All feedback most welcome - I looked at earlier threads, but didnt see anything on the above - apologies if I have missed the obvious.

Tks,

estreeter

 

[fameh]

Hello estreeter,
actually i sold my Canamp but i was using one during 8 months or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif they are ok with low impedance/high sensitivity phones like my Grados ?

I used it with D2000 & K701 which have both nearly impedance to Grados. I would say it works quite well with full sized headphones. It drived quite well also a pair of Beyers 250ohm. In fact, its said its on of the best amps for the K701, which don't have a very high impedance.
So i think that the consideration of be a proper amp or not, depends more on sinergy with the cans that to the impedance (except you use very high 600ohm) headphones or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif there is a noticeable (as in quite loud) hum when the volume is at either end of the dial (6-9am and 9pm-midnite) ?

I didn't experienced it. It could be the source, but i guess it's because its a brand new amplifier and needs burning.
Anyway, i heard that some Canamps have a very slight background noise, and i readed to the manufacturers of it to say "hey, we know its there, its on the design, but what do you expect for this price?"
And i agree there. Anyway, the people who experienced it said it was very very difficult to feel it while listening music.

Burning is required, anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif the other thing that I didnt like was that there seemed to be very little sensitivity in the volume control - probably fine with really hard to drive phones, but with the Grados I think it would be a brave person indeed who would take it past 9am, 10am being about as loud as most headbangers would want. Again, it may simply have been this unit ...

I agree also here, there is not a very good sensitivity there. My volume control in fact was quite hard to turn sometimes, too.

 

[lecky]

I've not tried mine with Grados, and my main cans are high impedance, but with portapros or c-jays (tired just for curiosities sake) there is no background hum at all at any volume. With these low impedance headphones there isn't a lot of travel in the volume nob between silent and more than loud enough, but none the less it isn't in any way difficult to get precisely the required volume.

I'm really happy with my canamp.

You might ask your retailer if he or she'd get another canamp in which you'd buy on condition that it didn't have the buzz - I wouldn't want an amp with a buzz at this or any price.

 

[Philski]

The buzz most likely came from a dirty power source, and since you were auditioning it in a hifi shop, they probably had other equipment running off their mains power which might well have contributed to the problem...

 

[estreeter]

Thanks guys - not sure what the Canamp is priced at in the US, but this one is well in excess of 500 USD here : for the same Aussie dollars, I could buy the Corda Cantate from a local distributor. I think I'll pass on the Canamp.

 

[carledwards]

I use the CanAmp with K701 and it's a perfect match. As with any amp, it's all about synergy and the right cans. BTW, no hum whatsoever with mine and nothing I could want better with the K701.

 

[4lx]

I use mine with my k702, and compared to the headphone jack straight out of my STX, it definately adds a certain warmth, and improves the layering and imaging of the sound.

The most noticeable change in my opinion is the bass, which just feels exactly how it should, present but not obtrusive, impactful when it needs to be, in fact it feels like i am listning to exactly what whas intended by the artist, and really makes these otherwise "bass light" (as alot of people describe them) cans really shine in that department.

I have not had any of the "buzzing" you describe, i have the volume dial at 12:00, and everything sounds very clean, though that could be because my unit is well burnt-in or the result of EMI shielding on my STX, or just something wrong with the unit you were listening to.

There is a small downside to this great combination though, any less-than-well recorded music will not sound good in my opinion, i can't help but listning to them critically most of the time, trying to pick out flaws in the recording. this is why i actually use my 595s straight out of my STX for most of my listening, and they sound very good without the Canamp.

As Carledwards said, it's all about Synergy, and with well recorded music, the Canamp are a fantastic match with the AKG sound. don't get me wrong, the amp will sound very good with most headphones, and is a great investement for the price. but there are many amps out there, and i would recommend listening to as many as you can to find your ideal sound, bearing in mind the headphones you might want to buy in the future.

Hope this helped

EDIT: i was fortunate enough to get my Canamp in the region of 280USD from a respected local dealer who used it as a demo unit, and i have just seen that you would have to pay in the region of 500 for yours, and at that price point there may be some more versatile amps out there if you plan on listening to different signatures.

Good luck!

 

[estreeter]

Thanks - I settled on the Topaz for its incredible combination of (mains-powered) grunt and portability. When I went back, the dealer plugged the Heed into an Arcam CD player and there was no sign of the hum. His theory is that the Heed relies on your source for its ground (two-pin plug, 240V here in Oz) and it wasnt getting that from the NAD - beats me.