[Wizardry]

Well, a parcel arrived today morning...

Being curious, I took a few pics of the package and what's inside...

Some first impressions :

(and disclaimer : please take into consideration that my HD650 was previously plugged on the analog jack output of my soundcard).

The first word coming in mind is : power and accuracy ! In my humble opinion, the first hours are astonishing on that point. With such power now, the music become easier to follow, it seems much much more dynamic, while lots of new details that I didn't hear before appear.

I notice too a great improvement in separation between the pupiteer of voices (I hear lot of classical, especially sacred music with chorus - as I'm myself part of a vocal ensemble). The soundstage perhaps seems to have extended too - but I'm not sure what people here means exactly when it comes to "soundstage". It's like the whole scene become deeper, but still here, with more dimension, yes that the word

One point I should just be careful is about the volume addiction the Canamp could induce - with such power in hands, I tend to become hungry... I sometimes refrain from venturing past the 11 o'clock volume position, trying to feel like I feel on stage, singing in a chorus and orchestra, surrounded by sounds that merge within you !

So far, that's already perfect for me, and considering that it can only improve, I know now that I'm going to really enjoy this wonderful little black monolith - as we could say in France, "petit mais costaud" !

 

[Dexdexter]

Thanks for that, Wiz'ry, I just love unboxing snaps!

And félicitations on the new arrival!

 

[Rav]

Little Black Monolith - i like that description

 

[dw6928]

It is such a pleasure to see so many people receiving and enjoying their Heed amps. Way back when, in the Fall, I think there about 3 or 4 Headfi members who would post back and forth and we wore each other out. New ears and new opinions is refreshing. Please don't judge anything until it has had its
200 hours. Like the AKG 701s, the burn in is required and not a myth.

 

[d-cee]

just received my canamp, HUGE improvement over the head-five

i've also already voided my warranty before burning it in by performing extensive mods! =D

all i can say is wow, in the past my amplifier purchases must have been sidegrades or i thought i had bad ears (such a shame) but after hearing the canamp the improvement is not subtle at all! out of my K701s i haven't heard such detail and dynamics... it's just like WoW

 

[Dexdexter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d-cee /img/forum/go_quote.gif just received my canamp, HUGE improvement over the head-five i've also already voided my warranty before burning it in by performing extensive mods! =D all i can say is wow, in the past my amplifier purchases must have been sidegrades or i thought i had bad ears (such a shame) but after hearing the canamp the improvement is not subtle at all! out of my K701s i haven't heard such detail and dynamics... it's just like WoW

Nice one, d-cee!

Now howsabout a photographic tour of those mods?

 

[greggf]

Yes, D-cee, isn't it great when something really shines? It wasn't the Canamp for me (which I've never heard), but rather a Naim Headline 2. When something really is extraordinary, it sticks out like a sore thumb - but in a positive sense.

 

[leener]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Some first impressions : (and disclaimer : please take into consideration that my HD650 was previously plugged on the analog jack output of my soundcard). The first word coming in mind is : [B power and accuracy[/B] ! In my humble opinion, the first hours are astonishing on that point. With such power now, the music become easier to follow, it seems much much more dynamic, while lots of new details that I didn't hear before appear. I notice too a great improvement in separation between the pupiteer of voices (I hear lot of classical, especially sacred music with chorus - as I'm myself part of a vocal ensemble). The soundstage perhaps seems to have extended too - but I'm not sure what people here means exactly when it comes to "soundstage". It's like the whole scene become deeper, but still here, with more dimension, yes that the word One point I should just be careful is about the volume addiction the Canamp could induce - with such power in hands, I tend to become hungry... I sometimes refrain from venturing past the 11 o'clock volume position, trying to feel like I feel on stage, singing in a chorus and orchestra, surrounded by sounds that merge within you ! So far, that's already perfect for me, and considering that it can only improve, I know now that I'm going to really enjoy this wonderful little black monolith - as we could say in France, "petit mais costaud" !

Yes, it is exactly what I felt when I just took it from the box!
But, you know, I have read a lot about CanAmp (that's why I've chosen it) and kind of expected this and I must say EVERYTHING THEY SAY IS TRUE.
Now I am intrigued - they say Heed is good right out from the box but nothing remarkable (I guess this is "normal" sentiment for one for whom it is not his first amp...) but later on... Well, and I know it is going to be true too...
I want to thank Head-fi. for helping hand, leener

P.S. ...little black monolith ..."petit mais costaud" - yes, it's what it is.

 

[dw6928]

I made the remark because the unbelievably positive changes over the break in period will astound you. When you look back at the "out of the box" sound, it will seem like a different amp altogether. Enjoy the ride~

 

[Mikesul]

Has anyone compared the Heed Canamp to a GS-1?

 

[Dexdexter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yome6969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can CanAmp sound hard rock well? __________________ My sentences are sentences written on the translation site. When sentences are strange, I'm sorry.

Does the CanAmp do hard rock well?

I've just spun Deep Purple Burn, and Messrs. Blackmore, Coverdale, and Hughes all emphatically scream "Hell Yeah!"

 

[mrarroyo]

I never played much hard rock through my Heed. I guess the hardest was Santana and it sounded great with my RS-1 or K701.

 

[yome6969]

Dexdexter,
Woops! thank you for the English lesson and the answer.
By the way, which Canamp or Arietta do you evaluate?

mrarroyo,
I saw your review and ordered SuperMicroⅣ.
Thank you.

__________________
My sentences are written on the translation site.
When sentences are strange, I'm sorry.

 

[Dexdexter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yome6969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dexdexter, Woops! thank you for the English lesson and the answer. By the way, which Canamp or Arietta do you evaluate?

Hi yome,

Haven't yet heard the Arietta, but I did hear the HeadFive last week, which for all intents is essentially the same amp.

With my low impedance Ultrasones and some of the better Grados, it just didn't have the power to compete at the CanAmp's level of performance. I was rather surprised, considering all the nice things I had read about the HeadFive here.

The CanAmp seems to handle cans of every type with equal excellence!

 

[d-cee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dexdexter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice one, d-cee! Now howsabout a photographic tour of those mods?

ask and you shall receive...

http://www.a-chau.net/gallery2/v/mambo-articles/canamp/

a few teasers:





the mods i've done so far are:
35v 10,000uF Evox Rifa with really impressive ESR electrolytics dropped in place of the jamicons
35v 100uF Rubycon ZA ultra low impedance in place of the jamicons
power resistors replaced with sprague koolohms courtesy of pink floyd
all film caps replaced with 250v 0.47uF evox rifa polypropylene capacitors
diodes replaced with ultrafast ones (uf4002)
opamp socketed with AD823 currently in place
all hookup wire replaced with fatter stuff (speaker cables i had lying around)

let me tell you this was quite an exercise! replacing electrolytics was the easiest part

removing the film caps was also easy, but putting in the evox polyprops was an enormous task, all of them are underneath the board, stuck on with blu tack, these are too huge so basically i either used small pieces of hookup or followed the traces on the board until i found a more suitable place to solder them! i basically bought only one value polyprop that fulfilled all film positions in terms of voltage and capacitance to save money/hassle but MAN that was a mistake, in proportion to the board these things are huge, i had envisaged in my head much more room with the canamp but the computer screen deceived me...

highly don't recommend using such high value polyprops, but oh well. also the opamp was tough, i decided to remove everything around it to make life easier for myself, but ended up lifting half the pads (of other components)! yikes

no worries, again, either scratching the surface and resoldering or stretching the leg to the nearest in-tact component down the path of the circuit

one thing i noticed is that basically most of the film caps are bypassing other electrolytics the only reason i followed all the paths was because I a. lifted the damn pads, or b. couldn't fit the damn component where i wanted it!

anyways, i am just awaiting some 100v 10uF caps to replace the ones at the very front near the opamp and i will have replaced just about every component bar the resistors (except power ones) and the damn power transformer! oh, and pot and jacks, and power cable...

anyways, initial impressions are HUGE. coming from a meier audio corda head-five i thought was pretty good to this is like a total step up! so far only listened with my K701s and i am amazed by the extra clarity, and "goodness" unfortunately i'm no good at using audiophile terminoloy though with a little more time i may think of how to better put it into words, basically music sounds more full even though it's at the same volume levels as the old head-five

anyways, this thing probably hasnt even had a couple of hours of settling in yet, so will report back if/when changes occur (hopefully for the better! - i dont think this could even be possible?!?!?)

all in all a success due to the design being so simple, i was surprised to see it power up and make noise straight after working on it. i was sure i'd stuff up somewhere or have cold solder, but even after reflowing all the joints tonight i am pretty confident in the quality of my work =D

i'm just waiting on some nichicon Muse 10uF 100v caps to replace those caps at the front of the amp with and maybe at that time i'll take some shots of the bottom of the board (don't know if i want to though, due to all the lifted pads and hacked up point to point wiring

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggf /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, D-cee, isn't it great when something really shines? It wasn't the Canamp for me (which I've never heard), but rather a Naim Headline 2. When something really is extraordinary, it sticks out like a sore thumb - but in a positive sense.

couldn't agree more, I've had this experience with headphones and DACs but amps for some reason until now haven't created the same sensation...

Quote:

Originally Posted by yome6969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...By the way, which Canamp or Arietta do you evaluate?...

compared to my head-five, the heed canamp absolutely blows it out of the water, no comparison at all. as much as dr meier's products are fantastic, the canamp is just sensational performance for not that much more money