[30241]

How good is the Hornet?

I'm thinking about picking up one. But I already have an SR-71. There is only a $100 difference. If the Hornet is so good, is there any point in owning the SR-71? I don't want to waste money twice on two similar products. I only need one portable amp.

How does the Hornet compare to the HR-2? If the hornet is as good as the HR-2, any point in getting the HR-2 over the hornet? It seems that people are saying the Hornet is just as good as the HR-2.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sennheiser How good is the Hornet? I'm thinking about picking up one. But I already have an SR-71. There is only a $100 difference. If the Hornet is so good, is there any point in owning the SR-71? I don't want to waste money twice on two similar products. I only need one portable amp. How does the Hornet compare to the HR-2? If the hornet is as good as the HR-2, any point in getting the HR-2 over the hornet? It seems that people are saying the Hornet is just as good as the HR-2.

Depends on what flavor of sound you are trying to achieve and what equipment you have...

If past impressions are true, then the SR-71 should be more like the HR-2 than the Hornet is to the HR-2. So your question about how the Hornet compares with the HR-2 will be like asking how the Hornet compares to the SR-71 (sound signature-wise).

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sennheiser There is only a $100 difference.

it's only a $100 difference if you got in on the pre-sale special. at regular price, it's only a $50 difference between the hornet and sr-71.

 

[30241]

Thanks for remind me about the price. With a $50 difference, there is even less reason to own both the SR-71 and the Hornet.

Is the Hornet going to replace the SR-71?

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sennheiser Is the Hornet going to replace the SR-71?

No.

 

[jp11801]

these amps (hornet/sr-71) are not as good as their full size siblings (IMHO) they are excellent amps for transportable/portable use.
I love Ray's entire line up and really think the raptor is a great home amp. If you do the quick switch box test you don't pick up the differences like extended listens.
The hornet and sr71 seem to have very different sonic signatures it really going to depend on what flavor you like. The other factor is the hornet has some really nice features that the 71 does not. The 71 is dual mono and the hornet is not, it's a coin toss.

 

[30241]

Isn't a dual mono design a better design? With better channel separation, better sonice, better dynamics?

I am heavily into home stereo. And I know with speakers, mono is always better than mixed. I have a pair of mono block amps, and I can clearly tell they are better than my old stereo a mp. Plus my preamp is a mono design as well.

 

[smith]

I am in the same boat.... i have a SR-71 & on the list for the intro price. It seems that they do sound different from the views that have come in so far.

The sound from the sr-71

is still very vey good..... but the size & gain switch from the hornet.....

btw quite a few SR-71 in the sales section now

 

[TooNice]

Well, I went for the Hornet because of the intro price. And I liked the impressions I've read. The SR-71 was over budget. Frankly speaking, even the Hornet is over budget for me. Even a maxed Portaphile is still a fair bit cheaper.

But I couldn't resist the $50 saving...

(Actually, I wonder if there is any similarities between the Portaphile and the Hornet. Both are considered good but different from the SR-71)

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sennheiser Isn't a dual mono design a better design? With better channel separation, better sonice, better dynamics?

It is heavily dependent on the implementation of the two toplogies, and how good each individual particular amp design is. For example I bet a topology in stereo will sound better than a dual mono circuit with lots of eletrolytic caps in the signal path....

The Hornet's design seems to be very efficient even if it isn't dual mono.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooNice Well, I went for the Hornet because of the intro price. And I liked the impressions I've read. The SR-71 was over budget. Frankly speaking, even the Hornet is over budget for me. Even a maxed Portaphile is still a fair bit cheaper. But I couldn't resist the $50 saving... (Actually, I wonder if there is any similarities between the Portaphile and the Hornet. Both are considered good but different from the SR-71)

The portaphile uses a 3-channel topology in stereo. SR-71 is dual mono. However they pretty much sound the same to me in terms of sound signature (from the particular model of portaphile i've heard, which was a v2^2 prototype).

Hornet sounds different from the two (from what I can recall about the portaphile).

 

[30241]

But coming from Ray, doesn't he always strike for the best in his designs?

Do you mean to suggest that there are more electrolytic caps in the SR-71 dual mono design that degrades the sound?

And that he did a better job designing the circuits in the Hornet?

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sennheiser 1) But coming from Ray, doesn't he always strike for the best in his designs? 2) Do you mean to suggest that there are more electrolytic caps in the SR-71 dual mono design that degrades the sound? 3) And that he did a better job designing the circuits in the Hornet?

1) He strikes for whatever sounds good.

2) Not at all. I was just giving an example about how implementation is equally important.

3) Who knows? (only Ray) but this all ties back to the answer to #1.

 

[rx7_fan]

In my opinion, the Hornet sounds for foward than the SR-71. Moreover, the Hornet has something that the SR-71 doesn't hav, a GAIN SWITCH. To me, this is the selling point. I can use canals on minute, then switch it to medium gain to use Grado phones, and high gain to use Sennheiser phones. It is more versatile and I am able to take advantage of it. Both Hornet and SR-71 are different beasts, and by no means the Hornet will replace the SR-71. However, when comparing versatile and portability, "The Hornet" comes out on top.

 

[30241]

Well, there is hardly a point in owning 2 portable amps with about the same retail price.

So most people are going to choose only one amp, but not both.

So either the SR-71 is going to be obsolete, or the Hornet is going to be obsolete.

I think I made the right decision to sell my SR-71 while its resale price is still high. It's already coming quite a bit since the SR-71's heydays.