I Blame you Bozebuttons

[vpivinylspinner]

Well Bozebuttons forced me to listen to his highly modified Melos SHA-Gold at the last NYC mini-meet for over an hour. Then he even went as far as telling me where I could get a stock one of my own. Of course his sounded so good I couldn't resist getting one myself so today this arrives.

The sound with the Grado RS-1 is excellent while the numerous inputs make my life much easier. If I wasn't so upset I would have to thank him for introducing me to a great piece of gear.

 

[dannyandelyse]

oh yeah....you are going to enjoy it

 

[vpivinylspinner]

It really sounds great. I have only used the RS-1 and the Sennheiser HD-650 through it so far but surprisingly they both sound fantastic out of the Melos.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

Man, I love the black and gold look. Is that a remote I see in the second pic?

 

[bozebuttons]

Yeah ,I really had to Twist your arm

Congrates & enjoy ,the melos is a great piece.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt Peanuts Man, I love the black and gold look. Is that a remote I see in the second pic?

Yes it is a small universal TV remote that Melos apparently rebranded to adjust balance, volume and mute from the listening chair. It is a nice feature to have on a headphone amp to be able to adjust volume via remote.

 

[skyline889]

You can get it directly from Melos? What's their pricing like? Or did you just send in an old one to get redone?

 

[nanahachi]

Nice find! I'm curious where you found it too.

If you have a 2 channel setup and need a preamp, try the Melos! I've been very pleased with the performance of my Maestro

 

[Jahn]

Hell yeah! That looks familiar

Long Live the Melos SHA-Gold! My Remote is branded too, but looks a bit diff - more black and rectangular.

 

[yellafella321]

how does the volume control work then? Its can't be digital...is it?

 

[nanahachi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, Tom/Jahn, but the volume control is still just a potentiometer (or stepped attenuator if installed), and is still analogue. AFAIK, the pot. is connected to some circuitry that receives the remotes signal. [I know nothing of EE, don't flame my newbness

]

The remote that came with mine looks different from the one pictured, and the replacement remote I recently received looks different from both mine and the one pictured....seems like Melos just bought whatever was available at the time?

 

[Jahn]

it's actually a photo-something or other-meter. that's right, it changes volume based on the strength of the little light bulb shining on a photo receptor in there. Pretty funky, smooth, totally never gets crackly, but also never totally is zero in volume. Weird but effective.

Full name - The Porzilli Pho-Tentiometer~!

 

[lan]

Wouldn't this just be a motorized knob then?

Could one still get a stock one of these?

 

[Jahn]

i googled it and found this-

Last year I received a review sample of the new Melos SHA Gold preamp. It was a honey of a preamp, featuring the Porzilli Photentiometer, arguably the best volume control in the world. I got the chance to talk a little more with Mark Porzilli about his designs, but being a modest and somewhat shy individual, I came away with a feeling that I had only scratched the surface and that there was a lot more to Mark than was revealed by our brief conversations.

take that!

 

[Romanee]

Well, Lan -- what about it? 46 minutes has passed -- have you bought your Porzilli Photentiometer yet?

...and CONGRATS! to vpivinylspinner for the sleek seducer.