Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
Well, trying to figure out what the issue with the Cary's headphone out, I made some measurements, and itt's very interesting. The headphone out seems to high-pass filter it's output below 100 HZ, with what seems like a 12db per octave filter. So while 100 HZ output is fairly strong, by 50 Hz the output is greatly reduced.
Now what I am trying to figure out is WHY they did this. I have to assume it was intentional, so maybe they were covering up for some weakness? Very odd, and very unfortunate. I think it could be an outstanding headphone amp if they didn;t do this - the sound above the bass is excellent. But you can't remove the bass without making the music sound thin, as Mark and I have both found.
I also measured the preamp's output, and of course, there is no such roll-off - there is very strong bass, with VERY strong output at 25 Hz, and fairly strong output at 20Hz.
So while I am in love with it as a pre-amp, and it's staying in my system, I've moved the Decware CSP-2 into my main hi-fi to serve as my headphone amp. I had been using the Darkvoive 337, but there is no room for it along with the Cary - the CSP-2 fits because of it's narrow-but-deep design.
Now what I am trying to figure out is WHY they did this. I have to assume it was intentional, so maybe they were covering up for some weakness? Very odd, and very unfortunate. I think it could be an outstanding headphone amp if they didn;t do this - the sound above the bass is excellent. But you can't remove the bass without making the music sound thin, as Mark and I have both found.
I also measured the preamp's output, and of course, there is no such roll-off - there is very strong bass, with VERY strong output at 25 Hz, and fairly strong output at 20Hz.
So while I am in love with it as a pre-amp, and it's staying in my system, I've moved the Decware CSP-2 into my main hi-fi to serve as my headphone amp. I had been using the Darkvoive 337, but there is no room for it along with the Cary - the CSP-2 fits because of it's narrow-but-deep design.