[null]

I've heard a lot of owners of the Gary Ali (Electric Avenues) headphone amplifers complain that their amps have bad distortion at low listening levels. I would just like to let you guys know that if you use NIMHs (rechargable AAs) then this problem will not occur.

I tried fresh Duracell alkalines in the gary amp, and there was tons of bad distortion. However, as soon as I swapped in my Panasonic NIMH AAs, the distortion was completely gone.

Gary himself even recommends NIMHs to eliminate the distortion (on his website)

...Just to let you guys know.

 

[blitze]

Thanks null,

Found your post today when searching for Electric Avenues, and it helped me troubleshoot my amp.

I received my PocketAmpV2 2 days ago, and have it playing steady since for burning in. Up to now I had been running it with the AC adapter provided.

On first trying it, I enjoyed the sound quite a bit, running on my Senns HD490. Soon I realized some distortion was there though, which I think disapeared (or maybe was drowned out) when the volume was cranked up a bit. I assumed my phones were damaged, not used for a while, and the amp sounded fine with my other cans - older Sennheiser HD425s.

The difference is the impedance of the phones, the 425 is 600 Ohms, while the 490 is only 32. My conclusion is that the distortion happened only with the lower impedance phones.

Loaded some freshly charged NiMH cells, and the distortion on the 490s disappeared!

So, to add to your conclusions, I suggest that distortion, if present, will be related to the phones impedance. Occurs when using the AC adapter as well, I think.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[Greenman_Belg]

Thanks null,
Doing the waiting game for my PocketAmpV2. I'll give my impressions after a few days/weeks of use. It will be my first venture into the world of amps and as the PA V2 is such a good price my wallet is still in tact!!!

 

[jordanr]

I'm new to the hi-fi game, and I just purchased and received my PA2V2, but I was wondering what the logic behind a "burn-in" period might be? I understand the rationale as applied to devices with moving parts, but how does an amp benefit from the same?

Incidentally, my first impressions of the amp are quite favorable (4th gen iPod using line out, cds encoded with VBR LAME, Grado SR 80/Ety ER 6i).

 

[lumanogin]

I JUST got the amp in the mail not 10 mins ago. very first impression was also the same. sounds bad at low level, i can hear cracking and stuff. turned up the volume and it's gone. i'm also using the AC adapater, and my source is a chaintech av710 and my cans are A900's. i might go to the store in a couple mins so i'll buy some NiMH batteries and a longer interconnect since the one he includes is very very short. but it's free, so i can't complain too much.

btw, are there batteries included? or do i have to buy them seperately? bc mine didnt come with any

 

[jordanr]

I've used NiMHs from the moment I got it (yesterday), and I've experienced no low-level noise issue. Batteries were not included.

Edit: I'm gratefully using the free interconnect as well. Anyone have any testimony as to how significant a difference a "high-end" interconnect might make?

 

[lumanogin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanr I've used NiMHs from the moment I got it (yesterday), and I've experienced no low-level noise issue. Batteries were not included. Edit: I'm gratefully using the free interconnect as well. Anyone have any testimony as to how significant a difference a "high-end" interconnect might make?

I just got back from Fry's and popped in some NiMH batteries. These were so expensive, 14.99. Maybe that's normal for rechargables, dunno. The horrible sounding low volume is gone. Crisp and clean. These batteries are a must. I love this amp.

Got a longer interconnect too. The one Gary included was way too short to come from the back of my computer, but perfect for portable apps I'm thinking.

As far as a higher end interconnect, that depends on a lot of things, like ur source, headphones, and amp.

 

[blitze]

Glad to see you both got your amps - the wait is pretty hard when you really want something.

Batteries are not included with the amp, I bought a pack of NiMH, these are more expensive than regular cells or rechargeable NiCads, but hold more power and have no memory effect.

Interconnect, I didn't get one, maybe I would have to ask, or Gary knew I was going to use it in my computer, so I had to go out and buy one. Got a cheap one that night, and now have purchased a better one to replace it. Nothing exotic, but gold plated ends and OFC copper at least.

(Radio Shack had some nice ones too, 2 diff models/grades for $10 and $15 Canadian. i did read some comments in the wiring forum here that those are decent)

This amp is intended for the portable player market, I believe, although it does a fine job as a home unit, it's my first amp also.

The burning in is to give the cabling, electronics, etc in the signal path a workout. I have experienced first hand the effect it has on overclocked CPUs, which in my experience ran hotter for a couple days, until they got used to the new speed bestowed upon them - that memory goes back to a Celeron 300 running at 50% overclock, 450 MHz job. Hot for a couple days, cooler after, then stable for 5 years that I used it actively as a workstation.

In audio, I don't have much experience with the burning in, but many threads mention how burned in the /phones/amp/cables were at time of testing.

Hope you enjoy you amps!

 

[dvdonly]

This should be mandatory reading for anyone getting one of Gary's amps

Seriously I thought something was wrong when I used the PA2V2 with only the AC adapter and the cracklies were everywhere at lower volumes (less than half a turn). Just plugged in 2 2500 mAh Energizer NiMHs and now it works perfectly!

 

[aseltzer144]

Somewhere in the numerous emails that I exchanged with Gary before I bought a PA2V2, he indicated that rechargeables must be used. Perhaps this is due to comments such as these. I would have thought the slightly higher voltage of alkaline AAs would be an advantage, but apparently not. Maybe this has something to due with the fact that the unit has a built-in recharging circuit. I don't know how this affects alkalines if the amp is also plugged in.

I did experience some noise in the right channel when the amp came out of the box and the volume knob was also noisy when turning it. Although I do question the concept of burn-in in a simple amp without moving parts, both of these problems disappeared within hours of use.

I am really enjoying the PA2V2 and continue to recommend it to others. It is nicely designed, sounds great, and comes with Gary's excellent service and dedication to making this a valued product in the portable audio community.

 

[kramer5150]

I think it has to do with the OP amp.... It doesnt like the full 3V provided by alkalines. Its happier at 2.4V Dont have any further details

Garrett