arnett
Consigliere
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2001
- Posts
- 711
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- 10
I received my SinglePower MPX3 today.
Normally, I wouldn’t even think of making comments on an amp until it was fully broken in. But this is the first headphone amp I’ve owned that sounds great right out of the box. This thing sounds so kick-ass that I feel I can’t help but make a few initial impressions.
Please note that I have not compared this amp with another headphone amp. Actually, I don’t currently have another one to compare it to. But also note that I’ve heard my fair share of amps since I joined this little hobby in 2000.
I have rolled in a WWII-era Ken-Rad VT-231 black glass tube in the input slot and have kept the stock electro harmonix tubes as the drivers. I'm using the Beyerdynamic DT-880 headphones.
I remember Jude once saying that tubed headphone amps rarely sound as euphonic as tubed speaker amps. The MPX3 is a definite exception to this rule. The MPX3 is very, very warm. And yet quite detailed. It’s no doubt the smoothest amp I’ve ever owned. I think it’s dangerous combining this amp with the DT-880 because there is positively no distortion to speak of. You can find yourself cranking the volume to extreme levels quite easily.
I did not take notes on my initial impressions. I think it would be quite difficult to take notes and listen to the MPX3 at the same time. More often that not I was totally transfixed by the music I was listening to. Most other reviewers say that the MPX3 is pure music. I can definitely agree with this assessment. I would become so lost in the music that I’d inevitably come to the realization that I was listening to headphones thru a headphone amp.
After installing the tubes and firing the amp up, the first disc I played was the new Aimee Mann SACD Lost In Space. I was amazed at how much texture and resonance I could hear from the guitars on the title track. I’ve heard this SACD and CD many times but this was the first time I could really hear the true *timbre* of the guitars.
I put on the Bill Evans Waltz for Debby SACD next. Unbelievable sense of space and realism. This is a live recording and it was the first time I felt like I was there that day in 1961. The sound of the audience seemed so forward. With this amp it was much easier to hear the glasses clinking and the people chatting in the background.
Later, I put on Heart’s magic man and crazy on you from their greatest hits CD. This amp totally rocks! On another thread, I commented how the Beyerdynamic DT-880s had a dry midrange and thin sounding bass. Not any more. This amp seems to be the perfect compliment to the DT-880s slight leanness.
I also tried the MPX3 on some classical SACDs. Most notably Alan Civil playing the Mozart horn concertos on the Pentatone label. The sense of space from the hall was unreal. Again, it felt almost like I was there in London in 1971 when this SACD was recorded (actually, i wish i was in London right now
). The reverberation of the hall was presented with amazing clarity and realism.
I had heard the SinglePower Supra at the Ann Arbor meet in May. The Supra is known as the MPX3's bigger and more expensive brother. From memory, the MPX3 seems to have a bit more treble energy than the supra. The level of detail the MPX3 (using the VT-231) can produce is stunning. But the amp is quite warm and euphonic at the same time. How much of this is due to the tubes and how much of this due to the amp itself I don’t know.
I only know that I’m blown away with the MPX3. Looks like I’ll be up all night listening to it.
Normally, I wouldn’t even think of making comments on an amp until it was fully broken in. But this is the first headphone amp I’ve owned that sounds great right out of the box. This thing sounds so kick-ass that I feel I can’t help but make a few initial impressions.
Please note that I have not compared this amp with another headphone amp. Actually, I don’t currently have another one to compare it to. But also note that I’ve heard my fair share of amps since I joined this little hobby in 2000.
I have rolled in a WWII-era Ken-Rad VT-231 black glass tube in the input slot and have kept the stock electro harmonix tubes as the drivers. I'm using the Beyerdynamic DT-880 headphones.
I remember Jude once saying that tubed headphone amps rarely sound as euphonic as tubed speaker amps. The MPX3 is a definite exception to this rule. The MPX3 is very, very warm. And yet quite detailed. It’s no doubt the smoothest amp I’ve ever owned. I think it’s dangerous combining this amp with the DT-880 because there is positively no distortion to speak of. You can find yourself cranking the volume to extreme levels quite easily.
I did not take notes on my initial impressions. I think it would be quite difficult to take notes and listen to the MPX3 at the same time. More often that not I was totally transfixed by the music I was listening to. Most other reviewers say that the MPX3 is pure music. I can definitely agree with this assessment. I would become so lost in the music that I’d inevitably come to the realization that I was listening to headphones thru a headphone amp.
After installing the tubes and firing the amp up, the first disc I played was the new Aimee Mann SACD Lost In Space. I was amazed at how much texture and resonance I could hear from the guitars on the title track. I’ve heard this SACD and CD many times but this was the first time I could really hear the true *timbre* of the guitars.
I put on the Bill Evans Waltz for Debby SACD next. Unbelievable sense of space and realism. This is a live recording and it was the first time I felt like I was there that day in 1961. The sound of the audience seemed so forward. With this amp it was much easier to hear the glasses clinking and the people chatting in the background.
Later, I put on Heart’s magic man and crazy on you from their greatest hits CD. This amp totally rocks! On another thread, I commented how the Beyerdynamic DT-880s had a dry midrange and thin sounding bass. Not any more. This amp seems to be the perfect compliment to the DT-880s slight leanness.
I also tried the MPX3 on some classical SACDs. Most notably Alan Civil playing the Mozart horn concertos on the Pentatone label. The sense of space from the hall was unreal. Again, it felt almost like I was there in London in 1971 when this SACD was recorded (actually, i wish i was in London right now
I had heard the SinglePower Supra at the Ann Arbor meet in May. The Supra is known as the MPX3's bigger and more expensive brother. From memory, the MPX3 seems to have a bit more treble energy than the supra. The level of detail the MPX3 (using the VT-231) can produce is stunning. But the amp is quite warm and euphonic at the same time. How much of this is due to the tubes and how much of this due to the amp itself I don’t know.
I only know that I’m blown away with the MPX3. Looks like I’ll be up all night listening to it.
