[IanB52]

Rk27 sells for $13 @500 units (probably less than $10 @ 10k units). If your amp uses rk27 as a pot (not a front end to digital encoder resistor ladder) it’s not high end. The end.

Also, who uses 2 gang rk27 in a balanced design? That’s an extreme level of nickel and diming

I did hear the Lina amp - I would pay no more than $1-2k for it.

3 of the 4 best amps I have used have Rk27s inline, Ferrum Oor, XI Formula S, Audeze The King MkII. And then nice SS amps that weren't my favorite but are well regarded Pass HPA-1 and Bryston BHA-1. The only really good SS or hybrid non-alps amp I've used was the Enleum, and it has less resolution than all the amps listed in the first sentence.

I offer an alternative explanation why manufacturers use these pots, even in builds that have expensive discrete parts: They don't impact the sound that much. With the Oor, people are having to go to extremely expensive preamps to beat the sound quality of the Oor's alps pot.

Could these amps sound a little better with an in-house volume control? Probably a little bit. But the fact that plenty of Rk27 amps beat amps with custom volume controls should tell you that the single pot is not a make-or-break part.

 

[Andrewteee]

If you browse photos of topless audio gear you'll often see an Alps or similar volume pot. They are very common across a wide range or brands and price points.

 

[chesebert]

3 of the 4 best amps I have used have Rk27s inline, Ferrum Oor, XI Formula S, Audeze The King MkII. And then nice SS amps that weren't my favorite but are well regarded Pass HPA-1 and Bryston BHA-1. The only really good SS or hybrid non-alps amp I've used was the Enleum, and it has less resolution than all the amps listed in the first sentence.

I offer an alternative explanation why manufacturers use these pots, even in builds that have expensive discrete parts: They don't impact the sound that much. With the Oor, people are having to go to extremely expensive preamps to beat the sound quality of the Oor's alps pot.

Could these amps sound a little better with an in-house volume control? Probably a little bit. But the fact that plenty of Rk27 amps beat amps with custom volume controls should tell you that the single pot is not a make-or-break part.

Oor has no choice but to use alps because of the size constraint. But at least they used a 4gang version.

Audeze you can write off as they are not a legit amp manufacturer.

Pass has got a good amp but it was obvious a cheap build given it’s the cheapest Pass - Pass certainly doesn’t want the headphone amp to compete with their good preamps. Bryson is the same thing - leave the good stuff for their actual preamp.

Don’t know much about XI Formula.

Also, everything is a big deal if you want to charge $5k+ for a headphone amp, let alone over $9k. If dCS wants to sell their amp for $1k, sure alps is fine.

 

[adrianm]

Oor has no choice but to use alps because of the size constraint. But at least they used a 4gang version.

Audeze you can write off as they are not a legit amp manufacturer.

Pass has got a good amp but it was obvious a cheap build given it’s the cheapest Pass - Pass certainly doesn’t want the headphone amp to compete with their good preamps. Bryson is the same thing - leave the good stuff for their actual preamp.

Don’t know much about XI Formula.

Also, everything is a big deal if you want to charge $5k+ for a headphone amp, let alone over $9k. If dCS wants to sell their amp for $1k, sure alps is fine.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/eleven-audio-xiaudio-formula-s-headphone-amplifier.956765/page-5
Have at it

 

[Not so fat head]

I agree that sometimes the whole is great than it's parts, but $30k????

Don't go cheap on me anywhere....

I'd like to hear it though...

 

[adrianm]

I agree that sometimes the whole is great than it's parts, but $30k????

Don't go cheap on me anywhere....

I'd like to hear it though...

Let's not forget, you get a great pair of headphones + custom marble with the He1 for a bit more

 

[IanB52]

Oor has no choice but to use alps because of the size constraint. But at least they used a 4gang version.

Audeze you can write off as they are not a legit amp manufacturer.

Pass has got a good amp but it was obvious a cheap build given it’s the cheapest Pass - Pass certainly doesn’t want the headphone amp to compete with their good preamps. Bryson is the same thing - leave the good stuff for their actual preamp.

Don’t know much about XI Formula.

Also, everything is a big deal if you want to charge $5k+ for a headphone amp, let alone over $9k. If dCS wants to sell their amp for $1k, sure alps is fine.

But here's the thing, Oor+Hypsos is almost as good as it gets with solid state amps, at least if you want low-fatigue and transparent. As for Audeze, I owned that amp for years, and if you didn't use really sensitive or low impedance headphones, it was excellent, and among the best sounding SS/hybrid in the last 10 years.

Making generalizations about an amp because of a single part (like I said everything else in the Lina amp is literally made in house) is a little off balance. And frankly, the same is true when judging an amp by how it's inside look visually. When it comes to the actual listening experience I haven't found any huge correlation between overall audio quality and who makes the volume pot, and I've listened to/owned a lot of amps.

 

[chesebert]

But here's the thing, Oor+Hypsos is almost as good as it gets with solid state amps, at least if you want low-fatigue and transparent. As for Audeze, I owned that amp for years, and if you didn't use really sensitive or low impedance headphones, it was excellent, and among the best sounding SS/hybrid in the last 10 years.

Making generalizations about an amp because of a single part (like I said everything else in the Lina amp is literally made in house) is a little off balance. And frankly, the same is true when judging an amp by how it's inside look visually. When it comes to the actual listening experience I haven't found any huge correlation between overall audio quality and who makes the volume pot, and I've listened to/owned a lot of amps.

the alps pot in Oor is 2x as expensive as the one used by dCS. Oor is a good amp - I would not call it best in anything. Oor is also not $9k just to be clear.

Also, to be super clear, none of the parts in the Lina amp is made by dCS except for the transformer - it was custom made for them.

 

[chesebert]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/eleven-audio-xiaudio-formula-s-headphone-amplifier.956765/page-5
Have at it

that looks interesting - unconventional layout. I will have to try it sometime.

 

[johnwillmclean]

But here's the thing, Oor+Hypsos is almost as good as it gets with solid state amps, at least if you want low-fatigue and transparent. As for Audeze, I owned that amp for years, and if you didn't use really sensitive or low impedance headphones, it was excellent, and among the best sounding SS/hybrid in the last 10 years.

Making generalizations about an amp because of a single part (like I said everything else in the Lina amp is literally made in house) is a little off balance. And frankly, the same is true when judging an amp by how it's inside look visually. When it comes to the actual listening experience I haven't found any huge correlation between overall audio quality and who makes the volume pot, and I've listened to/owned a lot of amps.

The IEC, sockets, plugs, connectors, solder, capacitors, resistors, wire, switches, relays, transformers, LEDs, diodes, transistors, screws, nuts and bolts all appear to be off shelf parts.
The chassis is most likely fabricated at a machine shop, the pcb’s at a pcb company are stuffed by a third party. Final assembly who knows where.

 

[Not so fat head]

Don't forget, it's magic solder....
Audiophiles can hear the difference.

 

[Not so fat head]

Pretty sure it's about the price... That's an astonishing amount of money, and would need to be beyond belief upon hearing. It's a high bar indeed, and this company set that up with the suggested price..
In other words, they must have taken huge $&@$......

 

[vcoheda]

was reading a review by steve huff about the Rose RS150B, which looks great by the way, and came across this passage on the Bartok (ouch!):

++

In recent months I have tested the very high end DCS Bartok streamer/DAC as seen above. The Bartok comes in at over $15,000 or 3X the cost of the ROSE. After some time with the DCS I sent it back without a review as I could not recommend it for what it costs. Sure the Bartok is beautiful and sounds lovely but so does the HiFi Rose 150B, for so much less. Is it worth over $10k extra for a slight sound change? Well, not for me but for you, maybe it would be.

This Hifi Rose RS150b for me bests the DCS in style, function and video abilities. Sound goes to the DCS slightly but you can beat the DCS by adding a nice external DAC like the Denafrips T + to the Rose if you want that super high end sound.

As I always say, audio is personal. All I can do in my reviews is tell you what a piece sounds like in my space and with my associated gear. After hearing over a dozen high end DAC’s over the last year though, I feel I have a good handle on what is amazing, what is good and what is a bad value.

 

[chesebert]

was reading a review by steve huff about the Rose RS150B, which looks great by the way, and came across this passage on the Bartok (ouch!):

++

In recent months I have tested the very high end DCS Bartok streamer/DAC as seen above. The Bartok comes in at over $15,000 or 3X the cost of the ROSE. After some time with the DCS I sent it back without a review as I could not recommend it for what it costs. Sure the Bartok is beautiful and sounds lovely but so does the HiFi Rose 150B, for so much less. Is it worth over $10k extra for a slight sound change? Well, not for me but for you, maybe it would be.

This Hifi Rose RS150b for me bests the DCS in style, function and video abilities. Sound goes to the DCS slightly but you can beat the DCS by adding a nice external DAC like the Denafrips T + to the Rose if you want that super high end sound.

As I always say, audio is personal. All I can do in my reviews is tell you what a piece sounds like in my space and with my associated gear. After hearing over a dozen high end DAC’s over the last year though, I feel I have a good handle on what is amazing, what is good and what is a bad value.

I agree you can do better than Bartok for $15k. dCS generally has a good dealer network, support and resale price. I personally don’t care for Rossini or Bartok but I can see those units work well in certain systems.

 

[chesebert]

Uhhh..Weiss 501/502. Better built, more features, and better sounding. You can skip Lina and Bartok go straight to Emm Labs DV2 or Linn Klimax Organik from Weiss. Nothing in between is really worth upgrading to.

I would normally say Linn Akurate DS or Emm Labs dac2x are better than Weiss, but it's not at "god damn" level of improvement so not really worth it IMO.