[Gil Schwartzman]

I purchased a Melos SHA-1 somewhere around 13 years ago, it was the first high end headphone amp I ever owned. It was absolutely incredible, I was very proud to own that amp. A few years later I was obligated to sell it. I was very disappointed to have to do so, but life dictated that I needed the money more than my headphones.

Today, I have an option to purchase back the very same amp I sold off 10 years ago, at what I consider to be an exceptionally good price. Part of me wants to buy it just because it's the amp I was so disappointed to let go of back in the day. Another part of me wonders how it would compare to my current setup, and if I'm simply blowing the money on nostalgia, or if I'm actually getting something for it. My current amp is a Lyr 2 with LSST tubes. Anyone have any idea how the two might compare?

My main two headphones right now are a RS2 and a modified Fostex TH600. Somewhat fitting, considering the two headphones I was forced to let go of alongside the Melos were an Alessandro MS2 and a Denon D2000.

I'm pretty confident I could sell my Lyr 2 for more than it would cost me to get the Melos. Is there any sense, beyond pure nostalgia, in me switching?

 

[Valens7]

I mean, why wouldn’t it be relevant? There’s certainly the possibility that you may not enjoy the Melos as much as during your initial period of ownership, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a good option. Particularly if you enjoy a warmer coloration to your music, which I understand the Melos delivers. And your headphones seem well suited for a such an amp.

Given your detailed history and apparent preferences, I’d absolutely go for it. In my (limited) experience, quality of headphone amplification doesn’t correlate with the age of an amplifier. Designs themselves are seldom novel — it’s all about implementation.

 

[robm321]

It's relevant to me since I use it to drive my Grado HP-2.

The truth is many want to have the latest whatever, but most people are using older tech with the exception of maybe DACs which are progressing with their technology.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

I mean, why wouldn’t it be relevant? There’s certainly the possibility that you may not enjoy the Melos as much as during your initial period of ownership, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a good option. Particularly if you enjoy a warmer coloration to your music, which I understand the Melos delivers. And your headphones seem well suited for a such an amp.

Given your detailed history and apparent preferences, I’d absolutely go for it. In my (limited) experience, quality of headphone amplification doesn’t correlate with the age of an amplifier. Designs themselves are seldom novel — it’s all about implementation.

When I purchased the amp, it was highly regarded as one of the best amps you could pair up with Grados. I guess my question was, is that still true, or has the capabilities of the Melos been surpassed by modern amps? I don't really follow threads on Head-Fi anymore, do people still ever recommend tracking one of these down? Or are there similarly priced modern options that have rendered the Melos irrelevant?

I know nobody can really tell me how the Melos will stack up against my Lyr, but I guess I wanted to be somewhat confident I'm not downgrading. In any event, I purchased it. The allure of having my old amp back was just too strong.

 

[Valens7]

It’s a logical question! Given the way tech advances in many fields, it’d be sensible to consider that the same might be true of personal audio. Mercifully, the “newer is better” principle doesn’t quite hold with headphone amps or with other audio components in general. Good sound is good sound.

Since Grado has such a distinct house sound, a reputedly good amplifier pairing (such as the Melos) is particularly unlikely to be superseded by newer offerings. So I think you made the right call by proceeding with your purchase.

Although as @robm321 notes, DACs are one area where a certain amount of steady progress has been made in the past 15 years. Not radical, but there has been some general improvement in what is available to the average consumer. So you may want to investigate upgrading your source, if that’s a feasible option.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Although as @robm321 notes, DACs are one area where a certain amount of steady progress has been made in the past 15 years. Not radical, but there has been some general improvement in what is available to the average consumer. So you may want to investigate upgrading your source, if that’s a feasible option.

I've got a Bifrost Uber and I think that's a pretty appropriate DAC for the rest of my hardware. In fact, I've been really happy with my setup over the years, I don't have a single complaint. This just sort of fell into my lap.

 

[Valens7]

The Bifrost Uber is a good source by all accounts. Feeding the Melos and those headphones, that seems like it’d be a very solid rig to me.

 

[Xymordos]

I'd like to chime in to say that this depends on personal taste. I've always had a Gustard X20 as my DAC, and got my hands on an much older Muse Model 192 DAC. I found that I liked the much older DAC better so I sold the Gustard. Admittedly, the MSRP of the Muse is much higher than the Gustard.