Sean H
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2001
- Posts
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- 228
This review is a joint review of the new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite headphone amplifier between myself and sacd lover. I'll go first and sacd lover will follow. We thought we would try something different here and hope you like it!
**********************
Review #1
by Sean H:
My associated equipment includes:
Headphones:
Grado SR-225 (majority of the time)
Grado SR-60
Sennheiser HD650/Equinox
Source:
Ack! Industries DAck! (Monarchy DIP)
M-Audio Sonica (majority of the time)
Cables & Accessories:
Ack! Industries silver analog IC’s
Stereovox HDXV digital
Belden based power cords
Monster PC-1000
Music included:
Patricia Barber – Modern Cool
Fourplay – Yes Please!
Pat Methany – Imaginary Day
AIR – Moon Safari
Various Smooth Jazz, Classical and Ambient artists via 128k radio, MP3 and Music Choice digital music
I’ve always been a fan of smaller, simpler, understated designs in audio gear. For years I was a big fan of integrated amplifiers and though I don’t currently own one they still hold a small place in my heart for some reason. Headphone amplifiers are essentially integrated amplifiers in a way, which traditionally have a single source input preamp section and an amp. Then there is the aesthetic appeal of modern audio gear that I tend to dig, what with the cool aluminum cases out there with their fat (or phat) machined faceplates and all. My four year old son has seen many ‘o audio gear go through our home and I had noticed in time he stopped making any mention of a new piece that happen to sit perched atop my rack as they all likely started to become a blur. But when I brought home the new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite he caught a glimpse of it from across the room, made a dash for it and said “wow, that’s a neat one, and it’s so little.”
HeadAmp’s new Gilmore Lite is one cute little bugger I must say. Small, solid, very stylish, very simple – all very appealing to me. The new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite, not dubbed “II” “2” or “deux”, is the second iteration of Justin Wilson’s “Lite” version of the Gilmore Dynamic all discrete amplifier design. The Lite measures 5.5" W x 4" D x 1.1" H and weighs in roughly at a “Lite” 1 pound. The Lite features an extremely attractive aluminum case with rounded corners, inset 1/4” headphone jack, solid aluminum volume knob and cool blue power LED. Around back the Lite includes one source input and a convenient pass-through line output (not to be confused with a preamp output) to send your sources output on to another piece of audio gear and a power inlet for the outboard Elpac power supply. Price posted on HeadAmp's web site is $299 (including the Elpac power supply). Justin does offer an upgraded power supply in it’s own cool matching case currently at a $175 pre-order price as well. HeadAmp’s web site says the new Lite has upgraded capacitors and a new circuit board design with a full ground plane that lowers the noise floor and improves stability. The model I have is a pre-production model that has no screen print labeling but you can see photos of the Lite posted in this review or at HeadAmp’s web site sporting nicely done screen printing. The style and fit and finish has really had myself and my co-workers enamored for the past couple weeks. While not really a "portable" design it is very much transportable and I can attest to that as it’s been very convenient bringing it to work with me. It’s certainly a space saver too.
Ok, so: space saver, small, transportable and a “Lite” version of a full blown Gilmore Dynamic amplifier. It’s easy to then ask: So, how much sound am I trading off, then? The Lite theoretically represents somewhat of a stripped down design of it’s fatter sibling, the Gilmore Dynamic V2, which I have owned, and I must say I am not sensing any trade-offs here. Everyone talks of the Grado/Gilmore Dynamic love affair and for the last two weeks I’ve married the Lite with a pair of Grado SR-225’s and can definitely attest to their synergy. I don’t know how many times I have seen people here at Head-Fi ask for opinions as to which amp they should pair with their Grado’s and see the Lite highly recommended as a perfect match. In this joint review sacd lover focuses mainly on the Lite’s affair with the HD650’s and I’ve decided to mainly focus on Lite’s performance with the Grado SR-225’s.
Grado’s need current and the Gilmore Discrete, high current design provides the juice they need. The SR-225’s have that known reputation: fast, great bass, impactful and rhythmic. They are also often dubbed as one of the least fatiguing in the Grado line as well. The Gilmore Lite definitely shares these qualities. The first thing that hit me with the Gilmore Lite was it’s open, detailed and energetic presentation with excellent bass response. Fine, detailed resolution can be heard from the deepest bass notes right through the high end. Bass has a lot of punch, depth and impact but again of the detailed, taut and tight variety. It’s some of the best bass I have heard through headphones. If you like the SR-225’s for their bass response then you will love the Lite’s way of bringing that goodness out of them. I listen to a lot of Ambient/Groove driven music while at work and my foot has been tapping away continuously. I get more immersed in the music if I can feel that groove and the Lite does wonderfully in this regard. The bass response of the Lite is truly remarkable. I was also equally struck by the sense of air and note decay where notes just seemed to hang nicely and fade out without any sense of being cut off or being muted. I could easily hear those fine details and nuances buried deep in the music with the Lite’s very clear and clean presentation.
In my experience more often than not I hear a correlation between high detail resolution and a brighter tonality. The new Lite has excellent tonal balance throughout the spectrum with good weight from the bottom end through the mids to clear and controlled highs. That’s with not only the Ack! dAck! but also with the little Sonica. Primary tonal colors come to mind with the Lite. The Lite does an excellent balancing act in this regard. The Lite is revealing, crisp, clean and very transparent but remains neutral throughout the spectrum.
Midrange and treble performance are excellent as well. Natural, clean and neutral come to mind with male and female vocals. The midrange is a tad forward but is not distracting and makes for a very up front and involving presentation. Nothing overly lush here nor cold or distant, you again get that very neutral and transparent nature of the Lite. Patricia Barber sounded as good as I’ve heard. Different from what I recall in the V2 I find the new Lite’s treble to be very balanced and well integrated into the rest of the spectrum. The treble seems to reach way up there and allows for excellent air and space recreation. I couldn’t detect any grain or hardness with either of my sources. The M-Audio Sonica is a surprisingly good USB source that doesn’t quite match the level of performance from that of the dAck! but offers excellent sound on a budget. The Lite, while definitely revealing, paired well with it and I never once felt cheated of any music or distracted by any of the Sonica’s minor shortcomings.
I can’t help but touch again upon that Grado/Gilmore synergy and with that you have to talk about things like energy and speed. The Lite is definitely a Gilmore as it’s got excellent dynamics, speed and big time propulsion. Leading edge definition and the ability to communicate the energy and attack within the music is a major strong suit of this combination. It’s that groove thing again, catching the energy and emotion in the snap of the snare drum and pluck of a string. Talk about a true headphone experience, this combo doesn’t try to recreate the sensation of speakers in front of you or try to transport you to a billowy sea of tranquility, this combo puts you right in the music and you are treated with an attention grabbing experience that moves you – literally. I’ve enjoyed some very involving headphone experiences with this combo. The Lite seems to love the Grado’s and does a heck of a good job driving them.
I should note that while my focus was mainly on my experience with the Lite driving Grado’s I did drive Sennheiser HD650’s (Equinox) with the Lite and found it to do extremely well with them too. I admit I was very surprised as I did not find the V2 to be an ideal partner with the HD600. The Lite drove the HD650’s quite well, and it’s resolution, balance and bass drive came through quite well with the HD650’s.
It’s pretty clear how much I have enjoyed the new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite. I found the new Lite to be a superb sounding little amplifier that comes in a beautiful case and in a convenient, small package. I liked this prototype model so much I bought it! Congrats to Justin on a fine job!
**********************
Review #2
by sacd lover
For my part of the review I sampled the gilmore lite with the sennheiser hd 650.
The equipment setup was a sacdmods 555es> mit #2> gilmore lite/ std power supply> senn 650/ oehlbach upgrade cable. The music I chose was mostly rock and blues with lots of The Allman Brothers, Nirvana, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and also two or three rock samplers of my favorite tunes. I didnt want to change the system around to much as I wouldnt have the amp that long, so I stuck with the above setup the entire time.
The gilmore is a very small amp high on the cute factor. The case was compact but dense and gave the impression of ruggedness and the silver finish was classy. This amp has one nice feature I think every amp should have; a pass through or loop out. I will always have amps with this feature in the future. This allows you to hook up the amp directly to the source for the best sound and then simply pass the signal on to the next component with no detectable loss in sound quality to my ears. This feature is very nice for hooking up a second amp and making nearly identical comparisons. The headphone jack was very sturdy and the headphones locked in nice and tight. So far, so good.
Once I started listening I was immediately taken by this little amps big sound. The music had a very good bass foundation and plenty of drive. The treble was especially well done. No grain or grit was evident and the treble was well balanced and had the right amount of presence without ever becoming overbearing. However, the most noticeable trait was a very forward midrange. This really worked well with the senns moving the mids forward and giving this headphone a much more rocking and up front character with the music I like best.This forwardness did reduce the soundstage and make the soundscape less dimensional but this effect didnt bother me. I loved the Allman Brothers/ Live at The Filmore disc with this amp. The live disc gave just enough soundstage to compliment the amps forward, rocking nature. I didnt have any trouble spending time with this amp.
The lite was directly compared to my gilmore v1 hooked up to a sacdmods 963sa and the same 650's. I have to tell you as much as I like the gilmore v1 I think the lite is even better. The lite has all the good characteristics of the v1 but its more tranparent. The sound just has more clarity and a cleaner sound. The v1 can sound darkish and slightly veiled compared to the lite, becoming more so with increasingly complex music. The v1 does have a warmer sound and more dynamic punch. But not much. The lites transparency and refined treble along with the good solid bass response and excellent midrange presence tipped the scale in favor of the lite for me.
I didnt have the ppx3 with me any longer by the time the gilmore lite arrived, so I cant offer any direct comparisons. I seem to like tubes better than solid state 100% of the time so I am not a good one to compare solid state with tubes. However, I enjoyed the lite even when I had some excellent tube amps at my disposal. I was always draw in by how the lite gave the 650's so much more midrange presence. I like a forward, gradoish midrange so this is understandable. For those of you enamored with the senns normal sense of space you will probably NOT like this amps midrange.
To summarize the lite is an excellent amp by any standard. The amp does mostly everything right and little wrong. The amp has a big sound, strong bass, a noticeable midrange forwardness and a refined treble with the senn 650's. The only weakness I encountered was an often flat, one dimensional soundstage. I actually liked the forward mids effect on the senns. But clearly, some of you will not, especially if you expect the usual senn openess in the soundstage. The sound is closer and more in your face. I liked and used grados for years so this is not unpleasant to me; so be forewarned. For the modest price of this amp you get very high quality solid state sound. I have several tube amps and I seriously didnt want to pass the amp on. This amp is a winner, and for its price I believe the amp is a major steal.
For those of you wanting a no fuss, high quality, good sounding solid state amp thats also inexpensive; here it is. Highly Recommended.
**********************
Review #1
by Sean H:
My associated equipment includes:
Headphones:
Grado SR-225 (majority of the time)
Grado SR-60
Sennheiser HD650/Equinox
Source:
Ack! Industries DAck! (Monarchy DIP)
M-Audio Sonica (majority of the time)
Cables & Accessories:
Ack! Industries silver analog IC’s
Stereovox HDXV digital
Belden based power cords
Monster PC-1000
Music included:
Patricia Barber – Modern Cool
Fourplay – Yes Please!
Pat Methany – Imaginary Day
AIR – Moon Safari
Various Smooth Jazz, Classical and Ambient artists via 128k radio, MP3 and Music Choice digital music
I’ve always been a fan of smaller, simpler, understated designs in audio gear. For years I was a big fan of integrated amplifiers and though I don’t currently own one they still hold a small place in my heart for some reason. Headphone amplifiers are essentially integrated amplifiers in a way, which traditionally have a single source input preamp section and an amp. Then there is the aesthetic appeal of modern audio gear that I tend to dig, what with the cool aluminum cases out there with their fat (or phat) machined faceplates and all. My four year old son has seen many ‘o audio gear go through our home and I had noticed in time he stopped making any mention of a new piece that happen to sit perched atop my rack as they all likely started to become a blur. But when I brought home the new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite he caught a glimpse of it from across the room, made a dash for it and said “wow, that’s a neat one, and it’s so little.”
HeadAmp’s new Gilmore Lite is one cute little bugger I must say. Small, solid, very stylish, very simple – all very appealing to me. The new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite, not dubbed “II” “2” or “deux”, is the second iteration of Justin Wilson’s “Lite” version of the Gilmore Dynamic all discrete amplifier design. The Lite measures 5.5" W x 4" D x 1.1" H and weighs in roughly at a “Lite” 1 pound. The Lite features an extremely attractive aluminum case with rounded corners, inset 1/4” headphone jack, solid aluminum volume knob and cool blue power LED. Around back the Lite includes one source input and a convenient pass-through line output (not to be confused with a preamp output) to send your sources output on to another piece of audio gear and a power inlet for the outboard Elpac power supply. Price posted on HeadAmp's web site is $299 (including the Elpac power supply). Justin does offer an upgraded power supply in it’s own cool matching case currently at a $175 pre-order price as well. HeadAmp’s web site says the new Lite has upgraded capacitors and a new circuit board design with a full ground plane that lowers the noise floor and improves stability. The model I have is a pre-production model that has no screen print labeling but you can see photos of the Lite posted in this review or at HeadAmp’s web site sporting nicely done screen printing. The style and fit and finish has really had myself and my co-workers enamored for the past couple weeks. While not really a "portable" design it is very much transportable and I can attest to that as it’s been very convenient bringing it to work with me. It’s certainly a space saver too.
Ok, so: space saver, small, transportable and a “Lite” version of a full blown Gilmore Dynamic amplifier. It’s easy to then ask: So, how much sound am I trading off, then? The Lite theoretically represents somewhat of a stripped down design of it’s fatter sibling, the Gilmore Dynamic V2, which I have owned, and I must say I am not sensing any trade-offs here. Everyone talks of the Grado/Gilmore Dynamic love affair and for the last two weeks I’ve married the Lite with a pair of Grado SR-225’s and can definitely attest to their synergy. I don’t know how many times I have seen people here at Head-Fi ask for opinions as to which amp they should pair with their Grado’s and see the Lite highly recommended as a perfect match. In this joint review sacd lover focuses mainly on the Lite’s affair with the HD650’s and I’ve decided to mainly focus on Lite’s performance with the Grado SR-225’s.
Grado’s need current and the Gilmore Discrete, high current design provides the juice they need. The SR-225’s have that known reputation: fast, great bass, impactful and rhythmic. They are also often dubbed as one of the least fatiguing in the Grado line as well. The Gilmore Lite definitely shares these qualities. The first thing that hit me with the Gilmore Lite was it’s open, detailed and energetic presentation with excellent bass response. Fine, detailed resolution can be heard from the deepest bass notes right through the high end. Bass has a lot of punch, depth and impact but again of the detailed, taut and tight variety. It’s some of the best bass I have heard through headphones. If you like the SR-225’s for their bass response then you will love the Lite’s way of bringing that goodness out of them. I listen to a lot of Ambient/Groove driven music while at work and my foot has been tapping away continuously. I get more immersed in the music if I can feel that groove and the Lite does wonderfully in this regard. The bass response of the Lite is truly remarkable. I was also equally struck by the sense of air and note decay where notes just seemed to hang nicely and fade out without any sense of being cut off or being muted. I could easily hear those fine details and nuances buried deep in the music with the Lite’s very clear and clean presentation.
In my experience more often than not I hear a correlation between high detail resolution and a brighter tonality. The new Lite has excellent tonal balance throughout the spectrum with good weight from the bottom end through the mids to clear and controlled highs. That’s with not only the Ack! dAck! but also with the little Sonica. Primary tonal colors come to mind with the Lite. The Lite does an excellent balancing act in this regard. The Lite is revealing, crisp, clean and very transparent but remains neutral throughout the spectrum.
Midrange and treble performance are excellent as well. Natural, clean and neutral come to mind with male and female vocals. The midrange is a tad forward but is not distracting and makes for a very up front and involving presentation. Nothing overly lush here nor cold or distant, you again get that very neutral and transparent nature of the Lite. Patricia Barber sounded as good as I’ve heard. Different from what I recall in the V2 I find the new Lite’s treble to be very balanced and well integrated into the rest of the spectrum. The treble seems to reach way up there and allows for excellent air and space recreation. I couldn’t detect any grain or hardness with either of my sources. The M-Audio Sonica is a surprisingly good USB source that doesn’t quite match the level of performance from that of the dAck! but offers excellent sound on a budget. The Lite, while definitely revealing, paired well with it and I never once felt cheated of any music or distracted by any of the Sonica’s minor shortcomings.
I can’t help but touch again upon that Grado/Gilmore synergy and with that you have to talk about things like energy and speed. The Lite is definitely a Gilmore as it’s got excellent dynamics, speed and big time propulsion. Leading edge definition and the ability to communicate the energy and attack within the music is a major strong suit of this combination. It’s that groove thing again, catching the energy and emotion in the snap of the snare drum and pluck of a string. Talk about a true headphone experience, this combo doesn’t try to recreate the sensation of speakers in front of you or try to transport you to a billowy sea of tranquility, this combo puts you right in the music and you are treated with an attention grabbing experience that moves you – literally. I’ve enjoyed some very involving headphone experiences with this combo. The Lite seems to love the Grado’s and does a heck of a good job driving them.
I should note that while my focus was mainly on my experience with the Lite driving Grado’s I did drive Sennheiser HD650’s (Equinox) with the Lite and found it to do extremely well with them too. I admit I was very surprised as I did not find the V2 to be an ideal partner with the HD600. The Lite drove the HD650’s quite well, and it’s resolution, balance and bass drive came through quite well with the HD650’s.
It’s pretty clear how much I have enjoyed the new HeadAmp Gilmore Lite. I found the new Lite to be a superb sounding little amplifier that comes in a beautiful case and in a convenient, small package. I liked this prototype model so much I bought it! Congrats to Justin on a fine job!
**********************
Review #2
by sacd lover
For my part of the review I sampled the gilmore lite with the sennheiser hd 650.
The equipment setup was a sacdmods 555es> mit #2> gilmore lite/ std power supply> senn 650/ oehlbach upgrade cable. The music I chose was mostly rock and blues with lots of The Allman Brothers, Nirvana, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and also two or three rock samplers of my favorite tunes. I didnt want to change the system around to much as I wouldnt have the amp that long, so I stuck with the above setup the entire time.
The gilmore is a very small amp high on the cute factor. The case was compact but dense and gave the impression of ruggedness and the silver finish was classy. This amp has one nice feature I think every amp should have; a pass through or loop out. I will always have amps with this feature in the future. This allows you to hook up the amp directly to the source for the best sound and then simply pass the signal on to the next component with no detectable loss in sound quality to my ears. This feature is very nice for hooking up a second amp and making nearly identical comparisons. The headphone jack was very sturdy and the headphones locked in nice and tight. So far, so good.
Once I started listening I was immediately taken by this little amps big sound. The music had a very good bass foundation and plenty of drive. The treble was especially well done. No grain or grit was evident and the treble was well balanced and had the right amount of presence without ever becoming overbearing. However, the most noticeable trait was a very forward midrange. This really worked well with the senns moving the mids forward and giving this headphone a much more rocking and up front character with the music I like best.This forwardness did reduce the soundstage and make the soundscape less dimensional but this effect didnt bother me. I loved the Allman Brothers/ Live at The Filmore disc with this amp. The live disc gave just enough soundstage to compliment the amps forward, rocking nature. I didnt have any trouble spending time with this amp.
The lite was directly compared to my gilmore v1 hooked up to a sacdmods 963sa and the same 650's. I have to tell you as much as I like the gilmore v1 I think the lite is even better. The lite has all the good characteristics of the v1 but its more tranparent. The sound just has more clarity and a cleaner sound. The v1 can sound darkish and slightly veiled compared to the lite, becoming more so with increasingly complex music. The v1 does have a warmer sound and more dynamic punch. But not much. The lites transparency and refined treble along with the good solid bass response and excellent midrange presence tipped the scale in favor of the lite for me.
I didnt have the ppx3 with me any longer by the time the gilmore lite arrived, so I cant offer any direct comparisons. I seem to like tubes better than solid state 100% of the time so I am not a good one to compare solid state with tubes. However, I enjoyed the lite even when I had some excellent tube amps at my disposal. I was always draw in by how the lite gave the 650's so much more midrange presence. I like a forward, gradoish midrange so this is understandable. For those of you enamored with the senns normal sense of space you will probably NOT like this amps midrange.
To summarize the lite is an excellent amp by any standard. The amp does mostly everything right and little wrong. The amp has a big sound, strong bass, a noticeable midrange forwardness and a refined treble with the senn 650's. The only weakness I encountered was an often flat, one dimensional soundstage. I actually liked the forward mids effect on the senns. But clearly, some of you will not, especially if you expect the usual senn openess in the soundstage. The sound is closer and more in your face. I liked and used grados for years so this is not unpleasant to me; so be forewarned. For the modest price of this amp you get very high quality solid state sound. I have several tube amps and I seriously didnt want to pass the amp on. This amp is a winner, and for its price I believe the amp is a major steal.
For those of you wanting a no fuss, high quality, good sounding solid state amp thats also inexpensive; here it is. Highly Recommended.
