[Paul Meakin]

Dave,
 
How is it with the LCD-2s? Justin convinced me that my AHA-120 will drive them more than loud enough, but does it do them justice? e.g. compared to a powerful desktop amp like the Violectric V200?
 
Please be careful before you answer as you're potentially going to cost me £800... 

 I'm currently using HD-650s and the AHA-120 drives them really well, it has great control and gives fast, tight bass.
 
Paul
 
Quote:

I concur, there is an imbalance at the very lowest level on my uHA-120, for me it really is a non issue, I cannot foresee any occasion where I would listen to any music at such a low level, it really is only on the first switch on setting, I think that this amp is so good that I can forgive it this foible, I generally use mine between 10 and 11 through IE8s and Audeze LCD-2s. It is smaller than it seems on photo's, so much so, like a previous poster, I sometimes wish I had gone for the slightly larger model.
 
I hope Justin brings out a DAC at some stage, I would be very keen to match it with this amp.
 
By the way it is one of the early ones (0008) I'm really delighted with it.
 
 
 
 

 

 

[daveathall]

Hi Paul, my uHA-120 drives them easily, IMHO it more than does the LCD-2s justice. I take it you are in the UK? I auditioned mine first at Stockton on Tees with my portable stuff, it may be worth a drive, depending where you are for an audition before laying out 800 quid. Im afraid I haven't heard any powerful desk amps, that pleasure and wallet pain is yet to come. 

 

[Paul Meakin]

Hi Dave, yes I am in the UK, but down near the South coast; 7 miles further south and I'm in the English Channel. Stockton was a fairly long way when I used to live in Leicestershire, and that's now three hours or so North...
 
I'll probably take the plunge before too long anyway; it's only money, and you can't take it with you, so it's best to enjoy it while you can!
 
I really appreciate the feedback, not too many people seem to have the LCDs with one of Justin's amps.
 
Paul
 
Quote:

Hi Paul, my uHA-120 drives them easily, I take it you are in the UK, I auditioned mine first at Stockton on Tees with my portable stuff, it may be worth a drive, depending where you are for an audition before laying out 800 quid. Im afraid I haven't heard any powerful desk amps, that pleasure and wallet pain is yet to come. 

 

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Hi Paul, my uHA-120 drives them easily, IMHO it more than does the LCD-2s justice. I take it you are in the UK? I auditioned mine first at Stockton on Tees with my portable stuff, it may be worth a drive, depending where you are for an audition before laying out 800 quid. Im afraid I haven't heard any powerful desk amps, that pleasure and wallet pain is yet to come. 

 
I'm confident that the E9 would do a better job with the LCD-2, but you are tied to a wall socket and a bloody ugly wallwart PSU. The good news is that there wont be a lot of wallet pain.
 
 

 

[FreeBlues]

I tried an early model uHA-120 with custom IEM's (UE-11's) AND the new ALO CLAS, a device that seems to send a very, very hot signal to the amp.  The volume was 'blow your ears off" at a volume level just above zero.  I loved what I heard, but the amp was simply too much.  In fairness, even the StepDance was almost too much as well with this rig.
 
I've been in communication with Justin since and he has sent me an IEM version of the amp, much lower gain.  If y'all can wait a few days I'll most definitely be reporting results.
 
Let me say in addition, Justin has been well beyond fantastic to deal with, BY FAR the most responsive, thorough and helpful guy I've ever encountered in this hobby.  I can't say it's a good thing if everybody starts slamming him with emails - takes way too much time away from what he does best! - but i would encourage some judicious inquiries if you have special needs.

 

[Paul Meakin]

Hi estreeter,
 
Dave was replying to my question, and I already have the AHA-120. I doubt if the E9 is the right option for me.
 
I'm trying to figure out if I stop where I am (iPod 160G Classic - CLAS - AHA-120 - HD650) or go down the route of LCD-2, plus a more powerful amp (V200) plus most likely a desktop DAC (I'm leaning towards a Wyred4Sound DAC-2)... around £2800 more outlay in total, and no longer portable. This is serious money, and I don't want to spend it unless I'm going to get a significant improvement.
 
@FreeBlues, I agree that the CLAS is 'hot'. Seemingly both regarding output level, and overall sound characteristics compared to what I'm used to from my full-sized hi-fi system.
 
It may be a system balance problem with my iPod/CLAS/AHA-120/HD-650 all re-enforcing similar characteristics, but I know that something sounds wrong on many of the tracks I listen to... it sounds too harsh/processed/'digital' even with the iPod EQ set to 'Deep' which really rolls off the treble.
 
Good recordings sound terrific, but my current set-up is very unforgiving of poor recordings, and really good systems tend to improve the worst recordings (making them sound acceptable), while shining with the best recordings.
 
Any thoughts from you or anyone else would be really appreciated; this equipment is really difficult to audition and I don't want to waste (a lot of) money.
 
Paul
 
Quote:

 
I'm confident that the E9 would do a better job with the LCD-2, but you are tied to a wall socket and a bloody ugly wallwart PSU. The good news is that there wont be a lot of wallet pain.
 
 

 

 

[Somnambulist]

Have you got a pic of your triple stack? (iPod, CLAS and AHA-120) I've seen and used the uHA-120 at the UK meet but didn't spot it's bigger brother.
 
I look forward to Justin doing an IEM-centric amp (as these two are undoubtedly headphone amps in their stock config) as I loved what I heard from the uHA-120.

 

[estreeter]

Can someone give me an estimate of how many hours play time they are getting from a 'full' charge ? Thus far, I seem to be recharging mine a little more often than I'd like to. I guess there is  price to be paid for the glorious bass after all. 

 

[kaushama]

Justin's site says it works for 24hrs after a single charge. Isn't that what you get? At least close?

 

[Paul Meakin]

Somnambulist,
 
No picture at present, but the AHA-120 is just a slightly bigger footprint than the CLAS and around 50% higher/thicker.
 
The iPod Classic is again slightly smaller and thinner than the CLAS.
 
The iPod stacks on top of the CLAS which is on top of the AHA, and they each get slightly bigger and thicker towards the bottom of the stack. So it's quite solid.

 

[Paul Meakin]

My iPod and CLAS both run down much faster than the amp, and it gets charged when one of them runs out of power; which I guess is only 6 hours or so.
Quote:

Can someone give me an estimate of how many hours play time they are getting from a 'full' charge ? Thus far, I seem to be recharging mine a little more often than I'd like to. I guess there is  price to be paid for the glorious bass after all. 

 

 

[estreeter]

For those who dont have the amp. this is what happens during charging:
 
1. Plug the amp in via USB and the light at the rear of the amp is cherry red
2. After a period (an hour or two, best guess), it changes to orange
3. Finally, it changes to green and that's when I start using it from the battery
 
I am getting about 12-14 hours from a charge, but I may not be leaving it on the charger long enough. My amp came in a small white box with nothing else - no manual. For the sake of illustration, this is the FAQ from Justin's site (I would have liked a printed manual - even Leckerton managed an A4 page - I wont even start on the Jays manual):
 
(1.) How long does the internal battery last?
For the uHA-120 operation time is up to 24 hours; Whereas, for the AHA-120 the operation time depends on the class A current biasing; the longest time is around 60 hours when using 600 ohm headphones, whereas this drops to around 18 hours when using the preset for 32 ohm headphones.
 
(2.) What does the AHA-120 headphone selector adjust?
This selects a defined amount of current to ensure that the amplifier keeps operating in class A mode. Lower impedance headphones require more current, so the lowest impedance preset has the highest current consumption. And if the amplifier is required to provide more output current than the preset allows, then it simply reverts back to class AB operation and will work in this mode right up to the point where the current limiting kicks in.
 
(3.) The amplifiers only specify a minimum impedance of 32 ohms, does this mean that lower impedance headphones/IEMs cannot be used?
This is rarely the case. The amplifiers are tested at 60mW(rms) continuous output into 32 ohms with both channels driven. This is more than enough for the majority of cases, in fact for ultra sensitive IEMs maximum levels of a just over a milli-watt (1 thousandth of a watt) are more than sufficient.
 
(4.) Why are there two settings for charge rate, why shouldn’t I just use the ‘fast’ charge rate all the time?
With the High speed USB standard, there is a 500mA limit to the amount of current that a port can supply. In some cases the USB supply may not be able to provide much current, so by using the ‘normal’ charge rate option the end-user can ensure compatibility with less capable USB power sources.
 
(5.) What's a volume pot upgrade?
The volume potentiometer is what the user turns to adjust the volume level; So with the Vishay pot upgrade, you are buying a a higher specification custom made part from France, which specifies a tighter channel tracking over the standard volume control pot. The feel is also different, as the standard volume has a viscous damped feeling that becomes more fluid in warmer conditions and the integrated power switch mechanism makes an audible click; whereas the P11 has a stable silky feel and the integrated power switch hardly makes any sound.
 
(6.) I want to use one of your amplifiers with my IEMs, but will the volume adjustment be okay? As with my current amplifier I can not turn the volume any more than the 8 o’clock position before the music becomes too loud!
This depends on the sensitivity and impedance of the IEMs, so please provide the make and model when placing an order, so that we can advise further. Also, as of April 2011 we are now offering a maximum gain of 6dB (x2) version of both uHA-120 and AHA-120 products sold direct as custom orders, to ensure better compatibility with more sensitive IEMs.
 
Note the late addition re sensitive IEMs.
 
For those who feel I am nitpicking, note that I would rather have a great amp with no manual than the inverse. Apologies if there was a manual and it simply wasnt included in my package.

 

[kaushama]

I have got my 6DB/10DB header version of uHA-120. As Justin suggested it has the standard volume pot, which gives very smooth control over the volume with my Westone 4. It sounds very good. More details about its performance  against latest versions of Xin amps and amp section of D10 would be forthcoming. In short it is a neutral and very transparent amp, which has very tight bass control with great punch! 

 

[estreeter]

Good stuff, kaushama. I finally plugged the PL50 and the a-Jays 3 into my Vishay-equipped 120 this morning, and it really is 'zero-to-one-hundred' in a single turn of the pot. Glad to hear that the stock pot is a better match for sensitive IEMs - this amp deserves a wider audience, even if its blocky casing will turn a lot of the slimline crowd away.

 

[kaushama]

Size may be a factor to keep the crowd away from this amp. I think the thickness comes from the height of the volume pot. Justin should design one with digital volume control to get the size down, to fit it to tastes of the crowd, who are concerned about size. But any day, I would pick it up as quite a portable amp against many other competitors, which have the sound quality of its league.