Pharmaboy
Headphoneus Supremus
Well, I think the answer breaks into 3 categories of improvements:
I'm leaving resolution out because that's not a quality that comes to mind as a distinguishing characteristic between my G109-A vs V281; nor do I hear people talk about it all that often regarding any of the line. Instead the big differentiators are soundstaging, power, balanced vs SE.
To be honest, of all 4 amps I have, only the Matrix M Stage HPA-1 could really be described as having noticeably less resolution than the others (noted for its warm, "friendly" sound, which does get a bit "boomy" in the otherwise deep bass)--and that changed quite a bit when I rolled opamps.
I think of resolution more in connection with source components like DACs, turntables, etc.
* My Audio GD SA-31SE is rated for 10W @40 ohms, roughly double the rated power of the V281. Yet the SA-31SE sounds somewhat softer, less dynamic, and definitely less powerful than the V281. The reason that power doesn't track sound more closely is no doubt the fact that so many other design elements/decisions impact sound as much or more than output power alone (things like power supply design/filtering, S.N. ratio, THD, etc).
- Power: The higher you go up the Lake People/Violectric line, the more power you get. I suspect power is somewhat less important than the other factors, assuming whatever you have already is sufficient for the headphone you use w/it. The V281 is way more powerful than the G109-A, and even more powerful than the LC...but I can't get any one of these amps up to even 50% volume at low gain (and they all make my power-hungry planar sound very good)--so maybe power is not the dominant factor here.*
- Functional: The higher you go, the more features you get. Balanced output is the first big differentiating feature (RS 08; V280), but there are others, including preamp capability; and an array of switchable features (input switching + independent on/off for headphone vs line out (V220; V281)
- Sonics: My experience has been that balanced HP output sounds somewhat more spacious and large, all other things being equal--so simply getting a balanced Violectric amp will tend to be an upgrade. But it's more nuanced than that in the Violectric line:
- The RS 08 and G109 series are said to have a strong sonic resemblance
- The V200 is usually described as the biggest sonic "leap" (also power output) in the line. Many people on Head-Fi give lots of love the V200...it's SE, but it is powerful, somewhat warm, and is a classic solid state upgrade move for those w/less expensive/powerful amps
- The V280 is the balanced version of the V200
- And the V220 is the preamp/SE version of it
- Then at the top of the heap is the V281, which is said to be slightly less warm than the V200 (but no Violectric/Lake People amp is commonly described as overly accurate, clinical, etched--any of that). It also has IMO spectacular soundstaging, which is usually described as "good but not great" in the lower models (such as the G109-A, which can't equal the V281 in that department). Then again, soundstaging being part of balanced, it's hard to say what is actually making the V281 better in soundstaging: balanced design; something else?
To be honest, of all 4 amps I have, only the Matrix M Stage HPA-1 could really be described as having noticeably less resolution than the others (noted for its warm, "friendly" sound, which does get a bit "boomy" in the otherwise deep bass)--and that changed quite a bit when I rolled opamps.
I think of resolution more in connection with source components like DACs, turntables, etc.
* My Audio GD SA-31SE is rated for 10W @40 ohms, roughly double the rated power of the V281. Yet the SA-31SE sounds somewhat softer, less dynamic, and definitely less powerful than the V281. The reason that power doesn't track sound more closely is no doubt the fact that so many other design elements/decisions impact sound as much or more than output power alone (things like power supply design/filtering, S.N. ratio, THD, etc).
