LISA III Available for Order

[GreenLeo]

You're welcome estreeter. It seems to me that both the m902 and the Phonitor were targeted for professional use. Well, for head-fiers, any professional gears can be turned to home gears

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Actually the Phonitor is rated higher than the Grace m902 and I believe F. Lo have written a pretty detail review on that. Please read the Phonitor appreciation thread in headfi. I can't remember the name of the thread but you should be able to search it easily.

By the way, Phonitor has a little brother which is much cheaper called Auditor which has the core amp as the Phonitor less its features. You may want to have a look as well.

For me, I like the Lisa III very much and now am using the lineout of the 801 to it. I would definitely wait for the review of the RS.

 

[fkclo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif F.lo, you have basically named every desktop on my wish list (Isabellina a notable omission, but that is more expensive by several orders of magnitude) and said 'This is better'. Is it possible for you to start a new thread dedicated to the RS, please ? Thanks, estreeter

Hi estreeter,

Not sure if it is worthwhile to start a new thread at his moment, given it is available only in "limited quantities" according to Brad. A new thread makes sense only when more people have heard or owned the RS so there can be more sharing at a bigger group.

F. Lo

 

[fkclo]

Some people asked about how the LISA RS compared to the Phonitor.

First off, I haven't done the comparison recently. Yes, the Phonitor is still with me but at its current configuration, a direct comparison will require some cable reshuffling which I simply don't have the time....

But having heard the Phonitor for so many hours I would say it is still more neutral and resolving than the LISA RS. In fact, the Phonitor is now becoming my reference amp so that I can tell if other combinations are warmer or brighter, or coloured in a different way.

Both the Phonitor and RS display remarkable dynamics and handles complex transient passages extremely well. Phonitor have an edge in its pin point imaging and wider sound stage. But the RS handles bass like no others and it reproduces such well textured and tonally correct bass that one can hear so much more from the RS at the bottom of the spectrum. o.k. I may be a bit exaggerating but yes, the upper bass, mid bass and lower bass of the RS are just, well, great.

In terms of musicality I must say the advantage is to the RS. Phil has that magic embedded in his circuit to make music non-fatiguing, engaging and organic - so that you can feel the flesh of the singer and the movement at the throat while blowing the trumpet. There is exceptional realism listening to the RS which make it one of the best "mid-class" amp for jazz; whereas the Phonitor is "the" amp for big symphonies and orchestra.

The RS is more tolerating on source too. The ruthless revealing power of Phonitor can be frustrating at times - there is simply no hiding - bad recordings, bad cabling, bad source... and all come and hurt. The RS on the other hand tends to be a tad more forgiving and to many, this is really good news when listening to some of the poorly recorded CDs produced in 80s.

One last caveat - it was my pair of ears, my mood and my setup. So threat these impressions with a grain of salt. YMMV. It is also worth noting that the HD800 and HD650 were the two headphones I used recently with the RS.

Cheers,
F. Lo

 

[GreenLeo]

Thanks for the comparison. It's great.

"it was my pair of years" - you mean ears, right ?

 

[fkclo]

Ooops! Thanks GreenLeo for pointing that out. Now corrected.

F. Lo

 

[estreeter]

Thanks for that, F.Lo : your impressions are remarkably similar to some of the comparisons between the Benchmark DAC1 and the M902, where several have chosen the Grace despite the Benchmark's superior technical ability. I dont think we can underestimate musicality, given that its a love of music that drives most of us to buy gear, and hopefully not the opposite

The Phonitor is considerably more expensive than either of those amps here, and I'm not trying to lump them into the same camp, but it all drives home the VFM case for the Lisa. The Auditor would be the closest in terms of pricing, but it doesnt seem to have been terribly well received here in Oz : happy to hear otherwise.

 

[techenvy]

hears a tuff on a lisa 3 or a headroom amp/dac
dang i wish lisa 3 had a dac but i understand why it does not

what dacs have good synergy with the lisa 3??????

 

[techenvy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for that, F.Lo : your impressions are remarkably similar to some of the comparisons between the Benchmark DAC1 and the M902, where several have chosen the Grace despite the Benchmark's superior technical ability. I dont think we can underestimate musicality, given that its a love of music that drives most of us to buy gear, and hopefully not the opposite The Phonitor is considerably more expensive than either of those amps here, and I'm not trying to lump them into the same camp, but it all drives home the VFM case for the Lisa. The Auditor would be the closest in terms of pricing, but it doesnt seem to have been terribly well received here in Oz : happy to hear otherwise.

so the grace is close to the becnh mark what about lisa or the headroom desktop amp/dac

also dosent the grace 902 have a freakin remote control????? that right there is worth a million bucks!!!!!!!!!
none of these headamps have remotes and they are missing out on my buisness

 

[techenvy]

what is the RS model is that just an updated version of lisa or a modded version?

 

[GreenLeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by techenvy /img/forum/go_quote.gif hears a tuff on a lisa 3 or a headroom amp/dac dang i wish lisa 3 had a dac but i understand why it does not what dacs have good synergy with the lisa 3??????

I believe any high quality dac should have a good synergy with the Lisa III.

 

[dallan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by techenvy /img/forum/go_quote.gif hears a tuff on a lisa 3 or a headroom amp/dac dang i wish lisa 3 had a dac but i understand why it does not what dacs have good synergy with the lisa 3??????

Not a tough choice at all as i see it.

edit-I have used both mobile dac(pico dac only-rca out) and home dacs with Lisa, both sound good. When out an about it is a luxury to have a dac with her and at home a nice home one feeds good too. Times like right now on my break from work, I don't want to heat up the Zana Duex tubes so i reroute to Lisa lll my modded DLlll and waaalaaa, spectacular!

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dallan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not a tough choice at all as i see it. edit-I have used both mobile dac(pico dac only-rca out) and home dacs with Lisa, both sound good. When out an about it is a luxury to have a dac with her and at home a nice home one feeds good too. Times like right now on my break from work, I don't want to heat up the Zana Duex tubes so i reroute to Lisa lll my modded DLlll and waaalaaa, spectacular!

that is so cool,,,i definitley gotta get a portable dac for her, i wonder if u can hear a difference in toslink between a portable and non portable,, the diff between toslink and usb dac is very apparent imo. is there any usb dac out there that can come close to aa toslink? ive been testing my usb dac and i think they all sound lacking compared to toslink

 

[Remitrom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by techenvy /img/forum/go_quote.gif what is the RS model is that just an updated version of lisa or a modded version?

It is a modded Lisa, batteries removed. caps & transistors added
The LLP is the same , adjusted up to 32 volts dc
with a jeweler screwdriver.

 

[TranceDude]

How does Lisa III pair with Westone UM3X? Especiallly interested in reaction to bass boost etc.

Thank you

 

[TranceDude]

Anynody? Please.