Looking for impressions: Dynahi vs Prehead Mk II SE

[halcyon]

I'm looking for impressions on these two. I'm not interested in "which is better" fights

I've got the upgrade bug and even though I have a decent solid state amp (Prehead mk I), I'm looking for a bit of a twist.

Since I got MPX3 I've wanted even more analytical and clean approach to my SS to balance the warmer sound of my rolled mp3x.

So, while Prehead MK I does well, I wonder what else there could be.

Price range is c. 1500 USD max.

I'm not so interested in warm SS amps at this point.

Anybody out there that has heard both Prehead MK II SE and a Dynahi (or a Dynamight)?

How about the Lehman Black Cube Linear headphone?

Listening impressions and comparisons are welcomed.

 

[Kurt]

Some impressions are here:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114993

You can also PM Slow_aetk, which is the Owner of the Prehead. Be patient, he is on vacation.
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/member.php?userid=18801

Good Luck

 

[halcyon]

Thanks Kurt.

Can you give a little details on your Dynamight: pros and cons (other than size and power usage).

Also, what did you pay for it and do you like SA5000 with it?

I know, questions, questions. So many of them

 

[gsferrari]

Man would I like to hear comparisons of these headphone amps. I am extremely curious about the Prehead MK-IISE and I will be firing off an email to Todd for a audition sample soon!

Good thread btw

 

[Kurt]

Pro’s:
Fast
Powerful
High Resolution
Extended
Flat response, IMO. If you heard a Prehead before, you think the DM has a midrange dip. If you hear the DM first, the Prehead has a midrange accentuation.
Accurate
Great Soundstage and Dynamics
Sounds good with Senn’s and the SA5000.

Con’s:
Quite big
Gets warm. I use spacers, so the heat can not dam up so much. I can rest my hand on it, but barely.
For some, the price (2,5-3k). But a SDS XLR who gives a similar performance ( http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=125147 ) goes for 3-5 times this prize.
Solid state. Doesn’t sound good with Grado, IMO.
But I did not hear any SS that sounds good with Grado for me. The Talisman is, barely, bearable.

With Senn’s and Sony:
Airy, transparent, neutral.

With Grado’s:
Metallic, too thin, cold.

Most probably, I will sell mine. I ordered a tube amp from Eddie Current. Check my sig.

 

[Anders]

I have Prehead Mk I and MK II SE and can give my impressions of these, but unfortunately no Gilmore design yet. The Mk II SE is a clear improvment in relation to Mk I, an incremental improvment rather than a huge one. I percieve the Mk II SE as cleaner (one of your objectives) than Mk I in the sense that it is more detailed and has a smoother flow of the music while MK I is more "jumpy". The new model also has better deep bass definition.

I don't think it is more analytical than Mk I but it has higher resolution. I prefer it to my EarMax Pro (tuberolled and tubedamped) in most aspects while Mk I was a more even competition to EMP. The only possible advantage of EMP is a warmer and more organic sound that I think is mostly achieved by rounding off of detail.

Even if MK II SE is not more analytical than MK I, it is still a neutral amplifier with a slight tendency to being analytical. Listening to classical music I think it has a tendency to be too analytical and bright, maybe even with a slight shade of harshness, without the crossfeed. The crossfeed adds a little smoothness and warmness to the sound, probably because of the nice sounding capacitor in the crossfeed filter (Mk II SE has better capacitors than Mk II). I am unsure if the "analyticalness" to some extent also can be attributed to the unnatural soundstage that is connected to normal two-channel mixes, if the unnatural separation could contribute to an experience of a slightly harder and edgier sound. On rock and electronic recordings I have no such clear preference for or against the crossfeed, sometimes it sounds better with and sometimes without.

 

[halcyon]

To be more precise, I'm looking for an amp that is:

- insensitive to output impedance of the feeding source
- linear as it gets (down to DC level and above 22kHz)
- as silent and "black" as possible
- nominal output impedance as close to zero as possible
- very high dynamic capability, no compression distortion
- ruthless in it's approach to revealing problems with various headphones (i.e. not paired or voiced to a certain headphone)
- Hopefully made out of discrete components in a way that surpassess great op amp performance
- no added warmth, harmonic distortion or euphonic qualities
- absolutely no added coldness, or fake analytical qualities due to distortion or frequency range manipulation
- good power supply filtering and noise rejection

It doesn't have to "play nice" or be ideally fitted with a certain headphone pair.

Of course, it would be nice if it didn't suck up electricity like a big factory, but if that's what it takes, I'm willing to consider it.

 

[go_vtec]

I'm gonna throw Headroom Max w/ Stepped attenuator on the table

. To my ears, it is single most powerful amp with blackest background. It's one of the most powerful solid-state amps, I've tried, yet brutally honest amp to reveal flaws in your recording, source, and headphones.

 

[Kurt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by halcyon To be more precise, I'm looking for an amp that is: - insensitive to output impedance of the feeding source - linear as it gets (down to DC level and above 22kHz) - as silent and "black" as possible - nominal output impedance as close to zero as possible - very high dynamic capability, no compression distortion - ruthless in it's approach to revealing problems with various headphones (i.e. not paired or voiced to a certain headphone) - Hopefully made out of discrete components in a way that surpassess great op amp performance - no added warmth, harmonic distortion or euphonic qualities - absolutely no added coldness, or fake analytical qualities due to distortion or frequency range manipulation - good power supply filtering and noise rejection It doesn't have to "play nice" or be ideally fitted with a certain headphone pair. Of course, it would be nice if it didn't suck up electricity like a big factory, but if that's what it takes, I'm willing to consider it.

Yup, sounds to me like you are looking for the Dynahi. sft has them for 950:
http://www.sft-audio.idv.tw/HP_Amp.html

 

[halcyon]

What's the audible (& measurable) difference between a DynaHi and DynaMight?

Better channel separation?

More power?

Assuming same builder/parts.

 

[philodox]

halycon - The amp you just described is the Dynahi...

EDIT: The Dynamight is balanced... if you don't plan on using a balanced source and specially recabled headphones there is no point.

 

[Kurt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by halcyon What's the audible (& measurable) difference between a DynaHi and DynaMight?

I don’t know more about the measurable differences than what I have found with the search function. AFAIR, the sonic influence of some of the measurable differences are somewhat debatable.
I can only tell what I, and some others at the last Zurich meet, have heard.


Quote:

Originally Posted by halcyon Better channel separation?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by halcyon More power?

Yes.

Balanced operation drives the phones with more authority and ease to more detail and resolution, better instrument separation and a bigger, more realistic soundstage. It seems even more extended, although I am not sure it really is. It is probably a deception, because of the better control of the highs and bass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox ... if you don't plan on using a balanced source and specially recabled headphones there is no point.

Yes, except you don’t need new cables. You can solder XLR connector’s to the existing cable and replace the TRS connector.

Cheers

 

[saint.panda]

Kurt, I was just going to say that we've never had a normal Dynahi at our meets but I figured the Dynamight is just two Dynahis in bridged mode (I hope that is the proper designation) so that makes perfect sense now.

Unfortunately, I never properly compared its balanced and unbalanced mode so I can't comment on that.

 

[Kurt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Kurt, I was just going to say that we've never had a normal Dynahi at our meets but I figured the Dynamight is just two Dynahis in bridged mode (I hope that is the proper designation) so that makes perfect sense now.

There is a TRS connector, i.e. usual headphone connector, at my Dynamight and AFAIK it is connected to one amp only.
Both, XLR as well as RCA IC’s of the same brand were connected and when I listened via TRS I could hear a slight difference when switching with the input slector.
Alain (Slow_aetk) and I compared the TRS output of the Dynamight to the Prehead MK2, so both amps were in unbalanced mode and the Dynamight were fed through the RCA IC. AFAIR, he liked what he heard from the Dynahi.
We also switched between balanced and unbalanced operation.


Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda Unfortunately, I never properly compared its balanced and unbalanced mode so I can't comment on that.

That’s a pity, bec. you are far more expressive than I am.

Cheers

 

[Anders]

halcyon,
Many of your evaluation criteria are difficult to evalutate, especially when one is approaching the absolutes as in these criteria:

- no added warmth, harmonic distortion or euphonic qualities
- absolutely no added coldness, or fake analytical qualities due to distortion or frequency range manipulation

It seems I need to revise what I wrote about the brightness and occasional shade of harshness of Prehead Mk II SE, a problem mostly associated with listening to classical music without crossfeed. This problem seems to depend on the configuation, and we always have to listen to an amplifier in a system. And how to partition the total sound on the components?

When I changed the power cable from a Harmonic Technologogy AC-11 to an AC-10, the slight harshness disappearead. The amp now even might deviate very slightly to the warm side, although I am not shure if the audible warmth is added or natural.
I think what happened is something like this. You hear a tone of a violin, it could sound natural, too warm and slow, or too fast and bright for example. When you increase the resolution, that tone can be diffentiated into the tone from the body of the violin, how this tone is modulated by the way the bow is stroken, and the reverbertation in the room. It seems that with the AC-11, these aspects were not fully separated and sometimes mixed in a way that I percieved as harsh and better resolved with the AC-10.