ev01ut10ndt
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2007
- Posts
- 44
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WOOT! Mine arrived this morning. I chased down the mailman for it, haha. They needed my signature and just put a notice in my mailbox. I walked out and saw the truck there and the mailman a block away. After getting the package, I realized I had no 3.5mm to RCA cables. =(
Quick shipping: Ordered Monday night and got it a week later from jtam.
Borrowing my roommates just now...first impressions! I'm running it from a Hot Audio dac (very inexpensive), and its a surprisingly neutral amp. No emphasis on anything. Initially, I was really disappointed. "sounds almost the same....not worth the amount I paid...maybe I should have gotten the Matrix DAC instead..." Kept playing different tracks on my computer and then stopped at Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine. Wow!
What I did hear was a expansion of the soundstage and instrument separation. The clarity of her voice...stunning. Its very much obvious that the amp is extremely revealing. Tracks off of youtube HD (Franz Ferdinand) sound very close to before, but tracks off a cd (norah jones, dido's recent Stay at Home), show a much more dramatic improvement. My reference speakers are my dad's back home and I would say the HD650s + this amp are about 90% there. Sure, it doesn't have the kick of the 16hz range subwoofer, and the midrange richness of the floorstanding speakers. However my whole set up that cost the same as just the sub back home...can't complain! A comparison would be having a great pair of speakers and powering it with a $100 amp from best buy. Then you grab a Mcintosh and plug those speakers in and see how much more it can do. Not as dramatic as new speakers/headphones but a huge difference nonetheless.
Just as a reference of improvements: 1 is ipod earbuds. 4 are grado sr-60s. 6 are HD650 straight out of an ipod/computer. 6.5-7 is with the amp. 10 are speakers that I've heard that cost more than a Mercedes. There comes a point of where its pretty much listening to the speakers/headphones rather than the music.
Minor complaint: I wish the power button was up in front, but meh, w/e. Casing is otherwise stunning.
Letting it burn in while I study for my exam tomorrow. Will update as soon I get more hours on it + have more time. I have no other amp to reference, so my purchasing decision was based off of impressions on this thread. Thanks guys for your inputs. Very much happy with this amp! =)
Quick shipping: Ordered Monday night and got it a week later from jtam.
Borrowing my roommates just now...first impressions! I'm running it from a Hot Audio dac (very inexpensive), and its a surprisingly neutral amp. No emphasis on anything. Initially, I was really disappointed. "sounds almost the same....not worth the amount I paid...maybe I should have gotten the Matrix DAC instead..." Kept playing different tracks on my computer and then stopped at Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine. Wow!
What I did hear was a expansion of the soundstage and instrument separation. The clarity of her voice...stunning. Its very much obvious that the amp is extremely revealing. Tracks off of youtube HD (Franz Ferdinand) sound very close to before, but tracks off a cd (norah jones, dido's recent Stay at Home), show a much more dramatic improvement. My reference speakers are my dad's back home and I would say the HD650s + this amp are about 90% there. Sure, it doesn't have the kick of the 16hz range subwoofer, and the midrange richness of the floorstanding speakers. However my whole set up that cost the same as just the sub back home...can't complain! A comparison would be having a great pair of speakers and powering it with a $100 amp from best buy. Then you grab a Mcintosh and plug those speakers in and see how much more it can do. Not as dramatic as new speakers/headphones but a huge difference nonetheless.
Just as a reference of improvements: 1 is ipod earbuds. 4 are grado sr-60s. 6 are HD650 straight out of an ipod/computer. 6.5-7 is with the amp. 10 are speakers that I've heard that cost more than a Mercedes. There comes a point of where its pretty much listening to the speakers/headphones rather than the music.
Minor complaint: I wish the power button was up in front, but meh, w/e. Casing is otherwise stunning.
Letting it burn in while I study for my exam tomorrow. Will update as soon I get more hours on it + have more time. I have no other amp to reference, so my purchasing decision was based off of impressions on this thread. Thanks guys for your inputs. Very much happy with this amp! =)
