[BeatsWork]

Now running HE-500's off my A1.  Worth the time and effort to replaces caps and diodes?  Any suggestions?
 
Thoughts on value of changing out wire between RCA/Pots/Tube?  And I plan to run RCA straight to tube J-1 as Spanky did.

 

[uncola]

Beatswork if you ever did those mods I'd love to see pics or read your impressions. I mainly use the a1 as a speaker amp now

 

[Sm0ld3r]

I am getting this amp for my Fostex TH500RP headphones as the are not the most efficient of the lot @93dB.  I looked at many home DAC units and they were almost unanimously an anemic 100mW. My portable E12A blows that away. I ultimately want a dedicated DAC and amp with a good headphone amp built in. At least 500mW per channel. The A1 is rated at 1,000mW, and even spending more doesn't always get even close to that. Will this amp be good for planar magnetic headphones?

 

[DocHamm]

I have the A1 and the D2. Both are connected to a Win10 PC (FLAC) and the D2 is also connected to a Mac Mini (ALAC) and Shanling PCD3000A CD player. For headphones I mainly use Alessandro MS2 and the A1 is ported to a pair of JBL ProPerformers speakers. I've had the A1, with upgraded tubes, for a year and it sounds good. A couple months ago I added the D2 for higher rez files, avoiding PC noise and adding in a second computer and CD player. The D2 is good although I wish it went to 192KHz but as I only have a couple recordings at that level, I went with it. I now use it more than ever as my go-to mini/computer system.
 
I have not done any modding other than upgrading the tubes and changing the power cables. Nothing fancy in the cable area, just heavier and longer. Stock ones are too short for my use. I wanted to spend a while listening to it stock and allowing it time to open up. Every pair of headphones I have connected have had no power issues. Even my MB Quart 55's which are a power vampire. My JBLs are over 25 years old but still sound great. A simple two speaker setup using 4-1/2" Full Frequency drivers [6-1/4"w x 6"h x 5-1/2"d], 10-60 watts per channel, sensitivity at 88dB and a frequency response of 100hz-18Khz. They handle bass surprisingly well. JBL did offer them as a set with a subwoofer but I never saw the need in a small listening environment. Going forward a year, I might upgrade the Mavericks a bit more but before I do, I intend on upgrading cables (from stock) and focusing on replacing any poor rips I have with better and higher quality. That will give the units, and my ears, time to settle in, and go from there.
 
As I said, all headphones (on-ear, over-ear, in-ear) I have tried (Grado, Audio Technica, Sennheiser, Quart, Bose, AKG, Logitech, Koss, Sony, House of Marley, and Philips, have had no power shortcomings. All were driven well. Hope this helps you (or someone else) get an idea of Maverick power and sound. At their price point, they are well worth it. I spend more time listening to this mini computer setup than my Adcom, Sony, Aiwa, Arcam, NAD, Cambridge or Krell. I've started a journey to pair down my accrued hardware in favor of quality and simplicity (to my ears) over quantity. I gave up vinyl and tape and stick with CD and digital (growing library). I find I am listening more now than ten years ago and I attribute that to decent new equipment, digital music and the simplicity both bring to today's busy lifestyle ... web surf or read and listen!
 
Cheers!

 

[Sm0ld3r]

  I have the A1 and the D2. Both are connected to a Win10 PC (FLAC) and the D2 is also connected to a Mac Mini (ALAC) and Shanling PCD3000A CD player. For headphones I mainly use Alessandro MS2 and the A1 is ported to a pair of JBL ProPerformers speakers. I've had the A1, with upgraded tubes, for a year and it sounds good. A couple months ago I added the D2 for higher rez files, avoiding PC noise and adding in a second computer and CD player. The D2 is good although I wish it went to 192KHz but as I only have a couple recordings at that level, I went with it. I now use it more than ever as my go-to mini/computer system.
 
I have not done any modding other than upgrading the tubes and changing the power cables. Nothing fancy in the cable area, just heavier and longer. Stock ones are too short for my use. I wanted to spend a while listening to it stock and allowing it time to open up. Every pair of headphones I have connected have had no power issues. Even my MB Quart 55's which are a power vampire. My JBLs are over 25 years old but still sound great. A simple two speaker setup using 4-1/2" Full Frequency drivers [6-1/4"w x 6"h x 5-1/2"d], 10-60 watts per channel, sensitivity at 88dB and a frequency response of 100hz-18Khz. They handle bass surprisingly well. JBL did offer them as a set with a subwoofer but I never saw the need in a small listening environment. Going forward a year, I might upgrade the Mavericks a bit more but before I do, I intend on upgrading cables (from stock) and focusing on replacing any poor rips I have with better and higher quality. That will give the units, and my ears, time to settle in, and go from there.
 
As I said, all headphones (on-ear, over-ear, in-ear) I have tried (Grado, Audio Technica, Sennheiser, Quart, Bose, AKG, Logitech, Koss, Sony, House of Marley, and Philips, have had no power shortcomings. All were driven well. Hope this helps you (or someone else) get an idea of Maverick power and sound. At their price point, they are well worth it. I spend more time listening to this mini computer setup than my Adcom, Sony, Aiwa, Arcam, NAD, Cambridge or Krell. I've started a journey to pair down my accrued hardware in favor of quality and simplicity (to my ears) over quantity. I gave up vinyl and tape and stick with CD and digital (growing library). I find I am listening more now than ten years ago and I attribute that to decent new equipment, digital music and the simplicity both bring to today's busy lifestyle ... web surf or read and listen!
 
Cheers!

​Cheers to you and thank you for replying. After much research and consideration I just went for it and bought what I feel is my "end game" as far as headphone amps are concerned. I too, had some misgivings about the 96kHz sampling rate limitation of the Maverick DAC(which is beyond me as to why they chose this when their D1 can do 192), although I could always use my FiiO X5-II to process those files. But in the end I bought the TEAC HA-501 headphone amp, UD-301 DAC, AI-301DA amplifier, Klipsch R-15M bookshelf 2way speakers, and Polk PSW108 subwoofer. The headphone amp is overkill  for most people, and I might have been happy with a TEAC UD-503 which is a DAC with dedicated headphone amp @700mW+700mW balanced and 500mW+500mW in unbalanced mode. Very respectable for sure and the DAC is no slouch either with 2 Verita AK4490 DACs, one for each channel in a dual mono configuration. However, the HA-501 is their flagship headphone amp with nothing else built in. It utilizes 2 MUSES8920 Op-amp chips(1 for each channel and MUSES is my favorite Op-amp) which produce 1,400 mW + 1,400 mW for a full-analog dual monaural discrete design. It also provides 5 selectable damping factors for various different headphones. Basically, if you could only have one headphone amp and many different headphones, this would arguably be among the best choices for its discrete power and ability to pair with a wide range of headphones.
 
The UD-301 is TEAC's reference quality DAC micro component, which utilizes a pair of BurrBrown PCM1795 DACs in a dual monaural design. I don't think anyone would argue the quality of the BurrBrowns. Incidentally, it too has a dedicated headphone amp with MUSES chips but at a more average 100mW + 100mW.  I probably should have just stopped there, but as I cannot fit nor use my full size rack components and floor loudspeakers, I went full tilt and got the AI-301 DA amplifier/DAC, some Klipsch R-15M bookshelf speakers with a Polk PSW108 Sub to round it all out. I didn't like the idea of paying for the DAC functionality, but I'm probably going to end up with a different amp down the road that can do Dolby surround 5.1. I just need to do some research, as I want a discrete 5.1 amp and no DAC capabilities, which is difficult to find these days.
 
For now though, I will be completely happy with the audio 2.1 system and dedicated headphone amp. I'll be networking a media center and am looking at a few solutions including Plex and Jriver. I won't have the awesomeness of my old setup with speakers, but it will be audiophile quality sound and I'll be in headphone Nirvana for the foreseeable future. I can't wait to hear my Fostex TH500RP's with adequate power, although I'm afraid this is going to push me to get the TH-900 MK2s. I still may get a tube amp for the headphones, but it won't be anytime soon. An audiophile's work is never done I'm afraid.

 

[3stun]

Did anyone have to replace their lamps for TubeMagic A1?
Specifically the premium "Raytheon" version.
 
Also, are there any non-lamp based amp's at this price range with strong bass, like A1 ?
 
I love the bass of this amp, but a little worried about its life expectancy.
Using it for games / movies mainly, and it feels almost like subwoofer (never had one).

 

[DocHamm]

I've had the Maverick A1 for going on two years and use it daily from my PC source. I have yet to have any issues with the tubes.
 
I haven't listened to enough other amps in this price range to answer your bass question but I think you can find plenty listed here on Head-Fi with decent reviews.
 
Not sure what speakers you are using with the amp but I use JBL ProPerformers which have a nice large range at 100Hz-118kHz and work great with the Maverick. The JBLs have always had a nice bass end for a 4" full range driver. One set was originally sold with a subwoofer but I'm not sure they really need it, at least not for music. For movies it might make a difference for effects but the original subwoofer was passive and some people prefer an active one for effects. If you poke around eBay, you can still find a nice pair at a reasonable price. I feel they were a greatly overlooked set of small speakers for their time.

 

[3stun]

Thanks!
Actually I'm using it as headphone amp. I don't use speakers, at all.
I've heard that lamps in A1 are only working for headphone-out, and for speakers they probably are not utilised. Not 100% sure though.