[Killercrush]

Hi fellow head-fiers!

I just bought myself a pair of Joe Grado SR-200 so I'm wondering if the Melos SHA-1 would be a good match with them. Any sub-$600 amp that can have a better synergy? What I would want is razor tight bass, great soundstage depth, moving dynamics, HF extension, neutrality (hmmm....), nice imaging, natural musical timbre, details retrieval, good texture and being able to show subtle nuances.

[EDIT]

Considering the Gilmore V2-SE too!

[EDIT]

Got the SR-100 now too !!!

 

[Killercrush]

C'mon there as to be somebody who can comment on this ?

 

[J-Pak]

At least with my HP-2 which demand a ton of current dynamics were the biggest improvement I saw with my SHA-1. I made a mini review thread in the amp forum not too long ago you can read my impressions there. But it sounded much better in nearly every area when compared to an M3 and the built in amp in my Lavry.

Tube rolling the SHA-1 also yields some nice improvement.

 

[jinp6301]

well since the melos amps were made to synergize with the grado cans, I'll guess that it'll sound amazing.

I cant give a real solid opinion because I only tried the hp-1000 + melos combo for like 5 mins and I'm not that familiar with the hp-1000 sound anyways

 

[Killercrush]

Yeah, I read your thread not too long ago and It seems like a nice amp! However, I'm wondering if it would be overkill for $300 heaphones but if they really do have the HP1000 drivers in them (the seller can't take pics but by it's description, it seems like they do), I'll have the obligation to do them justice!

We're talking about $500 for a SHA-1 right ?

If so, I'll be going for the poor man's Melos SHA-Gold Reference/HP combo and waiting till I can afford the ''real'' thing!

 

[nikongod]

there are 2 LARGE differences between the sha-gold and the sha-1. they are the psu and the input/output section. the gold has a more complicated, arguably quieter psu BUT the power lines criss-cross the center of the audio path severeal times which can lead to hiss. the psu on the sha-1 is similar, with a c-r-c-a-c filter, but the activer stage is simpler. on the plus side for the sha-1, the psu lines dont criss-cross the board, they are allllll kept in the corner.

the second difference is in the output stages. the gold has a balanced output, and alllll sorts of options for inputs (just different selections for cd/tape/phono etc...) where the sha-1 has 3 inputs, and 1 single ended preamps output. if you are using the amp exclusively for heapdhones, this is of very little importance.

on both amps, excluding part selections which can be upgraded, the circuit of the heapdhone amp is the same.

 

[Killercrush]

What are the three inputs of the SHA-1 ?

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killercrush /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are the three inputs of the SHA-1 ?

jsut 3 rca pairs.

on the gold, they are labled, and labled on the front, so you dont have to rember

and theres more of them...

 

[Killercrush]

That's good enough for me

 

[Killercrush]

I'm finally narrowing it down to these two amps, comments would be really appreciated, thank you !

Julien

 

[jinp6301]

Well, I heard the Gilmore Lite w/ DPS at a mini meet a while ago and the best way to explain the sound is that it makes the Grados, more Grado-y. Soundstage got smaller, the punchy bass got punchier, the sparkling highs got sparkling-er, and detail improved significantly. This was with my 225s btw.

 

[Killercrush]

I'm not talking about the Gilmore Lite BTW, but your comments are helpful anyway though : ) cause they share a similar circuit to a certain extend...

 

[SK138]

When I had the Gilmore V2-SE with steps, silver wire, and blackgate caps...it was excellent. It was surprising warm sounding. It definitely was better than Gilmore lite (current production). I never heard Melos but based on all the feedbacks here..it's like the soul-mate to Grado. There are other amps that I had in the past that did well with Grados such as MAD amp. You might also consider microZOTL ($750 new and about $500 used...if you can find one). I read some accounts ZOTL does well as Melos. I am extremely lucky to have microZOTL and it's very good with Grado...even better than Gilmore V2-SE that I had in the past. I was using it with Alessandro cans (MS2 and MS Pro). microZOTL sounds like fine SS amp with tube character that tends to hold the note just little longer and has more air around the notes. It's very neutral sounding amp. It adds very little color to source. You got some very good choices around $500 in used, preowned, amp market. Good luck

 

[Killercrush]

Does the MicroZOTL have a pre-amp ? I'm tied to the Melos and the Gilmore mainly because they can both act as a pre-amp.

 

[SK138]

It does not have pre-amp function....but it can drive an efficient speakers at 1w/channel (it has speaker binding post on the back). It might not sound like a lot but it does drive my vintage Bose to ear blistering level in a medium sized room. It also has a unique power requirement. It's universal...anything from 85-260vac or 12vDC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killercrush /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does the MicroZOTL have a pre-amp ? I'm tied to the Melos and the Gilmore mainly because they can both act as a pre-amp.