ai0tron
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- Jun 22, 2001
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The Melos SHA-1 review.
I have a 1993 silver faced version. It almost looks as good as it sounds, and let me tell you guy’s this is one fine looking piece of equipment.
My source is a portable radioshack 3904 cd player (I realize how deficient this is). My headphones will be the HD600’s for my discussion of the Melos and why it is the best amp I have ever heard.
I won’t compare the Melos to my only other amp on hand, the JMT, because the JMT is a great little 9 volt amp that drives HD600’s well but for obvious reasons is not in the same class as the Melos.
About the sound…(using Tesla JJ’s)
The most significant improvement that the Melos has over any other amp I have heard driving the HD600’s is low volume control. When listening at low volumes the music is still there in every way, it’s still dynamic and fun. The bass is especially notable, while the bass on every other amp or headphone jack I have listened too tends to fuzz out at low volumes this amp has surprised me on several occasions where a solid bass-line came seemingly out of nowhere… I have listened at whisper quiet levels and still heard the bass there balanced perfectly to the rest of the music. This for me this is a revelation, bass that actually still punches at low volumes, it’s quite satisfying and will hopefully benefit my ears in the long run as well.
Improvements have not however been limited simply to the idea of control although that is probably the main source of improvements. There is also a greater sense of air around instruments that gives a more speaker like presentation… (However through speakers the soundstage becomes gigantic, thrillingly so in fact.) There have been vast improvements in detail, particularly with note decay… Songs that I thought had little silent moments actually have lots of valuable things to hear during the moments. Like the sound of a cellist holding a vibrado during a rest. Or the sound of a solo piano’s crescendo echoing into stillness. This addition of detail and overall sense of order makes complex passages that previously could sound a touch confused come together so firmly as to be very convincingly real… In a conversation with a friend online I described the sensation of added detail as if each sound were a book and that previously all the books were closed, and now the books have opened up to show their contents and character. Each sound is represented with extraordinary precision while still maintaining the sense of the recording and musicality.
While the bass and midrange are really nice, I have heard good mids with the XcanV2, and I thought I had heard good highs too. But the highs with the Melos are unbelievable, it’s the first time cymbals have sounded darn near perfect. They are cymbals, they sound like metal sheets but they aren’t metallic sounding… They aren’t smoothed out too much or anything either they just are cymbals. The bass as I mentioned is solid... It’s controlled, and DEEP. I would like to hear the V6’s because it would be truly amazing to hear bass hit a level below the HD600’s when paired with the Melos. The least ‘amazing’ aspect of the Melos is the midrange. It is neither warm or harsh. It’s very well articulated but has a tendency to sound just a bit dry… Something I attribute to my source. With the tesla JJ’s the mids are more forward but are not the dominating force they were with the XcanV2. It seemed to me that the upper mids are also a bit hot with the Tesla JJ’s installed. I am hoping that burn in will help this as the tubes are only 2 days old. The mids assume a much more natural if somewhat less entertaining position in respects to most stereotypes of tube gear… However this all may be due to my deficient source.
I also tried out my Sovteks and the Sovteks that came with the unit. The Sovteks that came with the unit are different from mine in that they have white lettering rather than red lettering. If this means anything I would be interested in knowing. I found the Sovteks nice sounding but more deficient in the midrange than the JJ’s. Also I found them a bit hard on the top end. I did however enjoy the bass response of the Sovteks even more as they seem to be slightly more extended. The difference between the 2 types of Sovteks was minimal and probably due to burn in.
My other headphones, the low impedance modified Denon 950’s definitely benefited from the Melos. The sound was much more controlled and less colored than they tended to be out of a portable jack. The characteristics of the Melos tend to overtake the sound of any headphone with the headphone saying less in terms of it’s own character than it would through an inferior amp. The E888’s also benefited greatly from the Melos. They sounded very colored compared to the HD600’s but had a full warmth to the sound that wasn’t apparent with inferior headphone amps. I would have to say from these findings that the Melos drives all headphones very well with some receiving more benefit based on their overall quality.
My overall opinion of the Melos SHA-1 is that it is truly excellent. It represents a bargain at it’s used price of $400-500 IMO. I have tried 3 amps before this, the Creek OBH-11, the XcanV2, and the JMT altoids amp, and non of those drive the HD600’s to even half of what the Melos drives them too. Trully excellent sound, it has given me first hand the definitions of the audiophile vocabulary.
Deficiencies of my Melos…
According to the manual during the 3-minute warm up period both stereo channels (to the speakers) are supposed to be muted but they aren’t completely muted rather just somewhat supressed. I think this is also the cause of some mild cross talk between the input channels but I am really unsure. The cross talk is only noticeable at very near max volume when there is no music playing through the selected channel. Also there is noise at max volume with no input. It’s barely noticeable on the headphone jack but very obvious through my speakers. These things do not seem to affect the sound when listening to music at normal or even very loud levels.
Because of this I have the urge still to achieve perfection. After Christmas I will probably send it in to Melos Audio restoration for a basic upgrade… Unless someone has a better, ie. cheaper and easier idea.
FOLLOW UP: (EDIT)
Just wanted to mention a few specifics regarding certain cd's.
Most of my music consists of instrumental type stuff with very little vocals. Classical, electronica, experimental...
Classical as expected sounds fantastic. The piano delivers its sound with authoritative grace. The understanding of yin and yang, the balance of opposites, the unraveling of paradox, powerfull yet gentle, smooth yet edgy, overflowing yet controlled. Particularly the cello, of all the stringed instruments its harmony is the richest. It sings but it can be such a dirty, grinding instrument, and the melos captures this all with stunning accuracy.
Female vocals are INCREDIBLE, wow, extending into the clouds yet strangely devoid of harshness. Particularly a live performance I have of Tori Amos... All I can say is I have never heard sound extend like that yet remain so natural and wonderful...
Bass is a bit unmusical, but I might owe that to my headphones. The HD600's are generally regarded as having dry bass. I think this is mostly due to their extreme accuracy but some would disagree.
Acoustic guitar is utterly fantastic. Undoubtedly so, I heard a pair of B&W 804's playing an eric clapton dvd at the high-fi shop and acoustical guitar is vastly superior out of the HD600's and the melos...IMO of course but still. It was vast. The room was not optimized at the hi-fi shop but I just found the treble scratchy and lacking body. I don't think those speakers were being properly driven but they did have what looked like hi-end Denon mono blocks so maybe they were properly driven and they just aren't that great. The sound of this cd, even out of my portable, is just astuonding, the resolution of inner detail is as I said like opening up a book.
Sounds, SPEAK OUT TO YOU!!!!!
The one type of music that I find it doesnt do amazingly well with is really hardcore stuff like static x...although I only have mp3's of that junk. It does well but the treble is a bit too polite for static x to have the desired affect on your ears and psyche.
MAn I wish you cuold rent to own hi-fi equipment. Id rent to own a new cd-player in a jiffy. It's hard to imagine how good this would sound with nice cd player...
I have a 1993 silver faced version. It almost looks as good as it sounds, and let me tell you guy’s this is one fine looking piece of equipment.
My source is a portable radioshack 3904 cd player (I realize how deficient this is). My headphones will be the HD600’s for my discussion of the Melos and why it is the best amp I have ever heard.
I won’t compare the Melos to my only other amp on hand, the JMT, because the JMT is a great little 9 volt amp that drives HD600’s well but for obvious reasons is not in the same class as the Melos.
About the sound…(using Tesla JJ’s)
The most significant improvement that the Melos has over any other amp I have heard driving the HD600’s is low volume control. When listening at low volumes the music is still there in every way, it’s still dynamic and fun. The bass is especially notable, while the bass on every other amp or headphone jack I have listened too tends to fuzz out at low volumes this amp has surprised me on several occasions where a solid bass-line came seemingly out of nowhere… I have listened at whisper quiet levels and still heard the bass there balanced perfectly to the rest of the music. This for me this is a revelation, bass that actually still punches at low volumes, it’s quite satisfying and will hopefully benefit my ears in the long run as well.
Improvements have not however been limited simply to the idea of control although that is probably the main source of improvements. There is also a greater sense of air around instruments that gives a more speaker like presentation… (However through speakers the soundstage becomes gigantic, thrillingly so in fact.) There have been vast improvements in detail, particularly with note decay… Songs that I thought had little silent moments actually have lots of valuable things to hear during the moments. Like the sound of a cellist holding a vibrado during a rest. Or the sound of a solo piano’s crescendo echoing into stillness. This addition of detail and overall sense of order makes complex passages that previously could sound a touch confused come together so firmly as to be very convincingly real… In a conversation with a friend online I described the sensation of added detail as if each sound were a book and that previously all the books were closed, and now the books have opened up to show their contents and character. Each sound is represented with extraordinary precision while still maintaining the sense of the recording and musicality.
While the bass and midrange are really nice, I have heard good mids with the XcanV2, and I thought I had heard good highs too. But the highs with the Melos are unbelievable, it’s the first time cymbals have sounded darn near perfect. They are cymbals, they sound like metal sheets but they aren’t metallic sounding… They aren’t smoothed out too much or anything either they just are cymbals. The bass as I mentioned is solid... It’s controlled, and DEEP. I would like to hear the V6’s because it would be truly amazing to hear bass hit a level below the HD600’s when paired with the Melos. The least ‘amazing’ aspect of the Melos is the midrange. It is neither warm or harsh. It’s very well articulated but has a tendency to sound just a bit dry… Something I attribute to my source. With the tesla JJ’s the mids are more forward but are not the dominating force they were with the XcanV2. It seemed to me that the upper mids are also a bit hot with the Tesla JJ’s installed. I am hoping that burn in will help this as the tubes are only 2 days old. The mids assume a much more natural if somewhat less entertaining position in respects to most stereotypes of tube gear… However this all may be due to my deficient source.
I also tried out my Sovteks and the Sovteks that came with the unit. The Sovteks that came with the unit are different from mine in that they have white lettering rather than red lettering. If this means anything I would be interested in knowing. I found the Sovteks nice sounding but more deficient in the midrange than the JJ’s. Also I found them a bit hard on the top end. I did however enjoy the bass response of the Sovteks even more as they seem to be slightly more extended. The difference between the 2 types of Sovteks was minimal and probably due to burn in.
My other headphones, the low impedance modified Denon 950’s definitely benefited from the Melos. The sound was much more controlled and less colored than they tended to be out of a portable jack. The characteristics of the Melos tend to overtake the sound of any headphone with the headphone saying less in terms of it’s own character than it would through an inferior amp. The E888’s also benefited greatly from the Melos. They sounded very colored compared to the HD600’s but had a full warmth to the sound that wasn’t apparent with inferior headphone amps. I would have to say from these findings that the Melos drives all headphones very well with some receiving more benefit based on their overall quality.
My overall opinion of the Melos SHA-1 is that it is truly excellent. It represents a bargain at it’s used price of $400-500 IMO. I have tried 3 amps before this, the Creek OBH-11, the XcanV2, and the JMT altoids amp, and non of those drive the HD600’s to even half of what the Melos drives them too. Trully excellent sound, it has given me first hand the definitions of the audiophile vocabulary.
Deficiencies of my Melos…
According to the manual during the 3-minute warm up period both stereo channels (to the speakers) are supposed to be muted but they aren’t completely muted rather just somewhat supressed. I think this is also the cause of some mild cross talk between the input channels but I am really unsure. The cross talk is only noticeable at very near max volume when there is no music playing through the selected channel. Also there is noise at max volume with no input. It’s barely noticeable on the headphone jack but very obvious through my speakers. These things do not seem to affect the sound when listening to music at normal or even very loud levels.
Because of this I have the urge still to achieve perfection. After Christmas I will probably send it in to Melos Audio restoration for a basic upgrade… Unless someone has a better, ie. cheaper and easier idea.
FOLLOW UP: (EDIT)
Just wanted to mention a few specifics regarding certain cd's.
Most of my music consists of instrumental type stuff with very little vocals. Classical, electronica, experimental...
Classical as expected sounds fantastic. The piano delivers its sound with authoritative grace. The understanding of yin and yang, the balance of opposites, the unraveling of paradox, powerfull yet gentle, smooth yet edgy, overflowing yet controlled. Particularly the cello, of all the stringed instruments its harmony is the richest. It sings but it can be such a dirty, grinding instrument, and the melos captures this all with stunning accuracy.
Female vocals are INCREDIBLE, wow, extending into the clouds yet strangely devoid of harshness. Particularly a live performance I have of Tori Amos... All I can say is I have never heard sound extend like that yet remain so natural and wonderful...
Bass is a bit unmusical, but I might owe that to my headphones. The HD600's are generally regarded as having dry bass. I think this is mostly due to their extreme accuracy but some would disagree.
Acoustic guitar is utterly fantastic. Undoubtedly so, I heard a pair of B&W 804's playing an eric clapton dvd at the high-fi shop and acoustical guitar is vastly superior out of the HD600's and the melos...IMO of course but still. It was vast. The room was not optimized at the hi-fi shop but I just found the treble scratchy and lacking body. I don't think those speakers were being properly driven but they did have what looked like hi-end Denon mono blocks so maybe they were properly driven and they just aren't that great. The sound of this cd, even out of my portable, is just astuonding, the resolution of inner detail is as I said like opening up a book.
Sounds, SPEAK OUT TO YOU!!!!!
The one type of music that I find it doesnt do amazingly well with is really hardcore stuff like static x...although I only have mp3's of that junk. It does well but the treble is a bit too polite for static x to have the desired affect on your ears and psyche.
MAn I wish you cuold rent to own hi-fi equipment. Id rent to own a new cd-player in a jiffy. It's hard to imagine how good this would sound with nice cd player...
