[Abula]

I just recieved my Perreaux SXH1 from AA, I have being testing for two hours on my PC setup, and boy does thing is worth every penny.

First I want to thank all the Headfi community for your suggestions and posts, because of you Im extreamly happy. And athough my wallet is empty my music and hobby has reach a level that I cant put price on it.

Disclaimer: This is my first Headphone AMP, so I dont have to compare except direct plug to my soundcard and my recievers headphone jacks.

Setup,
Audgy 2
Pioneer VSX-D912K
Perreaux SXH1
Tested HP: MDR-V6, CD3000, DT770

Now with the initial Impresions of the Perreaux SXH1.

APPEARENCE,
Its not the best looking amp that I have seen, but its rock solid build, it weight more than I expected, and the color black will combine perfect with my computer setup. The only thing that I didnt like is the volume knob, IMO seems cheap and no to functional, to small for my fingers, still usable but they could have design a better one. The RCA inputs are ok, but nothing like cardas or more expesive stuff, the powerswitch feels good, but I would like it to be in the front.

SOUND AND DYNAMICS,
This is where Im extreamly happy, it has brought every single headphone that I own to a new level. I have tested moslty rock, hip hop, and some rap. I will just say my impresions with each headphone,

Sony V6
Here is where Im more than happy, the V6 are incredible heaphones for the money, and good to be plugged thru a soundcard or a reciever. But only when I plug them thru the SXH1 I discover what a wonderfull Headphone did sony produce. The highs are tammed down they arent as harsh as before, but the details are better, The bass and loudness was pump up a lot, the V6 produce incredible mid bass, very nice. The middle frecuencies are what didnt change that much but still very detailed.

DT770-250,
I never thought a heaphone could vibrate, believe me this amp have a lot of juice, I can feel the earpads vibrating. Incredible experience. The bass have reach to levels that I thought were imposible in a heaphone. The highs and harshness of the DT770 was tamed, now this has become my favorite headphone for rap and Hip hop. Overall the sound is much richer and detailed, this were the heaphones that I felt make a bigest difference. The only other thing mentioning is that with this heaphones I had to turn the volume knob 3/4 to reach good spls and to take the DT770 to its capablilities (comparing to the 1/4-1/2 on the Sonys)

CD3000,
It made the CD3000 my favorite cans for all music (except hip hop and rap), the detail of the heaphones reach new levels specially with Norah Jones Live in New orleans (DTS DVD). The higher frecuencies are more tolerable and enjoyable. The mid frecuencies are more detailed. The only department that I didnt see a huge improvement wass bass, but I think its because I heard first the other two bass monsters (V6 and DT770).

Conclusion,
The SXH1 is definitely a keeper, the sound and signature of this amp is incredible, it has made all my entire collection better. I never expected such improvmemt oven an amp, specially for $300. Besides doing a great job will the amplification, the biggest gain was the warm that was introduced to all my headphones. I would recommend to anyone this amp, its worth every penny.

Thanks again to all the Headfi community that help me and guide me to my final setup, I can only imagine how the PPA, HR2, Grace901 and Corda Prehead can sound.

 

[kunwar]

congrats on your first amp mate

do be careful about the listening levels that you reach on any amp.
if the sound is too loud you can damage your ears.remember it is easier to enjoy good music for longer periods of time by listening at a lower volume.
now that you have a decent amp, you can start wondering what a good source would do for it?/

 

[pbirkett]

Nice review. Interesting to read of its performance with some other cans other than CD3K and HD6x0.

 

[Sean H]

Congrats on the new amp! Unbelievably good amp for that money.

If someone just had the balls to change out the electrolytic caps for high grade, as well as the power supply diodes....uh...oh, man, that amp would be a giant killer.

 

[kugino]

just wondering - do your line outs work?

and be glad that you got them while they lasted at AA...hi fi farm, which sells the sxh-1, sells them for $499!

 

[Abula]

kugino,

Quote:

just wondering - do your line outs work?

I didnt have much hopes for it, since I read a lot of post having problems with the outs. I tested today, and they work flawlessly, they sound as good as pluggin it direct to the reciever. Both, the outs and ins work great, guess Im one of the lucky ones.

 

[BigD]

My appreciation to headfi is lit once more by pablo.
After reading hundreds of thread pages, I gambled buying Perreaux without even posting here for recommendations.
Biggest reasons were:
1. its friendly and versatile nature with many other headphones and sources
2. its capabilities to cover headphones upto $600 (no need for constant upgrade)
3. its all round performance and value
4. 1+2+3=great starter amp for newbie like me

I must say my gamble paid off with only constant headphone upgrade itch in my mind

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Congrats on the new amp and all the enjoyment you're getting from it. That little amp has caused quite a stir here due to its low price and high performance. Just watch out with the high volume stuff, you don't want to damage your hearing permanently and ruin all the good headphone listening sessions ahead of you.

 

[fredpb]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador Congrats on the new amp and all the enjoyment you're getting from it. That little amp has caused quite a stir here due to its low price and high performance. Just watch out with the high volume stuff, you don't want to damage your hearing permanently and ruin all the good headphone listening sessions ahead of you.

At $300-350 is was great. But the new $500 price??????

 

[danaa]

Congratulations on the new toy. Absolutely a great amp!!! Regarding the new price in the U.S., I still feel it probably is competitive with a lot of amps out there, but also feel it is gouging the potential buyer. Hopefully, Perreaux will find other distributers and it isn't exclusive.

 

[Sovkiller]

It is not weird that it makes the CD3000 your favorite can now, this amp makes the CD3000 really sing, is one of a hell match for the CD3000, one of the bests I have heard so far....(well I have not heard that many)

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by fredpb At $300-350 is was great. But the new $500 price??????

It will not seel many here at the new price. Sadly, the reason for the hike was likely all the defective units that caused AA to cancel their sales of their products. Hi-Fi Farm is selling them at a fair rate based on how much will likely be needed to fix QC issues with the amp. Barring that, if they lower their price due to a higher level of quality, we should see a lowering of price, and a raising of sales.

 

[Sovkiller]

There was no more quality control issues since rev 0.5 was released, AFAIK....

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sovkiller There was no more quality control issues since rev 0.5 was released, AFAIK....

At least one person posted that they got a .5 and it still hummed. He was quite ticked and sold or returned it. There should be a thread in the amp section here.

 

[Sovkiller]

I don't think it was a 0.5, IIRC he believed it was, but at the end was one of the old ones....again IIRC....