[Paul Graham]

Decided to give the Little Bear a decent listen today...

iPod vid 5.5g rockbox'd.
Silver Leopard LOD.
Little Bear B1 Tube Amplifier.
Sony MDR-SA5000.

Source file - Tron Legacy OST, 320kbps MP3.



I know I know..... A £10 amp running a pair of £500 cans lol. The irony wasn't missed on me.







How did it go?

We'll the B1 certainly has enough grunt to run the SA5Ks and my HD400s ( not in pictures )
The sound is pretty warm and natural, but with a decent level of detail.
Strings come through beautifully,
Bass is tight with no boom, extension is quite good.
Mids are a little recessed but not by far.
Highs are crisp if a little bright.

I wouldn't say it was in the same league as my other amps but not by much, but then you get what you pay for and this amp is worth it's price tag and more.

Has it awoken a tube lover inside me? Possibly....

I plan to get a higher end tube amp for crimbo and go from there

 

[CJG888]

I would recommend the Tube Amp BL-2, as its SQ is out of this world (for a portable).

However, the battery on mine failed after 11 months. The replacement was DOA.

If I can get a refund, I'm buying a Quickstep...

 

[SpudHarris]

Decided to give the Little Bear a decent listen today...

iPod vid 5.5g rockbox'd.
Silver Leopard LOD.
Little Bear B1 Tube Amplifier.
Sony MDR-SA5000.

Source file - Tron Legacy OST, 320kbps MP3.



I know I know..... A £10 amp running a pair of £500 cans lol. The irony wasn't missed on me.



Has it awoken a tube lover inside me? Possibly....

I plan to get a higher end tube amp for crimbo and go from there

Thanks Paul...

I guess if it were great I might have picked one up even for novelty purposes but I really need to have a clear out as it is. My Icon HP8 may be up for sale soon, I also have quite a few end game tubes to go with (TSRPBG/Sylvania Bad Boys etc... etc...).

Regards - Nigel

 

[cripple1]

How do you find your theorem 720?

Great dynamic range, really well balanced. I really love this thing. It's got a little his with IEMs, though that's only during quiet passages or when music isn't being played, so doesn't really bother me too much. Anything you wanted to know specifically?

 

[Eugguy]

  Great dynamic range, really well balanced. I really love this thing. It's got a little his with IEMs, though that's only during quiet passages or when music isn't being played, so doesn't really bother me too much. Anything you wanted to know specifically?

I actually picked one up a few weeks ago. I feel the same way about them as well. I have 4 IEMS, 4 headphones. It works nicely with headphones, not too bad with IEMS. There is a slight hiss. Have you had an opportunity to compare it or test it against anything else DAC wise? It is my first DAC, only other amp I've owned was the JDS C421 which did a nice job. 

 

[cripple1]

  I actually picked one up a few weeks ago. I feel the same way about them as well. I have 4 IEMS, 4 headphones. It works nicely with headphones, not too bad with IEMS. There is a slight hiss. Have you had an opportunity to compare it or test it against anything else DAC wise? It is my first DAC, only other amp I've owned was the JDS C421 which did a nice job. 

I haven't owned many DACs myself. Just the FiiO E07k and the old version AK120. The FiiO was actually surprisingly good as an all rounder, and the DAC of the AK120 was by far my favorite, but the volume output just didn't get there for me with anything other than IEMs and I felt it didn't make much sense for me to have a DAP that I was only using as a DAC since I didn't feel comfortable taking it outta the house, so I sold it. I hated to lose the DAC that it had, but it allowed me to pick up the Theorem, and the DAC in here isn't bad at all. If I could somehow mod the Theorem to have the AK120 DAC though, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[elektrosteve]

Phonak Audéo PFE232 with a replaced Viablue Plug - JDS Labs C5D - Samsung S3 with EQ

 

[Richsvt]

Was uploading new music to my collection, thought I'd take a group photo. (I know, but I like iPods).

 

[Richsvt]

One more:

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

  Phonak Audéo PFE232 with a replaced Viablue Plug - JDS Labs C5D - Samsung S3 with EQ

Such a shame that they stopped making IEMs.

 

[Eugguy]

I haven't owned many DACs myself. Just the FiiO E07k and the old version AK120. The FiiO was actually surprisingly good as an all rounder, and the DAC of the AK120 was by far my favorite, but the volume output just didn't get there for me with anything other than IEMs and I felt it didn't make much sense for me to have a DAP that I was only using as a DAC since I didn't feel comfortable taking it outta the house, so I sold it. I hated to lose the DAC that it had, but it allowed me to pick up the Theorem, and the DAC in here isn't bad at all. If I could somehow mod the Theorem to have the AK120 DAC though, I would do it in a heartbeat.

It's good to hear you had experience with the 120.

 

[cripple1]

It's good to hear you had experience with the 120.

Yeah, I didn't really have much faith in higher end DAPs before I heard the AK120, but maaaan.. That was a huge leap from an iPod. I don't think it's worth $1k (I got mine in a trade), but it's still an amazing little device and the DAC was, imo, phenomenal..

 

[mpawluk91]

 

that's what headphone it is? I was trying to figure out what that was for the longest time. I haven't really liked anything sony has made since like... Early 2012. Hows the pulses?

 

 
the sony pulse elite are gaming headphones primarily but they make decent music headphones as well, the main feature of them is they have little electric motors in the earcups (similar to a dualshock controller i guess) basically anytime there is deep bass it rumbles your head (very accurately though, the lower the bass frequency the harder it rumbles) its not just a feeling though, you can hear the impact as if its actually happening for real.
 
aside from that they are also very stylish looking and have a great creak free build quality, they have a 3.5mm headphone jack and can hook up to your mobile device for on the go. they also have an internal battery for the rumble and amplified effect (although you do NOT need to turn them on to use with the 3.5mm jack), the microphone is inside the right earcup so its invisible and they are wireless so yes it will look like you are talking to yourself while chatting online lol
 
volume adjuster, bass impact adjuster, chat volume adjuster, listening mode button (some modes are even game specific), this thing is truly amazing and i am very dissapointed with humans as a whole because of there lack of giving props to the rockbox equalivalent of gaming headphones... yes i just said that
 
try these on battlefield 4 and you will be hooked!

 

[delrosa81]

Was uploading new music to my collection, thought I'd take a group photo. (I know, but I like iPods).

 
 

One more:

Nice collection you have there

 

[BillsonChang007]

iPod Nano 3rd [at the back with docking] + BrainWavz Delta [in the jar]