[tnmike1]

Been burning my Portaphile now for three weeks using Ety4p IEMs. Feel the urge to get a pair of full-size phones and noticed a few pages back in this thread there were several who loved the AKG 501 for the maxxed Portaphile.

Now that they're discontinued, what are the options?/ 601?? 701?? Or something else?

 

[Romanee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 Been burning my Portaphile now for three weeks using Ety4p IEMs. Feel the urge to get a pair of full-size phones and noticed a few pages back in this thread there were several who loved the AKG 501 for the maxxed Portaphile. Now that they're discontinued, what are the options?/ 601?? 701?? Or something else?

Sorry for delay in answering! It's been a challenging few days.

I've got a number of phones here, some of which I was "burning in" for a friend. K501 does have a sweet midrange, but the K701 passes it by a wide margin in many ways.

I personally would not recommend the K601, which I feel is a middle-of-the-road compromise, much as the Sony SA3000 is a mediocre price/performance compromise on the way to the SA5000.

The K701 sounds wonderful with the Portaphile. It is much more extended, down and up, than the 501, has a huge sound space, wider than the 501, as well as much deep and taller, with palpable volume. The 701 sounds more musical, with richer and more accurate timbre.

Physically the 501s are lighter, and in some ways cooler to wear, but when I wear the 701s at work (sometimes) everyone seems impressed by their look. I probably look like a total geek, but the phones are cool, the velour pads soft, and though heavier than the 501s, I've gotten used to them.

The 701s' sound is so much more satisfying that I don't think about which is more comfortable when I'm listening to them.

The sweet, open-yet-focused sound (not unfocused as some say) really takes about 350 or more hours to develop, and sounds pretty weird and dissatisfying along the way, which is perhaps why many people give up on them. 100 hours is far from adequate, and provides a mere tease of their potential sound.

So without more embellishments, I heartily recommend the K701 for the PV2^2-LT1210 Maxxed!

Cheers,
Peter

 

[tnmike1]

Peter: Got no response to the question on this thread, so started it on the "headphones" category where several have chimed in. Most agree withyour assessment, or the DT880/990 or Senn HD650. Now all I have to do is find alocal retailer so I can test and decide for myself

 

[Romanee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 Peter: Got no response to the question on this thread, so started it on the "headphones" category where several have chimed in. Most agree withyour assessment, or the DT880/990 or Senn HD650. Now all I have to do is find alocal retailer so I can test and decide for myself

You should absolutely hear them all for yourself! Besides being lots of fun, it's the only way you'll know what matches your tastes.

I have all except the 990 (doesn't suit my tastes), and I really like the 880 2005, 650 (with Equinox cable) and of course the 701. I enjoy my 880s for casual daily listening. I find them light and very comfortable, possessing a wide soundstage, speed, extension and detail. The 701s are more musical/dimensional/deeper/sweeter, etc., with the Portaphile. Perhaps for electronica, some rock, some but not all classical I sometimes enjoy the 880s, but overall it's the 701s.

A few caveats about hearing them in a showroom: If they offer a new pair for you to audition, it will definitely not be "burned in" and won't sound as it should. If they have demo phones -- assuming that they have been well taken care of -- they still will more than likely not have enough play time to have reached their optimal sound.

Optimum "burn in" time is most dramatically needed with the K701 (about 350+ hours). The DT880 does improve with significant "burn in" but it's much less dramatic than with the K701. The HD650 will have several "veils" removed and the initial "muddy" impression cleared up after 200-300 hours (300+ in the case of 2 pair I "burned in").

Enjoy.

 

[hYdrociTy]

Boy this party sure died...
Well got myself a certified preowned V2^2 maxxed. What struck me immediately was how transparant the highs were! Crash cymbals were no longer just a blob of sparkles, but well defined and decayed fully. Bass was the other thing. What an extension. With the 580s and ksc35 as my main reference points, bass was obviously not in my dictionary.. that is until this little amp brought it out!
The only thing that bothers me a little is the sibilance with vocals. I asked the previous owner how long he used the amp, and he informed me that the usage was nowhere near the 400 hour, which was to my relief because I hope the sibilance smooths out later on. Oh boy..there are so many things the clear treble brings out; one of the male vocals totally transformed, because he would sing close to the mic and now I hear all of his mouthings. Talk about lip/tongue interaction. I can almost feel the smack of the saliva in his mouth. That's some texture!
Ill see what happens after I give it some more time..

 

[Romanee]

CONGRATS on the acquisition! These are going to get increasingly hard to find, since Cesar stopped making them.

It's a highly resolving -- and very revealing -- amp. If a recorded voice has sibilance this amp won't cover it up, but rather it will recreate the sibilance in all its glory (ouch).

What makes its bass presentation most impressive is that it is probably the most defined and best articulated bass of any portable amp (that I've heard, to qualify the statement). Other portables, such as the M-Hornet, present the bass with great punch and impact (moreso than the Portaphile Maxxed) -- and with pretty good definition -- but with this amp so much musical information comes through, that you hear more of the waveform complexities -- the nuances -- that give unique character to each note played on each instrument.

I've mentioned before, as one example, that in Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft' track "High Water" there's a short, fast tympani run that's repeated throughout the piece and with this amp you can distinguish the notes in that tympani run, rather than just deep mallet strikes.

You'll hear distinctive notes in cymbals, high-hat, brushes on snare drum, the character and perhaps the material makeup of a drum, etc. Drums sounds more like real live instruments. (I know -- it's just an illusion -- but this is a little closer.)

The highs are not only very extended, they are so clear that there's more ambient and spatial information retrieval that lets you hear deeper into the musical space (lots more inner detail) and yes, it is very transparent indeed.

When mine was approaching 300 hours, I felt the highs still needed a bit more clean up. Hopefully yours will follow a similar course and reach the clarity mine has. Then again, some who are used to warmer-sounding amps might feel mine is a bit "hot" at the top since it's so extended. I personal love that it's not rolled off, and transmits "everything" since that includes spatiality, timbral complexities, more inner detail, finer imaging, etc.

As the amp matures more, listen for the uniquely layered imaging and distinct volume of space around performers. There's lots to hear with this amp.

It's not perfect -- it either misses a bit of the mids(?) that give rich throat and chest resonance to some voices or perhaps other amps add more(?), but it presents so much more in other areas that no other portable can, at this time. I've love to see a frequency spectrum analysis comparison with the other, current, popular, top-end portables.

The PV2^2-LT1210 Maxxed (with 2x1500uf Black Gate caps) reveals many recorded subtleties, if the listener has ears to hear. Whenever I come back to it from other portables, I'm always thrilled by what I hear.

There's lots more I could say about the amp, but it's late and I'll look forward to your personal impressions.

Cheers.

 

[eddystoner]

You can chalk up another MAXXED V2^2 owner. I get mine Friday. I know this thread is old and I am seeing many of these in the F.S. forum but it just sounded to tempting not to try one. I need to ask cesar if he has changed anyting since its initial release.

 

[Killercrush]

It's a nice home amp too when you don't have money to spend for 2 amps.

 

[eddystoner]

That would be its primary use. I want to compare with a Darkvoice 336i I have to see what are the differences and what I prefer to listen too.

 

[Killercrush]

I think you'll prefer the Darkvoice with your DT880 and the Portaphile for your HD650.

 

[eddystoner]

It funny you say that becasue I was using the 880's with the DakVoice and switched over to the 650's and I cannot describe what I heard but it was not as good as the 880's. So if the V2^2 can do well with the 650's I should be set for awhile.

 

[Killercrush]

It's all about synergy

 

[tnmike1]

way back in 9/06 I bought a Portaphile, then sold it for a Supermacro III V6, then Supermacro IV, then Hornet, then SR-71, now I'm back to the Portaphile which I probably should've kept originally. Such has been my "travels" in amp-land. All that said, I really prefer the Porta sound, esp. with all the switches "on"--even the wide bandwidth. I know I get only a few hours' use per batterycharge, but since I keep it plugged into the wall most of the time for my listening, I dont mind shrt-term battery life. if you want to extend it, then leave all switches "on" except the wide bandwidth and you should get 6-8 hrs per charge. I get about 2.5 to 3 hrs per charge, which is OK since the only time it's not plugged into the wall, it's at the gym during workouts or while working in the garden.

anyway, as Peter (Romanee) has said, it is a very sweet amp, more so the more hours you burn it in, and this is one amp that needs TONS of burn-in time.

Glad someone resurrected the thread--was wondring what happened to it

 

[Killercrush]

Wait till we get our own hands on the Shohin ! I'm starting another thread

[Edit] Cesar better hurry up ! : (

 

[eddystoner]

I found this thread off the Portaphile review page. I have not read through everything here yet what I have read so far impressed me enough to give it a try.

Well here then is to a resurrected thread.