Purpose of Gain Switch on Supreme

[Wilk]

Ok...I've had a Supreme for a while now and have been curious about what the purpose of the gain switch is? Is this to power higher impedence headphones? What setting is considered the best for most headphones?

 

[Ticky]

I have the old version of the Supreme. It doesn't have a gain switch. But if I'm not wrong, the gain switch is suppose to be increase the volume gain on the amp. Its useful when you are connecting the Supreme to a portable source with weak output. This way, you don't have to crank the volume up to 4 o'clock just to get a reasonably loud sound from your phones. I suppose the appropriate setting should be one that yields the best control when you adjust the volume.

BTW - The Supreme is one mighty amp. I had the premium module installed some time back and, despite being almost 10 years old, the amp still rubs shoulders with the XP-7 and HA-2.

 

[Demolition]

Quote:

Originally posted by Wilk Ok...I've had a Supreme for a while now and have been curious about what the purpose of the gain switch is? Is this to power higher impedence headphones? What setting is considered the best for most headphones?

According to the Supreme's manual, the low setting is ideal for Grados. The high setting is usually for inefficient (Sennheiser HD 570 comes to mind) or high impedance headphones (HD 580/600/650). I suspect that the medium setting is what the old Supreme (no gain switch) had as its default gain.

As Ticky said, the proper setting will allow you to better control your volume adjustments. For a comfortable volume level with the Grados, for instance, you might expect the volume knob position to be at 8 o'clock at the high setting, 10 o'clock at the medium setting, and 12 o'clock at the low setting. Therefore, the low setting offers the most adjustability in the case of Grados.

D.