[Seth Warshavsky]

Power wise I believe it has enough power for the SR1a and since the SR1a was developed using the AHB2, its surprising that other amps sounds so much better to you than the AHB2. Im assuming you have the appropriate preamp pairing, as well as sensitivy and gain settings on the AHB2? quite a bit of discussion on that in the past few pages.

Yes, tried it all. That's why I'm trying to ask someone that has them how much burn-in is required. They may just require substantial burn-in. I agree it's strange.

 

[llamaluv]

Also, how much of a step up/down is a 150.8 for example, compared to an AHB2? Perhaps @llamaluv can help with that one.

Im very curious on how much improvement can be had over the AHB2 and the effect of diminishing returns - considering a used ABH2 can be had under $2500, how much of a performance gain can be had adding a few grand more to the equation?

To my ears, the X150.8 is more opinionated than I was expecting. I think its biggest differentiating quality is its perceived tonal weight, which I'd hazard to guess is due to a combination of its tonal character plus its technical merits. This makes it engaging and musical, which is a great benefit to the SR1a. I'd guess the AHB2 is more in the analytical camp, in relative terms. Personally, I always want both, even though "musicality" and "analytical" are opposing qualities in a lot of ways.

If you're familiar with Sony DAPs, I think of the X150.8 as being like the WM1Z compared to the WM1A. Warm, a little rolled off, smooth and musical, with layers that are thick yet still well differentiated from each other. The WM1A is in contrast more neutral and crisp. I gave up the WM1A for the WM1Z despite the huge markup in price, and really like it for what it is, but also wish I still had the WM1A, heh.

 

[LTKI]

Is there anyone from the EU who has bought these or got them for testing?
I am very interested in trying them, but have not yet received a reply from them on wether they have a distributor in the EU/Germany.
Buying them with the 14-day return policy would be fine if the shipping wasn't 250$.

Also, after reading most of the thread, the consensus seems to be that the SR1a is better than any other headphone, even when powered by relatively cheap amps like the Shiit Vidar.
So what are the downsides other than the amp requirement? It sounds too good to be true.

 

[Zhanming057]

Is there anyone from the EU who has bought these or got them for testing?
I am very interested in trying them, but have not yet received a reply from them on wether they have a distributor in the EU/Germany.
Buying them with the 14-day return policy would be fine if the shipping wasn't 250$.

Also, after reading most of the thread, the consensus seems to be that the SR1a is better than any other headphone, even when powered by relatively cheap amps like the Shiit Vidar.
So what are the downsides other than the amp requirement? It sounds too good to be true.

Talk to Alex - he's in Serbia and may be able to directly ship you a unit from within Europe. Might not have the Pelican though.

 

[biscottino]

Is there anyone from the EU who has bought these or got them for testing?
I am very interested in trying them, but have not yet received a reply from them on wether they have a distributor in the EU/Germany.

I bought and I should receive soon, I can compare it with other headphones you see in my profile.
I am very undecided on how to amplify the sr1a, for now I can try with a Burmester 956mk2 and a pre Bricasti m12 and then I decide ...

 

[LTKI]

I bought and I should receive soon, I can compare it with other headphones you see in my profile.
I am very undecided on how to amplify the sr1a, for now I can try with a Burmester 956mk2 and a pre Bricasti m12 and then I decide ...

Really looking forward to that comparison!

Which country are you from? Did you just buy them on the website? How are customs handled, especially if you decide to return them?

 

[Aleksandar R.]

Well I really want to know if the AHB2 improves dramatically with burn in too or if a single is just not enough, because out of the box the M22 V2 is sounding substantially better to me (far more resolving with better dynamics), and I don’t think that should be the case. It has me quite perplexed. Both the Bryston and the NAD are quite a bit better than the new single AHB2. I don’t know if it just needs hours or if I need another.

As for burn-in it settles after about 2-3 days. Not dramatically, though. I don't even know what improves dramatically with burn in, so let's not use hyperbolas when talking about these things. It'll never have the punch of a 300W amp with linear power supply, so that's that.
I have a couple of questions;

Can you bring the AHB2 to clipping easily?

I'm asking because I'm considering this:

M22 needs 1.73V at input for 300W/8Ohms. and AHB2 needs 2V for 100W/8Ohms. Altogether, the NAD is 6 dB louder for the same input voltage.
Are you cranking up the volume 6dB higher for AHB2 when doing comparison?

When comparing amps of different power, many things that seem to be advantage are lost after the volume is set so both play equally loud, and not louder before the weaker one starts to clip.

 

[Tekunda]

I bought and I should receive soon, I can compare it with other headphones you see in my profile.
I am very undecided on how to amplify the sr1a, for now I can try with a Burmester 956mk2 and a pre Bricasti m12 and then I decide ...

Biscottino, I looked up your profile page and it says you own a Susvara.
It would really be great to read your take how the Susvara fares against the Raal.

 

[biscottino]

Really looking forward to that comparison!

Which country are you from? Did you just buy them on the website? How are customs handled, especially if you decide to return them?

I contacted Danny from the Raal Requisite website, send me an email for info.
For the return, I don't think this could happen, the sr1a is a cap that should be enjoyed calmly, if it doesn't meet my tastes I will sell it but I still have to figure out how to enhance it.
i'm in Italy, around Naples.

 

[biscottino]

Biscottino, I looked up your profile page and it says you own a Susvara.
I would really be great to read your take how the Susvara fares against the Raal.

yes, there is Susvara and many other very good headphones, I will surely talk with pleasure about how Sr1a will sound compared to everything else,
thank you for your interest!

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

As for burn-in it settles after about 2-3 days. Not dramatically, though. I don't even know what improves dramatically with burn in, so let's not use hyperbolas when talking about these things. It'll never have the punch of a 300W amp with linear power supply, so that's that.
I have a couple of questions;

Can you bring the AHB2 to clipping easily?

I'm asking because I'm considering this:

M22 needs 1.73V at input for 300W/8Ohms. and AHB2 needs 2V for 100W/8Ohms. Altogether, the NAD is 6 dB louder for the same input voltage.
Are you cranking up the volume 6dB higher for AHB2 when doing comparison?

When comparing amps of different power, many things that seem to be advantage are lost after the volume is set so both play equally loud, and not louder before the weaker one starts to clip.

I am setting the AHB2 at all gain levels and setting the pre on high, which should give it a 20 DB output and listening at what sounds to be the same volume to me.

Should I set the AHB2 to a gain that I can actually get it to clip at volume reasonably louder than the NAD than roll back the volume a bit and listen at that level?

I use the NAD on high gain and my pre on high gain to get the dynamics I like, so do you think I'd be better with a pair of the AHB2, or do you think I can achieve the same resolution and dynamics at the same volume with a single AHB2?

Thanks for the clarity!

S

 

[Aleksandar R.]

Hi Seth,

Please remind me, what is your DAC/preamp?

I need to look up the specs and gains etc.

 

[Seth Warshavsky]

Hi Seth,

Please remind me, what is your DAC/preamp?

I need to look up the specs and gains etc.

Hi Aleksandar

Thanks for your help, for DACs we're using a Yggdrasil and a PS Audio Directstream, and we have them both paired with Headamp GSX MK2s as preamps.

Thanks much

Seth

 

[elton7033]

I am planning to join the RAAL ribbon club but I wounded how long is the wait time on these nowadays if I buy from RAAL website directly since they say they have a delay on shipping...from April I wounded are they alright now... or should I just buy a second hand pair from headfi...

Anyway I am planning to use my Luxman 590AXII for it I wounder does it have enough power for it since it does not mention 100 W on its spec as I don’t know how many ohms are the SR1a... hope it should be fine or else another reason to buy a new speaker amp lol

 

[Aleksandar R.]

I am planning to join the RAAL ribbon club but I wounded how long is the wait time on these nowadays if I buy from RAAL website directly since they say they have a delay on shipping...from April I wounded are they alright now... or should I just buy a second hand pair from headfi...

Anyway I am planning to use my Luxman 590AXII for it I wounder does it have enough power for it since it does not mention 100 W on its spec as I don’t know how many ohms are the SR1a... hope it should be fine or else another reason to buy a new speaker amp lol

No waiting, we started shipping out last week and still do.
Also, we're shipping more from Serbia tomorrow and more in 3 weeks from now.

The website is not updated regarding (now old) shipping delay anouncement as Nick, our website administrator, is tied up with moving right now.

SR1a's interface box loads the amp with 6 Ohms.