[Sajid Amit]

Had the wife listen to the SR1a and TC briefly.

Without giving any of my thoughts, she explained that the SR1a (+ subwoofer) sounds "more impressive, as if the sounds are actually in front of you or you're in the room where the musicians are" whereas the TC "sound more like typical headphones, just very good ones...a better version of the Arya, with more detail, better vocals and bass" (she uses the Aryas mainly, along with the KSC75, so it was her reference).

When asked which one she prefers, without hesitation, she pointed at the SR1a. "I don't want to stop listening to these, the Aryas suck now, and the TCs aren't worth THAT much money."

Looks like I married the right one

Lol. The wife test!

My wife also appears like a good stage!

 

[FLTWS]

Had the wife listen to the SR1a and TC briefly.

Without giving any of my thoughts, she explained that the SR1a (+ subwoofer) sounds "more impressive, as if the sounds are actually in front of you or you're in the room where the musicians are" whereas the TC "sound more like typical headphones, just very good ones...a better version of the Arya, with more detail, better vocals and bass" (she uses the Aryas mainly, along with the KSC75, so it was her reference).

When asked which one she prefers, without hesitation, she pointed at the SR1a. "I don't want to stop listening to these, the Aryas suck now, and the TCs aren't worth THAT much money."

Looks like I married the right one

Couldn't agree more. Listening to my Susvara with EVO 400 this past 2 weeks or so thru the HE-adapter the sound is so very good up and down the frequency spectrum. Then I try the SR1a with its adapter on the 400 and the sound does come to life in the mids and highs with just a bit more transparency. Enough to make vocalists sound just that much more real and life-like, no veil between the music and my ears, right there in front of me if I close my eyes. Of course the bass is not comparable for my tastes compared to Susvara, and my 1266 Phi has the bass in spades but the mids and highs don't match the other two for my music preferences and genres. There are always compromises in this hobby, that's the physics of it.

 

[yyzSB]

I sold my Meze Empy after I got the SR1a. I really had no use for it except maybe when my head is on a pillow. The SR2a could be the solution for that.

A new review of the SR1a:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...io-inspiration-integrated-10-amplifier-r1062/

 

[ThanatosVI]

I sold my Meze Empy after I got the SR1a. I really had no use for it except maybe when my head is on a pillow. The SR2a could be the solution for that.

A new review of the SR1a:
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...io-inspiration-integrated-10-amplifier-r1062/

Those two are really on opposite ends of the sound signature spectrum.

 

[yyzSB]

Those two are really on opposite ends of the sound signature spectrum.

Yes, the Meze was my first headphone (with Benchmark HPA4) and the RAAL is likely my last headphone.

 

[SteveM324]

....
As for the HSA-1b warmth, I said that I could live with it without a tube preamp without any issues but I happen to prefer the contribution of the tube preamps to the overall sound presentation.

PS: I’ve owned the JotR, HSA-1a and now I own the HSA-1b and the latter is better than both the JotR and the HSA-1a.

I came across this old post from Oct 2020 in this thread and I was wondering if anyone else is using a tube preamp or any preamp ahead of the 1b. If you have tried it, how do setup the volume control on the 1b and do you have to change the gain dip switches inside the 1b? If you have tried it, how did the tube preamp change the sound of the 1b? My friend brought over his SR1a and 1b for me to listen in my system yesterday. I think it sounded very good but I didn't even consider at that time connecting my tube preamp ahead of the 1b so now I'm interested if others have tried it.

 

[yyzSB]

I got an offer to sell my KRELL K-300i integrated amp, which I think is the very best gear for the SR1a (I have tried a lot of gear on the SR1a). I am using this integrated amp in my bedroom and connected to a tuner and the internal DAC. So, a real colossal waste of this brilliant integrated. It has HDMI, XLR, RCA, streaming, and sounds incredible but I cannot use it for its original intended purpose.

So, this soon to be released RAAL tube-based headphone amp interests me. Does anyone know the number and types of source inputs? If it has XLR, is it balanced or just converted to RCA?

 

[SteveM324]

I got an offer to sell my KRELL K-300i integrated amp, which I think is the very best gear for the SR1a (I have tried a lot of gear on the SR1a). I am using this integrated amp in my bedroom and connected to a tuner and the internal DAC. So, a real colossal waste of this brilliant integrated. It has HDMI, XLR, RCA, streaming, and sounds incredible but I cannot use it for its original intended purpose.

So, this soon to be released RAAL tube-based headphone amp interests me. Does anyone know the number and types of source inputs? If it has XLR, is it balanced or just converted to RCA?

https://www.headamp.com/blogs/news/raal-pdt-1a

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

https://www.headamp.com/blogs/news/raal-pdt-1a

It could be that the amp yyzSB is referring to is the forthcoming VM-1a....which is a dedicated direct-drive tube amp.

 

[Axel]

Lol. The wife test!

Women have better hearing than men.
My wife was a violinist and I always ask her opinion about new gear/configurations I try. She has a better ear than me.

 

[FLTWS]

It could be that the amp yyzSB is referring to is the forthcoming VM-1a....which is a dedicated direct-drive tube amp.

From these low PQ's shots from the show the input for the VM-1a appears to be XLR only but I would venture a guess it is a single ended design so an adapter cable (maybe provided by RAAL) will be needed. But, that being said Aleksandar did say that the unit was damaged in shipping to the show and that he was going to redesign the transformer mounts and the shipping packaging. Could there be other changes planned as well? I don't see an SE/Balanced switch either, so that should make it one or the other.

But these are all questions for Aleksandar to clarify.

I keep waiting for RAAL to post a "SPEC" sheet on the VM-1a on the website that should clarify things.

 

[SteveM324]

It could be that the amp yyzSB is referring to is the forthcoming VM-1a....which is a dedicated direct-drive tube amp.

Interesting, but I’m guessing it will be much more costly than the 1b. Any idea when it will be available and its cost?

 

[FLTWS]

For whatever reason $5,500 is a dollar amount I remember reading. Again, another question for Aleksandar.

 

[SteveM324]

Has anyone used the Raal interface box to switch a speaker amp between speakers and the SR1a? I already have a good speaker amp, hybrid design, with vacuum tubes on the front end and MOSFET output providing 300 w/Ch into 8 ohms. I'm considering using this amp for the SR1a but I don't want the use of the interface box to degrade my speaker system sound quality.

 

[yyzSB]

I ended up buying a preamp with a second set of XLR outputs so I did not have to use the interface box on my main speakers. I am not sure if I even tried it on the main speakers since adding a longer signal path was a no go.