Review - Perreaux SXH-1 v0.5 vs. Gilmore Dynamic (aka Dynalo / Gilmore Lite)
Dec 5, 2004 at 11:50 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

Illah

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When asking around for amp recommendations for my HD600's, and then searching the forums like a madman to find background on the various suggestions I received, I eventually narrowed my search down to two amplifiers - the Perreaux SXH-1 v0.5 or a Kevin Gilmore amp. Both amps were supposed to be excellent with the HD600's, but from what I had read the two amps were about as different as you could get. To sum it up, here's the general feelings about the two amps:

-= Perreaux SXH-1 v0.5 =-

Polite
Warm
Groovy/Smooth
Light highs

-= Gilmore Dynamic =-

Super detailed
Upfront
Sharp hights

With no way to tell for sure by reading, I decided to get both amps. I bought both the Perreaux and a MisterX built Gilmore Dynamic (built with only premium components). The Gilmore Dynamic, aka Dynalo, is very similar to Headamp's Gilmore Lite. It too is built on the same Kevin Gilmore design, powered off the same Elpac PSU, and shares the characteristic Gilmore sound.

I should note that both of these amps have been 'flavor of the month' amps here on the forums. The Perreaux originally received rave reviews, only to be looked down upon soon after, mainly because of pricing. The Gilmore is the current favorite here on the boards, with nary a bad thing to be said about it by anyone. By comparing side to side I feel that the unreasonable bad press around the Perreaux will be cleared up, and some of the hype around the Gilmore will be toned down.

Equipment Used

- Foobar w/ Blackgate Modded AV710 as source
- Custom interconnects
--- 22 awg. Silver plated copper, teflon dielectric wire
--- WBT 4% Silver Solder
--- Neutrik Miniplug
--- Dayton Pro-Fi RCA jacks
- Custom recabled HD600's (same wire config as above)

Impressions of the amps

I'll keep this section short, as reviews of the amps already exist online.

Perreaux SXH-1 v0.5

This amp is supposed to be magic with HD600's, and it is! Often called the 'closest to a tube sound to be found in a solid state amp', the Perreaux is smooth, groovy, laid back, has a massive soundstage, and has powerful, punchy bass. The highs are quite mellow. Detail is very good, but not what I would call 'sharp'. The amp has heaps of power, putting out a deafeaning 2W at 32 ohms down to 215mW at 300 ohms (for reference to how powerful this is, the max RMS recommended for the 300 ohm HD600's is 200mW). There is an obvious synergy between the HD600's and this amp. Both pieces of equipment share similar characteristics, so for someone into the Senn 'sound', this amp will be a dream come true.

Gilmore Dynamic

While designed specifically for Low-Z cans, esp. Grados, the Gilmore line of amps is supposed to also be excellent for High-Z Senn cans as well. This amp is sharp, detailed, bright, and upfront. You definetely hear more from the recording with this amp, both good and bad. The soundstage is much smaller than the Perreaux, and the amp is not nearly as warm. With laid-back HD600's this 'opens them up', and produces a brighter, more detailed sound. Bass is less powerful on the Gilmore, though it is very tight and accurate.

Comparison

So which is better with the HD600's? Well, for music such as rock and electronica the Gilmore has a slight edge. The detail of the amp really puts the music front and center, which is exactly where you want to be with these musical styles. I mean, think about it. At a club or a concert where would you rather be, up front by the tables or performers or at the back in a dark corner?

The accuracy of the bass is also excellent with this type of music. No boom, which can really mud up rock music, is present. For electonica, even drum and bass, the control is really nice! Boomy bass turns jungle into a modulating rumble, but tight control brings out the music in the basslines.

For classical, jazz, vocal music, and gaming the Perreaux has a slight edge (in the case of classical and operatic music it's more like a huge edge - the Perreaux whups the Gilmore in that department). Detail still comes through plenty - on a FLAC Sarah Brightman recording one can easily hear the flaps on the wind instruments opening and closing as the musicians play. While not as 'sharp' as the Gilmore, this amp produced the warmth and soundstage that this type of music demands. This type of music typically does not go through electonics. A live jazz band or symphony is all acoustic, and the room's resonance adds character to the music. The Perreaux convincingly simulates this resonance.

Gaming is also nice through the Perreaux, as it sounds more like speakers to me. It's more like being in a room, the Gilmore's smaller soundstage doesn't quite do it for me in this department.

For music such as Hip Hop both amps are tied. Both amps sound excellent, with the tight bass control and detail in the voices making the Gilmore a great choice, while the powerful bass and warmth of the vocals makes the Perreaux a great choice.

Which is better?

This is a question I've been dealing with for about a week now, and after much A/B'ing, as well as hours spent with one amp at a time to get a 'feel' for its sound, this is my answer: I don't know
smily_headphones1.gif


Both amps are very good, and in a perfect world I would keep both. Niether is perfect, and both have very strong points. I hope with this comparison people will be better able to make their decision on what type of 'sound' they are looking for. For less experienced audio-heads sometimes it's hard to know if you want a deatiled sound or a warmer more musical sound, as it's hard to understand what each 'sound' sounds like.

What about Grados?

Just like the Gilmore and Perreaux are somewhat 'opposite' amps, Grados and Senns also share this polarity. So how do the amps fare in that department? Well, here's a quote from Head-Fi'er Aman.

"Here's what I found - short and sweet (these comparisons are made with a pair of Grado SR225s)

"The Gilmore Lite is a very good amplifier, specifically made for the Grado headphones it appears. It really accels in some areas, like the impact of bass. However, I found with the Gilmore Lite that it really shrilled-up my highs and made the midrange more bottom-up and really thick. It wasn't smooth like the Grados were in my Perreaux (which I currently own now).

"The Perreaux amp was completely different. The Perreaux SHX-1 made my Grados very rich, and it really brought out the resolution that these cans have. The highs were much better (maybe a little rolled off at very high requencies), the bass impactfulness stayed relatively the same, but it was much more dynamic in the mid-to-lower range. The mids were really groovy and smooth through the Perreaux amplifier, and that is why I kept it. I would rather I kept the Grado characteristics as much as possible but also be able to iron out the problems with them. This amp definitely solved the problem of the sometimes-shrill highs, and the somewhat-lack of midrange by adding a LOT more midrange and also evening out the highs, while still adding more dynamics to the bass. The Gilmore Lite only seemed to add to the problems, by not only making these problems more apparent, but also more painful (the highs REALLY hurt my ears!).

"As far as detailed sound goes, it will go to the Gilmore Lite. It brought out some more refinement in the details in my Pink Floyd vinyl albums, but I still am not a very "analytical" kind of guy - I would rather my music sound good than being able to pick out the little details in my music, which is why I am a grado guy and not so-much a Sennheiser, Beyer, or AKG guy."

--Illah
 
Dec 5, 2004 at 11:54 PM Post #2 of 9
Just read the comparison but I still havent figured out which one you decided to keep. Or am I not looking hard enough?
confused.gif


nice write-up btw - reflects my Perreaux SHX-1 impressions that I put down in a review. Man - almost identical impressions...guess I was not shooting in the dark after all
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Dec 7, 2004 at 4:42 AM Post #3 of 9
Haha, cool to know I'm on point as well! As for which I like better, I honestly can't tell! My non-audiophile girlfriend tells me to keep the Gilmore. Surprisingly she noticed some of the strong characteristics of the amps. She noticed the detail of the Gilmore and said that music from the Perreaux sounded "farther away", meaning she saw how it was polite and laid back.

Prob going to go with the Gilmore though.... It's smaller and lighter, and I listen to tons of electronica and hip hop while only limited amounts of jazz, mellow rock, and classical/opera. So while the Perreaux is just as good in litening tests, for the stuff I listen to most the Gilmore seems a bit more 'right'.

Still gonna hold on to em both a few more days before selling to be sure though
smily_headphones1.gif


--Illah
 
Jan 23, 2005 at 9:40 AM Post #6 of 9
It's funny that you thought that about the soundstage on the Gilmore amp.
I always thought that it was a prime candidate for crossfeed because of the soundstage.
It certainly has enough gain to accommodate one.
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jan 23, 2005 at 4:00 PM Post #7 of 9
Nice review Illah!
Yes there were some negative feedbacks about perreaux for their humming in older version and price discrepancies after new distributor. I can't make any judgement since I never heard gilmore, but having owned k501, hd580, sr225 paired with sxh1 your thread describes the synergy accurately. I'll try to add k501/sxh1 combo impression later.

Btw, perreaux sxh1 can be had very cheap under $200. Its original $350 at aa was considered good buy already.
 
Jan 23, 2005 at 9:24 PM Post #8 of 9
Quote:

Originally Posted by BigD
...but having owned k501, hd580, sr225 paired with sxh1 your thread describes the synergy accurately. I'll try to add k501/sxh1 combo impression later.

Btw, perreaux sxh1 can be had very cheap under $200. Its original $350 at aa was considered good buy already.



I for one would love to hear you impressions given that is one of the combos I am looking at. As for new, the only line I have found for the newer SHX2 is a distributor up in Canada with no online shopping.
 
Jan 24, 2005 at 3:21 PM Post #9 of 9
Out of HD580, SR225, K501, my fav combo was HD580/SXH1. To me, this combo bettered grado and akg. One of the biggest liking was its smooth delievery in all ranges from low to high. Perhaps it could be too smooth and polite, but the bass slam and crystal highs are the shining moments. The soundstage was not artificial at all and the stereo imaging was easily placed.

Whereas K501/SXH1 combo resulted in rather mixed reviews. First the soundstage was so wide that it lacked the center imaging, feeling hollow in the middle. Many times, I felt the vocal was behind the instructment and the band. Its width did NOT help. About its depth and height, this combo lacked the vertical sound sense. Specially in depth, the male vocal was shallow. However, the female vocal was sweeeet, but empty...Overall, the sound is not full and rich like HD580/SXH1 combo. It's quite crisp and dry with very good detail and instructment separation. Maybe it was too natural for any musical involvement and engagement. Also the speed was quite neutral as well, neither fast nor slow. Biggest weakness of this combo was center imaging for me with vocals where K501 are supposed to shine. Just my opion.
 

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