[pekingduck]

Not only Grados. I once auditioned the V200 (V800 as DAC and a high-end Marantz CD Player as source) and it's the best rig I've heard for my JH13's 

 


Quote:

 I'm happy with the presentation and performance of mine with the V200 ~ presentation will step back a few rows which I find more
 usable across the board for all material. It's still very forward but not quite as face hugging as my previous amplifier.
 
 Sub 2ohm output impedance is a winner too with the V200. I find the real magic is matching the right DAC and interconnects
 to the V200 to compliment your Grado flavor.
 
 

 

 

[Naim.F.C]

Quote:

 I've spent a bit of time with the optional 24/96 USB module. It's competent for the money ($188) but it really lacks detail, transparency
 and transient speed across the board, quickly switching back and forth between the module and the real mcCoy V800 resulted in a very
 significant change.
 
 Who should consider a module? Anyone stepping out by buying a V100/V181/V200 and finding themselves without a source and
 little money left over (eg, sub $250) - it will tide most people over but it's nothing special, for the price though, it's a boon for laptop
 users without much $$$

Thanks for letting me know. I've opted to simply buy a stand-alone DAC now anyway, so it's not a big problem. Appreciate your time and effort responding. Would love to audition/review one of these.
 

 

[rmilewsk]

       "With non-ideal/synergistic tubes I can agree with this, but keep rolling them tubes...you might be surprised."
 
I did change out the tubes. I changed them out for the woo audio upgraded set and the 5a tube for a sophia princess. I also heard a dramatic imporovement when I moved to from the low to the high impedence port. While all of these things made the WA22 sound better none of them made the combination sound as good as the V200. I don't want to spend months on trying different tubes hoping to eventually get better sound when I can spend that time listening to what is already a better combination. I've had experience with tube equipement before and while different tubes can change the sound of a component they never change the underlying character. The underlying character of the LCD2 / WA22 doesn't work for me.

 

[Naim.F.C]

Having not tried the WA22, taking a stab in the dark, I'm assuming it is a warmer or more full bodied sounding amp, purely down to the tube nature of it, irrespective of the use of specific tubes (then again, that might depend on the ubes in question). I can see why some might prefer SS amps over tube amps with the LCD2's purely because the LCD2's are by nature, fairly bass emphasised and already warmer/darker cans (imo) compared to cans such as the T1 and HD800 which are a little bit more energetic up top and more spacious. The latter being far more suited to tube amps such as the WA2, WA22 etc.
 
Quote:

       "With non-ideal/synergistic tubes I can agree with this, but keep rolling them tubes...you might be surprised."
 
I did change out the tubes. I changed them out for the woo audio upgraded set and the 5a tube for a sophia princess. I also heard a dramatic imporovement when I moved to from the low to the high impedence port. While all of these things made the WA22 sound better none of them made the combination sound as good as the V200. I don't want to spend months on trying different tubes hoping to eventually get better sound when I can spend that time listening to what is already a better combination. I've had experience with tube equipement before and while different tubes can change the sound of a component they never change the underlying character. The underlying character of the LCD2 / WA22 doesn't work for me.

 

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Will have to talk to Fried again on the topic of op amp rolling and the role op amps play in the V200.  It was my understanding that the op amps had more to do with gain control and less to do with anything directly influencing the signal path (other than gain control) and would not have much effect if any on the sound characteristics of the V200 but perhaps I am way off base here though.

There's five opamps inside the V-100, my guess is the V-200 have the same five opamps. and all the five working on the same gain control?

 

[rawrster]

So I've spent some time this week with the V200 and v4 Magnum combo paired with my Yulong D100 dac and it sounds quite nice. I like the combo quite a bit and so far so good. I like how my V200 can be used with all of my different phones whether it is a sensitive custom or a harder to drive ortho.

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

So I've spent some time this week with the V200 and v4 Magnum combo paired with my Yulong D100 dac and it sounds quite nice. I like the combo quite a bit and so far so good. I like how my V200 can be used with all of my different phones whether it is a sensitive custom or a harder to drive ortho.

 Sums up the value of the V200 right there.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Having not tried the WA22, taking a stab in the dark, I'm assuming it is a warmer or more full bodied sounding amp, purely down to the tube nature of it, irrespective of the use of specific tubes (then again, that might depend on the ubes in question). I can see why some might prefer SS amps over tube amps with the LCD2's purely because the LCD2's are by nature, fairly bass emphasised and already warmer/darker cans (imo) compared to cans such as the T1 and HD800 which are a little bit more energetic up top and more spacious. The latter being far more suited to tube amps such as the WA2, WA22 etc.
 


 

I suggest you gain some more first hand experience with tube amps before making such comments.

 
 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 
Listening to the Woo 6 on standard tubes with S/N 13477 HD800 now - these new HD800's are much smoother and laid back up top in the treble region.

 

[rawrster]

I wish I had the budget to try own some of the more expensive tube amps such as the WA22. I'm pretty happy with my CTH however as it's cheap but maybe one day I'll own something better but can't complain much I do have a more expensive SS amp but can't have the best of both worlds.

 

[MacedonianHero]

 
Quote:

I wish I had the budget to try own some of the more expensive tube amps such as the WA22. I'm pretty happy with my CTH however as it's cheap but maybe one day I'll own something better but can't complain much I do have a more expensive SS amp but can't have the best of both worlds.

 
The CTH may not cost a fortune, but it does sound really good!

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 
Would be good to see an Audio GD Phoenix vs V200 match-up and review.

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

The CTH may not cost a fortune, but it does sound really good!

That's for sure. I'm happy with my purchase of it however I do wonder how other tube amps sound like when it's on my system and not in meet conditions where I am not able to spend as much time with them as I would like to. One of these days I can get something like a WA22 or Super 7 or another tube amp in that price range. For the time being my wallet is safe
 

 

[InnerSpace]

Quote:

I suggest you gain some more first hand experience with tube amps before making such comments.

 
 
 

That's a little patronizing.  Seems to me Naim FC's conclusions are right on the money.  That's the value of audio forums - we don't each have to reinvent the wheel all the time.  And I speak as one with first-hand experience of tubes amps since before you were born, probably.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

That's a little patronizing.  Seems to me Naim FC's conclusions are right on the money.  That's the value of audio forums - we don't each have to reinvent the wheel all the time.  And I speak as one with first-hand experience of tubes amps since before you were born, probably.  <-- And this isn't patronizing?

Generalizations.....that's the issue with tubes vs. SS comments. No patronizing was intended. I've heard the exact opposite effects depending on the circuitry/topography/tubes of the amps.
 
BTW...I'm 40 and have been doing this audio thing for about 20+ years.