[papakoks]

just wanna know, based from your experiences, which amp would suit DT880 / IEM's / HF-1 / K701 better? thanks guys!

 

[wakeride74]

Either would probably do the trick just fine. It's hard for people to compare the SM3 because the SM3 can be tweaked in so many ways and I don't know that anyone knows exactly what opamps are in the Hornet so you can't really do apples and apples.

I used to own the SM3 (whatever version was before this one) and really liked it but RSA had it easily beat as far as build quality. As far as sound again it's hard to say and would probably boil down to personal preference. Both have had excellent reviews and should be pleasers! The switches on the SM3 and ability to tweak give it a slight advantage IMO and the bass boost is very nice but if those are thing you would not use on a regular basis I'd probably go with the Hornet.

 

[mrarroyo]

Just be prepared to get a bunch of diferent answers. I have listened to The Hornet, the SR-71, the AE-1, and the SM3 Ver 6.

I listen to Jazz so my order would be:

1)SM3 Ver 6
2)SR-71, but very close call, could be #1 in some setups
3)AE-1, remember this will be upgraded by Justin shortly and should improve

The Hornet is a very nice amp, I did not spend sufficient time with it and only compared it with the SR-71 which I preferred.

At the end of the day I think you will be happy with any of the 4 amps.

 

[LFF]

Well - All I know is that my HF-1's ROCK with the Hornet. I highly recommend the Hornet.

 

[ichiro]

I’ve been lucky enough to have both of these amps in my possession for the last week. A friend of mine is letting me borrow his SM3 V6. It is configured with an AD8397 and everything else standard. Burn in time is around 100 hours and currently it has Duracell Ultra batteries in it. My hornet has seen quite a bit more use with running time closer to the 300-hour mark.

I listened to both of these amps using my portable setup consisting of Apple lossless -> 5g 30gb ipod -> turbo dock II -> RnB Diamond tiny reference -> amp -> Koss KSC-35’s.

The hornet has more pronounced highs giving it the illusion of a clearer, more detailed presentation. However, the supermacro does not lack detail. If I concentrate on what I am listening to I can hear all of the details I hear with the hornet. It’s almost as though someone dropped the high frequencies one notch on the SM3.

The supermacro does seem slightly warmer due to its bassier nature. Without bass boost on the macro has at least as much bass as the hornet and with the boost on it is noticeably bassier. I like the bass boost and using it on cans like the DT880’s is really nice. I definitely see how this could be a real selling point for people who own er4p’s and er4s’. Since the KSC-35’s have plenty of bass on their own this feature wasn’t as useful to me in my setup.

There seems to be better 3-dimensionality using the supermacro. It is easier to pick out specific locations of instruments and there seems to be more space from front to back. The hornet does have a wide stage with good separation from left to right but is lacking from front to back. Just about everything coming out of the hornet seems to be right in front of me. However, if I close my eyes when listening to the SM3 I can imagine some instruments in front of others and during live tracks I feel surrounded by applause.

The switches on the SM3 are fun to mess around with but I only really played with them the first day. Since then I’ve left them all off and just enjoyed the music.

In my portable setup I prefer the hornet. I like the perception of detail it adds to my setup and the bass is just right. I briefly listened to both amps through my DT880’s and found the SM3 to be a better match. The DT880’s have great highs and don’t need any extra emphasis to make them sound better. However, using my HF-1’s the hornet seemed to be the better match.

 

[bhd812]

I have a hornet but couldnt give anything worth while cause I never heard the ver6 of the sm...so

but The reason why I am hear is to say I would love to hear one and all those options are pretty cool if your into them.

 

[ichiro]

Here's some crappy pics of the two. I really need to invest some money into a good digital camera!

 

[libertine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ichiro Here's some crappy pics of the two. I really need to invest some money into a good digital camera! ...

Hi, would you be able to post the dimensions of the 2 amps please?

Cheers

 

[sjt78]

Everytime I see a picture of the Hornet I can't get by the fact that those thumbscrews look HUGE on the back of it. Maybe if they were anodized/painted black they would appear smaller. I'm sure it's a great amp though. Just wish it had crossfeed.

 

[Filburt]

I vote SM3, personally. Multiloop topology, stacked buffers, and op-amp rolling are all things I find attractive. That said, I've used the DT880s both on the Hornet and the SM3. I found that it sounded fine on both, and really did sound quite good on the Hornet. I just preferred the SM3 I guess. Another amp to consider is the AE-1.

Can you fit the AD8397 to the SM3? I've never tried it, but if you could, that would give the aggressive tonality that some crave.

 

[K2Grey]

The SM3 originally had AD8397 as default.

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjt78 Everytime I see a picture of the Hornet I can't get by the fact that those thumbscrews look HUGE on the back of it. Maybe if they were anodized/painted black they would appear smaller. I'm sure it's a great amp though. Just wish it had crossfeed.

The crossfeed on the SM3 is nothing to impressive IMO. Headroom's crossfeed owns all others!

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey The SM3 originally had AD8397 as default.

I thought it originally had the NE5534 as default...

 

[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjt78 Everytime I see a picture of the Hornet I can't get by the fact that those thumbscrews look HUGE on the back of it.

Yeah, until you drop one in the carpet

TR

 

[K2Grey]

Well, the SM3v6 originally had AD8397 as default. I think the SM3v3 had NE5534 and I don't have any clue about the others. Xin changes default opamps every 2 months anyway.