RSA SR71b, quad mono balanced. img. 1 & 17 Review pg 32, 34, 68, UPDATED 4/2013 for Improved sound.

[revolink24]

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The Toucan is $229. Go figure...
However, they really are two different products. The SR-71B is smaller and more portable than the Toucan, has a slightly better sound, a little more power, an two volume pots that you can adjust together or independently, three gain settings instead of two and probably a few other things I am forgetting. The Toucan is probably the better value, but by no means is the SR-71B put to shame. They are different.

 
George, have you heard the toucan and been able to compare it to the sr71b?  i've not heard direct listener comparisons of the two as folks have only heard the prototype sr71b and not too many seem to have the toucan yet. your observations may be correct but they seem speculative rather than from any real experience. this is a trend on head-fi which has the potential to lead folks to erroneous conclusions, which they sometimes get vociferous about (and sometimes in quite ugly fashion). i'm ont accusing you of this, but rather asking that you be careful when posting speculative posts, and then make sure that that's clear.
 

Thanks Eric.
 
Just to be clear, I have heard the SR71B, but I have not heard the Ibasso Toucan. My post above is largely speculative, based on what I have read in a smaller part in what I have heard. Hiflight found the Toucan can actually drive the AKG K1000s to a degree, which to my understanding is an impressive feat. I did hear the SR71B driving the HE-6s very well, and there seemed to be no deficiencies in the sound. The Toucan has 26.2 volts of swing peak to peak, and the SR-71B has about 30. I believe the ability of an amp to drive headphones is closely correlated with their peak to peak voltage, but correct me if I am wrong. I was just doing a speculation about the only two fully balanced portables out now, and one or more of my points could be wrong. Heck, someone has already stated the SR-71A doesn't have the airy and open sound and driving ability of the Toucan/Boomslang combo but has more bass impact, and this SR-71B is a lot better than the its predecessor. So it could be that the SR-71B sounds much better than the Toucan, but I was just giving my perspective on the two amps. I don't want to create any confusion, and so will refrain from doing anything like this until I hear the Toucan as well. When the trusted reviews come in, I will be eagerly reading them.

 

 
 
Peak to peak is essentially just one way of doing a measurement of voltage, just like RMS (root mean square, or about 70% of peak power) and peak (which will be about 50% of peak to peak.) So yes, any power/voltage measurements are important.
 

 

[thread]

The SR-71B is up for preorder:
 
http://raysamuelsaudio.com/sr-71b-preorder

 

[Audio-Omega]

We are waiting for Skylab's review of SR-71B driving HE-6 headphones.  

 

[Skylab]

I'll be working on that next week.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

You are in for something good, Skylab.

 

[Audio Addict]

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We are waiting for Skylab's review of SR-71B driving HE-6 headphones.  

I wouldn't wait too long as 35 pre-orders are already posted.

 

[DannyB]

39 now.

 

[jamato8]

Pretty darn EXCITING, well it is. 
 
I may be assuming a lot, well from past experience I don't think so, this amp is going to be a standard setter. I really look forward to the impressions as they roll in. 

 

[strawBoss]

Oh this is exciting stuff, I noticed the preorder yesterday and have been trying to find stuff to sell, or forego to get the cash together. For a long time I'd been eyeing up the mustang, but other purchases got in the way, or new amps distracted me, but when word leaked out about this amp I was hooked. As a leapfrog adopter I'm getting this amp and here's why...the future.

I can grow into it with source equipment and cables (the cable options alone are a DYI'r dream). It's a game changer for phones, there will always be personal preferences but here's a portable that can really drive the big cans. Input/output it has it all; single in - single out, balanced in - balanced out and any combination of. Thanks Ray, you could of forgone the single out on principle alone but you kept there, good. As mentioned earlier, heres a legitimate home amp for all the source units spread around the house.

Lastly, it's gonna sound great! Others have said it and unless Ray has somehow lost his touch at the very least this amp is going to sound as good as his others. I suspect better.

If I can I'll buy it before the reviews pour in, that way I can feel even better about my purchase.

 

[DevanF]

Thanks for all the input I feel more educated on what type of amp I should buy!

 

[wolfen68]

Time to start thinking about getting a cable to get me from the Boomslang to the SR71B....

 

[The Monkey]

Posting pre-orderers email addresses on one's website is just a big bucket of fail.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

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I send Ray an e-mail asking about whether it is worth upgrading from a Protector and this is his answer :
 
"D[size=12pt]on't up-grade if you don't use it with fully balanced source & lossless files or CDs".[/size]
 
[size=12pt]Since I use an iPod Classic with 320KB aac files this honest answer has just saved me a fair bit of money. Great to see that he don't just try to go for a quick sale, Ray really rocks.[/size]

I compared my Protector to SR-71b prototype at RMAF, and the SR-71b was much more powerful with full size phones.  The SR-71b sound was only slightly more spacious with a single ended source and better with the balanced meridian CDP as source.  So the biggest reason to upgrade is also the additional power, and not just for using with a balanced source.  I will be using it with my balanced Apogee mini-DAC most of the time with my Macbook to use with my HE-5 LE/HE-6 and HD600/800.  I'm also going to get a balanced Silver Dragon cable for LCD-2 because the SR-71b sounded incredible with them.

 

[Audio-Omega]

Does it use similar charger as Protector ?  It would be convenient to use one charger for both.  

 

[nc8000]

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I send Ray an e-mail asking about whether it is worth upgrading from a Protector and this is his answer :
 
"D[size=12pt]on't up-grade if you don't use it with fully balanced source & lossless files or CDs".[/size]
 
[size=12pt]Since I use an iPod Classic with 320KB aac files this honest answer has just saved me a fair bit of money. Great to see that he don't just try to go for a quick sale, Ray really rocks.[/size]

I compared my Protector to SR-71b prototype at RMAF, and the SR-71b was much more powerful with full size phones.  The SR-71b sound was only slightly more spacious with a single ended source and better with the balanced meridian CDP as source.  So the biggest reason to upgrade is also the additional power, and not just for using with a balanced source.  I will be using it with my balanced Apogee mini-DAC most of the time with my Macbook to use with my HE-5 LE/HE-6 and HD600/800.  I'm also going to get a balanced Silver Dragon cable for LCD-2 because the SR-71b sounded incredible with them.

I'm using it to power JH13 so have no need for the extra power