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

[HeadphoneAddict]

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I can't see why you shouldn't buy this as long as realise that any phone you want to plug into it will require retermination or recabling and that it might not be the easiest amp to resell. I would be surprised if an iDevice cable was included but don't know for a fact that it wont. And like the Protector it's main reason for existing is with balanced phones and in this case also sources. While it will probably be good with single ended gear I'm sure there are better options out there for the same price for single ended use

 
Actually it has very good sound from the 1/8" jack, but it's just not as spacious and powerful as the balanced output.  The 1/8" jack is competitive with most of the other portable amps out there, and the amp just passes them up when you switch to the balanced output.  I agree that if one will NEVER use the balanced outputs, then it would be more cost effective to just get the P-51 instead.  But the SR-71b can grow with you and scale up as you go to balanced phones and improve your source to balanced.  
 
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I'm listening right now to Open by Cowboy Junkies.  Running the balanced outs (using Moon Audio Blue Dragon cable) of my Yulong D100 DAC into the SR-71B, driving the Hifiman HE-6 via my balanced cable from A Pure Sound (using a short adapter provided by Ray).
 
The sound is absolutely ridiculous.  I wasn't quite prepared for how good it is.  While at $600 this amp is far from cheap, it does an astonishing job driving the HE-6.  I can't believe how powerful, detailed, and yet smooth the sound is.  There is a tiny bit of congestion during very intense crescendos versus my DecwareMini-Torii, but overall it's really, really good sounding, will be THE portable amp to use with the HE-6 (not sure there is really another...)

I compared my balanced Protector directly to the SR-71b at RMAF Oct 2010 and I instantly fell in love with the SR-71b/LCD-2 combo (balanced silver dragon cable).  
 
I thought it was the second best amp at RMAF for listening to LCD-2/Silver Dragon Cable, right behind the $2500 Red Wine Audio Isabellina HPA with the ALO chainmail cable.  It was better matched to the LCD-2 than other high end amps like the ZDT or Cary 300 SEI (or something like that).  I neglected to try the HE-6 with the SR-71b, but the Protector can almost drive the HE-6 and it's much less powerful than the SR-71b.  The SR-71b also did better with HD800 than the Protector although I still thought the HD800 were just a little bright with either amp.  HD600 also sounded fantastic via the SR-71b as well as my JH13Pro and ES5.
 
I spoke to Ray and if I recall correctly he said the finished PCBs came in, the cases will arrive in 2 days, and the machined volume knobs should arrive by the end of the week - and that he will start taking money once everything is in and post here on head-fi to start that process.  He said that if he doesn't get inundated by emails asking about when the amps will ship that he should be on a timetable that would get them delivered by 12/24.  He said he expects the amps will arrive to buyers 2-3 days after shipping, so with fingers crossed I am guessing that means they start shipping Monday and Tuesday.  I promised him that I would not call or write again before Xmas other than to send him money, so he could just get his work done!

 

[Jalo]

Sky, one more question.  I have the Protector driving my HD800 and LCD2 in balance mode, the HD800 is a little bit harder to drive than the LCD2, but either one will reach a point that the sound will start to crack.  And when I compare the Protector to the sound coming from my Headroom BUDA balance setup, the main difference I noticed is the body of the sound.  My Protector is comparatively thinner than my BUDA and I noticed that being a character of almost all portable amps.  Could you comment on this for the SR71B, Stepdance and the L3?  Thanks for the additional assignment

  
 
With the Cypher Solo digit transport just announced that they are officially Apple certified now, I cannot wait to see how good portable music is going to get.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

The SR71B sounded amazing with the HE-6. I had been hearing about how hard the HE-6 was to drive, and here Ray is telling everyone that this is THE amp to power them. Something half the size of my hand. The mini balanced to 2X3 pin adapters he had to use dwarfed the thing. It was like a tiny little magical box in the middle of the headphone and the CD player that produced great sound. I like the two independent volume controls and gain switches. Those could come in handy.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Of course he is saying it is "THE amp to power them"...he's trying to sell a product and get the hype going on something that is about to hit the market.  What better way to do it than with the newest FOTM HE-6 headphone...

 
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The SR71B sounded amazing with the HE-6. I had been hearing about how hard the HE-6 was to drive, and here Ray is telling everyone that this is THE amp to power them. Something half the size of my hand. The mini balanced to 2X3 pin adapters he had to use dwarfed the thing. It was like a tiny little magical box in the middle of the headphone and the CD player that produced great sound. I like the two independent volume controls and gain switches. Those could come in handy.

 

[Jalo]

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Of course he is saying it is "THE amp to power them"...he's trying to sell a product and get the hype going on something that is about to hit the market.  What better way to do it than with the newest FOTM HE-6 headphone...

 
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The SR71B sounded amazing with the HE-6. I had been hearing about how hard the HE-6 was to drive, and here Ray is telling everyone that this is THE amp to power them. Something half the size of my hand. The mini balanced to 2X3 pin adapters he had to use dwarfed the thing. It was like a tiny little magical box in the middle of the headphone and the CD player that produced great sound. I like the two independent volume controls and gain switches. Those could come in handy.

 

Yea, you just have to say that right?  "the Amp to power them" came from Skylab, Sky is reporting his experience first hand and besides I really don't think Sky is a fan boy of anyone.  GeorgeGoodman also heard the SR71B firsthand as he stated in his post #285 on this thread " I did hear the SR71B driving the HE-6s very well, and there seemed to be no deficiencies in the sound."  So these fine headfiers are reporting their own first hand experience of the SR71B driving HE-6 independent of Ray.  If you have heard the SR71B/He-6 combo please share your experience, otherwise please don't start a flame war like we had in the Protector thread.
 

 

[monsieurguzel]

I've been here enough years and seen enough iterations of these portable amps to be able to say that the exact same thing happens every single year.  Last year it was the protector, the year before the mustang, the year before the predator, etc., etc.  Everyone goes gaga over the amps when they are first released and then move on 6 months later when the newer things come out and nobody mentions older portable amps anymore.  For me a great product is one that stands the test of time (look at the speaker world where 20-30 year old amps are still ultra desirable).
 
But not to start a flame war, I definitely not saying that headphone/amp combo doesn't sound very great, i'm sure it does.

 

[revolink24]

I had never heard Ray Samuels gear before, and I spent the day comparing the HE6s on several amps.
 
The SR71b was among the top, if not absolutely the top to my ears, beating out desktop amps. You can take that with a grain of salt if you wish, but I would get one if I could afford the HE6/SR71B combo.

 

[nc8000]

Well portable headphone amps haven't been in existence for 20-30 years so by that definition there are no great products in this category ....

 

[Skylab]

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Sky, one more question.  I have the Protector driving my HD800 and LCD2 in balance mode, the HD800 is a little bit harder to drive than the LCD2, but either one will reach a point that the sound will start to crack.  And when I compare the Protector to the sound coming from my Headroom BUDA balance setup, the main difference I noticed is the body of the sound.  My Protector is comparatively thinner than my BUDA and I noticed that being a character of almost all portable amps.  Could you comment on this for the SR71B, Stepdance and the L3?  Thanks for the additional assignment

  
 

I already planned to compare the L3, Stepdance, and SR-71B, but I would not hold my breath on that - it will be a while.
 


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Of course he is saying it is "THE amp to power them"...he's trying to sell a product and get the hype going on something that is about to hit the market.  What better way to do it than with the newest FOTM HE-6 headphone...

 
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The SR71B sounded amazing with the HE-6. I had been hearing about how hard the HE-6 was to drive, and here Ray is telling everyone that this is THE amp to power them. Something half the size of my hand. The mini balanced to 2X3 pin adapters he had to use dwarfed the thing. It was like a tiny little magical box in the middle of the headphone and the CD player that produced great sound. I like the two independent volume controls and gain switches. Those could come in handy.

 

Yea, you just have to say that right?  "the Amp to power them" came from Skylab, Sky is reporting his experience first hand and besides I really don't think Sky is a fan boy of anyone.  GeorgeGoodman also heard the SR71B firsthand as he stated in his post #285 on this thread " I did hear the SR71B driving the HE-6s very well, and there seemed to be no deficiencies in the sound."  So these fine headfiers are reporting their own first hand experience of the SR71B driving HE-6 independent of Ray.  If you have heard the SR71B/He-6 combo please share your experience, otherwise please don't start a flame war like we had in the Protector thread.
 

 
To be VERY clear - I said it was THE Portable amp to drive the HE-6 - not "THE amp" - very different things.  There are home amps that are better, including but not limited to the Decware Mini-Torii.
 

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Of course Ray is going to tell you his latest and greatest amp is the best one to power the HE-6. It is his job. The only other amp I heard the HE-6 with was Hifiman's EF5 desktop amplifier pretty much made for the HE-6, and the SR71B was just as good, if not better. I am sure there are better options as far as desktop amps go that would power the HE-6 a little better, but the SR71B is pretty close to them. I judge with my own two ears. Go to a meet or buy one and test it out if you don't believe people. 
 
You are right about the portable amps just disappearing from the Head-fi consciousness because better keeps coming along, but I can definitely say the SR71B is good enough to be compared to a desktop amp. The same cannot be said about portable of the past. It has the specs to back it up, one figure is around 30 volts peak to peak in balanced. This new paradigm of super portables that are genuinely good and can compete with home amps value wise is hard to believe even for me, and I have only been on Head-fi for about a year. Don't believe anything you don't want to believe, but this amp is good.

 

[wuwhere]

What is the max power of the SR1B at 32Ohms?

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

I heard Ray telling people the SR71B could output 1200 mw, or 1.2 watts. He was very proud of the fact. I assume that figure is for a low ohmage load.

 

[wuwhere]

Without knowing at what impedance he measured that power, it would not be easy to say that it can drive the HE-6 adequately with spare power for headroom. I have a small desktop hp amp that delivers 1watt at 32 to 64 ohms (HE-6 is rated at 50 ohms) and it is inadequate for driving my HE-6. It doesn't have the big bass that my speaker amp (10w at 8ohms) can deliver.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

I assure you that there was definitely bass from the SR-71B. How much, I don't know, but it was there. No part of the spectrum seemed to be missing. Keep in mind the HE-6s were balanced in order to use the amp to its potential, but I don't know if that matters to you. I guess you are going to have to wait for Skylab's or or some other head-fier's review or try it out yourself at a meet. Skylab said it powered his HE-6s well and only got slightly congested at the complex parts.

 

[wuwhere]

The SR1B uses opamps, 4 mono opamps/channel. Opamps can deliver high voltage but not as much current. The HE6 needs more current to sound their best.