[SHAHZADA123]

The iMod>RSA 71B>JVC HP-DX1000 (balanced) is my reference portable rig.
Very sweet treble, controlled bass and an extremely natural, organic 'to-die-for' mid range.
 
Upgraditis struck yesterday and I ended up ordering a CLAS -dB.
Let's see how a fully balanced rig (iPod>Solo-dB>balanced>71B>DX1000) stands up to my partly balance one.  

 

[aluren]

Thinking about the -db myself. Let us know what your impressions are for your fully balanced setup.

 

[SoundFreaq]

I'm running -db to SR-71B and noticed distortion in very low impedance IEMs. 
 
Anyone know what the OUTPUT Impedance is on the 71B? If it's like the SR-71 at 16 ohms (@ 2 khz), that means you should NOT use phones with less impedance than 16*8 = 128 ohms!!!!

 

[AnakChan]

I'm running -db to SR-71B and noticed distortion in very low impedance IEMs. 

Anyone know what the OUTPUT Impedance is on the 71B? If it's like the SR-71 at 16 ohms (@ 2 khz), that means you should NOT use phones with less impedance than 16*8 = 128 ohms!!!!

What version of 71b? Pre-gain upgrade or post? Ray offered to old 71b owners to upgrade gain from 11 to 21 (whatever that index happens to be). Newly purchased 71b's are supposedly 21.

I find I get distortion with the 21's with some of my IEMs balanced IC with my 1.69Vrms dB. Not tried with my 2.0Vrms yet.

Are you running balanced from dB? Also is your dB 2.0Vrms or the former 1.69Vrms?

 

[SoundFreaq]

My SR-71B is being run all single ended from my 2v -db. I will have a balanced IC tomorrow, but have yet to balance a phone, so will still use SE out.

I bought the Ety ER4p to S 75 ohm resistor cable and it solved the distortion, which does not make sense of serial resistors raise the amp's output impedance instead.

And how is etymotics saying that cable raises the low impedance P model to the better sounding S model at 100 ohms.

PS. And mine is a newer 71B with the higher gain setting.

 

[toads]

my recently upgraded SR71b feeds my T1 beautifully via balanced....my LCD2.2 however, sound flat and lifeless by comparison (SE via Grado 1/4" to 1/8" adapter

)...
 
i'm planning re-termination the LCDs to XLR ASAP....i don't bother with my current IEMs (K3003 - 8ohm)....although i've got some Merlin's in the pipeline i plan on trying balanced via a lovely cable Ted from HPL whipped up...

 
i'm interested to know the O/I of the balanced and SE outputs on the SR71b as well...

 

[Stoney]

Quote:

my recently upgraded SR71b feeds my T1 beautifully via balanced....my LCD2.2 however, sound flat and lifeless by comparison (SE via Grado 1/4" to 1/8" adapter

)...
 
i'm planning re-termination the LCDs to XLR ASAP....i don't bother with my current IEMs (K3003 - 8ohm)....although i've got some Merlin's in the pipeline i plan on trying balanced via a lovely cable Ted from HPL whipped up...

 
i'm interested to know the O/I of the balanced and SE outputs on the SR71b as well...

 
I'd like to know more observations about why it sounds "flat and lifeless."
 
I'm considering this amp or any portable for balanced and unbalanced use on
Senns (HD650, HD800) and possibly LCD2.  I would think any powerful,
low-impedance amp with good extension and liquid midrange should sound good
with all these.  My other main concerns are neutral (not bright, perhaps warm),
with good extension yet no sibilance in an otherwise informative treble.
 
Thanks!

 

[toads]

sorry for the tardy reply...
 
as it turned out, the LCD2 cable was the culprit...i sourced a great deal on a TC Silver Poison and the presentation was vastly improved across the board...

 

[LFC_SL]

Anyone compared sr71b rev 2 against rx mk3? Or better yet the RX mk3 b+. Thanks

 

[Stoney]

I have listened to my new RSA SR-71B for a couple of weeks now.  I'm very satisified!  Worth the price... and no need for "tube rolling" which I'd grown frustrated with on desktop tube units; it sound great out of the box. 
 
I'd like to do more of a review soon, but I haven't been analytical about it, just enjoying it.  I also plan to get a balanced cable soon, so I can test it in unblanced in, balanced out mode. 
 
I find it authoritative, bold, strong, powerful, detailed, flat, satisfying. Great "jump factor" when there are dynamics. Treble is extended and present as needed but not too forward (a pet peeve of mine).  No added emphasis to sibilance, which is important to me.
 
It is a great match to the HD650.  My Senns are a bit modified: removed the foam and added Cardas Clear Light cable, so it already is more detailed and has better upper midrange and treble than stock.  (I don't use it with my PFE 232, because they do better with the Arrow which has a midrange forwardness on gain setting "1" that helps compensate for the Phonak's v-shaped response curve.) 
 
I read here that there was an update to this amp recently?  If so, mine came after this update.  It is wonderful.  I will use it for stationary use primarily and mobile at times.  The size is 2-3 times bigger than the Arrow 4G that I have, which is good but doesn't have the purity of treble, solidity, and graceful and flat treble of the RSA.  
 
http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/sr-71b
 
 

 
 
 

 

[jamato8]

Informative and helpful review. The pictured connectors that are used, should last a long time and are so easy to work with, and they are light weight. 

 

[Mooses9]

Out of curiosity where are you guys buying your balanced headphone plugs. Anyone have a link to where these csn be purchased. Thanks in advanced

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Out of curiosity where are you guys buying your balanced headphone plugs. Anyone have a link to where these csn be purchased. Thanks in advanced

I think digikey has them. I haven't gotten any for some time. 

 

[Stoney]

Mouser. See the info I posted.  

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Mouser. See the info I posted.  

Funny, I didn't even look at the post that well. And there it is!