[gjkphd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Give them a month and you may see them sold for the OPs budget. SP is being given the VD power cable treatment. Tubes. Absofunkenlutely.

ok, I'll bite. What's the VD power cable treatment?

 

[madwill]

How about the Cayen HA-1A

"The HA-1A may be the best thing that's ever happened to headphones...champagne sound for beer-budget bucks."

anybody heard this one ?

 

[nikongod]

I heard the cain HA-1a next to a prototype of the Woo-5. not exactly a fair comparason, but the Cain held court with no really obvious flaws. its a solid option.
Quote:

Originally Posted by gjkphd /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok, I'll bite. What's the VD power cable treatment?

the boards ganged up on VD for the construction techniques and materials of their power cable.

the unfortunate thing here is that SP is being driven out of business by a few disgruntled forum members when they make a worthwhile product but simply take forever to build it where VD was all marketing. there is not snake oil in an SP amp, simply good sound.

it is a shame that people are so set against SP for that 1 reason. Their amps do sound fantastic, nothing crappy in the line. If you dont like SP, next for SQ is woo and about equal (a different spot on the same plane of quality) with their more expensive offerings.

 

[mstorie]

I can 2nd the Singlepower recommendation for a tube amp. I bought a used PPX3 SLAM here on the forum a few months ago and listen to my RS-1 on it for several hours a day. Really nice combination. You should also consider a mapletree audio ear+ (i.e. MAD ear+), as lots of folks around here recommend them for Grado's in general. The RS-1 sounds pretty good on a PICO as well, but that's a portable amp as has been mentioned... Never listened to an RA-1.

 

[Dash]

I can vouch for the Mad Ear having amazing synergy with the RS-1.

I know too that the Eddie Current EC/SS was voiced with Grados in mind.

Based on my experience with the RS-1 it like tubes.

 

[madwill]

Yeah every body seams to love that Dr Mapletree guy
he certainly could use a better website tho

maybe i can exchange services

cauz i sure cant pay 740$ for this pretty baby

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dash /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can vouch for the Mad Ear having amazing synergy with the RS-1. I Based on my experience with the RS-1 it like tubes.

This would be my highest recommendation at the price point. The Maple Tree amps are well designed and well built. Dr. Peppard is a retired EE prof at Canada's most prestigious university. The amp is very flexible offering the power for high Z phones and the current for low Z phones like the RS-1's. I haven't come across anything in that price range that supercedes it and nothing that really matches it on the tube side of things.

 

[panda]

guess i'm alone in that i didn't think the maple tree was any better than an mg head. at that price range, micro zotl is way nicer...

i'd also look for an old grado hpa-1. that thing was sweet.

thing with rs-1, in my experience source has a bigger impact on its overall sound than the amp. for example a thorens tt with cha-47 was more dynamic and engaging than a sony scd-1 paired w/ wheatfield ha-2.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

One of the best RS-1 amps I have come across is the TTVJ Portable Millet Hybrid amp. The combination is magical. It does all my Grados well.

Then last weekend I listened to PS-1 with it, and I went from disliking the PS-1 to being in love with them. I can't describe the effect the TTVJ has on me with Grados, except for a match made in heaven.

My WA6 maxed does just as well, at twice the price. See my review on it. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f36/ne...ml#post4024605