[R Giskard]

I experienced no distortion with the HDVA600/HD800 combination but the way modern music production goes, you can find distortion even on recordings that are mastered well. Grain was noticeable I think for there was an obvious lack of fluidity I was expecting to hear. It also caused smearing of finer instrumental detail because human vocals are not that delicate and are usually more processed. Not to say it will bother everyone but I did find the amplifier a bit lacking in that respect. If it sounds good to you though, then there is no problem

 

[thinker]

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[rosgr63]

Thanks for the photo and info.
This is very unique as I don't know of any headphone amp that uses 300B's and can drive headphones in OTL  mode.
Do you know how they matched the impedance with 300B's directly coupled to headphones?
The only OTL headphone amps I know of use the 6AS7G/5998 family of tubes.  

 

[thinker]

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[thinker]

 

[thinker]

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[R Giskard]

Well, 300B tubes are very fine indeed. These tubes were intended for audio use so their inherent levels of hum are low but I haven't found them necessarily the best tubes for headphone amplifiers. With proper bias values, the 6H30 are unmatched in my experience. My reference amplifier uses one per channel and a single ECC88 but that's a discussion for some other thread. Until they see it, most people aren't even aware that it's a tube amplifier because it exhibits no flaws that go hand in hand with tube designs. It's built on what is known as the Megahertz criteria and is linear up to almost 1.2MHz. While there are no obvious advantages to this approach, the high frequency and ultra high frequency range is perfect on the oscilloscope. Still, it took several years to design such a thing and it was expensive from the start.

 

[thinker]

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[ALRAINBOW]

WOW. I am so upset i cannot demo this amp here in the USA now.
 
your explanation and detail is fantastic, if this combo is even near what you say its worth the money for sure.  And you knowing the source you are listening to makes all the difference.
 
great detail and i am  sure there is at least one person who is envious of you right now ...

 

[MelvinV]

I not sure if I should go for the HDVD800 or go for the Violectric V200 and DAC V800.
They're just about as expensive, I like the looks of both of them. The Violectric DAC seems to have more options when it comes to re-sampling and what not.
Sound quality of course matters most, I own the HD800 and prefer neutral, realistic sound above everything else. I will probably be able to demo the HDVD800, but I don't think I'll be able to demo the Violectric gear. I'm currently using a FiiO E10 Olympus which sounds way better than on-board sound. But even the €300 CD Player in the store just had that sense of depth and realisticness that the E10 doesn't have. I won't demo any of them until I have the money, I don't want to be suffering by going back to the E10 when I demoed the real stuff. Have any of you guys tried both?
 
I would really appreciate a comparison between the HDVD800 and the Violectric gear.

 

[Rewkie]

I don't know about the Violectric stuff,but the HDVD was made just for the HD 800. But have fun finding one.

 

[jepebee]

Hello.
Does anyone know why these amps HDVD600 and 800 are still so hard to find?
Is it the usual MAC marketing trick?
Or a more serious problem?
Really this delay disturb me and I think I am going to consider the new Bryston BHA-1.
By the way, could someone compare the old Orpheus from Bryston to the Senn HD800? 
Could be of some interest.
Have a nice day.

 

[thinker]

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[ALRAINBOW]

Here in the USA no one stocks it.
But I ordered it from local vender about three week wait. If you need pm me and I will send you link

 

[thinker]

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