[shrekito]

 
Quote:

Thanks for the comments. I already own a PCD3000A. Its headphone output is not bad, but there's room for improvement, which is why I was wondering about the PH100.

 
Hi,
 
I have not heard the PCD300a headphone output but I would definately not describe the PH100 as "not bad" in fact i think it is unbeatable at the price. The only reason I can think for it not being popular is it's price as even with the great build and sound quality it comes in at under $200.
 
At present the only headphones I would have reservations using with the PH100 are my Sony SA5000 which sound just a little too bright, other hedphones that work fine include the (very fussy) audio technica ath-w50000, denon ah-d5000, sennheiser hd650 and beyer dt990 pro.
 
The other amps I have are
 
Sugden Headmaster (x2) - not evryone's taste  but definately mine!
Shanling PH300 (on its way to replace my second PH100)
Matrix  (over rated - ph100 eats it alive)
 
 
Plus the following dacs with built in amps :-
 
matrix i-mini (dac excellent, headphone amp ok)
Yulong DAH1 (good but not recommended as I have had a couple 3 faulty items out of 4 ordered from yulong)
Aune (good basic amp but overrated)
Hilly  (still listening)
 
My favourite source dacs would be the following
 
Xindak dac 5 and Keces 131.1 and 131 mk iii.
 
I have converted a few people to the PH100 by loaning them a unit for a couple of weeks!
 
regards
 
Michael
 

 

[stramTuplik]

I've found a good deal on a PH100. 
 
Anyone know why the old thread was deleted? I'm a bit worried there were many bad reviews on the PH100 in it... 

 
Anyway, I've read it's a good match for my AKG k701. I've also got a DT770 80ohm for studio work, still a good match?? 

 

 

[RazorJack]

The thread was deleted because a discussion about the Shanling PH100 vs. Hotaudio Thunderbolt Max got way out of hand and started an endless flamewar (which resulted in several bans), and instead of cleaning up the thread, the head-fi admins decided it was easier to permanently delete it. It did contain lots of useful information indeed, too bad it's gone forever.
 
In any case, I have both the Shanling PH100 and a DT770pro and are using them right now! It's a great combo, I'm using it at home as a "standard" pc rig, paired with a Hotaudio DAC-WOW, for all-round usage (music, gaming, movies).

 

[Xymordos]

Sorry to dig this up again, but isn't this a clone of the AT-HA5000?

 

[RazorJack]

A little update: my Shanling PH100 has developed a sporadic buzz in the right channel. And I can hear a (ground?) hum in both channels, but it's more dominant in the left. None of this can be heard when music is playing, but it's still extremely annoying to me, as I use this amp with my computer and keep my headphones on at most times, even when not listening to anything. This malfunction slowly developed over a long period of time, I think, because when I first got the amp it was very quiet.
 
I must say that I'm not very happy with Shanling's build quality. In the past I noticed that my Shanling PCD300A (cd player) analog left channel line output sometimes failed due to a cold solder joint. And even worse, the digital coax RCA out did not output a signal at all because the wire was hanging loose. Thankfully I was able to fix both connections easily using a soldering iron and some common sense.
 
Due to these experiences I will definitely not buy anything ever again from Shanling, or anything designed in China, and am not sure if I could recommend the PH100 or PCD300A to anyone. I did enjoy the PH100 a lot when it was working properly, but failure in less than 2 years with normal usage is pretty pathetic. Something else probably worth mentioning is that the PH100 amp has two inputs, and the signal from one pair of inputs can faintly be heard in the other... how horrible is that?!
The PCD300A is still used daily and works like a charm, I can only pray that it keeps doing so for a long time to come.
 
The PH100 will soon be replaced by a Meier Audio Corda JAZZ.

 

[danzal]

Cracking little amp, runs hot though.

 

[nottipiglet]

I bought a Shanling PH300 initially. The first unit I received had a slight crackling sound on the left channel. The crackling was sporadic. It comes and goes, and it was very irritating when it kicks in. It does not vary in volume when you play with the volume knob, so I suspect there is something wrong with the preamp stage. I doubt that it was a cold solder because the soldering joints were all beautifully done. The crackling goes away for a while if you leave the unit to burn-in for many hours. However, it will come back after a few days. So, I suspect one of the tubes the PH300 used in the preamp stage was faulty.
 
I sent it back and received a new unit. Unfortunately, the new unit has the same problem with the right channel! So in the end, I sent it back and exchanged it for a PH100. After running the PH100 for about a month, it is still running great and the sound is opening up after some burn in. It is a beautiful amp and I would recommend it.
 
I would not recommend the PH300 though. It uses a pair of Russian tubes at the preamp stage.Tubes being tubes, are finicky, even the most reliable ones. Unfortunately, these tubes are soldered in. So, there is no way to roll them if you get bad ones, other than desoldering and resoldering. I do not think that this is worth the trouble for most of us... even though it was quite unlucky of me to get 2 sets with bad tubes.
 
I think if we really want tubes, we should just buy a tube amp, like the Little Dot amp for example. If those tubes turn bad, just clean their contacts, or change them.
 
The seller (Wai Wai Valves) is top notch. Mr Wu, who runs the web service is super and I cannot say enough good things about him. He replaced the faulty amps very quickly. I just needed to send the faulty ones back to him.

 

[RazorJack]

Decent service indeed. Although they offered little to no help when I contacted them about my faulty PCD300A coax-out, other than "out of warranty, should work, open up and check connection". And it indeed turned out to be a loose wire... Simple fix.
Nice to hear your PH100 sounds good! Mine is sitting around collecting dust. The crackling noise is also sporadic, but a loud hum van be heard continuously, which makes the amp unusable.

Does yours also leak the signal from one input to the other, like I described in my previous post?

 

[jamescodway]

Hello all. No trouble yet for me... fingers crossed. It really is the best all-rounder I have. All my cans sound good and for some (DT770/80, DT48) it is the best. It seems I made a similar comment here 2 years a ago... !!!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/475918/shanling-ph100/15#post_6494343
 
Soundstage is somewhat narrow and resolution not the best but solid, robust and with authority.
 
 
Best
 
James

 

[nickwin]

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone compared the ph100 to the Matrix M stage?  I've been using ph100 with my k701s for a couple years now and have really enjoyed it.  I've got the upgrade bug though, and with all of the praise for the m stage k701 combo I' thinking about giving it a try.  I'm not really sure it will be an improvement though.

 

[Dexon]

Nickwin, i was in same boat like you. Used ph100 in office with K701 for years. I thought about m-stage and luckily my firend had one here locally so I've tried it for couple of days. It has somewhat wider soundstage and its bit more resolving in upper register but not so robust low end. Bit quicker also. Although, these improvement were marginal and it didn't made me purchase one for myself. I ended up with perhaps to space consuming for office use but really, to my ears at least, excellent unit Onkyo A-5VL. It is primary a speaker amp although i've never stumbled upon more potent headphone amp. Really! It destroys ph100, audiolab m-dac headphone out, nad c375bee headphone out and rega ear. Wide soundstage, holographic presentation and great headroom. It's not possible to find out actual power of the unit but according to sound I'm hearing would say it pushes at least 800mw to 62ohm and with super low floor noise.
 
Inside DAC is also very good. Warm and detailed and i have no urge to bring any other from home where I currently have 3 more. Only minor downside is its little bit V shaped balance wthin onkyo but thats can be noticed only with critical listening against far more expansive m-dac. 
 
So if you have chance to listen A-5VL before purchase do so. You might be surprised

 

[nickwin]

Quote:

Nickwin, i was in same boat like you. Used ph100 in office with K701 for years. I thought about m-stage and luckily my firend had one here locally so I've tried it for couple of days. It has somewhat wider soundstage and its bit more resolving in upper register but not so robust low end. Bit quicker also. Although, these improvement were marginal and it didn't made me purchase one for myself. I ended up with perhaps to space consuming for office use but really, to my ears at least, excellent unit Onkyo A-5VL. It is primary a speaker amp although i've never stumbled upon more potent headphone amp. Really! It destroys ph100, audiolab m-dac headphone out, nad c375bee headphone out and rega ear. Wide soundstage, holographic presentation and great headroom. It's not possible to find out actual power of the unit but according to sound I'm hearing would say it pushes at least 800mw to 62ohm and with super low floor noise.
 
Inside DAC is also very good. Warm and detailed and i have no urge to bring any other from home where I currently have 3 more. Only minor downside is its little bit V shaped balance wthin onkyo but thats can be noticed only with critical listening against far more expansive m-dac. 
 
So if you have chance to listen A-5VL before purchase do so. You might be surprised

Wow, great to hear from someone who has experience with both, and even with the same headphones.  So in summary, the ph100 had a little fuller bass but the m stage has a little more high end detail?  Did you feel like the m stage was slightly better overall or pretty much even?  I'll have to check that Onkyo out, that sounds very interesting.  A little bit surprising actually, none of the Onkyo HT gear I've owned really stood out in terms of sound quality. 

 

[Dexon]

Quote:

So in summary, the ph100 had a little fuller bass but the m stage has a little more high end detail?  Did you feel like the m stage was slightly better overall or pretty much even?  I'll have to check that Onkyo out, that sounds very interesting.  A little bit surprising actually, none of the Onkyo HT gear I've owned really stood out in terms of sound quality. 

 
I wouldn't say fuller, rather tighter. I guess that's coming from the fact that shanling has a bit more power than matrix and that's always hearable trough AKGs. I listen mostly classical music and strings definitely have a bit more body with ph100. Mids are also completely grain free on ph100 but less resolved. Still if I had to choose one i guess it would be m-stage but not enough so to pay extra and wait delivery from HK. I went to local dealer to hear onkyo on derbigpr suggestion since the store it's only 1km from my home, was skeptic but made a purchase the same day Still very satisfied after a month of daily usage. 

 

[nickwin]

Quote:

 
I wouldn't say fuller, rather tighter. I guess that's coming from the fact that shanling has a bit more power than matrix and that's always hearable trough AKGs. I listen mostly classical music and strings definitely have a bit more body with ph100. Mids are also completely grain free on ph100 but less resolved. Still if I had to choose one i guess it would be m-stage but not enough so to pay extra and wait delivery from HK. I went to local dealer to hear onkyo on derbigpr suggestion since the store it's only 1km from my home, was skeptic but made a purchase the same day Still very satisfied after a month of daily usage. 

Interesting.  So in your opinion the Onkyo is flat out a better headphone amp than both the ph100 or m stage?  I might have to see if I can demo one if that's the case.

 

[Dexon]

Quote:

Interesting.  So in your opinion the Onkyo is flat out a better headphone amp than both the ph100 or m stage?  I might have to see if I can demo one if that's the case.

To my ears, yes. Even if it didn't have decent onboard DAC it would be better buy for me since customs fees are very high here and I would need pay almost 280eur for m-stage which is only 70 less than i paid for onkyo which is clearly better sounding to me. Off course, you should check it for yourself, it's always big chance we hear things differently.