[Bollinote]

I have a few questions about the 846.
When people recommends Weston tips to be the best ( better bass...) they mean the foam or silicone ones?
Also the Protector amp  with Headphone lounge balanced cables are a good hi end option for my FIIO X5.
Any better option ( amp, cable)
thank you in advance.

 

[spook76]

I have a few questions about the 846.
When people recommends Weston tips to be the best ( better bass...) they mean the foam or silicone ones?
Also the Protector amp  with Headphone lounge balanced cables are a good hi end option for my FIIO X5.
Any better option ( amp, cable)
thank you in advance.

They usually mean the silicone tips. As for better amp, owing the RSA Protector, Lightning and Intruder I would recommend the Lightning or SR.-71B as an better pairing to the 8s. The Protector has a warm "tube like" sound while great with some headphones is not a great pairing to the 8s.

I think the Intruder is best of the RSA portable amp family but only if you have a digital line out so you can utilize the DAC of the Intruder. While limited to 24/48 the romantic (a description from MCoupe I wholeheartedly agree with) Burr Brown DAC is beautiful to hear.

Of course if your budget allows it is difficult to top Sauron's one amp forged in the fires of Mount Doom...the Chord Hugo.

 

[Poimandres]

Are you sure it is a burr brown? I thought the dac was not known.

 

[spook76]

Are you sure it is a burr brown? I thought the dac was not known.

As sure as asking Ray Samuels on the phone could make me.

I just had my Intruder DAC upgraded by Ray in January free of cost. Instead of selling a new Intruder II and charging more Ray upgrades all of the Intruders free of cost. Heck, he even upgraded my Lightning at the same time also free of cost. Ray Samuels is one of kind in this audio world.

 

[Poimandres]

Well there. So much for that. Which burr brown is it? You have peaked my interest.

 

[spook76]

Well there. So much for that. Which burr brown is it? You have peaked my interest.

That is do not know but if you are interested here is his contact information: http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/contact

A splendid gentleman to deal with and I cannot recommend RSA highly enough obviously owning three of his amplifiers.

 

[Poimandres]

What other amps have you heard? I am especially curious to see a comparison from the intruder to the portaphile 627, amp only of course. Are there any released specs on the intruder?

What other amps/dacs do you find pair well with the 846?

 

[spook76]

I can recommend both the F-35 Lightning and the SR-71B. I would not recommend the Intruder if you are only looking for an amp save your money. If you are committed to balanced (only balanced output) the Lightning would be my pick with the 846 and $200 cheaper but with incredible detail. For versatility I recommend the SR-71B having both single and balanced outputs and $100 cheaper than the Intruder.

 

[Poimandres]

Do the 846 benefit from being balanced?

 

[Ivabign]

Do the 846 benefit from being balanced?

If the result of balanced output is more and cleaner power, I would have to think yes - I don't have an MMCX terminated in RSA at this time - although I might send a cable to Ted for just that purpose. I have 2 ALO balanced amps - the Island (24/192) & The International (24/96) - and Ted re-terminated one of my Headphone Lounge silver cables - my 2-pin IEMs have benefited....

 

[Poimandres]

Hello old friend how is my old Westone 4r holding up? How do you compare the 846 to the 4r and to the jh16 and 8a?

 

[olddude]

Do the 846 benefit from being balanced?

I'm sure (oops) hoping it does with my Moon cable and Pono.  

 

[Ivabign]

The custom W4R is still going gangbusters - lol. I am actually listening to it during the CustomArt demo tour - as a counterpoint to the 3BA & 2BA units - It holds its own in comparos - I hadn't listened to it for a few months and pulled it out - the bass shocked me - yes, shocked me. Now it doesn't hit like the 846 or JH16fp (or V8 or 8A for that matter) but it extends nicely down low. 

 

[jelt2359]

It is still going gangbusters - lol. I am actually listening to it during the CustomArt demo tour - as a counterpoint to the 3BA & 2BA units - It holds its own in comparos - I hadn't listened to it for a few months and pulled it out - the bass shocked me - yes, shocked me. Now it doesn't hit like the 846 or JH16fp (or V8 or 8A for that matter) but it extends nicely down low. 

Don't forget to check the polarity!

 

[Ivabign]

Don't forget to check the polarity!

Hey you , why I oughta....