[wharfrat1]

I will be receiving my Cullen IV Mods DL III on Friday. Now assuming that I much prefer the sound of it (I'm feeling pretty good here) to my HR Max Dac, I will be in the market for a new SS Amp/Preamp to compliment my Raptor. I'm looking for all of the good SS qualities: transparency, great speed, nice impact throughout the sound spectrum.

Currently, I listen to my Raptor about 85% of the time, and I don't expect that to change. I like having a good SS amp to mix thing up every now and again. I do really like my HR Maxxed (or Ultra) Desktop. But I figure I could sell the desktop and dps, go out and get an amp only (GS-1, FET-A, etc.) and have a few bucks leftover to bribe my wife with.

So far, I've researched the FET-A and GS-1, and both look like great products. I want to see what else is out there, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

You can see my cans, interconnects, etc. in my sig. I will most likely trial out the HD 800's sometime before the end of the year. I listen mainly to classic rock, jazz, blues, etc. Shoot some names at me. I've got all night to do some research

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[peanuthead]

I've listened to FET-A, and I really liked it, although I wish it had a lower gain setting, especially for Grado cans.
I currently use GS-1 with DACT and also owned the Headroom Ultra Desktop briefly, and I don't remember them sounding significantly different from each other..both are fast, detailed, transparent and surprisingly warm. I never got to do a head-to-head comparison though. I personally would be happy with either as my main amp.

Edit: I don't know what the current wait time for a new GS-1 is, but several folks here had to wait much longer than the quoted 8 weeks to receive their amp.

 

[Cankin]

Have you ever considered some DIY offerings like M^3 or Beta22? You can commission some professional DIYer's to build you one at about that price range.

 

[wharfrat1]

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely have noticed the threads about how long some have had to wait for their Headamp amps. It is something that I will consider, but the GS-1 has a lot of what I'm looking for.

I have considered going the B22 or M3 route. I do plan on looking further into those, but I want to look at as many options as possible.