Quote:
Originally Posted by philodox
It sounds like the hornet was a big hit. Any direct comparisons to the headroom micro amp?
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I think several of us (including myself) compared the two. As mentioned before, I focused primarily on portable equipment on Saturday. Following are the results of a shootout between the Hornet, SR-71, Headroom Micro Amp (standard module), and my old Porta Corda MkII, using Shure E4's and my Super.fi 5 Pro's, with my iPod/SiK ram din as a source. All amps were tested on battery power.
Hornet
When I first saw this tiny amp, I was a bit skeptical that it could even compete with my Porta Corda, let alone some of the portable powerhouses out there. I was shocked at the sound that eminated from it. Big, tight bass, liquid smooth midrange, and fast, energetic highs (perhaps just a shade too bright with the E4's, but only on some source material). The soundstage and imaging were amazingly real, and instruments were given plenty of room to stretch out and be heard individually. I kept looking for the hidden umbilical tying the Hornet to one of Ray's bigger amps
... The in-built gain switch was a welcome touch, and internal battery charging capability just sweetened the deal. Ray has got a winner here IMO.
SR-71
A bit more laid back than the Hornet, with a solid presentation that was particularly suited to acoustic jazz. The bass did feel a trifle heavy with my 5 Pro's, and I now understand the comments that the Super.fi's are voiced for too much low frequency, somewhat to the detriment of the highs. That said, I really liked the amp with E4's, and found myself coming back to this combination time and time again. The positive buzz about the SR is well earned. High frequencies were particularly smooth and balanced, with zero harshness on even the poorest recordings, and the midrange was absolutely addicting. So full and round. I could definitely see myself taking a very long trip with this amp, immersed in sweet music the whole time.
Headroom Micro Amp
I'm a Headroom amp user from back in the mid 90's. Build quality and ergonomics on all their products has always been impressive, and the Micro is no exception. It just feels 'right' in your hand, although it is larger then the SR-71 and PC MkII (and of course the diminutive Hornet...). Tyll mentioned that he considers this (and many) amp(s) to be "transportable", and feels that as soon as you can't fit your source
and amp into your pockets, it's no longer a true portable solution. I see his point, but of course we audio nuts will put up with more bulk on the go than the average music lover, as long as it nets the sound we're looking for. Speaking of which, I was very impressed with the Micro sound signature, and found it to be perhaps the most balanced of all the offerings here. There was no aspect of the sound that really stood out, and I mean that as a big compliment. I listened to it with my usual battery of test tracks, from massed choral works to Rammstein, and it handled each with utter competence. Bass presentation was the most 'polite' of the three, with attack and decay characteristics seeming perhaps a bit attenuated, but nothing that would knock it out of competition. The switchable gain is again a nice feature.
Porta Corda MkII
When I first got this amp, I was impressed by how much it improved over my old Airhead, and thought I'd finally found a cure for upgradeitis. Well, that worked for a while, at least until this Saturday... compared to the other three amps, the PC is outclassed in a number of catagories. Soundstage felt congested, bass had much lighter impact (perhaps why I hadn't commented before on the Super.fi's being too bass heavy), and there was a distinct lack of treble 'sparkle'. The PC is a competent amp, don't get me wrong, I just don't feel it has the right credentials when placed up against this assemblage of world-class equipment. Now I just have to figure out which of the three conteders to replace it with
Conclusions
I feel that the Hornet has a slight advantage, followed closely by the Micro and SR-71 in a dead heat. That said, if I end up buying Shure E4's, I might be happier with the SR-71 or Micro, given the Hornet's treble energy. The Headroom only lags because of its larger form factor, which would possibly force me to go to a larger carry case for my rig. If any of the three dropped on my doorstep tomorrow, I'd be a very happy man.
