[erikzen]

I've finally had the opportunity to listen the amp. Of the amps I've recently had in rotation, the Porta Corda MKII and the XP-7, I'd put the sound quality of the SuperMacro V3 somewhere between the two.

The PC lives in the midrange. Music is fluid and sweet but somewhat flat. There is little in the way of decay especially on the high end. Bass is tight but somewhat one dimensional.

The SuperMacro extends the frequency response. It adds bottom to the bass and adds some sparkle to the high end. It also adds a lot of dimension to the music, giving it the "air" that the amp seems to be becoming famous for. I guess this is what Xin refers to as "macro hall sound". It falls a bit short in that the bass seems to be strong and slamming but not quite as tight as I might like it. It's almost as if kick drums and other low frequency information have a touch of reverb added. The high end is detailed but is a bit "crunchy" and could be a bit smoother.

The XP-7 takes the small problems of the SuperMacro and irons them out. Bass is full, but tighter; highs are well represented but smoothed out without loss of detail. In terms of soundstage I think these two amps are about on par.

Keep in mind that a new XP-7 goes for $500, does not run off wall power unless you buy a separate $200 power supply, cannot recharge internal batteries, and is not anywhere near as portable as a SuperMacro. It is however a superb amp and for the SuperMacro to be this close to it, is remarkable.

Please understand also that these are brief impressions. I've listened to 2 cds and only used one set of headphones - the HD 25-1. The amp has had no time whatsoever to burn in, so bass may tighten up and the high end may smooth out a bit. However, "out of the box" the amp sounds fantastic and will probably get better with time.

 

[jamato8]

The V3 needs about 200 hours of run-in to form the caps and to develop the full potential of the bass "slam". The amp totally changes, in my opinion, after break in of the dialetrics, caps and opamps (more so than most amps I have heard as I was not sure about the imaging and bass at first).


John

 

[erikzen]

I'm looking forward to the improvements and once burn-in is complete I might slip in a pair of 8610's

 

[goto2003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 I still like the 3D of the 627 but the 8610 is no slouch and throws a nice wide stage. John

I tried both in my V1 and AD8610's did have a wider sound but not so deep as 627's. 627's are also darker than 8610's, but sound more transparent than AD8610's. But I really like the synergy between AD8610's and HD600. 600 tends to be kind of lack in mid and boring when listening to pop. AD8610's bright mid adds more lives to HD600, IMO.

 

[jamato8]

I would have to agree with your assessment. I am listening to Dire Straits, "Brothers in Arms", and it is great! Very good bass and dynamics with a wide soundstage but not as deep as the 627 but just as enjoyable.

I am using the HD650's right now with my portable system. Taking up about 6 by 12 inches for the whole set-up on my desk is a nice plus.

John

 

[goto2003]

Thanks for your recommendation, John. I got a Sony D-EJ1000 from ebay. I hope Xin could work out a DAC before mid June.

 

[jamato8]

I would go here: http://www.sysconcept.ca/product_inf...roducts_id=254 for the optical toslink. I would email to get the length you want. I have 8, 15, 24 and some other length in mini to mini and toslink to mini. I use the 10 inch mini to mini for portable use most of the time as it is the most versatile.

John

 

[goto2003]

A thread in Portable said that the G-protection of Sony D-EJ1000 would be automatically shut off whenever using optical out. Is it true?

Another stupid question

: A mini to toslink optical cable is supposed to work between a desktop DVD and a portable DAC? If I want to use both my DVD and Sony D-EJ1000, should I get two cables, one mini-to-mini, and one toslink-to-mini? Thanks.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

A thread in Portable said that the G-protection of Sony D-EJ1000 would be automatically shut off whenever using optical out. Is it true?

No, I can shake rattle and roll my player and get no skip but you do have the option of using two ranges of G protection, of which I use the shortest. If I am wrong about the skip protection then the player doesn't need it in the first place as I can not get it to skip with the optical out.

You will need two lines. One toslink to mini and one mini to mini. I would get the toslink a couple of feet long so you can easily place the dac from the dvd player where you want it. There is no loss in signal.

The 8610 is really settling in. This opamp kicks some serious #@s. If you want hyper fast solid bass this is the way to go! Listening to: Dire Straits "on every street" with modified Portapros, Monica II dac. The sun is shining in through the window, high clouds, blue sky, breezy, cool outside and I'm kickin back with Dire Straits doin' the tunes.

John

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 The 8610 is really settling in. This opamp kicks some serious #@s. If you want hyper fast solid bass this is the way to go! Listening to: Dire Straits "on every street" with modified Portapros, Monica II dac. John

I've got to put mine in, but I want to get used to the stock opamps first so I can really notice the difference. Currently, I have the 8610s in the XP-7 and a set of AD797s on the side.

Maybe we should start a seperate SuperMacro opamp rolling thrad.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Maybe we should start a seperate SuperMacro opamp rolling thrad

With all of the choices, different perspectives would be interesting. I know these 8610's are really rocking: much more so than in the V1.

John

 

[erikzen]

You've definitely got me curious about the 8610s now. Did you find them to be somewhat dull, relatively speaking, in the V1? That was the finding of a few NYC Head-Fiers at the November meet.

 

[jamato8]

Yes, that is how I found the 8610 in the V1. But the V3 uses a different setup for the opamps and I can really tell. I have left it running now for about 8 hours and after coming back home I can hear more of a change. It has a very, very open, detailed and liquid sound. It sounds like some nice triode tubes I have used. Time will tell if it sticks or not but it definitely has a different sound.

John

 

[erikzen]

I've noticed over the past couple of hours that the soundstage seems to have collapsed a bit and the sound has relaxed. I'm sure it's just a temporary change and the sound will open up again. Or maybe I'm just getting tired.

 

[jamato8]

I find this a very common occurance, with many audio items. I found the V3 to take some time to really shine and it will close in for a while. As I have posted I found that around 200 hours was needed for it to totally open up and had nice changes around 100 hours.

On Dire Straits the 8610's are creating a huge open venue. I can't stop listening and it's time for Johnny to go to bed! :^)

John