[MacedonianHero]

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i think if you had made yourself clearer by saying you didn't like it because the amp was too transparent that it allowed you to hear how crappy your iPhone sounded, then you would not be shot down

Exactly my experience. I haven't been so able to zoom into the differences with my sources/dacs as I have with this amp. With all of my previous amps, dacs/sources sounded very far more similar. 

 

[palmfish]

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The 3 year wait tends to color perceptions.

 I love how the GSX was wire with a gain-now the mkII is...more so? But yeah when people who claim it fills out the bass for the HD800, fixes the treble, yadda yadda...it's colored.
 
-Daniel

 
In 60 years, the original GS-X will be worth 10X more than the MkII because it's more rare and sounds better.

 

[MacedonianHero]

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In 60 years, the original GS-X will be worth 10X more than the MkII because it's more rare and sounds better.

I've owned both at the same time and A-B'd both directly. With the new Dynalo+ modules on the older GS-X they are pretty close for sure with highly efficient headphones like the TH-900s or Grados, no doubt to my ears. With the HD800s, the MKII is slightly better with a bit more detail and slightly imaging. With the LCD-3s, the MKII is definitely better by a wider margin.

 

[BournePerfect]

Hey Peter-got any hi-rez shots of the GSX silver? Is it just the faceplate, or the whole unit on yours?
 
-Daniel

 

[MacedonianHero]

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Hey Peter-got any hi-rez shots of the GSX silver? Is it just the faceplate, or the whole unit on yours?
 
-Daniel

Actually mine is black. My old GS-X was silver (all silver).

 

[RedBull]

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However, saying the GS-X provides a clear window into the recording, is transparent, is uncolored, is wire-with-gain is complete bull schmit. It's a myth you shouldn't believe, and it's a myth that for some inexplicable reason has been perpetrated for way way too long now. Every amp I've heard is colored, and the GS-X definitely has a certain sound signature. That being said, I was very impressed with the GS-X mk2. But I wouldn't touch one of those with an HD800 without Anax mods - mainly because the HD800 is problematic in certain ways. And I'd probably run a NOS or ladder DAC with the GS-X as well. Now I absolutely loved the HE-500 from the GS-X, but that's another story.

 
Quote:

The 3 year wait tends to color perceptions.

 I love how the GSX was wire with a gain-now the mkII is...more so? But yeah when people who claim it fills out the bass for the HD800, fixes the treble, yadda yadda...it's colored.

 
Yes yes, all amps are definitely have its own sound, no such thing as wire with gain.
 
Whenever I play with this amp, I always have 'this' and the other amp have 'that' sound, same to DAC, headphone, even HD800 too.

 

[jcx]

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...It's a myth you shouldn't believe, and it's a myth that for some inexplicable reason has been perpetrated for way way too long now. Every amp I've heard is colored...

 
its a shame - you could have funded your system to the tune of US$10k by showing you could really hear the difference between a few of these "all amps definitely have own sound" - Clark's challenge is no longer open but none claimed it in a decade
 
the rules should be well known - neither amp clipping (not hard with HD800 - can be driven with common op amps to over 120 dB SPL), frequency response matched to 0.1 dB over audio range (many pairing of SS amps already meet this criteria)
 
output impedance padding and frequency response EQing done before comparison when one amp is clearly colored to begin with - say comparing tube vs SS
 
 
then just "ears only" listening - meaning level matching, Double Blind - no using knowledge of brand, bling factor, audiophile community rep - just your ears, music and the 2 unlabeled amps
 
its amazing how much of what audiophiles "know", "night and day" differences fall away under these conditions
 
 
now some amps are colored, sometimes deliberately - but if you can't distinguish between some $200 amp with a few dollars of response shaping, impedance padding parts and a $2k amp in controlled listening?
 
 
Stereophile's professional reviewers failed the "Carver Challenge" - with their own choice of SOTA tube amp, their speakers, their music, in their listening room vs Carver's tweaked $600 SS amp
 
 
Blind testing can be debated in the Sound Science forum - this post is not debating Blind testing - just indicating why some still believe many amp differences are smaller than claimed by high end audiophile marketing, easily EQ'd into inaudibility

 

[purrin]

Yadda, yadda, yadda. We all know all amps sound the same and all we need is the Objective 2. Not sure what your point is, especially in the context of current conversation of this thread.

 

[jcx]

just that there is some evidence that most "amp color" isn't mysterious, worth 10-20x price differentials, 6 mo to yr long waits
 
nor is the O2 my favorite amp topology  - Class A outputs bias is too cheap to not use for HD800 load - and the GedLee Metric, looking for low level crossover distortion deep into the noise floor test would support using Class A outputs
 
there are very few that literally say "all amps sound alike" - that is a Straw Man argument

 

[purrin]

LOL, why didn't you just say that in the first place.

 

[scolaiw]

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just that most "amp color" isn't mysterious, worth 10-20x price differentials, 6 mo to yr long waits

Are you kidding? I'd willingly wait a decade and pay thousands just to get my custom fuschia coloured amp. Although maybe I should consider cerulean (I hear it's in season atm) but you could never go wrong with a nice chartreuse or canary yellow. 

AMP COLOUR MAKES A DIFFERENCE. 

 

[Stalker81598]

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Are you kidding? I'd willingly wait a decade and pay thousands just to get my custom fuschia coloured amp. Although maybe I should consider cerulean (I hear it's in season atm) but you could never go wrong with a nice chartreuse or canary yellow. 

AMP COLOUR MAKES A DIFFERENCE. 

 
Absolutely. I've found that black amps have far better detail and dynamics than silver colored amps. 

 

[wink]

I find that blue pilot lamps/LEDs make the amp more detailed/sterile sounding than red pilot lamps/LEDs which sound more fun/fuzzy/mellow.
 
YMMV tremendously......

 

[kazsud]

No haters here...I'll be ordering one after my Leviathan arrives (it deserves a nice stand-zing!).
 
-Daniel

 
What exactly is the Eddie Current Leviathan? It's not on his site

 

[Golfnutz]

Quote:

 
What exactly is the Eddie Current Leviathan? It's not on his site

Try google...