[bahamaman]

My new Supermono arrived yesterday! I ordered the intermediate model (without the four switches) and upgraded to the OPA637s and triple stacked buffers. I would undertake a full review but, in all honesty, I lack the breadth of experience for it to be of any signifcant value. So, some brief observations are all I can offer. My source is an iPod with files ripped at 192 AAC. Headphones used are Senn HD595, Senn PX100, and Ultimate Ears UE-5c.

Size: OK, you know this, but this guy is very tiny (a touch smaller than my Ivan Castano built mint cmoy!).

Build: Very solid, would easily stand up to portable use.

Faceplate: Given its diminutive size, you would expect the front to be crowded, and it is. Depending upon the size of your headphone jack, the "power on" button might be difficult to reach. Volume nob is nicely done, and very smooth in its operation.

Rear Plate: Easy to access interior, just loosen two screws. Eight AAA batteries go in nicely and, given their tight fit, they don't move around.

Sound: My first impressions: extremely low noise floor, gobs of energetic detail, tight, tight bass. It's the detail and energy that has me most excited. I'm re-listening to recording after recording in search of nuances that never revealed themselves before.

I also find that the Supermono helps clean up some congestion that I had begun to experience with my equipment. It demonstrates an excellent ability to separate instruments and array them appropriately across the soundstage while still presenting the music as a coherent whole.

To go beyond these limited observations would require delving into matters that my limited comptetence does not permit. I look forward to a more experienced head-fi'er receiving and reviewing this exceptional little amp!

 

[AuroraProject]

I'd be interested in hearing about real world battery life. Did you get silver or black? Care to share any pictures?

 

[goto2003]

Congratulations! I hope to get mine by the end of this month. But I wonder if you are using rechargable batteries? If yes, are you using internal recharge feature? What's the voltage of your AC adapter?

Thanks

 

[nanahachi]

It's nice to hear that Xin is still churning out fantastic little amps, but ever more so that people are appreciating them.

Congrats on your new amp! I'm interested on your thoughts with it and your iPod. I'm running my iPod unamped most of the time, and while I won't be able to upgrade my old school supermini for a long while, its always nice to live vicariously.

 

[bahamaman]

AuroraProject - I got the silver. Ever since I saw photos on www.fixup.net of the two (before Xin removed all such info from his website's forum), I knew that was where my preferences lay. As far as pictures, I've got a digital camera but have no clue how to get them on head-fi. I'll email you a couple of them if you'd like to see (or help me post them!).

Also, right now I'm using 8 Duracells but I've got some rechargeables coming soon (so I'm not sure I'll ever getting around to testing battery life).

goto2003 - I asked Xin about the AC adapter. I don't know if this answers your question, but here is a recent exchange between us:

I asked him: "Finally, into what do you plug the AC adapter?* That is, do you have to remove the back (and if so, where does it go)?"

Xin replied "Use the tiniest plug; the tiny hole on the left is the DC-in jack. Set the AC adapter to 9V or 12V, center positive and 110V."

Also goto, Xin offered some of the following additional information about this little, mighty amp:

"SuperMono has extremely low distortion (0.0005%), noise level
(-100dB) and channel crosstalk (-95dB), far lower than any amp you've
seen. It ought to offer far more details than any amp can.

It's punchy as well, as it does not use any more feedback to achieve
above, plus stacked open-loop bufferes each capable of 250mA juice!
Sorry if this is too techinical

, just remember it is smaller than any
amp, but nothing less inside - performance, power or feature wise."

Gotta go for now!

 

[nanahachi]

for posting photos go to a hosting server such as
http://www.imageshack.us/

put your photos up there, then post here using the "link image" button

 

[AuroraProject]

These are bahamamans photos, I'm just hosting them for him.

Looks nice, smaller than I thought it would be.

 

[Gregor]

bahamaman: How did you decide on the OPA637s and triple stacked buffers?

 

[bahamaman]

Gregor - The 637 was Xin's favorite, by a pretty wide margin in fact. He liked its ability to render great detail especially.

The problem initially was that I had requested he set the Supermono's gain low (at 5, if I remember) to match my mostly low impedence headphones (the PX100 at 32 ohms and the UE's at 25). At that point he said that the only option was the 627. The 637s are apparently unstable when the gain is set low.

I finally decided on having him set the gain higher so as to be able to go the route of the 637s. Before the Supermono arrived, I did have concerns that the higher gain level might generate some noticeable hiss, but that hasn't been a problem.

Though of course I haven't compared the two, my impressions of the 637s confirm Xin's belief that they are superior at delivering wonderful detail.

 

[Zanth]

I have just finished a really rough week at work and wanted to get a review up of the Supermono earlier this week but it will end up being posted tomorrow or early next week. Mine looks a bit different, I have the same opamps and buffers but I have all the switches for maximum flexibility.

 

[goto2003]

Looks so beautiful!! I love it.

 

[Jahn]

so he went with the engraved lettering instead of silkscreen - i approve, much more subtle and beautiful. but the screws in the back still look a tad more frankenstein than the SR-71's wheels.

 

[Gregor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bahamaman The problem initially was that I had requested he set the Supermono's gain low (at 5, if I remember) to match my mostly low impedence headphones (the PX100 at 32 ohms and the UE's at 25). At that point he said that the only option was the 627. The 637s are apparently unstable when the gain is set low.

Bahamaman: Was the 637 an upgrade? When I mailed Xin he said they come with the OPA134. What is the OPA134?

 

[Romanee]

Very nice. Great placement of the volume control - away from the cables. Really anticipating hearing it in a few weeks.

 

[bahamaman]

Gregor - the OPA134 is the standard, both the 627s and 637s are upgrades, either of which adds $50 (remember, given the mono design, there are two op amps in each unit).

For someone with some DIY ability, I have read that you can order the standard 134 and go to www.ti.com and request free samples of the upgraded op amps and replace the stock op amps yourself. IIRC, one has to purchase the intermediate Supermono ($249.99) to be able to this (that is, there is no op amp rolling in the base SM). These foregoing observations are just my vague recollections, email Xin for the particulars.