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What are you guys using with your CIEMs in terms of AMP/DAC? I have a Leckerton UHA-6II I use at home but I'm looking to start bringing that to work and getting something else for home use. Curious at what other people are pairing with Heir IEMs, specifically the 4.A.
I alternate most often between the Leckerton UHA-6S (1st generation, stock op-amp) and the RSA SR-71B (single-ended connection for now, a balanced cable in a couple weeks). At home my preferred amp for IEMs is the Violectric HPA-V100.
The Leckerton provides the most balanced sound from low to high, rich with detail but maybe the least pronounced soundstage of the three. The RSA provides a smoother sound in a larger, more dramatic space; it's tempting to call it tube-like, but it doesn't actually share the midrange and tonal characteristics of a stereotypical tube amp. The Violectric is hardest to compare directly, since I also use different source equipment with it than with the portable amps, and there is a crossfeed in the signal chain. But taken as a whole, the home system with the Violectric and the 4.A strikes a balance between the two portable amps; less of a bass emphasis than the RSA but maybe providing a bit more physicality to it; the most PRaT of all and a nearly infinite sense of detail, but not in an attention-getting way as maybe the Leckerton has from time to time.
Of the three, the Leckerton is a flat-out bargain, at less than half the price of the next-cheapest of these. It is almost faultless; you can only take issue with it simply not sounding like you want an amp to sound, or because as a portable amp it's simply inadequate for a given headphone's requirements.
Any one of these would make you happy. They are each keepers, and they complement each other well, not only with the 4.A but a broad range of full-size headphones, too.
