Three New Amps on Preorder from Audio-GD (C-2 11th Anniversary Edition, NFB-1AMP, NFB-3AMP)

[thecrow]

It is not about being unaware of duties and taxes in Canada, or that I didnt do research of how things are. I am just sick and tired of paying way more for things in this country.

Move to China - the freight charge will be less. Just sayin’

 

[393699]

How about we talk about these awesome amps ? I left my C-2 2017 Edition running with music going all night, and all day today. The amp now has 22-24 hours of use on it. Changes are already easily noticeable. Bass has tightened up somewhat, and is even more defined than out of the box. Soundstage and imaging are showing the greatest improvement. There is an increase in width and depth. Instruments are more layered, and additional details are becoming more present. Guitar and vocals are starting to go more up front. I am really impressed with this amp. It does not sound like a 500 US dollar level unit. It performs like an amp costing double that amount.

 

[393699]

I left the C-2 amp running with music going all night long, and all day again today. It must have about 40 hours use on it now. The slightly rolled off upper treble I was hearing out of the box is no longer there. Things have opened up in the highest upper frequencies quite nicely. The slight warmth in the mids is still present. It makes music sound fantastic. Audible distortion on this amp is non-existent. There is no harshness, clicks, pops, or grain. The amp just lets you enjoy the music as it was meant to be heard. This is just an incredible headphone amp. The upgrade from my previous M-Stage HPA-2 is drastic. It pairs extremely well with my Nightowl Carbon and Amiron Home headphones. More people need to get themselves either the NFB1 or C-2. It is too good to pass up. I seriously doubt you can find another headphone amp better at 500 US. The power output on this puppy is just immense. On my Amiron Home, using high gain, it is loud on newer albums at only 25-28 volume. I love the volume control on this amp. Sometimes you are listening to something, and you want the volume just one number higher. It is great that it allows this, so you can finely tune the level to an exact amount. I am beyond impressed.

 

[FredA]

I left the C-2 amp running with music going all night long, and all day again today. It must have about 40 hours use on it now. The slightly rolled off upper treble I was hearing out of the box is no longer there. Things have opened up in the highest upper frequencies quite nicely. The slight warmth in the mids is still present. It makes music sound fantastic. Audible distortion on this amp is non-existent. There is no harshness, clicks, pops, or grain. The amp just lets you enjoy the music as it was meant to be heard. This is just an incredible headphone amp. The upgrade from my previous M-Stage HPA-2 is drastic. It pairs extremely well with my Nightowl Carbon and Amiron Home headphones. More people need to get themselves either the NFB1 or C-2. It is too good to pass up. I seriously doubt you can find another headphone amp better at 500 US. The power output on this puppy is just immense. On my Amiron Home, using high gain, it is loud on newer albums at only 25-28 volume. I love the volume control on this amp. Sometimes you are listening to something, and you want the volume just one number higher. It is great that it allows this, so you can finely tune the level to an exact amount. I am beyond impressed.

Yes, your talking small increments and perfect left-right balance. And almost silent operation through the headphones. This feature is great. Love the grainless character of the treble. With old record that have saturation distorsion, you can so clearly hear it, meaning the amp is reveiling and faithful. The noise floor is also very low.

 

[393699]

In terms of headphones and amps, this is it for me. The Burr-Brown PCM1794 DAC on my sound card is pairing quite nicely with the C-2 as well. My sound card was upgraded with Burson Audio V6 Vivid opamps previously, which also provided some great sonic improvements.

 

[FredA]

In terms of headphones and amps, this is it for me. The Burr-Brown PCM1794 DAC on my sound card is pairing quite nicely with the C-2 as well. My sound card was upgraded with Burson Audio V6 Vivid opamps previously, which also provided some great sonic improvements.

Being slighly warm, it will go well with anything neutral, slightly warm or slightly bright IMO. Some nights, i get slightly hard treble through my loudspeakers. I then get the hp on, cause it's never harsh through the nfb-1amp.

 

[FredA]

And one more thing, it makes the bass of the he-560 ABSOLUTELY perfect. Never heard bass that good on speakers actually.

 

[393699]

I have not tested out the pre-amp section on the C-2 yet. I might try it out tonight. I will say though that the C-2 is revealing abilities in my Amiron Home that the M-Stage was just not capable of offering.

 

[393699]

I am in 100 percent agreement as well regarding the signature of this amp. Smooth, yet extremely transparent is the name of the game with its performance. It is highly addicting, and you can listen to music for hours without needing a break.

 

[FredA]

I have not tested out the pre-amp section on the C-2 yet. I might try it out tonight. I will say though that the C-2 is revealing abilities in my Amiron Home that the M-Stage was just not capable of offering.

Excellent hp always scale up with the amp and everything. The C-2 and nfb-1amp also are very good preamps. I did an a to b with my Master-1. The Master-1 has slightly better sounstaging and is more laid back. They are amazingly close, but i prefer the Master-1.

 

[393699]

Indeed, I am aware. Kingwa sent me an email yesterday, and suggested that I upgrade the power cord as well. He stated that it has already been proven that a 14 gauge cable will improve upper frequency response and transparency on the C-2 and NFB1 even further. Perhaps I will do that at some point.

 

[FredA]

Indeed, I am aware. Kingwa sent me an email yesterday, and suggested that I upgrade the power cord as well. He stated that it has already been proven that a 14 gauge cable will improve upper frequency response and transparency on the C-2 and NFB1 even further. Perhaps I will do that at some point.

I do have upgraded cords on all my gears. They make a difference, but more so with the bigger audi-gd equipments that have 3 transformers, with these, the bass is also upgraded. It's with their dacs that the diifference is the biggest.

 

[393699]

I have not opened up the C-2 yet. I am curious what opamps have been used in it. I might take a look later.

 

[FredA]

I have not opened up the C-2 yet. I am curious what opamps have been used in it. I might take a look later.

You have to unscrew the relay boards i think, or at least on nfb-1amp cause there are two side by side.

In your amp, they can't be swapped easily, they are not on sockets anymore. In mine, not sure. They should be on sockets. Kingwa usually use the opa2134.

 

[393699]

A great replacement for OPA2134 are LME49720, LME49860, or LME49170HA metal cans. All 3, especially the metal cans, are a great improvement.