[Mattuz]

I actually have a similar experience, when I asked about if they are going to stock the A90 before it got listed, they responded within an hour.

I don't want to call them out without evidence but it's hard to believe that audiophonics.fr haven't seen any messages about the A90 preorder mess they made.

I just would like to know which is the expected shipping time, I don't care if it is tomorrow or in a week, but at least they should make us know after the deadline they set expired

 

[Cat Music]

How much difference would there be between the A90 and the SP200 in sound quality? I'm just curious

 

[User00]

How much difference would there be between the A90 and the SP200 in sound quality? I'm just curious

Not much difference, really. The A90 is slightly less bright in the treble and it just sounds a bit more refined.

 

[Ra97oR]

I just would like to know which is the expected shipping time, I don't care if it is tomorrow or in a week, but at least they should make us know after the deadline they set expired

I have given up on ordering through audiophonics, they clearly don't want my business.

They have cancelled my order without a single word after I opened a PayPal dispute asking what is the situation with the order. They did not explain the situation, nor they did ask if I want my money back and simply cancelled my order wasting my time.

I guess if you have a hanging pre order with Audiophonics, cancelling it and ordering it elsewhere is the best way to do it. What a horrible experience.

 

[the machine]

I have given up on ordering through audiophonics, they clearly don't want my business.

They have cancelled my order without a single word after I opened a PayPal dispute asking what is the situation with the order. They did not explain the situation, nor they did ask if I want my money back and simply cancelled my order wasting my time.

I guess if you have a hanging pre order with Audiophonics, cancelling it and ordering it elsewhere is the best way to do it. What a horrible experience.

I'm not sure if you ordered through Audiophonics due to UK duties and taxes, as I'm unfamiliar with the system there, but in the US items under $800 are duty free from China. I ordered over eBay, taking advantage of 5% bonus bucks a few weeks back and got the 90 stack. D arrived last week, A came yesterday. Very impressed.

Ordering through eBay basically covered my local state charged sales tax. Unless Apos and Audiophonics were selling at a discount, or tax free, I didn't understand why people were buying through them rather than eBay during a 'bonus bucks period'. Like getting cash back at the end of it for the same price.

 

[the machine]

My initial impressions, D90 MQA A90

Excellent, effortless sound. Dead silent

I only listened for about an hour last night, and mostly tried out different headphones across a few recordings. Didn't try to perform any in-depth analysis comparing the sound against different amps or pick up nuances in specific songs. Just wanted to get an overall "feel" for how the amp sounded.

Since many people are familiar with 789, I'll try and compare to that, and for reference my 789 had been hooked up to a D70, which is boxed up so it may not be a completely fair comparison.

Focal Clear: Mid Gain - 11-1 The A90 for me is a touch warmer. It feels as if there is better sub bass extension. There is a bit more rumble on that low end, I do wish the Clears "hit" harder, but that's the price for open back and detailed. Pretty awesome combo here and I'm super happy with it.

Fostex TH-X00 Ebony: Mid Gain - 9-11 Dark gets bright. No, not sibilant, but sparkle. I've always found the Ebony to be a bass centric headphone with good mids and highs. This combo to me revealed more in the high end and added detail and clarity where I felt it wasn't as good before.

Campfire Andromeda: Low Gain - 7-8 Dead silent as I mentioned before. Due to the pandemic, my black label is locked in the office. I've sparingly used the Andro's right out of my laptop and a Fiio E18, and the hum produced is pretty much unbearable. With the A90, it is gone. The precision of these IEM's is amazing. Highs are so detailed, and while the bass can get slightly muddy at times, it is not an issue for me. I think Andro's get some flack from people, because they do not have them on the proper equipment, which can make them sound very bad. Not a hard IEM to drive, but seems to be very amp specific.

Again, these are just my experiences, according to my ears, which are not Golden Ears. YMMV. I don't really plan on doing much of a comparison to other products I own, because they are all going to be sold off. For me, this is end game.

 

[c4sadler]

How much difference would there be between the A90 and the SP200 in sound quality? I'm just curious

I have the sp200 and I'm going to get the A90. I bet they'll sound the same to my ears, but I'm switching because the A90 has more power.

 

[Cat Music]

I have the sp200 and I'm going to get the A90. I bet they'll sound the same to my ears, but I'm switching because the A90 has more power.

I thought the sp200 had enough power to move high impedance headphones, if the A90 has more power that means there are headphones that the sp200 cannot move?

 

[Mattuz]

I'm not sure if you ordered through Audiophonics due to UK duties and taxes, as I'm unfamiliar with the system there, but in the US items under $800 are duty free from China. I ordered over eBay, taking advantage of 5% bonus bucks a few weeks back and got the 90 stack. D arrived last week, A came yesterday. Very impressed.

Ordering through eBay basically covered my local state charged sales tax. Unless Apos and Audiophonics were selling at a discount, or tax free, I didn't understand why people were buying through them rather than eBay during a 'bonus bucks period'. Like getting cash back at the end of it for the same price.

Well here in Italy for everything over 22€ you pay the VAT, that is 23% of the product value. So 800 from outside EU means 984€ total. In addition, if you go higher than, if I remember correctly, 150€ you will pay a customs duty tax based on the typology of the product (electonics, food, etc), so 800 will easily become 1000.

 

[Ra97oR]

Well here in Italy for everything over 22€ you pay the VAT, that is 23% of the product value. So 800 from outside EU means 984€ total. In addition, if you go higher than, if I remember correctly, 150€ you will pay a customs duty tax based on the typology of the product (electonics, food, etc), so 800 will easily become 1000.

I have placed an order through Shenzhen Audio this time, I risk needing to pay import taxes but at least I know where my order is.

Can't wait to have it in my system, my speakers have been waiting for a good analogue balanced pre amp for a few years.

 

[Mattuz]

I have placed an order through Shenzhen Audio this time, I risk needing to pay import taxes but at least I know where my order is.

Can't wait to have it in my system, my speakers have been waiting for a good analogue balanced pre amp for a few years.

It seems that they will have them in stock at the beginning of next week as far as they said in a emai (they finally answered). I hope you get your A90 as soon as possible, as well as I hope it for myself!

 

[KPzypher]

Anyone preordered from audiophonics and have it shipped? I placed my preorder on the 7 May and yet to see anything from them.

They said it's shipping 30 May back then. =/

I ordered on the 18th of May, I wrote to them to add some items to my order that I forgot to buy the first time and they answered within 1 day, usually after 4/5 hours. I wrote about A90 and why they claimed 30/05 availability when I ordered it but instead it is still not available, and no one answered in 3 days...

I don't think it is entirely their fault, maybe Topping has something to do with it, but either way they should be more clear with their customers. I pre-ordered the product, if I knew I had to wait 15-25 days as it is NOW written on their website, I would have bought if elsewhere.

I just would like to know which is the expected shipping time, I don't care if it is tomorrow or in a week, but at least they should make us know after the deadline they set expired

I ordered the A/D 90 stack on 24 May from APOS and received them yesterday (3 Jun). That was the first time using APOS and i'm very pleased with their prompt service and good tracking info.

 

[the machine]

Well here in Italy for everything over 22€ you pay the VAT, that is 23% of the product value. So 800 from outside EU means 984€ total. In addition, if you go higher than, if I remember correctly, 150€ you will pay a customs duty tax based on the typology of the product (electonics, food, etc), so 800 will easily become 1000.

Yikes, that's a ton of tax.

 

[Mattuz]

Yikes, that's a ton of tax.

It's not so different for other EU member states as far as I remember (apart from VAT that changes, but it is still more than 10% on average)

 

[c4sadler]

I thought the sp200 had enough power to move high impedance headphones, if the A90 has more power that means there are headphones that the sp200 cannot move?

I think it can drive pretty much everything. This said I am planning to get a few 600ohm cans and I just want to have all the power.