HiFlight
Headphoneus Supremus
Below is what I posted following our Ft. Myers meet regarding our brutal testing of the PB1:
"Yesterday at our SW FL Mini-meet, we were experimenting the with PB1's drive ability and someone suggested trying it with my K1000. Ha! Fat chance it could even drive them to an audible level, much less a suitable listening level, but nevertheless, I decided to humor the request and lashed up the K1Ks.
Believe it or not, to our amazement, the Toucan on high gain was not only able to drive them to an audible level, but also to a satisfying listening level that sounded not only well-balanced, but also one that was tonally correct. This was done using the balanced output. Of course, the volume control on the PB1 was nearly maxxed, but nevertheless....!!!
Who woulda thott????
Needless to say, the Toucan impressed all who auditioned it with my K1000s and K340s. In balanced mode, it was also able to drive my HE-5LE's.
In comparison, my *other* balanced portable did not fare as well. "
Ron
UPDATE: I did not mean to imply that high gain is needed to drive the HE-5LE using the Toucan's SE output. It drives them just fine, but balanced there is improvement in imaging and soundstage.
"Yesterday at our SW FL Mini-meet, we were experimenting the with PB1's drive ability and someone suggested trying it with my K1000. Ha! Fat chance it could even drive them to an audible level, much less a suitable listening level, but nevertheless, I decided to humor the request and lashed up the K1Ks.
Believe it or not, to our amazement, the Toucan on high gain was not only able to drive them to an audible level, but also to a satisfying listening level that sounded not only well-balanced, but also one that was tonally correct. This was done using the balanced output. Of course, the volume control on the PB1 was nearly maxxed, but nevertheless....!!!
Who woulda thott????
Needless to say, the Toucan impressed all who auditioned it with my K1000s and K340s. In balanced mode, it was also able to drive my HE-5LE's.
In comparison, my *other* balanced portable did not fare as well. "
Ron
UPDATE: I did not mean to imply that high gain is needed to drive the HE-5LE using the Toucan's SE output. It drives them just fine, but balanced there is improvement in imaging and soundstage.