[Silver]

I may have the opportunity to listen to Gino's R10s and HP1000s with Twinhead in this month. I think that it's no doubt that R10s have good synegy with Twinhead since his Twinhead is specially tuned for R10s. However, I wonder if tube amps like Twinhead do well with HP1000s? It seems to me that solid state amps with similar prices should be a better match with HP1000s due to HP1000's well-known neutrality. I am hardly informed about high-end cans/amps though, please tell me if I am wrong.

 

[tom hankins]

From what I've read here, the Singlepower tube amps and the HP-1000's work really well together.

 

[sacd lover]

The amp originally considered the best match with the grados was the Melos sha-1. The Melos is a tube / solid state hybrid. I dont remember if the grados were designed with the Melos in mind, or the opposite, but tubes definitely work with the grado hp-1000's; if they have the current to drive them. There are several new tube amps from Singlepower that are reportedly excellent with grados. On the solid state side the manufacturer Headamp markets an amp designed by Kevin Gilmore that was originally designed specifically to drive grados. Hope that answers your question.

 

[Silver]

So anyone has ever auditioned Twinhead with HP1000s?

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by tom hankins From what I've read here, the Singlepower tube amps and the HP-1000's work really well together.

They sure do.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by FCJ They sure do.

FJC's got that right. Singlepower amps are heaven with HP-1000

The Melos was designed with the HP-1000 in mind. It shows. carlo's mods bring the Melos/HP-1000 combo up to an amazing level of performance.

Most good tube amps that I've heard sound great with the HP-1000.

 

[grinch]

maestrobator/hp-1 is the best dynamic setup i have ever heard. ever. this is with r10 and blockhead and all that other stuff in the room.

hp-1's reflect only what is in the signal path. i'd be careful, a lot of the higher-end tube amps i've heard are fairly colored and it might interfere with what you'd expect to come from the extremely neutral hp-1000.

 

[Wilson M.]

I would concur about the Melos and HP-1000s. George "don't call me Gunther" Bischoff of Melos designed the SHA-1 specifically to drive the HP-1000s.

The SHA-1 has a tube input stage with FET followers. The tubes provide plenty of voltage gain but aren't so hot for current gain so that's where the FETs come into play. They give plenty of current gain but aren't so plentiful with voltage gain. Together, they give plenty of juice to drive the power-hungry HP-1000s.

I've got a Melos SHA/Gold Reference and it sounds great with the HP-1000s and I'm in the process of maestrobating it with carlo's help.

I haven't heard a pure tube amp with the HP-1000s so I'm not sure if any of them have the current gain to do justice to those headphones. I might order a Singlepower one of these days (assuming that I don't get Omega IIs and build a KGSS...sigh).

(And yes, it is the Melos in my avatar.)

 

[Hirsch]

Singlepower Supra, Berning MicroZOTL and EAR HP4 are all excellent with HP-1000. The Supra is fairly low gain, but can drive the HP-1000 to ear-splitting levels (if someone was crazy enough to try it).

 

[jpelg]

One of the most beautiful, and transparent combos I've ever heard was a pair of HP-1's plugged into a modified (headphone-out only) Cary 300SEI tube amp. Everything but the music seemed to disappear completely.

 

[bozebuttons]

I find that the hp1s Love amps with Good powersupplies, Tube based or solidstate.
They need thier current To sound their best, Wimpy powersupplies need not apply.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch Singlepower Supra, Berning MicroZOTL and EAR HP4 are all excellent with HP-1000.

What about the EarMax Pro? I don't think we tried that, yet...

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusty Chalk What about the EarMax Pro? I don't think we tried that, yet...

Hmmm...got to fix that.

 

[Vka]

I use to own the Melos Sha-1 and although it was good for the price, it was not really in the same league as the Cary 300 SEI with Sophia Electric 300B tube and the DCT-1 of course. Then again these costs so much more. Overall, I prefered using the HD-600 on the Melos.
I also use to own the HPA-1/2 and RA-1 amp for the HP-1000 and unfortunately to me these 2 solid state amps are so dry, unemotional, and ultimately boring to me, having no dynamic and the soundstage feels ultra compressed. Its quite confusing to me as why the HPA-1/2 is so highly regarded in this forum as to me it sounds 95% like the RA-1 amp.

 

[yidimsum]

For me, the HPA-1 + HP-1000 combination was very musical and enjoyable. Not the last word in HF and bass extension, but the music just sounds accurate and convincing.