[tomk]

Just ordered the Sennheiser HD650 this afternoon. Appreciate the good advice.

 

[tomk]

Howdy Aaron, the HD650's arrived yesterday. Impressive. Background vocals came forward on Jake Hooker's Outsider cd. Much more detail than the Grado SR-60's I was using. Sure liked the inexpensive Grado, however. The fit will take a few days to get comfortable. Glad I made the purchase. Appreciate the advice.

 

[rasmushorn]

@tomk: Congrats! KHV-1 + HD650 is sweet!!

I just placed a bid on a used KHV-1 again...

 

[lordearl]

97% about to pull the trigger on this one -- i did read somewhere that the tubes were hard-wired in, is this the case or is tube rolling rather simple?

Anyone tried using the preamp section directly into a solid state power amp? The features of this amp are similar to the Cayin HA-1A, but with less tubes comes less maintenance ; )

 

[aaron_]

lordearl, I don't know about the tubes in the KHV-111 that got mentioned here, but the KHV-1 features standard ceramic tube sockets - switching tubes is only a matter of loosing up 6 screws! (2mm hex) and disengaging the tube retainer brackets (which I did away with completely as they may only be important for transport)

 

[lordearl]

brilliant - well that has sealed the deal, I'll put an order in for mine. Tube rolling with an amp with a single type of tube is excellent - so much easier to determine what is causing the sonic changes!

edit; just noticed this;
Replacing opamps. - pink fish media
is the opamp used for current gain? i assume that when they advertise this as class a is is purely discrete....

 

[aaron_]

I dont really know, what the single opamp in the KHV-1 does, but I'd be quite interested if someone could shed some light on this!

class a has nothing to do with discrete circuit design though.

 

[lordearl]

brilliant - just got mine today!

review to follow in a week or so.

in the mean time, how many of the hex key screws (and which ones) need to be changed for some tube rolling action?

 

[aaron_]

Congratulations to your KHV-1! I'm sure, you'll like ist a lot!

About the hex-screws: You need to take away the three topmost screws on both side panels. You do not need to remove any other screws as you can pull off the top plate now.

Be careful though, the hex-size is quite tiny and prone to strip! I replaced all screws with M3x8mm cylinder head screws which feature deeper 2,5mm hexes and being silver, give my KHV-1 a nice touch.

 

[Currawong]

Isn't this amp sold under another name? I've just drawn a blank remembering the name of it, but it got a lot of mention around here some time ago...I even tried one in a shop in Tokyo way back...

 

[tomk]

ShengYa seems to be the manufacturer. Completely satisfied with the Vincent - HD650 combination. Thinking about pulling the trigger on a Stello CDT 100 and DAC Signature 100. Dollars leave my wallet slowly.

 

[lordearl]

hey tomk - if it helps re the quality of the Stello line, I just listened to the Stello HP100 with K701s, certainly not as good as the KHV-1. Don't know whether that has any implications for the Stello DAC. As for the CDT, I reckon transports are a rip-off....be careful with that.....

 

[tomk]

Good Evening lordearl, I will be buying the Stello without an audition, always risky. Gotta admit, transports are not popular, and hard to find. The I2s connection is drawing me to the CDT 100. Cannot explain my bias against hard drives, lack of connections equal to I2s makes me nervous. I will use USB DAC for internet radio and satellite radio. Sure appreciate your caution. At this price point, and wanting a matching transport, nothing else comes to mind. Good reviews on the combination.

BTW, sure enjoying the Sennheiser HD 650's. Really works well with the Vincent KHV-1pre.

later

 

[lordearl]

i think MGL audio's DAC has an optional I2S module - it's far more versatile than the Stello and much cheaper. my MGL was about $800 AUD I think. The Stello DAC here is $1100 AUD. If you're interested I can put you in touch with Michael, the designer & he'll tell you about the unit.

Mini DACPre

Anyway, back to hunting for some NOS 12AX7 for the khv-1 - any recommendations would be ace!

 

[tomk]

Good Evening lordearl, the MGL DAC sounds interesting; have not come across the company. Thanks for the tip. Good luck on the tube hunt.