[mulder01]

I suppose nobody posts about it on this thread, but I wonder if anyone who had a v281 went to something else in a similar price range (or even a bit above) and claims it is a v281 killer... I don't think I've seen that yet...

 

[Badas]

No TonyNewMan post since being attached. That's a pity. Not a really good way of gathering multiple impressions.

 

[manpowre]

I suppose nobody posts about it on this thread, but I wonder if anyone who had a v281 went to something else in a similar price range (or even a bit above) and claims it is a v281 killer... I don't think I've seen that yet...

 
I think with LCD4 being 200 ohms, we will probably soon see more powerful Amps coming to the market.

 

[yc1204]

I think with LCD4 being 200 ohms, we will probably soon see more powerful Amps coming to the market.

The V281 has more than enough power for the 200ohm LCD4. My V281 at normal gain and single end out to the LCD4, volume sits at 9 oclock and its so loud already. The balance out would be even a lot stronger.

 

[project86]

Wow, some excitement while I was away!
 
I will say, there's nothing wrong with someone expressing their opinions either for or against a component, whether it is in a thread dedicated to that component or not. You have experience? I don't mind hearing it. It's then up to me to determine how much weight I place on that experience, based at least in part from your other posts around here.
 
I also don't see anything wrong with pointing out someone's history. Maybe it could be done in a more tactful way.... but still.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Wow, some excitement while I was away!
 
I will say, there's nothing wrong with someone expressing their opinions either for or against a component, whether it is in a thread dedicated to that component or not. You have experience? I don't mind hearing it. It's then up to me to determine how much weight I place on that experience, based at least in part from your other posts around here.
 
I also don't see anything wrong with pointing out someone's history. Maybe it could be done in a more tactful way.... but still.

 
This situation was something different. A 430HA fan taking a personal shot at someone for daring to say something critical of their pet device. Classic case of playing the man, not the ball. Does this person own a V281? Unlikely - not on their gear list. Have they ever heard one? Not sure - doubt it. If they had they might begin to realise that the 430HA is not so special.
 
You can have some warmth and musicality in an amp without sacrificing speed, punch and detail - something Simaudio seem to have overlooked. I really think that their proprietary "transconductance circuit topology" is a great idea that just doesn't work - to my ears the results are inferior to a traditional amp circuit design. YMMV on that, as always.
 
As far as my "history" goes - I owned and enjoyed the Taurus for 2 years. It was, and is, a fine amp. The V281 is better - I think significantly better - but that doesn't stop the Taurus from still being a good piece of gear. The 430HA I was very disappointed in.
 
To each their own. By all means voice any disagreements you might have with my views - that is what the forum is for - but that is different to hurling slurs at people.

 

[ken6217]

This situation was something different. A 430HA fan taking a personal shot at someone for daring to say something critical of their pet device. Classic case of playing the man, not the ball. Does this person own a V281? Unlikely - not on their gear list. Have they ever heard one? Not sure - doubt it. If they had they might begin to realise that the 430HA is not so special.

You can have some warmth and musicality in an amp without sacrificing speed, punch and detail - something Simaudio seem to have overlooked. I really think that their proprietary "transconductance circuit topology" is a great idea that just doesn't work - to my ears the results are inferior to a traditional amp circuit design. YMMV on that, as always.

As far as my "history" goes - I owned and enjoyed the Taurus for 2 years. It was, and is, a fine amp. The V281 is better - I think significantly better - but that doesn't stop the Taurus from still being a good piece of gear. The 430HA I was very disappointed in.

To each their own. By all means voice any disagreements you might have with my views - that is what the forum is for - but that is different to hurling slurs at people.

My take on it is that this guy probably followed Tony's posts and saw that he liked the 430 HA and then purchased it. He then saw that Tony was onto a new amp. Now he's questioning his purchase.

 

[TonyNewman]

My take on it is that this guy probably followed Tony's posts and saw that he liked the 430 HA and then purchased it. He then saw that Tony was onto a new amp. Now he's questioning his purchase.

 
If I misled anyone with my initial enthusiasm - then Mea Culpa. My initial thoughts on the 430HA were very positive. It took me quite a while to realise that the warmth and musicality of the 430HA came at the cost of speed / punch / detail. 
 
I doubt I am the first or the last person to get wrapped up in a new piece of kit, only to realise later on that it wasn't quite the wonder machine it seemed to be.

 

[Mortalcoil]

My take on it is that this guy probably followed Tony's posts and saw that he liked the 430 HA and then purchased it. He then saw that Tony was onto a new amp. Now he's questioning his purchase.

 
I assure you I was'nt following TonyNewman and his posts and as a matter of fact I have had some complimentary things to add to some of his postings. In some instances giving him props for his       
system and so on.
 
Having been a member here since 2005 I tend not to follow trends, I audition gear first and purchase based on what my ears find pleasing not someone elses.
   
   
 

  This situation was something different. A 430HA fan taking a personal shot at someone for daring to say something critical of their pet device. Classic case of playing the man, not the ball. Does this person own a V281? Unlikely - not on their gear list. Have they ever heard one? Not sure - doubt it. If they had they might begin to realise that the 430HA is not so special.
 
You can have some warmth and musicality in an amp without sacrificing speed, punch and detail - something Simaudio seem to have overlooked. I really think that their proprietary "transconductance circuit topology" is a great idea that just doesn't work - to my ears the results are inferior to a traditional amp circuit design. YMMV on that, as always.
 
As far as my "history" goes - I owned and enjoyed the Taurus for 2 years. It was, and is, a fine amp. The V281 is better - I think significantly better - but that doesn't stop the Taurus from still being a good piece of gear. The 430HA I was very disappointed in.
 
To each their own. By all means voice any disagreements you might have with my views - that is what the forum is for - but that is different to hurling slurs at people.

 
 
No slurs were used against you Tony and I did refer to the term "with all due respect" which I meant.  Unfortunately posting my critique was taken the wrong way and other peoples remarks only added fuel to the fire
 
causing much drama.  Lets leave it at that and just enjoy your v281 Tony as I will my 430.  Apologies for the tone that the post was taken.
 
Water under the bridge as they say

 

 

[TonyNewman]

Great - lets all move on

 

[manpowre]

My unit is stuck in clearance in Oslo norway I was hoping for it to arrive today, but its gonna be monday as UPS stated on their website hehe.. 
It is interesting you write about speed Tony. Its the same I read bout yggdrassil dac, and Im working on a method to try to measure the dac's speeds.. Together with the V281 it must be amazing where HIFI is going. to high resolution DACs with very very accurate amplifiers like the V281.
 
Wonder how a cymbal sounds on your setup. what I read is that the reproduction of a cymbal has a small after echo on normal DAC's and amplifiers. But with chips like the on ygdrasil uses together with eg. the V281 that has got reviews for being very accurate the sound must change specifically and should be able to measure the after echo after an instrument as a cymbal ?

 

[Xyfas]

Good day folks. Im considering getting this amp and was hoping if someone can chime in on how it sounds compared to the Woo Audio WA7+tp. I have a HE1000 and love how the wa7 sounds through it, seems I love the tube warm/fat sound. I'd love to audition this amp but I would have to go out of country to do so.
 
TIA

 

[yc1204]

I found either the V281 or my Zodiac Platinum are very sensitive to cables (Have not tried power cables yet). I was using a $150 Furutech USB cable and a $280 Oyaide Tunami Tzero interconnect to feed signals from the Zodiac to the V281. Yesterday i received my newly purchased Kimber KS2436 AG USB cable and the Audience AU24 SX interconnect XLR cable (which worth $1100 and $2200). Plug them on and initially i found the sound changed, on a very positive side. I have already put 10 hours on these new set up, and now i have to conclude that cable do able to bring significant change to sound, especially when your system is sensitive to them.

Also another thing i found is, i adjusted the pregain setting from original +-0db to -6 and then to -12db, i found the sound become more and more musical when the gain gets lower. And even at -12db, the volume of my 200ohm LCD4 single end out from the V281 never go over 50% (12o'clock)!!!! I can't wait to receive the XLR balanced cable from DHC and try the balance out now. Such a powerful monster amp......

 

[yc1204]

Good day folks. Im considering getting this amp and was hoping if someone can chime in on how it sounds compared to the Woo Audio WA7+tp. I have a HE1000 and love how the wa7 sounds through it, seems I love the tube warm/fat sound. I'd love to audition this amp but I would have to go out of country to do so.

TIA

Personally im not a fan of tube amps. But their WA5 sounds very good. I have not heard the WA7 yet but if you like neutral to warm sounding, i would recomend the V281. A very powerful SS amp and beats all tube amps in its price range imo.

 

[thomascrown]

Hi, I've just bought a used v281, more to satisfy my curiosity than for actual need (I own a taurus as Tony). I won't write anything about the sound quality as it's too early, still I've found the volume pot the weakest point of the amp: mine it's the stepped one with the remote and with the gain at 0 db I found the remote useless (source gumby xlr) and barely able to find a sweet spot by hand, at -6db it starts getting reasonable, but the remote it's still jumping from quiet to loud in a click, at -12 the volume starts behaving as it's supposed to. Now, the Taurus hasn't this problem at all but some minor unbalance at lower volumes. It's weird as I remember a reviewer claiming +12db as ideal to drive the xc.