Violectric HPA V281 - Vorsprung durch Balanced (September 2023 Update: Limited Reissue Edition up for preorder!)

Mar 14, 2025 at 1:42 AM Post #6,526 of 6,536
This thread has been rather illuminating. I'm a V550 Pro owner, but I'm pretty interested in switching to the V281LE simply to reclaim some desk real estate. The V550 sounds great, but it's just too darn big! The temptation is rather strong after hearing praise for the V281 for many years.
 
Mar 14, 2025 at 9:29 AM Post #6,527 of 6,536
This thread has been rather illuminating. I'm a V550 Pro owner, but I'm pretty interested in switching to the V281LE simply to reclaim some desk real estate. The V550 sounds great, but it's just too darn big! The temptation is rather strong after hearing praise for the V281 for many years.
If you could try them side by side, this thread would appreciate it! I had the v281, then moved to the v550. I sold everything to get the v281LE, sold that, and got the v550 Pro. My plan was to have them side by side this year, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.
 
Mar 14, 2025 at 12:36 PM Post #6,528 of 6,536
Just some trivia for any V220 owners and possibly V281 owners as well.
I was having an issue with my V220 changing or jumping inputs on its own. I checked with Freid and he said that he had never heard of that but perhaps I should crack it open and check the ribbon cables.

Sure enough there was a loose ribbon connection on a small board at the front of the amp right behind the input buttons.

It would only happen after about five hours of listening, so many people may never get that far. :grin:

Anyway, it fixed the problem for me (knock on wood), and I wanted to pass it along.
 
Mar 15, 2025 at 12:50 AM Post #6,529 of 6,536
If you could try them side by side, this thread would appreciate it! I had the v281, then moved to the v550. I sold everything to get the v281LE, sold that, and got the v550 Pro. My plan was to have them side by side this year, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

This might be a possibility. Depends if I feel bold enough to do it.
 
Mar 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM Post #6,530 of 6,536
Just some trivia for any V220 owners and possibly V281 owners as well.
I was having an issue with my V220 changing or jumping inputs on its own. I checked with Freid and he said that he had never heard of that but perhaps I should crack it open and check the ribbon cables.

Sure enough there was a loose ribbon connection on a small board at the front of the amp right behind the input buttons.

It would only happen after about five hours of listening, so many people may never get that far. :grin:

Anyway, it fixed the problem for me (knock on wood), and I wanted to pass it along.
I guess I posted too early on the problem fix. Today after just three hours my headphones went silent. The input light jumped from XLR all the way up to DIG (used to jump to RCA).
So, I guess I will open
it up tomorrow and try again...:frowning2:
 
Mar 25, 2025 at 12:56 PM Post #6,531 of 6,536
Anybody tried V281 with something like Immanis? I'm plainning to get one but unsure if it will pair well with the amp.

From the Immanis thread, the maker said 3W into 32ohm is sufficient. However, from the spec V281 seems to only output 2.8W at 32ohm. I also have a tube amp that I use to drive the Susvara (15W into 80ohm or 6W into 32ohm), and may need to use it if V281 doesn't cut it.

I searched "Immanis" in this thread but didn't get any result.
 
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Mar 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM Post #6,533 of 6,536
Mar 27, 2025 at 9:16 PM Post #6,534 of 6,536
This thread has been rather illuminating. I'm a V550 Pro owner, but I'm pretty interested in switching to the V281LE simply to reclaim some desk real estate. The V550 sounds great, but it's just too darn big! The temptation is rather strong after hearing praise for the V281 for many years.
The footprint was a huge factor in me shelling out the money on the V281. My desktop is pretty well set in its ways, and the smaller size just worked so perfectly.

ZMF_VeriteClosed_05.jpg
Pinkys Desktop 05.jpg
 
Mar 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM Post #6,535 of 6,536
The "missing" 0.2 W won't make any difference...
I've ordered the Immanis and should receive it in next few weeks.

From my research of the Immanis thread, folks who bought the headphones seemed to use higher-end amplifiers to drive them (e.g., Viva 2A3, Riviera, MK 465, Audma, etc. It's quite interesting to test how the V281 would perform. Will let you guys know once I have the headphones.
 
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Apr 28, 2025 at 12:59 AM Post #6,536 of 6,536
If anyone is interested, Power Holdings has a demo unit of the V281 LE for sale. Was just poking around and noticed they have 3 V222's which have been out of stock for 9 months or so, and one V281 LE. Not pushing anyone, just thought that if you are in the market for one of these amps it would be good to know.
 

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