[PleasantSounds]

Every DAC will show it's own character, but the differences are very subtle. I have tried 3 different DACs, two of them single ended, and would be happy with any of them.

 

[navigavi]

Does anybody know what's the best place to order the v281? On the Violectric website (http://www.lake-people.de) I suppose?
 
I'm from the netherlands and I'm wondering what the delivery time is for a HPA V281 with these properties:
 

1. Remote Control: No Remote Control
2. Digital Input Option: No Digital Input
3. Feet Color: Silver
4. Front Color: Front Black

 

[roskodan]

i ordered from http://www.audition6.de/kontakt.htm (by email) in the past, great service, usually have demo stuff too, get a quote, than bargain a little, that's what i usually do, there are discounts for buying more stuff too, perhaps drop violectric an email too, they may have other retailers too, tho didn't see a list on their site

 

[thomascrown]

Does the v281 works with both 110/220v or it needs some soldering work as the v200? 
 
Thanks

 

[roskodan]

has a switch inside to set the voltage, no soldering required

 

[macdevign]

  Sorry everyone - I've been trying to wrap up some other reviews which have taken far too much of my time.
 
Now, about that V281..... It's breathtaking. Extremely smooth but still has great extension and clarity on the top end. Very organic, or what some might call "analog", without being obviously colored. Soundstage, especially with the balanced out, is impressively wide. But more importantly it has the corresponding image accuracy to make that wide/deep soundstage seem very convincing. This is the mark of a truly great amp - some have accurate imaging, some have a big soundstage, but you really need both of those working together in harmony to be highly convincing in a top level system. V281 does it very well indeed, among the best I've heard.
 
Let's see..... ideal with my CIEMs on -6dB pregain setting. I don't even need to adjust the pregain any higher with most headphones, just crank that big knob further to the right if needed. LCD-3, HD800, Alpha Dogs, HE-500, etc are all perfectly fine for my listening preferences, with the exception of certain quiet music (or when I really want to rock out). HE-6 does usually need more gain though, especially when listening to those quiet recordings. If I didn't use IEMs I'd probably run it on 0 pregain which would be perfect for every headphone out there including HE-6. This assumes a balanced source with the usual 4V output or slightly higher..... I haven't played with feeding it RCA yet, but the lower voltage there would probably mean 0dB or +6dB pregain most of the time. 
 
Not sure I can go much further than that at this point. I will say I'm using the V281 more often than any other amp these days - including Taurus mkII, Icon Audio HP8, and even the dual mono Questyle CMA800R setup. Is it better than all of those (each of which I absolutely adore)? Not sure yet, but there's definitely potential. 

 
project86,
How is the sonic characteristic of  this amp compare to the svetlana 2 amplifier that you once have ? Is it better or just different sound signature ?

 

[macdevign]

   
it's the same TE8802L chip that came by default with the burson conductor
 
it needs the driver from violectric to be installed properly to work properly
 
http://violectric-usa.com/downloads

I wonder why they are still using TE8802 chip especially it requires driver to be installed on the mac. At least burson conductor is upgradeable through c-media board that is driverless in mac. Is violectric v281 upgradeable  ?

 

[roskodan]

perhaps it's downgrade-able, with the 24bit/96kHz module that preceded the TE8802
 
than there's the option to get the coax/spdif module and eventually use an usb converter if one does not have a coax/spdif output on the pc/mac

 

[thomascrown]

  has a switch inside to set the voltage, no soldering required

sweet

 

[project86]

Would a balanced DAC be necessary to get the best out of this?

 
 
Not necessarily. The amp will accept balanced or unbalanced signals and can output balanced or unbalanced signal either way - that is, it will generate balanced from unbalanced and vice versa if need be. 
 
It really comes down to your DAC and which output sounds better (assuming it has both). Some single-ended DACs are excellent. 
 
 

  Does anybody know what's the best place to order the v281? On the Violectric website (http://www.lake-people.de) I suppose?
 
I'm from the netherlands and I'm wondering what the delivery time is for a HPA V281 with these properties:
 

1. Remote Control: No Remote Control
2. Digital Input Option: No Digital Input
3. Feet Color: Silver
4. Front Color: Front Black

 
 
I'd email Fried Reim and see what he recommends. He's usually prompt with his replies. 
 
 

   
project86,
How is the sonic characteristic of  this amp compare to the svetlana 2 amplifier that you once have ? Is it better or just different sound signature ?

 
 
Good question. Svetlana 2 has more of a delicate touch, very pure and nuanced. Pretty much the classic SET sound signature. The V281 is significantly more powerful in both specs and in tonal character - more bass slam, more thickness of note, just all around more body.
 
I'd probably go for the Svetlana when listening to solo piano, a capella, singer/songwriter type stuff, while I'd rather have the V281 on more complex material, or music that demands more gusto. V281 is also better at working with pretty much every headphone out there - Svetlana is good with high impedance cans and easy dynamics like Audio Technica, but doesn't have anywhere near the power levels for something like HE-6. 
 
 

  I wonder why they are still using TE8802 chip especially it requires driver to be installed on the mac. At least burson conductor is upgradeable through c-media board that is driverless in mac. Is violectric v281 upgradeable  ?

 
 
This USB solution with the Tenor chip is the upgrade, compared to the earlier version which used the prior Tenor model (adaptive). I've had good results from the V281 DAC so far, and it seems a lot more stable in this particular design. Still, I did try to sell Fried on going XMOS (as one example) and he seemed to agree.... but that would pertain to some future design down the road. 

 

[PleasantSounds]

For a few days now I have been listening to HD800  using a self made high impedance adaptor, which is simply a couple of 27 Ohm resistors soldered into the XLR connector. The result is a little bit richer, fuller, more natural sounding bass. It's still well controlled, but not overdamped any more. As far as I can tell, there's no side effects introduced by this change. 
 
My HD800 never sounded this good before!

 

[Llloyd]

Oh jesus I wish i hadn't seen this.... I always wanted a v200 and now this really puts me in a pickle.

 

[Jodet]

  Oh jesus I wish i hadn't seen this.... I always wanted a v200 and now this really puts me in a pickle.

 
I'll sell you my V200.   

 
 
I plan on buying a V220, but I always like to wait until something has been in production for at least six months.   

 

[Ultrainferno]

I'm listening to my V281 right now. I sold my V100 for the V200 and now I'm afraid I'll have to do the same with the V200...
Lovin' it.

 

[project86]

  I'm listening to my V281 right now. I sold my V100 for the V200 and now I'm afraid I'll have to do the same with the V200...
Lovin' it.

 
Nice! Climbing the Violectric ladder all the way to the top.....