I went to the webbie and seems like there isn't a comparator between models.
If one go by dollar and cent, the v281 should be better as compared to v100. Of course I do not mind to pay lesser for the same sound if I'm only using the LCD-X. I don't think I would go for the HE-6 at most I feel it would be HD800 to compliment my LCD-X. What do you guys think?
How do the Violectric compare to the top dogs like master 9. gs X mk2 etc
Thanks.
Sorry for so many questions
Hi snip3r77,
I have unfortunately not had the chance to audition the Master 9, and only listened to the GS-X - not the Mk II - a couple of years ago.
When it comes to listed specs, the V100,V200, V220 & V281 all measure better than the Master 9 and the GS-X. There are currently no specs or pics for the GS-X Mk II on the Headamp website. On the other hand, the specs of both Master 9 and GS-X are incomplete and don't show clear relative values for a fair comparison. Violectric's specs are more complete and correctly specify relative values for all measurements and specs.
There is a comparison chart for the V200, V220 and V281 on the first and eleventh page of this thread, that could be of some help. The difference between the V100 and V200 is output power, damping factor, and crosstalk, the rest is the same. Both the V100 and V200 have better specified performance than the V220 and V281, and the reason why, was explained by Violectric's Fried Reim as follows (when I asked him on page 18 of this thread):
"Hello Zkadoush,
not only you but also some others are a bit puzzled of the specs from V220 / V281 compared with V200.
V200 is a headphone amp with perhaps the best data a headphone amp can have.
This is because inside the case of V200 there is nothing but a headphone amp and so no additional circuitry may aggravate the performance.
Inside V220 there is about 3 times the components of V200 with lots of nice features and we managed to keep the nearly perfect overall performance except the output impedance which was 0,083 Ohms with V200 and no has risen by 0,017 Ohms to 0,1 Ohm for V220.
There are some minor issues concerning the crosstalk ... to be honest, don't care about crosstalk as long as it is better than 60 dB !!
There are some people out there preferring "crossfeed" to minimize crosstalk to 10 - 20 dB."
The V100 and V200 are truly some of the best engineered headphone Amps out there, if not THE best, and all the Violectric headphone amplifiers measure better than both Headamp or Audio-GD's Amps with available listed specs. The listed specs provided by Violectric are more detailed, correctly specified, and thus more reliable.
Going back to my previous suggestion to give the Benchmark DAC2 or the Anedio D2 DAC a chance as a possible D/A Converter AND Amp for your LCD-Xs, the Benchmark DAC 2 is also capable of driving my HD 800s to more than satisfactory levels. My insistent defense of the Benchmark or the Anedio as great all-in-one solutions that include state of the art DACs, certainly begs the question: Why then would I get a V281, why not just a V200 or a Benchmark DAC2 for my LCD-Xs and HD 800s? To which my answer would be that, I do pretend to get more headphones in the future, and because although the Benchmark has more than sufficient oomph for my HD 800s as well, the V281 - and V100 - has a different sound signature, more bass and, well, more power. There are some recordings that just shine more - to my very personal taste of course - with a V100 or V281 than with the Benchmark, and particularly recordings of Classical music, that are a lot more quiet than Jazz or Rock, electronic music, etc., and that can use a little extra output power and voltage.
Again, the above is my very personal appreciation and personal preference in sound, and it may well not be yours, or that of other head-fiers. This is the reason why I wrote about the inherent difficulties of shopping for a headphone Amp, when the products aren't anywhere to be auditioned and compared, let alone in good conditions:
"In my opinion, the manufacturers that don't have their products available in brick and mortar stores should provide a 30 or 45 day trial periods, to avoid forcing customers to buy blindly, and to avoid a bunch of contradictory opinions - no matter how legitimate they are - and endless threads that can easily end up being more confusing than clarifying."
I seriously believe that manufacturers should make a priority to get their gear to brick and mortar stores where it can be auditioned in the proper conditions. It can be fun or distracting to read head-fi forums and threads, ask questions and give some answers, but actually paying for something that is usually expensive, should occur within different conditions. To shop blindly for several thousands of dollars can't possibly be a healthy thing, and both regulations and guarantees should be present when it comes to purchasing from manufacturers who don't offer other choices. I sincerely hope this changes drastically in the future.
The poor, incomplete and misleading specs provided by Audio-GD and Headamp - despite the prestige and loyalty they have earned among customers - is a very weak and IMHO unacceptable part of their businesses and marketing strategies. This is something that should be regulated to protect customers, and ultimately benefits manufacturers and fair competition. I'm pretty confident that Audio-GD and Headamp make good Amps, but the specs and info they provide doesn't live up to the loyalty their components have been praised with. When shopping blindly, accurate and correctly specified specs are your best bet.
And regarding the matter of correctly specified specs, a great and concise article was published by Tyll Herstens at Innefidelity, who is doing a monumental and indeed valuable job by measuring both Headphones and Amps; check it out!:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/nwavguys-heaphone-amp-measurement-recommendations
Cheers!