[Matthew-Spaltro]

I am going to buy A Denon soon along with my W100s. My question is....What kind of amp do you guys propose?

 

[dngl]

I would recommend not using a Melos; it needs a smooth amp. I'd bet a corda or creek would be up your alley, if you want tubes go EMP.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon Beilin I would recommend not using a Melos; it needs a smooth amp. I'd bet a corda or creek would be up your alley, if you want tubes go EMP.

What is the deal with tube ams anyhow? Better sound than typical amp?

 

[dngl]

tubes aren't better than regular amps. Basically, top of the line solid state amps produce small amounts of odd order nasty harmonics (but the quantity is so small it can hardly be heard), whereas top of the line tube amps produce small but slightly detectable amounts of even order pleasing harmonics. Some tube amps produce more even order harmonics than others. It is a matter of taste.

 

[jpelg]

Jon -

Please "edumacate" the ignorant. What does "even order harmonics" or "odd order harmonics" mean?

TIA.

 

[dngl]

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?338:11

They're more articulate than I am when I'm past my bedtime

 

[Tomcat]

Matthew,
I can vouch for the outstanding and even magical musicality of the EMP/W100 combo. But I strongly suspect that anything that can drive low-impedance loads will work great with the W100.


Quote:

it needs a smooth amp

Jon,
you have got it all wrong: the W100 doesn't need a smooth amp - it is a smooth headphone. I know that your experiences with the Melos haven't been favorable and that you're selling your W100 after one week of use. I admit there might be some product variance, after all, wood is a natural, organic material, and your W100 could sound different from mine. There might even be a freakish sonic mismatch between the W100 and the Melos. Well, you know, we W100 lovers are always handy with excuses and this is our favorite one by far:

NOT ENOUGH BREAK-IN!

Jon, I am extremely critical of anything that has a bright tonal balance. I abhor anything that sounds harsh. And believe me, my W100 sounds neither bright nor harsh, no matter what I plug it into. As many have reported: the W100 changes dramatically during break-in. Its initial tonal balance is far, far brighter than its tonal balance after 300 or 400 hours of break-in. Out of nowhere, it develops serious bass extension, slam and impact, a bass response so great as a matter of fact that no other headphone I have ever heard can touch it. And only very few speakers come close to it in terms of bass extension.

And with time, there are similarly dramatic changes in the treble. By now, my W100 is simply mellow, there isn't the slightest hint of treble emphasis, strain or harshness. Your W100 will continue to improve. That's for sure. Regrettably, it's less certain whether you will be the one to benefit from it.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Originally posted by Tomcat
Matthew,
I can vouch for the outstanding and even magical musicality of the EMP/W100 combo. But I strongly suspect that anything that can drive low-impedance loads will work great with the W100.



Thanks Tomcatt. How much does a emp cost nowadays? And I can speak volumes about the break in effect. My source is just a sony port discman and I can say that at first these cans had NO BASS extentsion what so ever. However after 40 to 50 hours the bass was as good if not better then any headphone I had ever heard. Keep in mind that this is out of a sony portable with no amp to speak of.

 

[Tomcat]

Matthew,
I think the US retail price for the Earmax Pro is something like 750 US$. But since the EMP is a German design (by Stefan Brocksieper), it's cheaper in Germany. Belzer is the name of a German retailer who offers the Earmax Pro for 520 EURO, that's less than 500 US$. The problem is: this is the 220 Volt version, you'd need a transformer for the US voltage. And I am not so sure that Belzer would ship to the US because of a conflict of interest with Audio Advancements. As far as I know, that's the official US distributor.

As I said, the EMP/W100 combo is gorgeous. However, I am afraid the Denon DCM 370 would be the weak link in your system. Do you absolutely need a CD changer? I think CDPs without the changing feature ought to sound better at the same price point. And something like the Musical Fidelity A3 or the Rega Planet2000 ought to be truly great with the EMP/W100. But adding a 1000 US$ CDP might put you way over budget. I don't know?