It's been a long tiring day. Worked all day, came home, fed the kiddos, shuffled them to my son's music recital, and now I'm finally free to try something new. I have the pleasure of being SN#1 of a base V8 OTL
Am I number one? Oh you betcha! Ok I promise no more back patting...
I'll upload a few unboxing pics shortly, but wanted to give that out of the box initial impression. That "gut reaction". Purity of tone is what instantly came to mind. It's what I reported to Jeff not too long ago as well. This thing just has a clean purity of tone that stands out. Nothing is over/understated. Nothing offends. All this was with the stock tubes with a Bifrost 2/64 and HD660S2 headphone. It's my test gear for new amps. I always get nervous plugging in my megabuck headphones/dacs into new tube gear. I've read too many horror stories. But thankfully the V8 is silent and stable, without issue. I'm about an hour, maybe two into listening, and I just cannot analyze yet. I keep getting caught up in the music, which is a good sign.
So gut reaction = very happy! I think this is going to be a winner for those of us with high impedance headphones, especially the ZMF crowd. I'm taking it to work tomorrow to pair with my work ZMFs like the Atrium Closed, Bokeh, and Atticus. I'll also run the HD820 on it for awhile as well. I think they're all going to be stellar on the V8, if my early impressions of the 660S2 on it are any indication.
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on the sound yet other than I instantly liked it. I need to run a few headphones through it, let the tubes and amp burn in, and let my brain acclimate to the sound. But my first impressions are very positive. The S2 right now is absolutely singing, and it's hard to pay attention to writing when i'm so pulled to the music. Symphony of Destruction is really good right now!!!!!!!!
A quick rundown of my non-sonic thoughts unboxing it and inspecting it. It's heavy! Well built and solid feeling. Love the V8 logo! Volume knob is smooth and easy to adjust. One minor complaint is like most tube amps I own, it ramps up volume very quickly like my DNA and Woo. No channel imbalance though, so not a big deal. I have the same complaint with those amps as well. It's an annoyance but not a deal breaker or big deal, just something to be aware of. Tube sockets are rock solid and stable. Packaging is excellent! Custom foam enclosures in a nice big box. I'd love to see Jeff offer a Pelican case with the same inner foam system. See Ampsandsound for examples, I love their amp cases. It runs warm but not hot, other than the tubes. All the jacks are smooth and fit well. It's a very nice looking amp, I don't think pictures do it justice. Sitting here looking at it, I find it very attractive. No I haven't kissed it....yet...
OK I need to call it a night. But I'll keep adding impressions as my journey continues.