Quote:
Originally Posted by Jahn
Soundmania, I believe the Japan Qualia Store used non-Sony components to show off the Qualia - for products that they don't manufacture anyhow. In this respect, there ain't no shame in getting the trickiest tricked out headphone amp in existence which matches perfectly with the characteristics of the Sony SACD player you use there. Most receivers, Sony or otherwise, just won't power the Qualias they way they deserve I believe - and that holds especially true for just listening out of the headphone jack of the SACD player.
Others are more qualified than I to suggest the perfect amp to go with the Qualia and SACD source, but I wouldn't worry about the amp detracting from the sales of your Sony products - after all, Sony isn't in the Headphone Amp business...yet!
(BTW let it be said that it's nice to have a Sony rep on the boards finally - welcome to Head-fi and sorry about our wallets!)
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Jahn -- and Soundmania:
Actually, though Sony isn't in the headamp business yet, they do produce a system designed to match the Q010 -- or so I've heard 2nd hand (see link below):
When Josh Kim was at Qualia NYC, he told me that available in Japan only is the Qualia 007 CD player/amp/speakers system -- which, he said, Sony would not export to the US because the speakers that are an integral part of the system "are carved from a block of exotic wood" and Sony feels they would not survive export to the US (and elsewhere?). He couldn't answer if it was due to drastically different humidity in various parts of the US, or transport problems, or...? Haven't visited various parts of Japan a number of times, during certain seasons it is prone to such intense and pervasive humidity (which I've not experienced here, even in Louisiana or Mississippi) that having dry cleaned my suit the day I flew out, I unpacked it on arriving home in NYC to find that it smelled mildewed! Perhaps wood from that climate would crack in the dry areas of the US.
The 007 is not even accessible via the Qualia US site, but here is a Japanese link (click on the photo of the 007 player and there are 3 pages of photos and notes in Japanese, including the small speakers):
Qualia Japan - Model 007 CD transport/amp/speakers
Perhaps Soundmania can ascertain whether or not they are in the Tokyo showroom. It would seem to me that even with the possibility of checking or splitting wood, it's far better to present the Q010 with the 007 system than without it. Sony could certainly produce a version for export which has an environmentally-flexible enclosure.
Of course, I have no experience of the performance or sound quality of the 007, but I'd be very interested to know more about it.
If -- as Nik has enthusiastic declared -- the Rudistor RP010 is a great match, that may be worth investigating, or perhaps the new RP33dualmono (1,300USD) or RP6-DQ(1,900.00USD) "a complete new project in the RP family, it shares the basic concepts with the RP5 but it is based on a completly new design, developed to perfectly join with new SONY QUALIA 010 headphone and to all the new future hi sensitive family of headphones."
A good comparative analysis of user reviews (and maybe manufacturers' comments) of Q010-synergistic amps is in order. I expect there'll be more comments on this subject after the January Q010 mini-meet at immbiker's place (a variety of top components should be there).
Cheery Pre-Holiday Vibes from
Peter
{we need Q010 AND good-old K501 smileys}
