[BMBROWN911]

I've been interested in this amp forever. Never could come up with the money. Have to settle for my Perreaux for now. Anywayz I read the reviews of it. Sounds like a sweet amp. Current output and all. Awesome. Post impressions if you own and dont mind!

 

[Jahn]

Here you go!

 

[Bosch]

Well...there is not much I can add to that thread, except to say that I have a Solo amp on order. I expect it to arrive this week or at the latest, next week. Letting it burn-in for an appreciable amount of time before I do a critical listening session will take a massive effort. Inducing a three-week coma might be my only option!

Anyway, RIP integrated amp headphone jack - although you have served me well, old faithful stand-in circuit. But now that the power supply is being filtered, and the Cardas cable is more or less burned in, I am very much looking forward to going from:

to

 

[GoRedwings19]

I have one but I am selling it as it no longer meets my needs. Unfortunately my system has way exceeded it so I hope it finds a good home. For the price it is good competition for headamps nearly twice the price. I don't regret buying it for one second and had a hell of a time with it.

It works really good with sennheiser hd600+650 as the fast, pacey nature of the amp grabs the senns by it sac's and make them sound good. With grado's you really need to use flats otherwise it sounds bright with the amp. And can this amp go loud. Jahn has a super modified version of mine and he is more able to tell you the benefits as mine is a standard 2004+psu1.

 

[Jahn]

yah no joke - i never EVER push it past 11 am - my ears would be destroyed. and 9 o clock is fine for any impedance can - i used 32 ohm to 600 ohm on this baby. due to some kind of Current Drive Output thing or something (i'm not too tech savvy) impedance is never an issue with this amp.

i use pretty neutral grados with the solo, but i still prefer flats. the bass is tight and punchy and can go as low as you want it. keep in mind tho mine is modded, even the psu is modded, so it's indicative of what the Solo is capable of, not necessarily what it's like in stock form. but even before its last round of mods, when it was just brought to 2004 spec and had a few mods above spec, it still kicked some butt at the mini qualia meet and even made the unburned 010 shine - and the k501, and even powered the K1000.

 

[BMBROWN911]

Lucky people with money!!!!!!!!!!! Argh... lol

 

[Bosch]

Quote:

Lucky people with money!!!!!!!!!!! Argh... lol

Such a familiar cry of angish! We hear you, bro. Why don't you buy GoRedwings19's Solo?

I would love to have a swish system too, but the way I reconcile/cope with my station in life is to (a) realise that I have at least bought equipment that is better than the mass consumer stuff; (b) treat it well by using good ICs, cables and power filters; (c) never audition stuff I cannot afford, and (d) think that even if I did have top shelf gear, I'd always be wondering what new products were better....

With regards to the Perreaux: from what I have read it's a good performer for the price, with its own set of strengths and weaknesses, as have all components (even the top end ones). If you can afford cable and/or power-style upgrades then you'll be able to squeeze the most out of what you've got. That's how I look at it and it works a treat.

Having said that, I am planning to buy a second headphone amp (perhaps the SHX2, which I can audition and buy in my home town), a second pair of headphones, some better interconnects, and then mix and match to suit my listening tastes. My CD player has two RCA outputs, so I can plug one into each amp. Dat's the plan anyway.

If the Solo 2004 keeps me happy, then I might stop there and not experiment with headphone polyamoury. (Perhaps the possibility of doing a Pinky mod would help in this regard.) After all, my neglected HT system does need a proper 5.1 power amp...

 

[Nietzsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 It works really good with sennheiser hd600+650 as the fast, pacey nature of the amp grabs the senns by it sac's and make them sound good. With grado's you really need to use flats otherwise it sounds bright with the amp.

I totally agree. But it's not a Jack for all trades (none amp is).

SENN:
The Solo has a lovely midrange punch that complements the (rather lazy) character of the Senn 650, especially with Jazz and Rock Music.
If I compare the Solo to the (much more expensive) Corda Prehead MkII SE (again with Senn), the Corda has a much wider soundstage, noticable more detail and a far more neutral sound, but less (midrange) punch (should I say dynamics?) (and power !). For classical music (read orchestra) the Corda is the real thing.

GRADO:
I never liked my Grado RS-1 untill I plugged it in to the EaxMax Pro and used the flad pads (Todd).
This tube amp breathes very unstressed through the Grado. The tubes smooth out the speedy and edgy character of the Grado, resulting in a lush rich very lively sound (think of acoustic Jazz combo's with brass). But for classical chamber music bowinstruments (read violins) can still sound scratchy.
Maybe I should try a good SACDP for violinrecordings ...
The Grado sounds also good (but not like the EMP) if I connect it with the (left) high (!) Z output of the Corda.

Jan

 

[Dave Clements]

I've had mine for a couple of months now, and I don't regret buying it. I appreciate that a lot of purists out there are against solid state designs, preferring tubes, but ultimately this decision is down to the individual.
If you're looking for a top end SS device, you should include the Solo in your audition list. If you cannot audition, buy with confidence. What else can I say !!

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Clements I've had mine for a couple of months now, and I don't regret buying it. I appreciate that a lot of purists out there are against solid state designs, preferring tubes, but ultimately this decision is down to the individual. If you're looking for a top end SS device, you should include the Solo in your audition list. If you cannot audition, buy with confidence. What else can I say !!

I have both SS and tubes. This is my favourite amp for the hd600's. For all grado's I use the EMP

 

[Bosch]

I had to pick between solid state or tubes and went for a solid state amp. Virtually all of the music I listen to is either rock tempo or faster, especially the death metal. Industrial music and Noise can get very busy too, so I wanted the amp to be fast and tight.

The Solo is one of a few SS amps I can buy locally which is in that certain price bracket and quality range, i.e. half way between say Creek and Sudgen. I could count the choices on one hand actually, ha ha. Oh well nevermind! My ears will tell me if I the research was thorough enough, although at this level it seems to be more a case of whether or not the source/cans/amp/cable synergy works with your music selections and earware.

 

[Dave Clements]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosch I had to pick between solid state or tubes and went for a solid state amp. Virtually all of the music I listen to is either rock tempo or faster, especially the death metal. Industrial music and Noise can get very busy too, so I wanted the amp to be fast and tight. The Solo is one of a few SS amps I can buy locally which is in that certain price bracket and quality range, i.e. half way between say Creek and Sudgen. I could count the choices on one hand actually, ha ha. Oh well nevermind! My ears will tell me if I the research was thorough enough, although at this level it seems to be more a case of whether or not the source/cans/amp/cable synergy works with your music selections and earware.

The Solo might fall between the Creek and Sugden in terms of price (UK sterling, that is), but I've read (in this forum) that the Solo leaves the Creek for dead and pushes the Sugden very hard in terms of quality. Can't say for myself as I've not auditioned either.
As always, the overall result depends ultimately on the rest of the equipment. In my case, this is AVI (British) CD player, and Sennheiser HD650 (stock cable - I'm not going into the cables arena on this one !!). Hook the AVI and Senn's into the Solo, and the result is very pleasing to my ears. That folks, is what it is all about.

 

[Nietzsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bosch I had to pick between solid state or tubes and went for a solid state amp. Virtually all of the music I listen to is either rock tempo or faster, especially the death metal. Industrial music and Noise can get very busy too, so I wanted the amp to be fast and tight.

Considered your musical taste, I think the Solo is a very good choice.
Maybe you should also try it with a Sony MDR 3000 to make it even more exciting.

Jan

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Clements The Solo might fall between the Creek and Sugden in terms of price (UK sterling, that is), but I've read (in this forum) that the Solo leaves the Creek for dead and pushes the Sugden very hard in terms of quality. Can't say for myself as I've not auditioned either. As always, the overall result depends ultimately on the rest of the equipment. In my case, this is AVI (British) CD player, and Sennheiser HD650 (stock cable - I'm not going into the cables arena on this one !!). Hook the AVI and Senn's into the Solo, and the result is very pleasing to my ears. That folks, is what it is all about.

I did a mini review of sugden, solo, earmax, etc a while back. Just do a search under my name and you will find it. Hope it helps.

 

[Bosch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Clements The Solo might fall between the Creek and Sugden in terms of price (UK sterling, that is), but I've read (in this forum) that the Solo leaves the Creek for dead and pushes the Sugden very hard in terms of quality. Can't say for myself as I've not auditioned either.

Yeah that's basically what I meant. I have read that the Sugden has grainy treble and lack some bass punch, but that could also be due to mismatched components. You never know for sure until it's installed in your own temple of hi-fi. The glowing reviews of the Solo 2004 seem to place it ahead of its rivals, so it did stand out as a good one to try for my budget and as a first amplifier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nietzsche Considered your musical taste, I think the Solo is a very good choice. Maybe you should also try it with a Sony MDR 3000 to make it even more exciting.

Yes indeedy. I am planning to buy a second pair of headphones - something that has different characteristics to the Senn 'house sound'. Death metal is best played on speakers to create that great 'wall of sound' that this genre demands. On the Senns, death sounds pretty good, as long as you trim the volume level so that the distorted guitars don't shred your ear drums. I am hoping the Solo is well rounded enough to keep guitar distortion under control, but considering that it sounds acceptable from my integrated amp, the Solo can only be an improvement.

BTW thanks for the CD3000 recommendation! I do want to audition these cans if possible.