Headphone Amplification

Right, another one of my "x vs. y" threads... I've been going back and forth with a guy on head-fi about buying his SLAM SE, and it seems he's not really interested in selling it anymore (after I sold off my whole rig ). I have a WTB ad up there (and here), but it got me thinking about whether it was worth buying used. Anyway, I fired off an e-mail to Mikhail about it, but I think I'll probably end up with a used amp, since I'd need it by January to take advantage of the fact that my dad will be in PA for a couple of weeks (no tax makes a HUGE difference!). While I was considering that, something that's always been in the back of my mind came up. I've always been cu…

Do I need to do anything to run balanced headphones out of the XLR outputs on the Lavry? Can I simply get someone to recable the headphones terminated in female XLRs or do I need to do something different? I currently have the jumpers in the Lavry set on balanced output mode.

apparently ray samuels has a new amp...a balanced one perhaps? any ideas?

Sorry for the quality of the pictures... I really need to get a tripod. A few points: - Yes, the 1/4" jacks are different. Yes, it will be fixed. - The Power keystart switch failed and Peter had to bypass it... I'm glad this happened before he handed the amp over. - The faceplate didnt really turn out as Peter and I wanted it. Neither of us payed anything for it though so no harm. Steve [swt61] should be able to remedy this for us in any case. - The XLR jacks are way too close to the volume knobs... this is one of the things that we will try to remedy with the new faceplate. - I believe Peter mentioned that there is some more exterior finishing th…

Ha! ... gotta love the Gilmore Raptor

Well, I was supposed to get my new balanced McAlister Audio amp Sunday morning... turns out that the faceplate guy had issues with the green sublimation process. I decided to get the amps name in a forest green colour. Should have just left well enough alone! But then again, maybe not! I get a call from Peter on Sunday afternoon. He says he has been listening to my amp, and while it sounds incredible, he decided that he wants to go a little more 'over the top' with it. A man after my own heart. So, it looks like there will be 4 more tubes, for a grand total of 13... as well as two more metal can capacitors. He says that it looks like a BEAST. I can't wait to se…

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/yamamoto4/ha02.html That looks really nice and their SET seems to be very well liked. Anyone want to take one for the team?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no such thing as a new production JAN tube, yes?

So, I just ordered a FirstWatt F1 for my K1000s, and I'm getting that feeling that you get when you get new toys WHEEE

House Fire Where? Who? When? and we know the supposed why.

Considering the overwhelmingly negative sentiment on Head-Case regarding RSA and its designs I have up until now stayed silent. I defer to KG technical expertise. I do read most of the anti-Ray propaganda that is posted. I believe that all of this propaganda has given me a slight predisposition against liking the Sonics of RSA?s products. It is with this predisposition that I attended this weekends NYC meet. I tend to pay attention to products that might be considered very high end. I already own what I consider to be the finest portable amp so I had little interest in listening to the new Tomahawk or even the Hornet, so I won?t comment on their performance or value ex…

I have read a lot of good things about the Es-1, aristaeus and of course the hev90. All 3 are obtainable and in the case of the hev90 if you know where to ask. But I wonder what are the differences between the three? I currently use a 007t to drive my electrostat headphone and am looking for something which improves on it. I am looking for something which tightens up the bass over the 007t and if possible goes lower. Also I find the 007t and phone has a kind of even tonal balance. I prefer things a little on the warmer side. Also I hear this metallic ringing or sheen to notes. This is distracting to say the least. So any amp which does not have any of these fl…

"The Tomahawk" "...resolution you can never imagine." http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205466 http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/index3.html Discuss

I'm trying to think -- I don't think I've heard a worse amp than the Raptor. (Mints don't count, because they're not commercially available.) Am I forgetting something?

Or, as they call it on Head-Fi, the Xiansheng. Alright, I found the tube compliment as being 1 6N3, 2x 6922, 1 6Z4 and 1 6N1. Meh, the only ones of those that I have are the 6922's...and not even that many of those... My boss just bought one (under my recommendation, so there's a little bit of pressure to do well, here). It's distorting. My first guess would be one of the tubes, but he does have a whole new system (using the MF A308 as transport, to long digital cable to cheap DAC to short ICs to Xiang Sheng to Sony MDR-7506/-V6's [i forget which, but it's actually a nice match]), so there's a possibility that it's something else, but I figure: check the tubes first…

What do you guys think about these 2 amps coming out soon? Not much info on them. Basically, i'm wondering if anyone can give some insight about the quality of their products and whether these 2 new amps will be worth checking out.

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Has anyone here heard a Woo 3 with top of the line super duper exotic tubes? I'm just wondering how it would compare to something like a singlepower. It would be alot more convinient for me because of the size, but I don't want to lose out on SQ. By the same token, how about an Earmax?

I felt really bad hijacking humanflyz thread so I've created this seperately. I've done plenty of searching at the other place. Earl one of your posts from Headfi. Just doing some searching for uber Grado amps. I'm convinced the 6BL7GT/A is the way (if this will provide tons of current for the Grados) I want to go, unless there is a more high current tube that can be stuck in the MPX3 without driving the costs to Supra levels. Out of everything I'm looking for in a tube amp bass slam, and bass control is probably the most important thing for me. I'd like tight controlled bass with excellent attack and decay. And uh...don't mess with the Grado midrange too m…

The more I think about, the more I realize that I don't really want an Omega 2 setup, and all the RS-1 loving has really got to me, so now my target is on a RS-1 setup. I'm set on getting a Singlepower amp to mate with the RS-1s, so this thread is to get some good info. 1) I'm going to get a MPX3 as the base, with octal tube sockets for maximum flexibility. 2) Gain tube: So far I know you can use the 6SN7, 7n7, 7af7, and their 12/14v variants. I'm a bit wary of using the 6SN7 since good NOS 6SN7 are expensive as hell. And also, what does the 12v option do to the sound? If I get it, does that mean I can no longer use the 6v variants? 3) Output: I'm pretty much set on…

All I remember was seeing a MOT thread in Head-Fi several months back. It looks like it's been released, but I can't seem to find anything about it. So I take it no one has heard this anything anywhere?

I tried to share this pic at head-fi, but my thread has been deleted fro some reason... Here's a compacted version of the front panel's picture that Justin has just sent.

Last I heard he was in the early testing phase. Did things get worked out and are these now available in the GS-X?

For those of you who've held on to your GS1000s (there are a couple left, right?), what amp are you using?

Hey folks, what are your thoughts on the new high end stuff like the B52, the PPX3 XLR and such like that? I've heard that the B52 will cost in the 5-6000 range, anyone hear anything directly from Ray or otherweise know anything about it? It's made the rounds at a few meets now (most recently the Boston Meet), but things seem really tight lipped about the thing. What is it exactly? A headphone amp that also has preamp functionality? A preamp that is also a good headamp? (yah yah a headamp is basically a specialized preamp, but you guys know what I mean)... Any ideas on the tube complement? The 5687s x 4 seem to have been identified, but what about the other 4? they se…