recstar24

I have already tried that years ago I believe with current manufacturing costs, I believe he quoted me a price tag of 12-1400 for it. So it doesn't quite make sense, because the whole allure of the amp is that it was a hi end amp for pennies.

No:( I want to say 6 total were made and sold - 5 that were sold here and 1 was a custom job sent to Russia that was tube rectified. I owned one of those 5, but sold it to a canadian who I believe still owns it. Billy has one which I keep on trying to have him sell me but he is too lazy to even consider it:) So 3 more somewhere in the ether. Unfortunate too as that is a killer sounding amp especially with grados, the synergy with the RS-1's is perfect, soundstage so freaking deep. I believe the actual cost of parts, chassis, custom output transformers, was $600, so considering Craig sold it for $595 with shipping, he essentially shipped every hd25 with a $25 bill. I have a internals pic somewhere - really nice stuff inside. Custom made Eddie Current tin foil, paper, poly cap, custom eddie current output transformers, freaking ridiculous.

The BA, for some reason, seems more in line with the older Eddie current line. I would think that if you prefer the older look, the more industrialized aesthetic, then the BA is probably right there. Like ER I am more in line with the ZD by appearance, though having owned the s2a3 I still don't think there is a prettier chassis than the original s2a3.

I still think that the original moth s2a3 can't be topped: laser etched logo. Chassis has that kind of black paint you might find on a lexus. The glow of the tubes through these spooky portholes, the moth emblem, etc. On top of the brass plaques for the transformers inside the chassis and tons of random details that most would consider trivial, the BA looks more like the EC HD-25 that I used to own. I am more in line with nate on the looks department, I prefer the looks of the Zana. All I care about is how it sounds, and that jim is not too far away from me that I can have a listen.

Correct - the biggest problem with transformer coupling is the transformer itself:D

For one look at the power output into lower impedance. Waaaaay more power output, so the benefits of better drive capability into the low impedance grados and such theoretically should be apparent. Consider you are getting about 3watts of power into 32 ohms and I am sure the tube itself is run very lightly due to the transformer coupling, the sound could be a step up from the zana with the low impedances. 8 watts into 8 ohms is ideal for my speaker tastes - in fact if craig fracking let me know that something like this was on the horizon or if the moth didn't come through, I would get this in a heartbeat due to the versatility. The transformer coupling in general will allow the tube to run a bit easier (which in my opinion is usually a benefit in operation and sound). The tube itself has a very low plate impedance so the transformer itself can be wound much better, making it more ideal in this application. Cannot beat the higher power output though that stems from all those things mentioned above.

Isn't this all a moot point as the US P1 is sold out and probably will not come back? Or is the discussion around possibly getting the japanese version and using a step down for much less $ ? I am sure it would operate just fine and though the power supply is very important I have never experienced where a step down transformer brought down the performance of a piece of kit. Not saying that the transformer component isn't important, but I thought that the DC rectification, filter caps, power supply rails and grounding, etc., had much more impact on the sound than the power transformer.

I concur. You can add the FET-A to the list, Absorbine is picking it up from me tonight, and he will have it for the central illinois meet and indiana meet.

Ah...thanks for the clarification, yeah it might be worth it to have todd/pete look it over...

I would re-read the above poster's comment, and it is probably due to the source. Typically the kind of hiss you are talking about is actually sourced induced, a lot of times it is simply thermal noise which should only be present at such extraordinarily loud volumes that you would never listen to in the 1st place. For example, I hear just a tad touch of hiss but with the pot way above 12 oclock, which i could not even get anywhere near without busting up my drivers or ear drums. hiss on amps can be the result of many things, of which are no indicator of amp performance. #1 - source induced noise, traditionally thermal noise from the circuit #2 - internal gain of amp, big factor, if the gain is high enough (and the FET-A sounds as if it has a pretty good amount of gain), you are naturally going to hear more "stuff" when you max the pot. #3 - impedance of cans plays a huge role - higher impedance you will hear less of the hiss and noise. #4 - grounding with system, including power and IC's - a lot of times grounding issues can manifest themselves as a slight hum or hiss, but usually this is a small factor and IME has virtually no impact on an amplifier's performance.

Oh you don't need to. Its a pick and pluck foam, which basically consists of all these very tiny cubes of foam that you can pick apart separately (think boxes on a piece of graph paper). So once I traced it, I just plucked out the pieces of foam that needed to go out, and voila! Fits nicely.

UPDATE: Now that I actually have my HP-2's, I went ahead and plucked some of the foam out after tracing the outline from them 1st. And with the cans actually inside of them. I am pretty happy with the result. There is an air pressure purge control valve as well that I guess does its thing automatically whenever you close it shut. I can go to bed safe at night knowing that if the house catches on fire or becomes submerged in water, my hp's will be safe and sound.

Todd had the top open at the chicago meet. I remember that it was actually discrete, had a bunch of transistors and stuff, and it was truly DC coupled on the output. Yup:p

Oooops sorry I guess its harder to convey irony and sarcasm on the intranets than I thought;)

Have no idea - seeing as I no longer have the Zana and use the moth integrated for speaker duties. However I do plan on trying out the FET-A as a preamp into my moth and just run the volume pot on the moth all the way to reduce its effect on the signal. I personally make it a habit with gear that does not belong to me not to mess with it or open it up unless I have direct permission from the person it belongs to. Even when I worked for 6moons, I always made sure to ask first before digging around, and I do plan on asking Todd if it is okay if I open her up for some pics. I would hate to be personally liable if something goes wrong, and personally I just don't think its good form or very classy to open up stuff that doesn't belong to you (i.e., opening up R10's to recable them though they are not yours (blubliss?))

Todd sent his loaner to me to check out, it arrived today. It actually looks much better in person than what the pics show. The volume knob honestly isn't that much bigger than your standard amp volume knob. The chassis is just a straight anodized silver, very simple. With zero hours on it, I am liking what I am hearing so far. There is an air and ambiance that you traditionally don't hear with solid state units. The midrange tonally is spot on. I will leave it at that because I want to "burn it in" (though I admit I am not really that superstitious about burn in generally).

Well the truth is I am not sure how many people have had the chance to directly compare the two, if your looking for the spoon fed answer your probably not going to find it. However, we have enough people who have heard one or the other, and have given their impressions as they see fit. You can try head-fi if you feel that would be a more appropriate forum.

Arrrrgggg! Happy belated Nate, your the man - sorry I am late to the party. Hopefully you didn't party too hard.

WOW!!! I just want to thank whoever gave me that avatar - dude that totally made my day mr. avatar put on anonymous guy.

Geez you guys, that avatar is so wrong... (...where can I get one? Thanks guys appreciate it...)

OT - Love the avatar:D

Kelvinz, If the issue your holding is that it is too expensive for a headphone amp, that is fine as your opinion. For others, not necessarily so. $6000 to you and me is very different to someone else. The few owners who have the 307A, have already determined for themselves that they are willing to pay $6000 for an ultimate, true hi end performing amp that can play any dynamic can. Just for reflection, the Original Xana from Moth Audio was slight under $6000 and could only play into hi impedances. There have been people who felt comfortable (at the time) to commission Mikhail $5000-$10,000 for the hopes of having a superior product. What people do with their money is fine by me, I envy them because damn that 307a is the finest freaking thing I heard with the hp-1000's, balanced, that god willing if I had $6000 to make it rain I would. The part of your argument that really doesn't make sense is comparing the headphone amp to the speaker amp. Yes you can get a really nice speaker amp for less than half of that, and for that price, your getting into the higher end of speaker amplification, but quality headphone amplification doesn't really share much with speaker amplification. The noise requirements of a headphone amp are much more demanding because you are dealing with transducers millimeters away at milliwatt sensitivities; therefore, it is my opinion that a headphone amp power supply needs to be about 10x stiffer with less noise and hash than a comparable speaker amp. This requires well thought out design, good iron, probably a choke in there, quality rectification, some of which is right up there, if not dwarfing, the quality of speaker amplification. Though a headphone amp does not need to output as much raw power as a speaker amp, the quality of that first "milliwatt" is so crucial that power output truly is meaningless in the headphone amp world. The amp itself needs to be designed to be able to operate as an effective buffer into a WIDE range of impedances, whereas a speaker amp can be dedicated to the standard 8 ohm. The headphone amp, on top of being able to handle all impedances (or a top of the line one), needs to also be able to supply the necessary voltage and current demands on hand, which are different for every single headphone. On top of that, some of the impedance variations across frequency for these cans can be dramatic, and we "expect" a headphone amp to handle all those dips and bumps, and be able to manage and produce a somewhat transparent and neutral pairing with whatever variety of headphones at your disposal. In conclusion, it is my opinion that the TTVJ 307A does all those things listed above. I truly feel it is the 1st amp that I have heard that plays music equally as amazing with low and hi impedance, and believe that you could throw any damn can at it and the 307a will play beautiful music through it. It performed functionally perfect, with no hassle, hum, or noise. It revealed zero transformer colorations to my ears. It played music through a clear, open window of transparency that is unrivalled to what I have ever heard. For me, and maybe others, that is worth $6000. It is clear that it is not to you, and that is just fine, the world keeps on spinning last time I checked. There are always compromises in gear - I have no idea how much money you would have to throw at something to make it sound "perfect", because money doesn't necessarily equate itself to performance. For what I look for in a headphone amp, the 307a is about as near to perfect as I have ever seen or heard, but like you said, it doesn't change the fact that $6000 is a lot of money, which I will probably never have to spend on something so luxurious (but we can always dream, no?)

The sound goes direct to the head (ba dump tish). Thanks asr for the pics and impressions.

Ah, the never ending debate between grado vs. sennheiser. However, if the HD800 does indeed have a more lively, dynamic sound, it might cause a shift towards one side. I am sure it is tweaked differently but a completely new driver design is probably unlikely. Zanth would be the one to ask, but he is probably tight lipped since its not released into the wild yet. The gs-1000 drivers look exactly the same as every other grado driver, but they do sound dramatically different, specifically in the bass region. Only exception of course are the hp1000 drivers but last time I talked to Joe he is the sole proprietor of those drivers.