DennyL

Xin Reference: $279 RSA SR-71: $395 + shipping RSA Hornet $370 + shiipping Headamp AE-2: $349 + shipping I have a Reference on order, and I'll only pay if and when it is shipped. In the meantime I have three portable amps to keep me going. I listened to one of the early versions of the Reference and I thought it was very good, and I hope the shipped versions will be at least as good. Quite a few people are of the opinion that the sound quality of the Reference approaches that of a decent home amp. It has a 220+ hour battery life and it costs $279. I think there is more to praise than to criticise there. Several of those who have received their Reference are very enthusiastic about its sound quality and feel it was worth the wait. I think Xin is unusual and a perfectionist; he is more interested in music and sound quality than profit, and I like that. Those who don't like his style should not deal with him; that isn't complicated. I don't understand the aggression and criticism towards those of us who want to own one of his amps and are prepared to wait for it.

I'm sorry, Boomnana, you've completely lost the plot. There's more to life than finding the perfect amplifier/headphone match. If someone emails you and says 'Hey, I see you're interested in the Reference, I've got one. How about we get together and crack a few beers and listen to some sounds with it', I'm not going to say 'Ooh, aah, I'm sorry I don't think we have quite the right headphones.' We had a good afternoon and listened to some good music, some of it new to me. As I write this I'm listening to Simon Jeffe's 'Still Life at the Penguin Cafe' through my K701s and a DarkVoice. It sounds great. The Xin sounded pretty good, too. I'm still hoping I might receive mine some day. Let's just lighten up and calm down and stop taking ourselves so seriously.

If you had a chance of an afternoon to listen to a portable amp and see what you thought of it, what would you do? IMO the Xin Reference is a warm-sounding amp, and the K701s sound quite good with it. I also have an RSA SR-71, and I enjoy a lot of music listening to SR-71 + K701. I'm not sure who you are referring to hear. In my post I said that I had an afternoon to listen to a Xin Reference, and the cans available were K701s and K340s. I can help you with that. I thought the Xin Reference is a great amp at a great price. Also I think Xin is a bit of an eccentric, a perfectionist and craftsman, and I want to own one of his amps (if I ever receive it). I think we can all agree that portable amps are fun but they have limitations. Someone please explain to me the source of all this sectarian strife and agression towards Head-fi. We're all boys and girls playing with our toys here. Nothing to get worked up about. I missed that post, but I guess it's possible to find a home amp that sounds worse than a Reference, as the reference is pretty good.

No offence taken . Those were the headphones we happened to have available at the time. I have AKG K701s and Beyer DT880s, as well as Senn PX100s. So, assuming the Reference arrives one day, and I haven't yielded to any headphone-purchase temptations (fighting them off all the time) by then, those are the cans I shall use with it. Do you have any comments about the compatibility of the Reference with K340s and K701s?

I spent an afternoon with another head-fier listening to different types of music through a Xin Reference, alternating between K701s and K340s. These cans are not particularly easy to drive, and the two of us were very impressed, feeling that the Reference was very good for a portable, and was not far short of the quality of a home amp. Of course Dr Xin has continued tweaking the Reference since the one I listened to. I subsequently ordered a Reference. Whether I ever see it is a different question.