Yes, you both absolutely need more!

That would be awesome!

  I definitely don't need more amps nor cans 

I'm hoping that you won't be able to choose between the L-2 and the DSHA-1 for my eventual (inevitable?) HD800 purchase. Mostly cuz I have the one (DSHA-1) and should not be purchasing the other.

 

Seriously.

 

And I'm not asking Doug whether he has any proto L-2 left. I'm not doing it. At all.

When does the shootoff start? I might send some contenders your way for eval

Interesting. Any thoughts on balanced v. SE (either DSHA-1 v. L2 or DSHA-1 v. DSHA-1 SE)?

Excellent thoughts, Jacob -- thanks for letting us know.  

 

Awesome to see two amps whose "features" sheets (for lack of a better term) seem so different be so alike in dignity.  Congratulations on two great products, Doug.  

Sounds like an interesting combination worth a listen

 

However; having just gone balanced on my HD800's I'm feeling these were just made to be run this way. Picked up a Headroom BUDA and wow where did all that extended bass come from! Almost to the level of the Audeze.

They can still be a tad bright at too high a volume or if the recording is a a bit hot, but overall a great improvement.

The soundstage too seems to have become much more coherant and integrated, less artificial.

So far really enjoying what i'm hearing      

 

 

Yes, it is wonderful.  I am really curious about the HD800s and the L-2 now though (but I really don't need another HP amp)!

Edited July 6, 201312 yr by complin

Thanks for the info!

And awaiting Jeffy's purchase...

I'm hoping that you won't be able to choose between the L-2 and the DSHA-1 for my eventual (inevitable?) HD800 purchase. Mostly cuz I have the one (DSHA-1) and should not be purchasing the other.

 

Seriously.

 

And I'm not asking Doug whether he has any proto L-2 left. I'm not doing it. At all.

 

 

Good to hear that the DSHA-1 and L2 are pretty close... I can live with that.    

I just fired up the Dynalo (aka GS-1) again and with a 42ohm impedance adapter is does sound very similar to the L-2 except there is more top end presence, the soundstage is huge and hello bass!  Remove the adapter and it is a very different story... 

So do the ecp amps have a similar sound signature to the Gilmore style amps? They have very different designs though, right. Trying to imagine what ecp amps sound like and I have heard the dynahi and the dynalo. Any further comments regarding the comparison between ecp and Gilmore?

Anyone take a listen to the HD800s with the Pico Power? Just curious, and I already have a Power...

Haven't tried it yet, and cannot at the moment, but I think it would drive them pretty nicely (don't tell Vicki).

how old are your HD-800s, Birgir?  my brand new ones aren't bright (I don't really think that any HD-800 I've heard has been bright, but Al's certainly highlight sibilance whenever it's present in the music), but they also don't quite have the magic that Al's first run pair has.  I love them, though, it's a sacrifice I'm happy to make, as that present sibilance is tough on my ears sometimes.  These just sound generally wonderful, but they also aren't as wow inducing.   I only have 10 or 15 hours on them, for what that's worth.  

 

Have you tried them with the cables I sent?

Anyone take a listen to the HD800s with the Pico Power? Just curious, and I already have a Power...

 

To my ears they work great with the Pico Power; if it had an AC adapter I could totally see using it as a primary amp for the HD800 when space is a consideration.

Anyone take a listen to the HD800s with the Pico Power? Just curious, and I already have a Power...

 

I beg to differ a bit with Nebby. I tried the combo when I received the PP and while "powerful enough" the sound to me ears was more in the cold and sterile side of things than when using the Luxman P-1 or the Gilmore Reference. Still a listenable combination. I didn't try both using a premium source though, just the iTouch with a LOD playing ALAC files, so this comment should be taken with a grain of salt, specially if Nebby used a high quality source.

My intention was just to assess if the PP-HD800 could be a good portable system, so the source had to be the iTouch.

So do the ecp amps have a similar sound signature to the Gilmore style amps? They have very different designs though, right. Trying to imagine what ecp amps sound like and I have heard the dynahi and the dynalo. Any further comments regarding the comparison between ecp and Gilmore?

 

I'd say they sound similar as in they sound "correct" what ever that means.  The designs seems different but take an abstract view and they are quite similar, the goal is certainly the same one by giving the amplifying device(s) the resources  really needed.  The L-2 is far from a bog standard tube amp, there is a lot of sand in there and though the signal just passes through the tube and transformers.  Same can be said about the Dynalo, the amp itself is very simple but the number of parts comes from the parallel output stage and CCS loading. 

 

I'm also matching the output impedance of the amps and that makes them more similar or rather removes one of the biggest obstacles in amp comparisons. 

 

how old are your HD-800s, Birgir?  my brand new ones aren't bright (I don't really think that any HD-800 I've heard has been bright, but Al's certainly highlight sibilance whenever it's present in the music), but they also don't quite have the magic that Al's first run pair has.  I love them, though, it's a sacrifice I'm happy to make, as that present sibilance is tough on my ears sometimes.  These just sound generally wonderful, but they also aren't as wow inducing.   I only have 10 or 15 hours on them, for what that's worth.  

 

It's SN: 8329 so probably about 2-3 years old by now.  Stock there is a leading edge to their sound.  Not Grado level of bright but push them with the wrong material and they will bite.  Granted this is not as annoying as the edge on the SR-009 which makes them unusable to me but it's certainly there and exacerbated by lesser amps which can't give enough instantaneous power. 

Doug can your parafeed DHT impedence matching amp drive the HD800? Colin says yes, but you know trusting gin...

 

I have Slagle's 14 position autoformers inbetween my dAC and amp, holy hell are they good. Though the Aleph P does some things better. 

You'll probably need some voltage gain. I was working on such a thing before everything went into storage, so look for it this fall/winter ...

You'll probably need some voltage gain. I was working on such a thing before everything went into storage, so look for it this fall/winter ...

Any reason you'd want more voltage gain? Going by Tyll's calculated impedance of 364 ohms, that is about 11 mW with a 2v source (neglecting copper loses). With something like the modified Pass output stage for ES9018, that is putting out over 4v balanced. And the 71a adds a small bit of gain (or what about an input transformer). Unless you are talking about a commercial product that has to appease a wide variety of sources and headphones.

I beg to differ a bit with Nebby. I tried the combo when I received the PP and while "powerful enough" the sound to me ears was more in the cold and sterile side of things than when using the Luxman P-1 or the Gilmore Reference. Still a listenable combination. I didn't try both using a premium source though, just the iTouch with a LOD playing ALAC files, so this comment should be taken with a grain of salt, specially if Nebby used a high quality source.

My intention was just to assess if the PP-HD800 could be a good portable system, so the source had to be the iTouch.

 

I was speaking about it as a portable amp, so I can definitely see it losing to the Luxman or the Gilmore Reference. If you didn't find it acceptable as a portable system with the HD800, what portable did you end up going with?

Last year for vacation I took the iTouch with the Pico Slim, the PS-1 and ATH-ESW10. This year I'm considering going for a Stax system with the SRM-202 and the Gamma-Pro, though I might go nuts and taking the 009 which doesn't work that bad with the 202. 007 won't work. If not, then iTouch, Pico Power and PS-1 or perhaps the ATH-W3000, they're more comfy than the ESW10 and closed enough not to disturb the wife.

Very nice  My current portable setup is the pico slim with Ety ER-4S.

I never learned to love the Etys I wonder if the Pico Slim can really juice up that bass and make them sound full bodied.