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Looking for Pico comepetitors


Tony

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<snip>

I may be all alone here in my sentiments here, but one thing I like about this forum, is that I can say what I think, popular or not.

Like you don't on the other site. :rofl:

To the OP, you really need to state your requirements in a portable amp. I'm assuming that you want a portable amp as you mentioned the Pico. Does it need to had a USB Dac? What kind of music do you mostly listen to? What other amps have you heard and liked or disliked? What's your budget? What are your requirement wrt batteries? What about size?

My main portable amp is Rockhopper Pimeta. It's powered by a replaceable 9V battery that I can buy anywhere. It's larger than my iPod (the usual source) but works for me. The build quality and sound quality is quite nice. Overall a good amp purchase for ~ $80 USD. Depending on your requirements, something similar to this may work well for you too.

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You can say pretty much what you like on HF, you just have to be more careful how you say it. The are only a few real taboos. I like it here because the S/N is so much higher and that members that lower it are encouraged to either raise their S/N level or leave.

I spent way too much time there trying to find diplomatic versions of what I really wanted to say but it's hard work and ultimately unfulfilling.

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Alternatively, is it possible that our personal like or dislike of a particular MOT is shaded by our selfsame opinions of his product, and the way he handles criticism, and perhaps business?

How about the non-responsiveness to any technical questions (from what I have read)? I find that disturbing... not that I would be a likely customer anyhow, but still.

:mikey2:

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We'll criticize MoTs we like also. Most people, including myself, are huge fans of Mikhail's amps and like Mikhail personally. I got no problem saying that he needs to get his act together business-wise, though. He pretty much sucks when it comes to keeping promises re timing, and has been known to send out amps with quality control issues.

x2. Mikhail has been taking ages with my amp. Every time he leads me into thinking that it's almost complete, he finds something to fix or improve on it, pushing the shipping date into the unknown once more.

:rant:

Regarding the Q/A issues, one of the main reasons my amp has been sitting so long on his testbench is the fact that he won't ship it unless it's been running and measuring perfectly for a prolonged period. At least in my case he seems to be very focused on not skimping on the Q/A.

My amp has now been running 24/7 for the last week on his bench and Mikhail finally seems to be satisfied that all components can handle the abuse. He told me that he will shoot some quality pictures of it during the weekend and ship it on Monday. My experience tells me that I can probably add a few days to that estimate, but we'll see...

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My amp has now been running 24/7 for the last week on his bench and Mikhail finally seems to be satisfied that all components can handle the abuse. He told me that he will shoot some quality pictures of it during the weekend and ship it on Monday. My experience tells me that I can probably add a few days to that estimate, but we'll see...

I'm also expecting to receive an amp from SinglePower soon.

How about a bet? The one who receives his amp first is the "loser" and has to send the "winner" a prize.

I'm willing to put up my RSA Raptor or AT-HA5000. I have horrible luck and there's no way I'm going to get my amp soon.

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I'm also expecting to receive an amp from SinglePower soon.

How about a bet? The one who receives his amp first is the "loser" and has to send the "winner" a prize.

I'm willing to put up my RSA Raptor or AT-HA5000. I have horrible luck and there's no way I'm going to get my amp soon.

I don't think that would be wise of me. First of all I shouldn't need another amp pretty soon and second I can't afford to part with any of my headphone gear. I still have a pair of very nice Triangle Stratos Luna speakers that just won't seem to sell. I can't afford to drop the price either. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I guess. :(

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How about the iBasso D2 for more than 40% the price of the Pico?

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/ibasso-d2-viper-pictures-impressions-reviews-read-rules-303849/

I haven't heard the ibasso D2, but I listened to the ibasso P2 this weekend with HD600s, ESW9s, Proline 2500s and HFI-780s and a couple different sources. I think the amp section of the D2 and P2 are supposed to be the same. If so, I heard nothing that would make me recommend this amp to anyone. It was congested and very grainy. I was told that the opamps used (I forget which) weren't considered the best choice, and the owner had ordered different ones (again, I don't know which), but of the eight amps there, this was the only one I completely disliked. The Graham Slee Voyager came second place for bad.

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