TheSloth

Excellent - could you perhaps explain that in terms an electrical layman might understand? Actually I'm not that electrically stupid, but I can't quite remember how to interpret that diagram...

They were at the HE show last weekend. I've heard there are some good current reissues of Mullard EL-34's and some others...

I was talking to people who thought it was better. The drivers and crossover are brand new. They are of course based on the original design and very closely mimic their properties, but use more up to date materials and construction techniques. I have seen other branded clones going for over $1k. What's insane is the sound you get for that price. Obviously they don't go that low, but no LS3/5 ever did. They look lovely, and are light and easy to move around. Overall, they are a great bargain, so smooth and easy to listen to, not at all hyperactive like so much stuff today. I was quite surprised at the bass though - I honestly walked around the room round the back of the amps etc. looking for the subwoofer. A 4.5" cone in a sealed box? I did notice though that the cone seemed to have quite significant Xmax, at least from visual inspection so perhaps they were able to increase the cone excursion for better bass response.

Btw, on the same website I linked above, these http://www.gini.com/index.php?id=speakers are insanely good sounding. Such a beautiful midrange - the LS3/5 is famous for certain tonal qualities obviously, but when I saw the price and description I thought 'cheap replica' and it's anything but. Heard it for a while at the NY show and frankly it produced some of the most beautiful music I heard there.

Thanks. Can you tell me what the technical difference is? i.e., what's actually changing when you flip the switch between the modes?

Ok, so when looking for these particular tubes, how does one know what one's getting? Where do you tend to buy tubes? I'm not going to start on Ebay as I'm going to end up with crap. I'm told that good EL34's are generally not too expensive these days and supply is quite plentiful. Really looking forward to a nice tube setup - I also wonder how that integrated will do as a headphone amp...

Hi everyone, I'm about to enter the world of tubes. My Acoustic Zen's arrived, and I'm going to be powering them with one of these http://www.gini.com/index.php?id=250. I heard the combo at a local dealer and really fell in love with it. Can someone explain me the difference between 'triode' operation and 'ultralinear' operation, and also recommend some really great tubes. I'm a complete newbie in this field so go easy!

The issue here for me is that you HAVE to get the ALO cable. These cables run over $100 for a few inches of cable. What about if you don't have any DIY skills and want a cable for the 5G iMod that runs a few feet to connect to a home system? I run my 4G at home as my main source and really do like it. But there's no way I'm going to spend what I'm guessing will be about $300 on ALO cables to make it work. Though, you don't actually have to buy the ALO cable with the mod - you can elect not to get one, and make one yourself. But I do suspect it is quite tricky geting those caps nicely integrated in the dock connector. Someone should look into it.

Oh no, it seems that Vinnie is partnering with none other than... yep, you guessed it, ALO to make the custom cable with the caps in the connector. I've very suddenly gone off the 5G mod in a big way...

Alps RK-27 blue velvet quad version. Never seen it advertised on DIY sites, but it definitely exists as HeadRoom use it as the stock pot in their Desktop and Home Balanced amps...

It wouldn't be hugely convenient/elegant as a preamp/headphone amp combo. The outputs would be on the front only and you'd be constantly switching cables. Performance wise, I think you'd be very surprised just how well the HR amps work as preamps. And it isn't really a $1k source/pre/amp, as for real quality you'd need the DPS, setting you back more like $2k. Not that the 'cost' necessarily tells you anything about the performance. As a preamp/source/headphone amp combo, the Balanced Home makes a lot more sense, but costs a lot more money.

Agreed, but as far as I understand less esoteric film caps of the same value (less than 1uf I believe) will sound better than the black gate electrolytics as they are in the signal path. More like $40 in that case. The iMod uses black gates for size reasons. I'm sure if Vinnie could use any cap he wanted he'd use film.

Actually, as initially stupid as that seems, one could make a 'home audio' cable with caps like that for use with the iMod at home. It's a bit overkill, but it would sound better. Just have to match the value.

In the next month or two Vinnie said it would be available. So yes, you get the clean line out (though without the cable with the decoupling caps in it I doubt it would work properly) and the original headphone out/amp is preserved.

I was at the HE show in NY yesterday and one of Vinnie's sources was a 5G iMod. To be released next month. Same as the 4G iMod, but the caps don't fit inside the slimmer case, so it now has to include a cable with a dock connector, as the caps are in the connector. The advantage is that the headphone out is left unchanged. I was looking at Hard Disk upgrades for the 4G iPod, and it seems that the standard connector has changed since those days and none of the newer, larger disks support the old style connector (and there's no adapter). So if one wants a larger HD'd iMod (and the ability to upgrade the size later), it's 5G or nothing.

Well looking at their computer sales figures it seems they feel that with their current upward progress in that department, they can afford to spread. They are generating record sales and profits, and have more cash in the bank than ever, so they feel that this is 'their time'. That's how I see their reasoning - I wonder how it will work out.

So many of the manufacturers at head-fi these days, even if they can make a good/great product, lack the resources and organisation to support them properly. This damages the entire market IMO, making customers more and more wary of even the more established makers.

Actually it turns out that what was on display are very much prototypes, and though the time from this stage to maket might be quite short, the exact feature set/electronics design is more late beta than final candidate, reading between the lines as it were. And I was right that the new Micro Amp uses the same enclosure as the old Micro Amp but now contains the amp electronics and DAC electronics in that little package, as well as rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The Desktop Portable also now runs on lithium ions, so no more dangling 4xD cell brick, and I believe on top of the Home Module that was always available you can also get the Home DAC in it. With those upgraded specs and no dangling power supply, that will be a killer 'transportable'. So good things are happening in the HeadRoom DAC/amp world.

Considering that they are calling the new standard AC Micro DAC 'equivalent electronics to the Home DAC', and the only real difference between the Home and Max is the upsampling chip, I'm not sure what else there is to differentiate them. I also misread the new portable Micro Amp. As far as I now understand, this is battery powered, rechargeable (?), and includes the circuitry of both the amp and a standard Micro DAC. I think... It's a shame that the maunfacturers who where exhibing new products didn't publish a breakdown on what they were showing so that other head-fi'ers (i.e. the vast majority of the coummnity) could know what was going on there. Most of the questions in the meet thread are very specific and are asking for clarification about the slew of new products where it isn't quite clear exactly what they are.

So I suppose people can add the Ultra Micro DAC to their list now. Small, cute, and supposedly the same electronics as a Max DAC (might even be slightly updated for all I know).

"Everything is labeled with precise laser engraving and won't ever fade or fall off." I wonder who that might be digging at...

The Xenos really isn't particularly good (it's not 'bad' though), and it's bulky. The crossfeed 'works', but that's as far as it goes. I got a free one that's having its gain lowered to the now standard settings (after I pestered them over and over again - what kind of idiot builds a headphone amp with 29dB of gain?) and it might sound a bit better -I'll report back when it gets here. Based on the previous quality of Justin's work, I'd say the AE-2 is a good place to be looking, but I haven't heard it yet. I can't live without crossfeed, especially with IEM's so I'm holding out for the new HeadRoom Mobile line (no, I don't know anything about it or when it should be coming out - all I know is that there is one in the works).

I really hope that they are making the electronics modular like the amps. That way, we can make another convertible! . I wonder if they'll have anything 300B related as well? New mobile line? Wheatfield thingymbob? Sorry I can't be there...

I hated the 2500's. Terrible headphone. It just sounds like Ultrasone don't know how to design a headphone driver.

Do we know that silver sounds any harsher than copper at the same gauge, winding/geometry, and purity level? I never really tried, just curious.