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jp11801

High Rollers
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Posts posted by jp11801

  1. hey guys have a great time, it does not look good for me making the meet as I have had family stuff come up. This sucks because it looks like this is going to be an epic meet given the attendees. Have a great time and please take plenty of pics of the people and the party.

  2. I think John posted he has one in the works some schematic from a college buddy or something. It's probably super early stages but we may see one someday when his lines start evening out.

    a sold state stat amp could be built from what Craig said pretty quick as he had a channel of it ready to test. If there was interest people should ping him, I'm sure he'd build it if there was enough interest.

    It was a friend from his Harmon Kardon days that he worked on the amp with, basically a guy who all he does is design discrete amp topologies.

    So Dan is the meet this saturday or the second saturday in August??

  3. Any ideas on pricing and tube complement?

    I'd reach out to Craig on pricing and options, the one I have is the base version he can make it with a tube rectified ps that is more like the ps in my amp. It's a no brainer to get the better ps. The outputs are the 307a tube and I think the driver is a 6sl7 but the amp is not in front of me at the moment.

  4. We did not mention it but there was an entry level balanced amp there as well. I may get this wrong but, it has one gain stage runs off WE437s or the russian tube that is the equivilent (forget the number). Sounded good just tough to go from the BA to the smaller amp in the listening session. Smaller form factor with the tubes inside the amp.

    As much as a I like the Zana the BA and Nautilus had it beat to my ears but I like transformer coupled amps. . I think we'll see the BA get made and probably not the Nautilus based on what Craig was saying and what we were hearing.

  5. Unfortunately, that's just not the case. There's a cleanliness to some of Mikhail's amps that I've just not heard in any other amp. Even my love for the Wheatfield is because it has a completely different sound.

    But I agree that it's not BS I would put up with. Here's to hoping my SP amp never breaks. (crosses fingers)

    I'd put the millet 307a, the BA from EC in that upper tier as well as the pagano 300b amp. I'm not sure why the pagano amps did not take off while expensive they are in the range of some of the more esoteric SP offerings and won best in show at the 2006 annual meet from Stereophile.

  6. here are a few pics with the HD2 for reference. I am told the finished amp will have the transformers inside the amp and will have a better finished metal work of course. Keep in mind this amp is the working proto that was shown at CanJam. It will obviously look better if produced as a production run.

    DSCN0738.jpg

    DSCN0737.jpg

    IMG_2180.jpg

    IMG_2181.jpg

    I'm using the Audio Technica AD2ks with it now and it is even up with the HD2 with this can. They have a slightly different presentation with the BA having a more intimate feel with slightly more body and the HD2 presenting a wider stage.

  7. I also don't see how stifling fanboyism will prevent something like this in the future.

    While this may or not may not fit the Websters definition of fanboyism (god I hate that term). The problem to me at least is when an SP customer raised concerns here or on headfi there seemed to be a universal response of " yeah I waited a long time and dealt with the BS but in the end it is totally worth it" or you'd get a few responses well I ordered my amp 6 weeks ago and I got it last week. Both of these answers without SP customers with issues chiming in had the effect of masking the issue. So people continued to send there cash to Denver thinking nothng was amiss.

    With that said though if you ordered a standard boiler plate mpx3 or extreme you probably got that in short order. If you added a bunch of upgraded to your amp that had the effect of stuffing 10lbs of sausage in a 5 lb casing then there were delays.

  8. Well I was down in the LA area on business and to check out a few hotels with David (909) so a stop by Craig's (Eddie Current) house was in order.

    So on my way home I stopped by with David (909) for a listen.

    Craig has been cooking up a new balanced amp since the Mayberry on Acid meet. The Balancing Act and the Nautilus have been in various states for prototyping for a while now. So we were able to hear the Nautilus which debuted at the recent NorCal meet in San Mateo and the latest version of the balacing act. The BA first appeared at the Maberry on Acid meet with smaller tubes that were enclosed in the amp. While we all liked the amp Craig scrapped that one and present V2 at Can Jam this time with 300bs in it. Once again it seemed to be well received but was scrapped in favor of the Nautilus. Now the Nautilus was at the meet we held about a month ago and was a hit a the meet and fared well against the HD2 (my amp).

    Well yesterday we heard the Balancing Act with a new tube set the 307a tube. Now my first reaction was ok this is going to sound like the millet 307a amp we jsut had at the last Norcal meet. I could not have been more wrong. This amp was some of the most beautifull tone I have heard from an amp in a long time. The two amps come from very different sonic places, both great but may appeal to different users depending on their preference.

    Ok on to the two amps, we listened with both Senn 600s and L3000s.

    The Nautilus was as good as I remembered it to be. Wide open sound stage with a presentation that was slightly set back like maybe 3-5th row style sound. Very nuetral across the spectrum but with an ever so slight wooliness in the bass. This is only in comparsion with my amp or the new BA if you did not have either as a point of refernce you would not notice it.

    The Balancing Act just blew me away! It represented a clear step up from the Nautilus with a more wet tone with a closer presentation. With vocals they are right smack dab in the middle with all the detail from great recording like the wet mouth lip smack and every breath the vocalist takes is present on good recordings. Ever instrument seemed to have more body with guitars really standing out on this amp.

    The differences were more apparent with David's L3000s than with the 600s.

    We listened to the Mudcrutch cd, Neil Young Harvest, Black Sabbath Paraniod and Pink Floyd DSOTM. A reall wow moment was War PIgs from Parniod the guitars really shined out of the BA over the Nautilus.

    At the end of the meet I was joking with Craig and asked if I could have the BA for a month to get a feel for it against my amp the HD2 and he suprisngly agreed. So I'll be checking this out with the HD2 for the next month. I'll probably post a comparision in the high end room at some point using the balanced 650s, Audio Technica AD2ks and Grado RS1's (old school version).

  9. You should try and snag a Denon DA-500. I think the sound would be right up your alley. They're cheap too.

    I would post internal pics of mine, but I've only managed to strip one of the screws :sadcat:

    I've looked for these off and on and have not found one. Looks like back in march there was one on canuck audiomart for $125.

  10. I have also been shopping for a second dac as I have set up a stat rig in the bedroom. Not sure where the trans dac will reside yet but its small form factor favors the bedroom. Right now I am looking at the:

    Theta dacs from the gen V tor the pro basic lll

    I am also looking at the Levinson 36 dac but it is $1900

    Anyone heard the theta?

  11. I can honestly say this little dac is pretty amazing. Many dacs I have listened to or owned have glare of high end hash that you pick up on after listening a bit. The trans dac while not the last word in detail has musicality in spades where it counts in the midrange. It is one of the most musical dacs I have heard and although I am a frequent gear buyer/seller this dac will have a place in my rig for a long time. $500 while worth it for the sound you can get is about $150 over market price. You are not going to touch this quality for the price and I would take it over the dacs you listed originally

  12. I switched sources over to the Audio Research CD7 and this makes for a SWEET sounding system. All kinds of vacuum tube goodness but without the excessive "tubey" sound of some.

    In my initial comparisons against the B-52, that was my first impression, namely that the B-52 sounded a little more tubey than the 307A. Definitely warmer and fuller sound via the B-52 with less extension and sparkle in the treble and just a tad less definition and detail in the bass. Both were beautiful sounding, but that was the biggest initial difference perceived. More to come.

    Riceboy is coming over this afternoon for a quick listen and impromptu meet. It will be interesting to hear his impressions.

    your thoughts about the b52 vs the 307a mirror mine although I have not heard them side by side. The 307a does an amazing job with the HP1000 series headphones we had Ken's pair at the NorCal meet and they sounded sweet out of this amp.

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