Wells Audio amps....any experience?

[HemiSam]

Anyone run into one of the Wells Audio Headtrip or Enigma amps at a meet or happen to own one?  They are California based.  A quote from their site about the Headtrip:  "heavily biased into Class A..."...   They better be damn good for the money.  Reviews are strong but hard to trust when so many prove to be drivel.

http://www.wellsaudio.com/products/headphone-amplifiers

 

 

Specifications (from manufacturer):

Phone impedance: 4 to 2000 Ohms

Power output: 50w/channel at 8 ohms, 25W/channel at 32 Ohms

1.8W/channel at 600ohms

Distortion: <0.006% at 1Khz at .1W to 100W at 4 Ohms

Frequency Response: +/-0.25db from 10Hz to 50Khz

Signal to Noise ratio: -103db at full power

Input Impedance: 50K Ohms

Input Sensitivity: 85 mv

Gain: 30db

Voltage: 110v, 120v, 220v, 230v, 240v at 50/60 Hz

Inputs: 1 pair WBT Nextgen RCAs or 1 pair XLRs

Outputs: 1 pair Neutrik combo ¼ inch/XLR outputs

Dimensions: 12.25” x 14” x 5” 16” x 14” x 8” shipped

Weight: 20 lbs.

M.S.R.P – $7000.00

 

HS

[n_maher]

Quote

The Headtrip shares the use of Bybee Technologies AC purifiers for AC line noise filtering and Bybee Music Rails for up to -45db of DC

They lost me at Bybee.

[spritzer]

Go go magical 1ohm 5% resistors. 

[kevin gilmore]

output inductors means circuit is unstable.

and the bybee stuff means the entire thing is a piece of crap.

[eggil]

The wiring looks pretty bad. And the attenuator looks like a 20.00 you could get from Ebay.

[spritzer]

Antek transformer as well...   

[wink]

but, but..... its  a noice big black case.....   gotta be good.........      

For 7 large smackaroonies, how can you go wrong....?

 

I just noticed in the pic on the top r/h side it has a switch for the right channel polarity.

For a moment my intermittent dyslexia kicked in and I thought it read "ROFL"........  

Edited February 27, 2016 by wink
extra info.

[jp11801]

heard it at RMAF a few years back and it sounded great bybee bullshit or not. Stupid pricing but good sound none the less. I think it was either in the Abyss or Audeze room with several other TOTL amps and it sounded equal to or better than most in the room. 

[comzee]

4 hours ago, n_maher said:

They lost me at Bybee.

If you're not purifying your signal at a quantum level, you might not be getting the full breadth of ambience, soundstage, timbre, dynamics, and color fidelity. You might even be losing the vividness and life of the music itself 

[wink]

2 hours ago, comzee said:

If you're not purifying your signal at a quantum level, you might not be getting the full breadth of ambience, soundstage, timbre, dynamics, and color fidelity. You might even be losing the vividness and life of the music itself 

Yes, that sound of the surf crashing in and causing all that quantum foam which also muffles all that plankton detail is a real downer.

I'm working on a new multi-layered comb filter to act as a brush and sieve so that all the plankton can be free of the Brownian random motion that pervades all of existence.

My next project will be to stifle the sound of the jackboots of inexorable progress as they trample over the obsolete and useless inventions and concepts which despoil the technological landscape.  

[Sherwood]

It is, of course, anathema to suggest this, but I'ma do it anyway.  I can't fathom a use for 1.8 watts (per channel!) into 600 ohms.  A theoretical 600 ohm 90dB efficient headphone still hits 120+ dB at 1 watt, and since that theoretical headphone would have been manufactured by children in East Berlin, I doubt it's deserving of the claimed resolution.

I wonder if a better design brief might sacrifice some output power in favor of size, cost, and legitimacy of parts.

[HemiSam]

LOL....come on, fellas.  Be direct and honest!

 

HS

 

[Hopstretch]

Get an Apex Pinnacle.

[shellylh]

^This!

[n_maher]

/thread

The tall man wins.

[spritzer]

If you want SS then build a Dynahi...  It's stable too which is always nice...  

[DefQon]

On 27/02/2016 at 7:59 AM, kevin gilmore said:

and the bybee stuff means the entire thing is a piece of crap.

John Curl likes it.

[wink]

On 27/2/2016 at 7:59 AM, kevin gilmore said:

output inductors means circuit is unstable.

(snip)

So, it works on the flying brick principle......

 

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Singlepower

[wink]

15 hours ago, Sherwood said:

It is, of course, anathema to suggest this, but I'ma do it anyway.  I can't fathom a use for 1.8 watts (per channel!) into 600 ohms.  A theoretical 600 ohm 90dB efficient headphone still hits 120+ dB at 1 watt, and since that theoretical headphone would have been manufactured by children in East Berlin, I doubt it's deserving of the claimed resolution.

I wonder if a better design brief might sacrifice some output power in favor of size, cost, and legitimacy of parts.

Firstly, "moar is bettah" Repeat this mantra at least five times a day until it is etched into your psyche.    

  You can't have too much of a good thing. It is more acute when the good is GREAT.....     

Secondly, being manufactured in Berlin by child labor is no different to the same problem in most parts of asia.

   How to resolve this problem is to listen for the plankton.    

Thirdly, the hoi polloi decrees that better goods need to be produced as cheaply as possible to feed their insatiable appetite for change.

   Hi-Fi seems to be out of step here due to the prevalence and proliferation of purveyors of snake oil, angel dust and unicorn tears that infest it.

   Everyone knows that snake oil, etc is rare and imbues a magical quality which enhances the good whilst eliminating the bad of any part of the chain of sonic reproduction it is applied to.

This is a win-win situation. The buyer wins a new appreciation of his audible comprehension, and the seller drools over his inflating bank balance.

 

What's not to like.....      

[wink]

28 minutes ago, Dusty Chalk said:

Singlepower

Only if you use one channel, or use it in balanced/bridged mode.

[spritzer]

10 hours ago, DefQon said:

John Curl likes it.

That's because he's paid to like it.  Sort of makes his entire stance worthless IMO...

[wink]

I guess if you paid me enough to like something I didn't like that would be questionable integrity and ethics on my part.

I could be laughing all the way to the bank.

and....  I could take my place next to all those nice snake oil salesmen, used car salesmen, bankers, lawyers, politicians, etc.

A fine crowd to be found hobnobbing with.   

 

[DefQon]

Well you know what it is like at the end of day, money is everything.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[dsavitsk]

8 hours ago, spritzer said:

That's because he's paid to like it.

Is there actual evidence of this?