K1000's with gainclone amps?

[Salt Peanuts]

With my SP K1000 power amp nowhere to be seen, and with a potential need for a budget power amp for my Epos ELS-3 that I have setup for TV/Cable/DVD purpose, I've been reading about some gainclone amps. Most posts/threads about them are favorable and they seem to be great bang-for-buck.

With that, anyone here has any idea how well (or not) gainclone amps will work with K1000's? My thinking is if it works well enough, I'll get one and use it to tide me over until SP power amp shows up, after which I'll use it with Epos.

[n_maher]

If you decide you want a GC Haj, shoot me a PM.

[Salt Peanuts]

Thanks, Nate. I'll let you know once I decide.

[Jon L]

Not all gainclones are created equal, but nicely built ones do sound great with k1K. However, one will have to spend pretty good money for a nice one, in which case, I would most definitely pick up a used Almarro A205a MkII instead for around $500 on Agon...

And it may even turn out not to be a temporary stop-gap...

[mapstec]

I have run a Diyparadise Charlize (http://diyparadise.com/charlize.html) with the K1000 and that sort of works...

So a gainclone if properly powered should have more then enough drive, however with a K1000 I have to admit that I would be very, very careful about DC offset on any DIY amp.

[humanflyz]

@Jon:

Do you know if the headphone section on the Almarro is directly connected to the main outputs, or did they put a resistor in the path to decrease noise?

Also, what kind of trannies do Almarro use? And what about the various upgrade options that I've seen over at Response Audio and Imagine HiFi? Are any of those worth it?

[Jon L]

@Jon:

Do you know if the headphone section on the Almarro is directly connected to the main outputs, or did they put a resistor in the path to decrease noise?

Also, what kind of trannies do Almarro use? And what about the various upgrade options that I've seen over at Response Audio and Imagine HiFi? Are any of those worth it?

The headphone section is directly connected to the main outs without any resistors. If you were to use high-sensitivity/low-impedance 'phones like Grado's, you have to use some kind of resistor/adapter. For example, when I used Grado RS-1, the background noisefloor was too high for any long-term use. However, the combo sounded fabulous otherwise

Almarro sounds great without noise issues with my most loved 'phones, e.g. AKG K1000, AKG K240 Sextett, Senn HE60 (via SRD7 MkII), K701(modded, recabled), etc.

It sounds so darn good that I have decided not to mod it, other than getting the custom K1000 socket. The parts are not boutique parts, but somehow they managed to hit my personal preferences precisely.

Not that *you* shouldn't try some mods. But make sure you listen to the stock for a long time before ruining a good thing. In the past, I have modded amps with boutique parts like teflon caps, just to find that I actually preferred the balance of things with cheaper parts.

Tube rolling yields much bigger difference anyway IME, and luckily, Almarro sounds great even with the "cheap" Sovtek EL84/EL84M and Sovtek 12AX7LPS..

[Nanoha]

The headphone section is directly connected to the main outs without any resistors. If you were to use high-sensitivity/low-impedance 'phones like Grado's, you have to use some kind of resistor/adapter. For example, when I used Grado RS-1, the background noisefloor was too high for any long-term use. However, the combo sounded fabulous otherwise

I considered purchasing a A205A MKII awhile ago but was told by the seller that the floor noise was indeed too high for low impedance headphones without some modifications.

I listened to some Almarro amps a couple of years ago; I liked the sound quite a lot.

[humanflyz]

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1200283821

I'm very tempted. As for noise floor, it shouldn't be a problem with my HD650s.

[Jon L]

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1200283821

I'm very tempted. As for noise floor, it shouldn't be a problem with my HD650s.

Doh! I almost bought that amp on Agon, just for fun and to compare with the stock one. but I came to my senses and ordered a Meizu M6SL, my second pair of Ultimate Ears Super.Fi Pro's, and a pair of 2A3 SE monoblocks this week

I can't believe that Agon Almarro isn't sold yet. Hmm. Hmm.

P.S. Do NOT buy the Almarro for your Senn HD650's. I tried this combo, and it's not a good synergy. The *character* of HD650 comes straight through, meaning a bit too much darkness and a bit too much bass... I would go with a high-current SS balanced amp.

[Nanoha]

I can't believe that Agon Almarro isn't sold yet. Hmm. Hmm.

Might even be sold already.

I remember the last Almarro ad wasn't updated for a few days but the seller had already received dozens of potential buyer e-mails within the first day or two.