Rockhopper Audio β22 is here!

[Augsburger]

New kids or cables?

[PFKMan23]

I'm guessing kids so that he can put them to work making his cables

[Augsburger]

Well then I guess tight QC standards have their privileges.

[Spiug31]

Any impressions yet ?

[Salt Peanuts]

Any impressions yet ?

Sorry, not much yet, aside from that I've been enjoying it.

I've been incredibly busy since I've received the amp with work, school, work, friends, work, family, work, holiday, and more work. As a result, most of the listening I've done has been either quick wind-down listening or background listening while doing work at home, and I really haven't done any critical listening yet.

[swt61]

I don't wanna go off topic here and talk about the β22, but I've spent about three weeks with mine now, and I'm very impressed. Mine is a four channel balanced version with twin sigma 22s in a separate enclosure. Mine also employs the Twisted Pear Audio Joshua Tree logarithmic stepped attenuator which I think is a marvel.

A few days ago a friend who's moving out of state dropped off his gear with me until he's settled. So I've had the chance to compare his HeadAmp Gilmore Reference to the β22. Of coarse the comparisons are all done SE, but even SE I prefer the β22 in every way.

I continue to be more impressed with this amp every day, and quite frankly I'm wondering if this isn't the pinnacle of balanced amp technology ATM.

[n_maher]

I don't wanna go off topic here and talk about the β22, but I've spent about three weeks with mine now, and I'm very impressed. Mine is a four channel balanced version with twin sigma 22s in a separate enclosure. Mine also employs the Twisted Pear Audio Joshua Tree logarithmic stepped attenuator which I think is a marvel.

A few days ago a friend who's moving out of state dropped off his gear with me until he's settled. So I've had the chance to compare his HeadAmp Gilmore Reference to the β22. Of coarse the comparisons are all done SE, but even SE I prefer the β22 in every way.

I continue to be more impressed with this amp every day, and quite frankly I'm wondering if this isn't the pinnacle of balanced amp technology ATM.

Welcome to the nut house, Steve. We're glad to have you here.

[luvdunhill]

I don't wanna go off topic here and talk about the β22, but I've spent about three weeks with mine now, and I'm very impressed. Mine is a four channel balanced version with twin sigma 22s in a separate enclosure. Mine also employs the Twisted Pear Audio Joshua Tree logarithmic stepped attenuator which I think is a marvel.

A few days ago a friend who's moving out of state dropped off his gear with me until he's settled. So I've had the chance to compare his HeadAmp Gilmore Reference to the β22. Of coarse the comparisons are all done SE, but even SE I prefer the β22 in every way.

I continue to be more impressed with this amp every day, and quite frankly I'm wondering if this isn't the pinnacle of balanced amp technology ATM.

only 3 posts? I definitely don't trust this guy... The real question is how did it fair to the nice electrostatic rig you are babysitting

[swt61]

Welcome to the nut house, Steve. We're glad to have you here.

only 3 posts? I definitely don't trust this guy... The real question is how did it fair to the nice electrostatic rig you are babysitting

LOL! Hey my first post was about a year ago, so I'm an old timer right?

About the Omega II/ HeadAmp KGSS, I actually prefer the β22/Chocolate Donuts in some instances. That's not to say that the Stax are not technically superior, that's probably just me being so used to their sound sig. On Michael Buble - It's Time for instance, the vocals just seem a bit more up front and clear with the Donuts, where they seem a tad more layed back with a slight layer in front of them on the O IIs. I'll see if my feelings change as I adjust to them more, but there is no doubt that they're an amazing pair of headphones, and no slouch on vocals in their own right.

[luvdunhill]

LOL! Hey my first post was about a year ago, so I'm an old timer right?

About the Omega II/ HeadAmp KGSS, I actually prefer the β22/Chocolate Donuts in some instances. That's not to say that the Stax are not technically superior, that's probably just me being so used to their sound sig. On Michael Buble - It's Time for instance, the vocals just seem a bit more up front and clear with the Donuts, where they seem a tad more layed back with a slight layer in front of them on the O IIs. I'll see if my feelings change as I adjust to them more, but there is no doubt that they're an amazing pair of headphones, and no slouch on vocals in their own right.

yeah, I'm doing a lot of comparisons to my modded MPX3 SE w/ the HD-650 and the KGSS + SR-007. One thing that is strange is that there is a lot less sibilance with the electrostatic rig... I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing... I mean, it's good in that is sounds better, but perhaps bad in that it's less accurate. This is from rather crummy Verve pressings that are known for this. We'll spin up some Diana Krall at my place and I'll let you listen as well. I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to get things setup just right at the meet, as my current tweaking took a long time to get right. I am going to take this opportunity to send my cartridge in for a cleaning after the meet, so all is good.

[swt61]

I'm looking forward to hearing your rig. It sounds like you have an awesome analog setup!

I'm also wanting to give the 650s another chance now that my rig is up to par, but they'd need to be balanced.

[luvdunhill]

I'll make a cable this week ... I have the stock cable and some XLRs around that I can use

[swt61]

Hey cool!

[Shiki]

So I noticed that the single-ended one has 3 channels (one extra for active grounding) but the balanced one has 4-channels and runs single-endedly using only 2 channels. Does it actually make a difference when running single-endedly?

[deepak]

So I noticed that the single-ended one has 3 channels (one extra for active grounding) but the balanced one has 4-channels and runs single-endedly using only 2 channels. Does it actually make a difference when running single-endedly?

I don't think the people that are building/getting four channel B22's care too much since they're probably going to use it balanced most or all the time.

[swt61]

I agree. If I were planning on using it for both balanced and SE I'd have gone with six channels. My whole system is balanced and I don't see myself going back to SE.

[fierce_freak]

^ word

And I actually have a two-channel (no active ground) Beta22...it's awesome as-is. I'd like to compare passive ground to active ground. Actually, I think I'll have the chance soon (my b22 speaker amp has an active ground for the headphone output), so I'll post my impressions then.