Peabody Posted October 4, 2009 Report Posted October 4, 2009 The EHHA at RMAF (built by wiatrob) is very good with K1000. My hopes have been brought back from the brink. They're almost as good as the HD800 now, instead of being worse than my HF-2. I'll be trying out an SAC K1000 amp this week as well, and might be able to compare it to the EHHA. The new Woo WA22 is also much better with K1000 than the Prototype from CanJam and July CO meet, and even better than the WA5 and ZDT I thought. I need to try that one more time tomorrow, because jack didn't seem to agree with me. I'm not clear on a couple of things in your post. What is the EHHA at RMAF? I just don't know what the initials mean. Also, I heard the WA22 with K1000 in the recent Jersey meet. It sounded pretty good, but the WA5SE sounded more alive, more realistic. This was show impressions and the room was noisy so I would not take my impressions to the bank. You did seem to prefer the WA22 and mentioned that Jack disagreed. I am guessing that you are talking about Jack at Woo; could you offer more info on what he said? Thanks
Sherwood Posted October 4, 2009 Report Posted October 4, 2009 EHHA is a DIY amp designed by Alex Cavalli and built by Bill of Spruce Canyon Labs (WiatroB). It stands for Embedded Hybrid Headphone Amplifier. RMAF is the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a lovely event taking place now in Colorado.
swt61 Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Posted October 4, 2009 Alex Cavalli stopped by Marc's place yesterday. What a cool guy, I wish I'd have had more time to talk with him. Unfortunately I was knee deep in a workbench project for Marc's very nice, new Jet drill press (bastard!). Marc and I did manage to get The Pass F5 up and running Friday evening. We had a short litening session with a few phones, the K1000 being one of those. I do believe that the F5 will indeed be a really top tier amp for the K1K. We ran into what seems to be a connection issue of some sort Sat. morning, so the F5 is still with Marc for the moment. But what we heard in our brief session impressed us both. However, I think that even Marc may have to admit that it did not slay the mighty β22. In fact I think Marc was fairly impressed with the β22/K1000. The F5 was a formidible challenger, but what we really concluded in our brief time was that they both brought a different flavor, while both being very suitable K1000 amps. The β22s sound is very neutral. That can have a tendancy to sound boring when you say that, but the β22 is anything but boring. It just gets it right IMO. Marc was impressed by not only the wide soundstage (unnaturally wide he said at one point, due to his unfamiliarity with the K1000), but he noted how vertically expansive the soundstage was as well. We used the term 'tall soundstage' to describe it. Also, I need to admit to being a dumbass once again. I had previously commented on the β22 being possibly underpowered for some that listen at higher volumes. It had enough gain for my listening levels, but was at the 3:00 mark for what I qualified as a comfortable level for me. Well my assumtion was that the knob would bottom out at around 5:00. I did not test this theory at the time. In fact what happened was that Nate had sent the amp back without the knob (something he'd already made me aware of), and I had decided to use a knob I'd bought from Justin (which I like better anyway). The knob from Justin has an indicator indentation mark, where my previous knob had none. So when I installed the knob, the mark was at 7:00 at zero volume. That's what made me assume that 5:00 would be full volume. Well it's not. The knob wraps around to almost 7:00 again (Joshua Tree ladder type attenuation). So to make a short story even longer, the β22 does in fact have plenty of gain at a gain setting of 10, balanced. A big shout out to Nate here, as the β22 is sounding the best she ever has! Also I should note that my source has an even lower output than I had realised. Once the new DAC is in the chain, I'll have gobs of headroom. The F5 has a bit more of a flavored sound sig. That's not to say it's highly characterized, it's not, but compared to the neutrality of the β22 you get the impression just a pinch of spice was added in. It's a good spice though, and the F5 brings a slightly warm lushness, somewhat reminiscent of a tubed sound quality. Although top end is extended like a good solid state. The F5 seems to have some real grunt at the bottom too, and that can only be a good thing with the K1000. Unfortunately I didn't have much of a selection of music with me. The hope is that Marc can find the connection issue, and resolve that by the Houston meet on the 17th. Then we can get a whole host of impressions to Pass along (pun intended).
Peabody Posted October 4, 2009 Report Posted October 4, 2009 EHHA is a DIY amp designed by Alex Cavalli and built by Bill of Spruce Canyon Labs (WiatroB). It stands for Embedded Hybrid Headphone Amplifier. RMAF is the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a lovely event taking place now in Colorado. TYVM (Thank you very much) I looked up the amp. Interesting. And I wish that I were in Colorado....
Aura Posted October 10, 2009 Report Posted October 10, 2009 Guys, what would you say is overkill for power with a K1K? A week from tomorrow I am going to take delivery of a 200wpc (@8ohms) Nak PA-7 power amp and can't help but be interested in seeing what happens with a K1K connected to the posts. Is the idea just a little too ridiculous?
Hopstretch Posted October 10, 2009 Report Posted October 10, 2009 Guys, what would you say is overkill for power with a K1K? A week from tomorrow I am going to take delivery of a 200wpc (@8ohms) Nak PA-7 power amp and can't help but be interested in seeing what happens with a K1K connected to the posts. Is the idea just a little too ridiculous to even be reasonable? Just don't bump the pot while listening!
mypasswordis Posted October 10, 2009 Report Posted October 10, 2009 Just keep in mind the general rule of thumb: 10x power means 10dB increase in volume.
bozebuttons Posted October 11, 2009 Report Posted October 11, 2009 Guys, what would you say is overkill for power with a K1K? A week from tomorrow I am going to take delivery of a 200wpc (@8ohms) Nak PA-7 power amp and can't help but be interested in seeing what happens with a K1K connected to the posts. Is the idea just a little too ridiculous? I used Conrad Johnson Premeir 12 140 watt monoblocks with My K1000s with great results.
HeadphoneAddict Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Updating on the SAC amp as promised. I did compare the SAC KH1000 amp to the ZDT and EHHA, and it is a little better than either of those other amps with the K1000, but a little bright and SS sounding with the Senn HD800. I still want to try it with my balanced HD600, since those are the only other phones I have with a 4-pin XLR. I posted in more detail in the head-fi EHHA thread. In my ZDT I swapped the GE grey plate 5751 for a Sylvania 5751 gold pin and the K1000 did step up a notch in quality, so I would suspect the ZDT is now closer to the EHHA with K1000. The bass quality is the only area I would like to see improved, as it needs more detail and definition than I get from the ZDT. This is an area where the SAC still wins with the K1000, as well as having a little faster speed and better bass impact vs the ZDT. I sold my SR-404LE on Saturday and it looks like a 90% chance I'll be buying the SAC from HiFlight after I deposit the money in the bank. I was planning to put the money towards a Woo WES, but I'd still have to sell the GES, K1000 and RS-1, and more to be able to afford one (no, not selling the O2, Jade or HE60). It probably makes more sense to buy the SAC KH1000 amp for my K1000, and then stop selling old stuff to buy new stuff. Besides, I'll have the eXStatA amp to use with my O2 Mk1 and it is a better match than my GES for those.
swt61 Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Posted October 26, 2009 Interesting. I hadn't heard much about the SAC amp. Does it run hot?
manaox2 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Updating on the SAC amp as promised. I did compare the SAC KH1000 amp to the ZDT and EHHA, and it is a little better than either of those other amps with the K1000, but a little bright and SS sounding with the Senn HD800. I still want to try it with my balanced HD600, since those are the only other phones I have with a 4-pin XLR. I posted in more detail in the head-fi EHHA thread. In my ZDT I swapped the GE grey plate 5751 for a Sylvania 5751 gold pin and the K1000 did step up a notch in quality, so I would suspect the ZDT is now closer to the EHHA with K1000. The bass quality is the only area I would like to see improved, as it needs more detail and definition than I get from the ZDT. This is an area where the SAC still wins with the K1000, as well as having a little faster speed and better bass impact vs the ZDT. I sold my SR-404LE on Saturday and it looks like a 90% chance I'll be buying the SAC from HiFlight after I deposit the money in the bank. I was planning to put the money towards a Woo WES, but I'd still have to sell the GES, K1000 and RS-1, and more to be able to afford one (no, not selling the O2, Jade or HE60). It probably makes more sense to buy the SAC KH1000 amp for my K1000, and then stop selling old stuff to buy new stuff. Besides, I'll have the eXStatA amp to use with my O2 Mk1 and it is a better match than my GES for those. After reading this morning about your six Macs, your family cars, and all of your gear, I want more money.
mypasswordis Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Wait, what happened with the 404LE?
swt61 Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Posted October 26, 2009 Wait, what happened with the 404LE? He decided that the K1000 is better than those nasty ol' stats.
HeadphoneAddict Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Interesting. I hadn't heard much about the SAC amp. Does it run hot? Yes, it's class-A and stays warm/hot all the time and the power switch is really just a mute switch. It's covered in heat sinks, so I can touch it and not get burned or cook food on it. It's probably the most powerful headphone amp I have tried to date (I could probably kill the K1000 or HD800 with it). After reading this morning about your six Macs, your family cars, and all of your gear, I want more money. You would have needed to go to medical school in the 80's - these days if you're not in the operating room you can't make money like in the old days. I was lucky to buy a nice private disability policy for half my income before I got sick and quit working. But, prior to that I was working 80 hours a week as a pediatrician, and in the office at 2AM about 4 days a week and on weekends. Wait, what happened with the 404LE? Dinan bought them on Saturday. He needed a pro bias phone that his wife could listen to on the same 717 as his O2 Mk2 (which he is modding), where the sound signature and playback levels would be better matched between the two phones than with the O2 Mk1 and Mk2 playing at the same time. (He was feeling the O2 Mk1 mids are a little lifeless on the 717, and they were too quiet when the O2 Mk2 were just right). I had an RMA# with elusivedisc but they were out of stock and he wanted a pair, so I still got all my money back except shipping. If I didn't need the SAC and a WES I wouldn't sell any more stuff. He decided that the K1000 is better than those nasty ol' stats. Only better than the 404LE. The O2, HE60 and Jade are still better than the K1000, until I get a Firstwatt F1, B22 or RWA 30.2 amp for the K1000.
mypasswordis Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 He decided that the K1000 is better than those nasty ol' stats. How dare you insult stats The Stax mafia shall be here shortly, to rectify the issue. The K1000 is a good headphone to give 'stats up for, especially if you still have more... and in the case of HA, many more.
HeadphoneAddict Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 There is no Stax mafia - these are not the phones you are looking for...
manaox2 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 Thanks HPA. I have talked to Dinan about his thoughts on these now that he has the 404LE. Well, that and maybe snagging the mk1.
Looser101 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Posted October 26, 2009 He decided that the K1000 is better than those nasty ol' stats. Pffft.
mypasswordis Posted December 8, 2009 Report Posted December 8, 2009 So I've been thinking about how to best drive the K1000, and the reports on SETs are promising. I'm thinking if you treat the K1000 driver as a high sensitivity fullrange driver like in Nelson Pass's article, normal SS amps, with let's say an output impedance of 0.2 ohms, will give a damping factor of 600 with the 120 ohm K1000. For increased and better bass response something with relatively high output impedance would probably be preferable, I'm thinking in the < 10 ohm range, which I think is typical of SET amps. However, in Pete Millett's page on his SRPP amp specifically for the K1000 he said OTL designs with a really large output impedance (30-50 ohms) make it sound thin. Thoughts? And I'm not going to be building any speaker amps for awhile due to lack of funds and prefer not to shell out mucho dinero for NOS 300Bs but others might.
cetoole Posted December 8, 2009 Report Posted December 8, 2009 l'espressivo with electra-print iron wound for 120ohm secondaries.
mypasswordis Posted December 8, 2009 Report Posted December 8, 2009 Sounds good What tubes would you recommend using? Still kind of a noob to toobs.
cetoole Posted December 8, 2009 Report Posted December 8, 2009 E810F works nice for me, or D3A, or one of a number of other high slope pentodes, triode connected. Heck, you could also have a pentode/triode switch if you want. Check out this page: High Gm driver pentodes
mrarroyo Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Using a Signature 30.2, still burning it in (about 65 hours).
Voltron Posted December 10, 2009 Report Posted December 10, 2009 Using a Signature 30.2, still burning it in (about 65 hours). I hope you're using the right equipment to do so.
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