CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

  • December 31, 2015, 11:21:19 AM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 [2]

Author Topic: Need help with my TakeT setup  (Read 2708 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

DaveBSC

  • Best Korean Sympathizer
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +222/-50
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2092
Re: Need help with my TakeT setup
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2012, 02:40:40 AM »
My favorite SS integrated short of the mega buck class is the Karan KAI-180. Karan stuff is really good, and the KAI gives you a pretty good taste of what you get from their separates. The design is pretty unusual. It operates mostly in Class A, but with a sliding bias so its very efficient (~70%) and runs fairly cool. You may be able to find a used MK1 version within your budget. New they are around $10K.

Other than Karan, you can't go wrong with LFD. Both are definitely "tube like" SS, which is what I like from speaker amps but I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for here. Modwright's KWI 200 may be worth a look.

On the tube side there's usually a healthy supply of Ayon amps. I've heard very good things about the Audio Space Reference 3.1 which is a gorgeous amp and comes in just under the $4K mark.


Logged

CEE TEE

  • Master controller of all scores
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +98/-338
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 839
  • Need More Time To Loaf Around
Re: Need help with my TakeT setup
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2012, 06:42:58 AM »
^Elysian has the Space Reference 2 and I have heard how flexible the sound can be from it.


WAIT?  Did you say "under" 4K?  The Ref 2 was about 10K list...
Logged
sound soft harmonics rich bile rich rhyme

MuppetFace

  • Miss Anna Logg
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +119/-6
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1371
  • First you get a swimming pool full of liquor...
Re: Need help with my TakeT setup
« Reply #12 on: July 25, 2012, 10:28:08 AM »
Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

I should clarify: I'm definitely NOT looking for "tubey" sound. The Leben is too mushy sounding, and with the massive bass on the H2+ I don't want to run the risk of bloating it up any more. Ideally I'd like a very clean sound, either solid state of from tubes (a la Craig's "house sound").
Logged
My blog on head-fi: http://www.head-fi.org/f/7879/muppetface
I mostly talk about music there. Weird.

RexAeterna

  • Gigolo of Gigolos
  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +355/-1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1373
  • Friendship is magic
Re: Need help with my TakeT setup
« Reply #13 on: July 25, 2012, 12:52:51 PM »
Quote from: MuppetFace on July 25, 2012, 10:28:08 AM
Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

I should clarify: I'm definitely NOT looking for "tubey" sound.

i think that why i mention the harman kardon and yamaha set you silly goose! yamaha's are pretty transparent sounding amps. harman kardon 700 series i tend to favor over most of yamaha even though i'm a huge yamaha fan of their separates and love them. i find the harman kardon stuff more clean and more transparent sounding stuff and i heard lot from kenwood,yamaha,sansui,pioneer,h.h scott,altec lansing,sony,ect.

just harman kardon separates are very hard to find,even on ebay cause lot people who own them tend to keep them and hide it from the world so prices won't sky rocket on them. there was a complete h/k 700 series set(tuner,power amp,preamp, cassate deck,ect.) on ebay once for only 200 bucks but looks like someone snatched that up already. if can't find the 775 monoblocks there is always the dual-mono version 770(which i own) and it's very powerful, very clean sounding amp. runs super cool too even on low impedance loads under 4ohms nominal. i wouldn't pass up the dual-mono h/k 870 power amp and h/k 825 pre set either if i had a chance. people say it's not as nice sounding as the 700 series but who knows.

if something new, i'd probably look at some of Nelson pass labs designs maybe cause his designs are based off  Dr Matti Otala theories of minimum use of negative feedback as well but  his own methods and opinions on that stuff
Logged
''I'm a music lover. Not an audiophile.''

''The World is Study.''

''I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.''

''Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.''

DaveBSC

  • Best Korean Sympathizer
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +222/-50
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2092
Re: Need help with my TakeT setup
« Reply #14 on: July 25, 2012, 01:52:38 PM »
Quote from: MuppetFace on July 25, 2012, 10:28:08 AM
Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

I should clarify: I'm definitely NOT looking for "tubey" sound. The Leben is too mushy sounding, and with the massive bass on the H2+ I don't want to run the risk of bloating it up any more. Ideally I'd like a very clean sound, either solid state of from tubes (a la Craig's "house sound").

Understood. I stand by the Audio Space recommendation. There's a KT88 and a 300B version, and you will want to roll in your own 6SN7s, but it's supposed to be a seriously good, balanced, transparent amp that is definitely not the old fashioned, lush, syrupy tube amp. And yes, it costs $3990. The same money also gets you Ayon's Orion II, which is another "modern" sounding, superb integrated.

New solid state intergrateds for around the $4K mark are a little less exciting. There's the Luxman L-505u which is a pretty good amp, but I don't think it's a match for the above two. The L-550AX is more interesting, but it's also $5300. There is an older L 550A MKII on Audiogon for $2800, may be worth a look, and there's a Modwright KWI 200 for $3700. The more common Ayre and Plinius and Simaudio amps I just don't think are that amazing. The Pass integrateds are NOT as good as you might expect.

Another possibility, if you're into it, would be something like a Khozmo SA in a box, driving a stereo amp or monos. It would require short interconnects, but there would be a lot more choices as far as amps are concerned.



Logged
Pages: 1 [2]
« previous next »