AmpsandSound Amplifiers and Speakers builder

Damnit, so tempting…

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I know, I’m on the fence. Price is good until Sunday

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I ordered one today. I had spoken to Walter a couple months ago, tried other solutions and nothing has worked, so, trying this…I’ll report back

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Did you go for the copper duplex upgrade?

Yes, he said “everyone does” and for $35 why not

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I really need something. My house was built in 61 when people didn’t know the difference between a ground and a neutral. None of the outlets had a ground socket (2 prong) so I’ve been slowly fixing this stuff as I go along, but I know the miniplit heat pumps I installed don’t help, lots of back emf from all the motors turning.
After reading the ad for this thing, I don’t know if it’s better or worse that the compressors are DC.

I have no idea how it works honestly, just that I’ve described my issues to two established dudes (Justin and Jason at Schitt) and they both said almost the same thing. I had hoped cheaper conditioners would work but none did, so this is the next step. If it works, it will be money well spent.

For DC offset. Not nearly the high end conditioner the one Underwood has, but addresses DC transformer hum.

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I tried that exact device and it did not solve the issue for me but thanks for the link!

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I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ll read me posting about it, but the PS Audio Stellar PowerPlant 3 made a much bigger difference that I would have expected. They’re pricey new, but I typically see them used in the $1350-1550 range. If you want some really good explainers on how they work, Paul’s PS Audio YouTube series is awesome. There are a bunch of videos on power and power regeneration, but here is a good start: How important is clean power? - YouTube

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Thanks @andris I have watched a number of Paul’s videos and was aware they were making such products, but yes, they are $$. I am glad to hear a direct impression from you that is positive. If the Core does not work for my situation, I may start watching for a used one of these. Thanks for the suggestion.

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@MokhaMark , PSAudio also has a great trade in policy. They’ll take your ancient electronic items that are sitting in a box in the basement and give you a substantial amount off the price, based on the original price of that item. I sent them a 20 year old home theater receiver, and they gave me a $660 discount off the price.

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Wow, I did not know they did that for other brands. That is cool

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The PSAudio discount is based on the original MSRP (not what you actually paid) of the item you’re trading in, so it’s really good value for things that originally cost a lot, but are close to worthless now, in my case, an old B&K receiver that I wasn’t using because it wasn’t able to handle HDMI.

You obviously can’t trade in something that originally cost $50 and expect $600 back.

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Is anyone able to offer impressions (or projections) for how the Focal Utopia, MySphere 3.2, or Hifiman HE1000SE would pair with the Nautilus/Bigger Ben/Mogwai (siblings) in comparison to the ZMF Verite? I own a VC. I’m wondering if the Utopia’s high sensitivity makes the pairing susceptible to audible noise. I’ve seen mainly impressions of the MySphere with solid state (or 300B/2A3 amps). The 1000SE’s higher sensitivity compared to other Hifimans seem to make it a better pairing with A&S amps.

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I own the Auteur and HE560 v2. While not exactly the same as the VC and HE1000, I hope my experiences are helpful.

My main amp is the Kenzie Ovation and I think it pairs well with either of these headphones. The HE560 and HE1000 have the same sensitivity (at 90 dB) and slightly different impedence (45 vs 35 ohm). I would recommend starting the HE1000 on the 16 ohm output and then experimenting from there. I generally run it off either the 16 or 32 ohm, depending on my mood and musical genre.

To my ears, the Autuer off the 32 or 100 ohm has more texture to the sound in the lows and mids, while the HE560 has a bit more speed and slam.

I do not have direct experience with the Utopia.

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That’s very helpful, thanks. It’s good to hear that the Ovation pairs well with the HE560 in particular (where I believe the 1000SE has a bit higher sensitivity and the Mogwai SE has more power output).

I recently had the Empyrean in for demo and also observed that the VC had more texture to the sound, while the Empyrean staged and imaged very well.

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Thought I’d mix the tubes up a bit with a dual 6j5 adapter.
GEC L63’s with sylvania el34’s and a GEC U52.

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@andris Have you tried tubed headphone amplifiers via regeneration on the Powerplant 3? Or is it limited?

Yes, indeed. I plug every piece of my chain into the regenerator, from server mini-pc to dac to amp. Specifically, for tube amps, I’ve run both the Woo WA5-LE and ZMF Pendant off of the regenerator.

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