Ouch! Tough luck. Hopefully the repairs won’t be too much of a hassle.
On this note, be careful to not put the adapter box directly in contact with the metal chassis of amps. This is mostly a problem with really low end stuff (the one that I had problems with was a cheapo NAD) and I’ve only had this issue once out of maybe 15-20 amps that I did the exact same thing with.
The problem is that the negatives on the box are grounded to the chassis (“black”) and on some amps, the taps are not grounded to the chassis (“blue”), but the nomenclature isn’t followed by all amp builders, especially the low end stage use stuff. I have those tiny rubber spacers that guitar amps use, they raise the box by about half an inch or so just for good measure.
Yup…by all means turn the amps off before messing with speaker cables. These are a few of the reasons why I don’t really dig electricity and electronic circuitry related stuff, I can’t see the flow of current, I don’t have a good understanding of it and it doesn’t take much to destroy high dollar equipment if not properly handled.
Yeah like a lot of things that can kill you quickly, they can be invisible to our senses (inert gases come to mind … off topic…back when I “worked” on large sea going vessels that we had to inspect holds for that was always an issue…)
I’m sorry to hear about your amp loss, especially so soon after getting them…hopefully it is a quick turn-around for you!
Thanks man. Yeah you’re right about invisible stuff that can kill you quickly…I used to work on drilling rigs and drilled through some H2S that came to surface…that gas can kill you in a matter of minutes and permanently damage most of your senses in a matter of seconds.
As for the amps, that was a hard way to learn a lesson but hopefully nobody on this forum will make the same mistake…it will suck if the amps are damaged “beyond repair” and I’ll have to get replacement units.
The dilema now is whether I get them repaired locally which would mean a loss of warranty vs send them to the manufacturers which would most likely mean “damaged beyond repair and must get a replacement unit”.
Now I’m back to my regular headphones sound (Today is Empyrean day).
I received my Vidar yesterday, together with the Freya S preamp (both ordered from Schiit Europe in NL).
Stefan from Headphone Auditions / Concert Audio is going to send out my SR1a to me today, meaning it‘ll likely not arrive before Monday or Tuesday of next week. So I have quite some time to kill, in order to „survive“ the wait, and as a result of that I had the weird idea to give the combo a try with my HD800S.
First surprise was when I connected my Meitner DAC with the Freya balanced over XLR, and found that the Vidar in stereo mode only takes single ended RCA… (There‘s just one XLR for bridged mono mode).
The Freya has three modes - passive (acting basically as a stepped attenuator with its resistor ladder), Nexus 1x (at 0dB gain) and Nexus 4x (at 12dB gain). While 4x will be the way to go with the SR1a, passive and 1x are more than enough with the HD800S‘ sensitivity. I was surprised that the combo works remarkably well, yet there are a few observations:
Even with the required heavy attenuation and low level signal, the Vidar is dead quiet and does a great job at being pretty unimpressed by driving the weird 300 ohm load with authority and control in a very lively way with attack and punch yet clarity and great tonality. A bit coarse and rough maybe at times, but that might also alleviate with further burn-in. Going to order a second one for proper balanced connection as dual monos.
The Freya S (so the new solid state model, not the previous tube thing which now is the Freya +) is not too impressive at the moment. It has a clearly audible hum (which over the HD800S is at an annoyingly high level, might not be audible with the much louder SR1a) that does not go away in whichever way I connect signal and power but seems to be inherent maybe from transformers or PS (a well-known issue, as I found in online forums, typically due to grounding issues by design). The passive attenuation mode is a bit lifeless and dull, while the Nexus 1x produces much more lively results while it does the balanced to single ended conversion with its differential gain stage, but at the same time produces quite a strong and annoying hiss. Generally I have the impression that the Freya S has quite some detrimental effect and likely is not going to stay in my environment, but apart from a passive preamp I don‘t have alternatives here at the moment to compare.
Will give this combo some more time and attention over the weekend. Most interesting of course will be when the SR1a finally arrives, and also the Benchmark AHB2 should come in later next week.
I am still waiting on a couple of amp combinations for my review … but don’t take my recent lack of commentary as any lack of enthusiasm for the SR1a …
My listening time is still pretty much split between these and the Vérité.
I still think pairing these with a single Vidar gets them to 90% of what they’re going to do, and a good way ahead of most other headphones (in a system of overall-comparable price). Dual-mono Vidar’s takes that up a bit, mostly in terms of stage/imaging but with smaller benefits to resolution and bass presence/impact.
I got to try them for a while this weekend with a Ragnarok (original, not the new one). That’s actually a viable pairing. I wouldn’t go buy a Ragnarok specifically to drive the SR1a, but if I already had the Ragnarok already I certainly wouldn’t shy away from the SR1a with it. At least unless my primary musical diet was sub-bass heavy EDM and I had a penchant for dubiously-safe listening levels.
Quite anxious to try them with the TToby.
Time to start putting together a formal review I think … remaining amps should arrive, and get suitable listening time, to slot in nicely there …
I haven’t spent much time with the AHB2 … only in the context of other people’s systems for a few hours here and there (a proper evaluation is dependent on availability/timing). It’s a little on the lean side for my tastes (was so when I heard it before with speakers too). Though it’s highly resolving (ahead of the Vidar there).
If you like the HD800S straight out of the DAC3 HGC then you’ll likely love the SR1a from the AHB2. Very similar signature (maybe a tad more treble emphasis, and redaction of raw sub-bass with the SR1a).
I still really want these…but I have a bunch of other toys ahead of them that I want…and aren’t such a massive lump sum of my play money lol… I have allotted the amount needed multiple times since hearing these @Torq, what have you done lol …but $4k+ for a setup is rough on the brain…so many other toys can be bought with that , I want some new speaker monitors for my desk, another DAP, some other hobby toys, new lens for my camera, build a new gaming PC…all those things and I still wouldn’t hit the upper limit cost of the RAAL…but I wants them lol
Maybe I’ll cash out some of my play money stocks, so I don’t feel so bad about it …
I hit the point of diminishing returns for my ears at around $1,500 for the whole setup (DAC, amp, headphones). I’m more inclined to buy pricey hobby items with a better depreciation/appreciation profile than anything electronic. Knives, watches, etc.
, I want some new speaker monitors for my desk, another DAP, some other hobby toys, new lens for my camera, build a new gaming PC…all those things and I still wouldn’t hit the upper limit cost of the RAAL…but I wants them lol
