[ButtUglyJeff]

Quote:

Hi, probably it is a little off topic, but I really need everyone's advice. I'm looking for an amp exclusively for my Compact Monitors Stage 3 CIEM, which is only 18ohms. At 1st I've short listed to Pico Slim or RSA the Shadows, but the SR71-B really draw my attention as it seems like an one time upgrade for all. I've HD650 but my priority is my CIEM.

Now I'm worrying if the SR71-B is way too overkilled and the gain is way too high for sensitive IEMs even at the lowest gain, in balanced mode? I'm really tempted with the SR71-B, but very worried if it is just way too powerful for CIEMs, further more, I've been only seeing reviews which the amp is praised to heaven but with full size headphone, it is very hard to find someone talk about the amp with sensitive iem.

Really appreciate if some experience users of SR71-B can help out here. Thank you!

 
I emailed ALO recently, because I was concerned that my Grado phones might experience the hiss that some with sensitive IEMs have already complained about.  Their reply was the mkIII does have a higher level of ground noise then their "International" amp/dac (those are the 2 I'm choosing between) but with even Grados it shouldn't be an issue, like it is with some IEMs.
 
But RSA amps tend to be dead quiet, even the beefy SR-71B.

 

[precsmo]

I emailed ALO recently, because I was concerned that my Grado phones might experience the hiss that some with sensitive IEMs have already complained about.  Their reply was the mkIII does have a higher level of ground noise then their "International" amp/dac (those are the 2 I'm choosing between) but with even Grados it shouldn't be an issue, like it is with some IEMs.

But RSA amps tend to be dead quiet, even the beefy SR-71B.

Thank you for the info! I've made my mind and paid for the Meier Quickstep instead, it has great reviews like no others, most importantly, it is the most affordable for me given the performance it has.

 

[sinkr]

Quote:

Hi, probably it is a little off topic, but I really need everyone's advice. I'm looking for an amp exclusively for my Compact Monitors Stage 3 CIEM, which is only 18ohms. At 1st I've short listed to Pico Slim or RSA the Shadows, but the SR71-B really draw my attention as it seems like an one time upgrade for all. I've HD650 but my priority is my CIEM.

Now I'm worrying if the SR71-B is way too overkilled and the gain is way too high for sensitive IEMs even at the lowest gain, in balanced mode? I'm really tempted with the SR71-B, but very worried if it is just way too powerful for CIEMs, further more, I've been only seeing reviews which the amp is praised to heaven but with full size headphone, it is very hard to find someone talk about the amp with sensitive iem.

Really appreciate if some experience users of SR71-B can help out here. Thank you!

Not off topic, but the reason why I switched from the ALO to the SR71B because there existed a hiss on my Traluncent 1plus2s, regardless of gain or whether or not an input source was connected.
 
This does not occur on the SR71B and I'd consider the Tralucents to be in the 'very sensitive IEM category'.

 

[muzic4life]

Technically...the RxMK3 is better than International. But that ground noise turned me down. While i do love the sound from mk3...but i feel the international has quiter background noise and the sound is cleaner after all. And the rsa intruder beats them both..in term of clarity and detailing not to mention it has almost a dead silence background.

 

[Musicdiddy]

Hi, I have just ordered a pair of balanced Mad Dogs from Dan to use with my Solo and RxMk3 but the termination on the headphone cable is a 4 pin XLR whereas the balanced socket on the amp is a square design. Does anyone know where I can get an adaptor please apart from ALO?

 

[AnakChan]

Hi, I have just ordered a pair of balanced Mad Dogs from Dan to use with my Solo and RxMk3 but the termination on the headphone cable is a 4 pin XLR whereas the balanced socket on the amp is a square design. Does anyone know where I can get an adaptor please apart from ALO?

quite a few makers should be able to do it. The square connector is actually called Kobiconn but better known in the audio circles as the RSA protector/SR-71b balanced connector cos Ray made it popular with his amps.

Try asking Whiplash, Moon Audio, Toxic Cables, Double Helix, etc.

What's wrong with asking ALO BTW??

 

[Musicdiddy]

Quote:

What's wrong with asking ALO BTW??

Thanks for that.
 
Nothing wrong with ALO, I have sent them an email but just wanted to see if anybody else can do them.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

Quote:

Hi, I have just ordered a pair of balanced Mad Dogs from Dan to use with my Solo and RxMk3 but the termination on the headphone cable is a 4 pin XLR whereas the balanced socket on the amp is a square design. Does anyone know where I can get an adaptor please apart from ALO?

 
BTG Audio too...
 
Brian is making me the opposite of what you want, for the HiFi-M8

 

[SwanSong]

I am listening Balanced out! Love it! Well worth the switch to Balanced. My old set up. I used an ibasso DAC out of my CLAS (Digital Out) Just to have the Balanced into my SR71B. After repeated tests it seemed to be a hair better that way. I opted to let go of all that when I put the RX3 into the chain. It did not seem to need it. I am sure the CLAS will have a Balanced in when it gets it's update. Too many rumors. I would be a happy man if that happened soon.

I also saw on this forum about being able to dive the HE6. My guess is that they will drive them well. My RX2 had plenty of power to drive the LCD3 with no problem. That headphone likes juice. The RX3 seems to have a lot more horsepower.

What's the diff driving the LCD3 from the mk3 vs a good non portable amp?

 

[Mavwong]

Same goes to me lolz. but the sound quality is just too good to let it go, till next one comes that don't have the channel imbalance issue.
 
Now I totally don't listen to ciem using rx3, it's just too overkill.
 
I use it with hd600 very happy
 
recently I sold my full size dac (MDAC) and don't have any dac for my speaker setup, I put this CLAS and RX3b combo driving my power amp, wow! sound so good compare to just DAC direct. Love the bass and dynamics!
 
 
Quote:

I got a "temporary" trade of the Rx Mk3-B for my Continental V3 and I am impressed.  I noticed the mk3 expanding the soundstage further and the bass tightened a little bit.  The only thing that irritates me is the channel imbalance.  Full volume on Low gain is not enough for my Westone 4R unfortunately as I listen to music pretty loudly.  Medium gain is ok but my listening level is to the point wherein a little turn of the volume down would give channel imbalance.  Other than that I am enjoying this combination with my CLAS.

 

[sinkr]

Quote:

What's the diff driving the LCD3 from the mk3 vs a good non portable amp?

As much as I've railed on the MK3 for producing hiss in my Tralucent 1plus2s, I'd say that the MK3 drove my LCD-3s just as well as my Mjolnir.
 
I don't say that with any empirical evidence other than when I switched between my desktop to mobile rig, I wasn't lamenting the fact that I didn't have the Mjolnir in the mix.
 
There probably are differences, but for my purposes, I was completely happy either way.
 
I've not spent a lot of time with the LCD-3s and the SR71B, but I'd say that the SR71B may do just as good of a job as the MK3.
 
All pure conjecture on my part with little real testing to back it up.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

Quote:

As much as I've railed on the MK3 for producing hiss in my Tralucent 1plus2s, I'd say that the MK3 drove my LCD-3s just as well as my Mjolnir.
 
I don't say that with any empirical evidence other than when I switched between my desktop to mobile rig, I wasn't lamenting the fact that I didn't have the Mjolnir in the mix.
 
There probably are differences, but for my purposes, I was completely happy either way.
 
I've not spent a lot of time with the LCD-3s and the SR71B, but I'd say that the SR71B may do just as good of a job as the MK3.
 
All pure conjecture on my part with little real testing to back it up.

 
Both are powerhouse little amps.  I love my MkIII, but I'm only a headphone guy.  And I'm sure I'll add a SR71B, to the fold at a later date...

 

[Omphalopsychite]

I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to share your impressions of the MkIII. I was about to buy one but after reading about the hiss with sensitive earphones (I have F111's) and the lack of responsiveness from ALO I decided to get a Portaphile 627X even though it cost significantly more here in OZ.  Living in a small town half way between Melbourne and Sydney I have no way of listining to kit so I depend on what I can read on the web.
 
Cheers,
 
O.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

It looks like ALO upgraded the Mk3, and its now the Rx Mk3 B+ is on the site...
 
http://www.aloaudio.com/amplifiers/rx-mk3-b
 
The most obvious upgrade is the battery.  Now its boasted at 19 hours, which is double what I get with my original Mk3.  The bass boost is a little grey.  Is it the same, or was it tweeked?

 

[Anthony1]

Wonder if they have ironed out the quality issues like the IEM channel imbalance at low levels