[Argo Duck]

Quote:

is there a new dac on the horizon too?

I recently bought Jan's stagedac (superb, btw). Before committing, asked whether he had a new design in the pipeline. Reply; "I do not
have plans for a new design yet."
 
The stagedac is so good, at least as good and maybe better than the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC I also have, I do not think a new dac design is needed yet.

 

[cooperpwc]

This is my analysis/guess work in relation to the Classic. After much studying of the graphic and comparing it to existing Meier products, I do think that I have figured it out. ...and I am excited by what I see.
 
The Classic will not have a DAC. This is the next evolution of Meier's top-of-line headphone amplifiers so we can assume the 64-step attenuator and active balanced ground.
 
What is new is that this appears to also have a preamplifier function. The evidence of this is that the Crossfeed switch has the 'speaker mode' that widens the sound image with speakers. This was only ever offered before on the Stagedac which also has a preamp function but with an analogue pot. This time the preamp function is also using the high quality 64-step attenuator.
 
It also looks like the crossfeed has two levels of intensity, plus the tonal balance switch that can compensate for the attenuation that crossfeed causes below 2 khz.
 
If I am right, this is a truly versatile product.

 

[uelover]

Quote:

The stagedac is so good, at least as good and maybe better than the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC I also have, I do not think a new dac design is needed yet.

I am surprised =)

 

[Argo Duck]

What do you think of your minimax (MM)? You previously owned the StageDAC (SD) too yes? To clarify, I think both are exceptional. They also have different qualities, which I haven't tried to nail down in an A/B. Essentially, I am delighted I have both and, despite my previous statement, see no need to decide which is "better".
 
I am also going off-topic with this observation - apologies!
 
Quote:

I am surprised =)

 

 

[Jodet]

I've pretty well decided it's between this and the Violectric to run my D7000's.
 
It's going to be a long wait till October.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Everytime this thread gets bumped to the top I always get excited and think that the amp came out early
 
 

 

[Jodet]

Quote:

Everytime this thread gets bumped to the top I always get excited and think that the amp came out early
 
 

I'd be happy with more info.   If this unit can really be used as a pre-amp I would be even MORE interested in it than I already am! 
 
 
 

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

I'd be happy with more info.   If this unit can really be used as a pre-amp I would be even MORE interested in it than I already am! 

We will see. With the "Speaker" crossfeed mode apparent from the graphic, I am betting on it.
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

I'd be happy with more info.   If this unit can really be used as a pre-amp I would be even MORE interested in it than I already am! 
 
 
 

 
Hey could you educate me a little? I understand the concept of a tube amp as a pre-amp since it adds flavor without you having to throw out your favorite amp and you still get all the power of the solid state, but why would you want to pair an amp, let alone a very good one like the Classic with another amp in preamp mode? What is it that solid state preamps do?
 
 

 

[Jodet]

If you have a power amp (and I do) you need a pre-amp, whether it be tube or solid state.  How else do you control the volume?   Switch between inputs? 
 
I emailed Jan today to ask him about this and got a reply back like four minutes later.   No pre-amp, just a headphone amp.   Oh well.   I'm still interested.  I've never heard cross-feed and am very curious about that.
 
 
 
 

 

[cooperpwc]

Okay, I'm way off then. Sorry...

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear Headfellows,
 
Bad news: Production of the CLASSIC has been delayed. For the powersupply I want to have Nichicon FG-series capacitors installed (these are the highest grade audio-capacitors they make) but unfortunately Nichicon is not able to deliver untill November/December. It may all have to do with the earthquake-catastrophe in Japan.
 
Of course, other capacitors could be used, including the FW-series made by Nichicon, but testing has revealed that the FG-series capacitors really do make a difference. Therefore I decided to wait a little bit longer. Please understand.
 
The amp will be worth the wait though, promised!!
 
In the meanwhile let me answer a few questions:
 
> will it stack above a stagedac ? i mean will the dimensions be the same as stagedac?
 
Yes, the amp will be equally wide. It will just be a little bit higher, due to some large size capacitors.
 
> The Classic will not have a DAC. This is the next evolution of Meier's top-of-line headphone amplifiers so we can assume the 64-step attenuator and active balanced ground.
 
Confirmed!
 
> What is new is that this appears to also have a preamplifier function.
 
Sorry, but it hasn’t!
 
> The evidence of this is that the Crossfeed switch has the 'speaker mode' that widens the sound image with speakers.
 
No, the crossfeed now has three levels (top-to-bottom): High, stereo, medium
 
Also this crossfeed is active over a much wider frequency range than the filter commonly found on CORDA amplifiers. In that it is comparable to the crossfeed on the STAGEDAC. The result is a more precise imaging.
 
Cheers
 
Jan

 

[TheWuss]

No worries, Jan!
I'm sure it will be well worth the wait!
 

 

[cooperpwc]

Jan, this sounds really great. I am excited about the sophisticated crossfeed in an amp that can drive both low impedance IEMs and ful size headphones.
 
Kudos for waiting and getting it right. (Also I can't afford it right now. 

 )

 

[sampson_smith]

Thanks for ringing in, Jan. I have a feeling that the Classic will be the SS amp for me, when it comes out later this year. I can't wait to see some proto-pic's and find out how much you will be selling it for.
 
Cheers,
 
Vince