Hirsch
Why is there a chaplain standing over his wallet?
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2001
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This is not a small amp. I'm not understating this. It's in two Maesto ZR style cases, but each case is bigger than the Maestro. This is needed, because it's actually two complete SDS amplifiers. This gives it a lot of versatility. You can use it as a two-input fully balanced headphone amp or preamp. Or, you can use each side of it as a single-ended headphone amp or preamp. In that configuration, two people can listen to two different sources, with two different headphones, each one with a separate SDS quality amp.
If you're going to use this monster single-ended, though, you might as well simply get an SDS or Maestro ZR. This amp is for when you want to listen to balanced headphones. The real question is "are balanced headphones worth it"?
On first listen, the answer is an unqualified "yes". Starting off with the HD-650 and balanced Silver Dragon cable, the HD-650 had a power I've never heard from it before. The size of the stage is absolutely huge. There's a three-dimensionality that I simply haven't heard from the HD-650 before. Further, the noise floor is simply absent. The silence between the notes, that "blackness" that separates the instruments, is profound. The level of detail is greater than I had thought the HD-650 was capable of. Hearing this, I already knew that this was a special amp. However, I didn't buy this amp for the HD-650.
The next headphone up was the Qualia 010 with Black Dragon balanced cable. Here is where the SDS-XLR is truly in its element. The Qualia is simply far more capable of detail than the HD-650, and the SDS-XLR is one of the most detail-oriented amps I've ever heard. The transparency is incredible...and the amp was able to translate this to the Qualia. If you've heard the Qualia, you have probably heard a hollowness in the mids, or a cavernous sound. The single-ended SDS had eliminated that, I thought. However, I had never really heard the Qualia until I heard it balanced. Anybody think the Qualia is bass-light? Guess again. Think the mids aren't rich? Guess again. The Qualia's biggest problem is that it requires a monster of an amp to control it. The SDS-XLR is just the amp for the job. Most of the Qualia quirks that have been attributed to everything from position (still critical) to design flaws are the amp losing control over the headphone, IMO. That's where this amp steps in. It takes control of the headphone, and simply makes it play the music. The staging of the Qualia may be the best of any headphone I've heard, and this amp lets it shine. Image is precise. Bass is deep and has strong impact. Vocals are to die for. Nothing in the music is hidden. (The downside of this is that you're going to need a good source). Dynamic range is excellent, as is the ability to have quiet sounds co-exist with loud ones.
After listening to the Qualia, the HD-650 sounds sluggish in comparison, and it takes some time to get used to it again. Here is where the signature sounds of the headphones become apparent. I need to listen to the HD-650 first with this amp, if I'm going to use it. It's not as easy to listen to the Sennheiser after hearing the Qualia. There's a sense of loss of detail that's hard to shake off. I'm still reeling from new amp bliss but I'll go on record as stating that the SDS-XLR/Qualia 010 combination may be one of the best headphone setups possible. I don't really want to listen to the Qualia single-ended again. I had thought I had a pretty good sound out of the headphone, but I was wrong. Now that I've heard the Qualia balanced, it's as though it were a newer and better headphone. Much better.
More on this as I get used to it, and figure out the tube set I want. Right now I'm using black glass National Unions in front of Sylvania black base 6SN7W's. Good combo, but it's a starting point, not the end.
Time to sign off and listen.
If you're going to use this monster single-ended, though, you might as well simply get an SDS or Maestro ZR. This amp is for when you want to listen to balanced headphones. The real question is "are balanced headphones worth it"?
On first listen, the answer is an unqualified "yes". Starting off with the HD-650 and balanced Silver Dragon cable, the HD-650 had a power I've never heard from it before. The size of the stage is absolutely huge. There's a three-dimensionality that I simply haven't heard from the HD-650 before. Further, the noise floor is simply absent. The silence between the notes, that "blackness" that separates the instruments, is profound. The level of detail is greater than I had thought the HD-650 was capable of. Hearing this, I already knew that this was a special amp. However, I didn't buy this amp for the HD-650.
The next headphone up was the Qualia 010 with Black Dragon balanced cable. Here is where the SDS-XLR is truly in its element. The Qualia is simply far more capable of detail than the HD-650, and the SDS-XLR is one of the most detail-oriented amps I've ever heard. The transparency is incredible...and the amp was able to translate this to the Qualia. If you've heard the Qualia, you have probably heard a hollowness in the mids, or a cavernous sound. The single-ended SDS had eliminated that, I thought. However, I had never really heard the Qualia until I heard it balanced. Anybody think the Qualia is bass-light? Guess again. Think the mids aren't rich? Guess again. The Qualia's biggest problem is that it requires a monster of an amp to control it. The SDS-XLR is just the amp for the job. Most of the Qualia quirks that have been attributed to everything from position (still critical) to design flaws are the amp losing control over the headphone, IMO. That's where this amp steps in. It takes control of the headphone, and simply makes it play the music. The staging of the Qualia may be the best of any headphone I've heard, and this amp lets it shine. Image is precise. Bass is deep and has strong impact. Vocals are to die for. Nothing in the music is hidden. (The downside of this is that you're going to need a good source). Dynamic range is excellent, as is the ability to have quiet sounds co-exist with loud ones.
After listening to the Qualia, the HD-650 sounds sluggish in comparison, and it takes some time to get used to it again. Here is where the signature sounds of the headphones become apparent. I need to listen to the HD-650 first with this amp, if I'm going to use it. It's not as easy to listen to the Sennheiser after hearing the Qualia. There's a sense of loss of detail that's hard to shake off. I'm still reeling from new amp bliss but I'll go on record as stating that the SDS-XLR/Qualia 010 combination may be one of the best headphone setups possible. I don't really want to listen to the Qualia single-ended again. I had thought I had a pretty good sound out of the headphone, but I was wrong. Now that I've heard the Qualia balanced, it's as though it were a newer and better headphone. Much better.
More on this as I get used to it, and figure out the tube set I want. Right now I'm using black glass National Unions in front of Sylvania black base 6SN7W's. Good combo, but it's a starting point, not the end.
Time to sign off and listen.