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Topic ClosedUK loan programme

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Graham Slee View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Nov 2011 at 7:30pm
From cold they do sound big and it changes to become more natural. Just mentioning this as the first impression could be too addictive and turn cold turkey later on.
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leecky View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Nov 2011 at 7:44pm
Hi
I would like to thank Fatmangolf for sending the gear and Graham for allowing the loaning. I have loaned the Solo SRG II and PSU1.
 I'll start from the beginning :) I write songs as a hobby to torture my kids and use a RME Babyface usb interface. Recently I decided to go down the "mix mainly on headphones route" (neighbours, missus, crap songs, that sort of thing). I acquired some second hand AKG K701 headphones. The sound from the babyface is very neutral and detailed but it does not provide enough umph for these headphones. I also want to use the setup to listen to music for enjoyment as well as mixing. 
 
After various late night research sessions on headphone amps one name kept cropping up - Graham Slee. I am not sure which amp to plump for, the Solo or the Novo. Money is not exactly free flowing and thanks to the loan scheme I can now compare the two prior to taking the plunge.
 
My set up is babyface connected to pc via usb. I have connected the Solo directly to the babyface headphone socket (not via the breakout cable) with profigold cable. I am no expert on cables so if this is not up to it please let me know.
 
I am aware that burning in is required so have taken this into account with my initial listening. On first using the amp what is apparent is that the headphones are now being properly driven. The sound is far more powerful. My listening level on average was around the 11 o'clock position. The bass is very clear and not overpowering, the mids nicely balanced but the highs do sometimes appear slightly "brittle". It may be the burning in will "round off the corners" so to speak. I listened to a variety of styles. Very spacious sounding songs like Wilco's Jesus etc. had a very open soundstage and the detail is fantastic. Busier songs such as the Artic Monkeys still had space for all the instruments and sounded energetic and vibrant.
 
I will let the amp burn in for the next week and report back, however I do have a feeling I will be addicted to it by the time I have to hand it back.
 
Many thanks
 
Lee
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Nov 2011 at 9:15pm
I've listened to the Solo UL several times in the last few days, including enjoying a whole morning of fatigue-free listening, even though the Solo was on a "bass slightly recessed" day then. But not to worry - today the bass is back with an avengeance!

I've so far found nothing to dislike - it's completely my type of amplifier, letting through all the recording in a very transparent, uncoloured and musical way. Incredible amounts of detail that I've never heard on headphones before, but never at the expense of the music. 

I soon realised that the Solo deserved the best source I had to feed it, so I moved up from the iBasso D10 to the Lavry DA11 line outs, temporarily silencing my "main" system in the process. Driving the HD250s, the pair proved to be a match made in heaven. It also made an intriguing 4-way headphone amp comparison (Voyager, Novo, DA11, Solo) possible which showed in no uncertain terms why the Solo is so highly regarded and how, sonically, it justifies its place above such an accomplished little amp as the Novo. 

The Solo did something I didn't expect - it made me disappointed with the Voyager sound just for a short while until I "came back down" from Solo heights. The Novo, great though it is, has never done that. 

To my ears, the DA11 internal headamp comes close to the Solo in terms of tonal accuracy and cleanliness, but it's some distance behind on what I'll call the spatial definition of the Solo. The Solo positions every nuance, every detail, every voice precisely at some point in the stereo image. All these details are complete delineated in that they do not mutually interfere, even if there is a huge throbbing bass-line underneath.

I was always pleased with the headphone sound I was getting but this is a bit of a genie-out-of-the-bottle experience. The only thing I can compare it to is my main system, in that it's able to drive headphones to the extent where they at least produce an impression of the immersive depth and width of the sound of the electrostatics. 

So really a very interesting and enjoyable experience so far.


Edited by discrete badger - 06 Nov 2011 at 9:24pm
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mrarroyo View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Nov 2011 at 10:40pm
The "spatial definition" is a very good description of what I have heard with the Solo UL. It is almost as it can double the space between your ears.
Miguel
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Nov 2011 at 10:05am
Please note I have moved the conversation regarding the European Loaner Program to its rightful place at http://www.gspaudio-community.activeboards.net/eu-loaner-program_topic1231.html

See you over there.
That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Nov 2011 at 11:28pm
As time goes by, and with careful listening, the Solo UL is revealing more to me about how it achieves its magic - or at least I'd like to think so. 

As the music is what's mostly of interest to me, it's somewhat painful to keep lapsing into audiophile terminology in these postings. But I think there is a connection between what the Solo does with its wonderfully absorbing wide stereo image (an audiophile thing) and how engaging the music is (the main thing). Bear with me on this....

I hear it most on very familiar recordings. The Solo UL clearly seperates voices which would otherwise occupy the same space in the image. When seperated, they have a life of their own and the less dominant voice can be heard rather than be subsumed. This is especially the case with female vocalists against a lush multi-part string orchestration, where you can hear the centre-panned parts clearly in their own right, seperate from the vocalist, even though they are at a similar pitch. See - I would eventually get around to the music! An extra audible part or two makes - quite simply - a different piece of music - and a better piece of music, because what's in the recording is meant to be heard!

I don't mean to suggest that this voice seperation in the Solo is "clinical" or "hifi" or "detailed" in the usual negative meanings. In my experience electronics can easily sound "detailed" or "exciting" initially but lead to fatigue when listening to music on a long term basis. The Solo is a very non-fatiguing listen, in fact it is a major cause of one-more-track-itis.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2011 at 1:25am

Quote The Solo is a very non-fatiguing listen, in fact it is a major cause of one-more-track-itis.

Lovely descriptions and summary DB, I can relate to/recognise, everything you describe.

Thanks for sharing them.

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