Solo SRG/PSU1 has arrived!
Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: Headphone Audio
Forum Name: Write A Review
Forum Description: Satisfied with your Graham Slee headphone amp? - share your experiences here
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=448
Printed Date: 27 Mar 2026 at 12:15am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Solo SRG/PSU1 has arrived!
Posted By: bmbrown911
Subject: Solo SRG/PSU1 has arrived!
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2009 at 7:36pm
| I don't have much to say other then this thing literally mops the floor with my other amp which I've lived with for over 4 years which is a Perreaux SXH1. Just an amazing amp and its only been playing for a half hour. Its so good I may even buy a Voyager amp for my mom who listens to a lot of MP3s. Special thanks to Grahm for such a special product and for getting it here in the states much quicker then I thought it would. Keep it up! Im deffinately a believer in your products and idealogy on audio. Happy Listening! |
Replies:
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 16 Apr 2009 at 11:46pm
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You are in for a treat as the Solo/PSU1 burns in! Give it a good 300 hours (maybe 500) and you will have an smile from ear to ear. Good luck. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Philmic
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 1:25am
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Lucky man ! I'm still waiting for mine ... (ordered 10 days ago)
What headphone do you use ?
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Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 10:24am
| Unfortunately my headphone collection has dwindled because I had kind of got bored of the head fi habit a few years ago but got back into it. So at the moment I only own Senn. HD600's with the stock cable which I will probably never replace. I used to own some Grado SR60's which were absolutely awesome headphones for the money. They were the headphones that really opened me to the possibilities of what good headphones are compable of. I then moved up and bought some Grado SR325's which were a blast with the rock and metal music I have so abundantly collected over the years. They were very bright though. Would of loved the chance to try either of those two phones with the Solo. Now that I have some very fine amplification I may look into expanding my collection again. |
Posted By: jamescodway
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 3:00pm
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HD650/K701 & RS-1 have all been usurped by a modded HD25 with my 2006 Solo... welcome back and, er... sorry about... errrrr, well, you know what ;-)
James |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 11:20pm
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The Solo SRG has the ability to drive Grado RS-1 with out being shrill or metallic sounding. It is one of the very few solid state amps that can do so. Normally I would not suggest using an SS amp w/ Grado but the Solo has made it a reality. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: jamescodway
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2009 at 4:30pm
This is getting me excited again about the prospect of the upgrade to SRG option... Miguel, does RS-1 sound up to potential w/SRG even without your MF tube buffer? James ------------- Voyager - HD25 |
mrarroyo wrote:Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 19 Apr 2009 at 1:29am
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Yes it does James and I do not use a tube buffer between the source and Solo SRG. However I really do not wish to say much since my Solo SRG is not fully burnt in. Currently it has about 215 hours of use, it should have IMO based on four other amps by Graham it needs at least 300 to 500 hours. So I will be able to tell next weekend. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 27 Apr 2009 at 12:33pm
| Just thought I would come back and post some more impressions. I've had it hooked up to my MP3 player playing a list of over a 1000 songs steadily every day since it arrived on the 16th. I'm no expert at describing sound but at the moment it just sounds like everything has gotten a lot smoother since the first day I heard it. The brightness has deffinately mellowed out to. The bass really amazes me with this amp. So much more resolved and clear then it was from my Perreaux. I love the treble to. This is the first amp I've heard that manages to get the treble so clear without hurting your ears. Anyways I don't want to go on for to long. One thing is for sure is that having this amp is making it very hard to not buy a couple of different new headphones to try. I've been really interested in the Beyerdynamic DT880's and the AKG K701's. Had my eye on some Grados to but can't really decide which route go with the Grados. I've owned the SR325's in the past and those were a blast with the rock music. So many choices so little money...lol! If anyone was wondering I'm thinking that the amp has probably about 225 hours on it at the moment. Still a ways to go and a world of changes to come I'm sure. Happy Listening! |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 27 Apr 2009 at 11:34pm
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Glad to see your amp is coming along. The Beyer DT880 are great cans, I prefer the 2003 version over the one that replaced it in 2005. The K701 is my wife's favorite can and one of mine as well but it needs massive burn in, say over 800 hours.
Another can to consider is the Denon AH-D7000 or the Ultrasone HFI-780. Each needs about 250 hours of burn in. Good luck. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Philmic
Date Posted: 29 Apr 2009 at 6:14pm
My Solo SRG + PSU1 has arrived this afternoon ! 
I start the (long) burning in process
 with the Sennheiser HD 250 II (bought new). Other headphones will come weeks after weeks...
In a first time I don't use the grounding plot.
More comments after many (and many !) hours of use.
|
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 30 Apr 2009 at 9:37am
| The long burn in time does suck but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it while its burning in. Even though it will improve imensly on its way to the magical 500 hour mark I still thought it was darn good right from the start. Enjoy! |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 30 Apr 2009 at 11:38pm
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My Solo SRG reached its 500 hour mark today, it is extremely enjoyable. It is currently driving a pair of highly modified Denon AH-D2000 admirably. Hope to spend a good long time with them this coming weekend. For now I will say that it is very musical, open, clear, extended, enjoyable, and engaging. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Philmic
Date Posted: 01 May 2009 at 12:38am
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Miguel : can you give us some details about your Denon AH-D2000 mods ?
Wasn't better to buy the 5000 model ?
Thank you.
|
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 01 May 2009 at 9:43am
| I made it to the 300 hour mark a little over a day ago and at the moment have about 336 hours and like mrarroyo said the bass is really coming in today. The sound has changed dramitically at least in my opinion since the 300 hour mark to right now with it being much more open and spacious sounding. I'm deffinately believing that it will take the full 500 hours to really get to its full potential. What an amazing piece of audio gear. Graham Slee rocks! |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 01 May 2009 at 11:35pm
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Philmic a lot has to do with the size of your wallet and the mods you will be implementing. The differences between the stock D2000 and D5000 are the cable, the cups, and the color of the metal at the ends of the headband. However the D2000 can be purchased used for about $200-$220 USD while the D5000 may (if you are lucky) be bought used for about $350-$400 USD.
Since the mods eventually get rid of the cable and cups why spend $150 for the D5000. ;) The mods can be done by each of us for under $20 in material and are reversible. You would have to go to Head-Fi and search a post by MarkL on how to do the mods. Or you can ship your cans to MarkL who will do the mods for $160. http://www.lawtonaudio.com/index.html - http://www.lawtonaudio.com/index.html
For the re-cable I wanted the silver plated copper by Alex of APureSound ( http://www.apuresound.com/ - http://www.apuresound.com/ ). However a ten foot long would have set me back about $325 which I was not ready to spend. Instead I chose a re-cable using a silver plated copper cable (Xev) by Zynsonic ( http://www.zynsonix.com/ - http://www.zynsonix.com/ ) which cost me $135.
I changed the cups on both my D5000 and D2000 using a V4 Bubinga cup from MarkL. These sell for about $229, yes very expensive but they are gorgeous and the Bubinga IMO helps to mellow the sound of the bass while retaining the clarity, detail, and extension I want. I find these cans are world class contenders and I prefer them to the famous Sony R10 which sells use for over $5000.00.
I will be comparing the two Denons I have and will most likely sell one. The D5000 has not been re-cabled and MarkL indicated that it is a very good sounding cable. For the comparison it is what I need to decide if the re-cabled D2000 sounds better/same/worse than the D5000.
Besides the re-cable my modded Denons (2) are identical. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Philmic
Date Posted: 02 May 2009 at 12:21am
| Miguel : Thank's a lot for your detailled response ; I keep in mind the Denons ... |
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 11 May 2009 at 10:30am
| Just thought I would come on here and post about how my Solo is coming along. I've now reached over 500 hours and it's still changing ever so slightly with a little more bass coming in and some added smoothness. The bass while not earth shaking like mrarroyo already pointed out is true but man it is so highly resolved its just to die for in my opinion. Everything this thing does is just golden and more then any other amp I've ever heard including the Veda Audio Maxxed Out Dynahi w/ stepped attentuators that I once owned I am just able to sit back and enjoy the music like never before. The soundstage at times really trips me out. I've never really experienced the kind of sound stage that this thing throws out. It really is 3 dimensional at times, a trait I had not experienced out of the Perreaux that I had done all of my headphone listening out of for the last 3-4 years. Really a great amplifier at a great price for the performance it gives. My sennheisers have never sang like this. I've listened to all kinds of music with the majority being diferent types of pop and rock, a little bit of R&B and singer song writer type music. Although a lot of people will say that HD600s don't do well with rock music. Through my Solo, its all sounded superb to my ears. Still can't decide which headphone to get next though. Considering the SR225's which I'm sure will sound superb out of the Solo. Yet again big thanks to Graham for such an awesome piece of audio bliss. Happy listening! |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 12 May 2009 at 12:05am
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bmbrown911 what headphones have you used with the Solo SRG? Don't forget to ground the amp.
Almost forgot, I am starting to think this amp needs more than 500 hours to settle. Mine is over 600 and still changing ever so slightly. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 12 May 2009 at 10:39am
| The only high quality pair of headphones I own at the moment are Sennheiser HD600's. I don't understand why I would need to ground it if I'm not using the switchng power supply? I do agree though that it does seem to need more then 500 hours to settle down completly because it does seem like everytime I use it, its smoother then the last time I heard it. |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 12 May 2009 at 11:24pm
I do not know if you have to or not, but I did even though like you I am using the PSU1. Playing it safe I guess.  ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: bmbrown911
Date Posted: 13 May 2009 at 10:57am
| Sorry if I came across harsh in my response. That was not my intention. Cheers! |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 15 May 2009 at 11:22pm
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I did not think you were harsh. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: Charley Phogg
Date Posted: 21 May 2009 at 11:34pm
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Posted By: Charley Phogg
Date Posted: 22 May 2009 at 7:21pm
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Thanks to Miguel for the loan of the SRG, and thanks to Gradofan2 for
cutting his time short to squeeze me in. I'm really glad I got the
chance to compare the Green Solo with the SRG/PSU-1 combo. I also
compared the smsp wallwart with the PSU-1 on my Green Solo. Let me preface this with I don't have experince with other amps or headphones, other then TotalBitHead and HD-555's. My dac is the OMZ 4.1 and my phones are the HD-580's. My first hour with the SRG I spent a/b'ing my already warmed up Green,which I always leave on, to the cold (temp wise, not sound wise) SRG. Right out of the box it was apparent that the SRG was more detailed then the Green. The sound signature was the same, but with the SRG having the better soundstage. At this point it was hard to tell how exactly, or was it just from the better detail? Using the Ultrsone cd as an example... on the first track the banjo was a little more up front, more even in the mix then with the Green Solo. Not night and day different, I remeberthinking that if I wasn't a/b'ing them, it would take an experienced person to be able to tell the difference. About 5 or 6 hours in, the greater detailing really started showing in the SRG. Using Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie's scott's 2007 ......... http://www.amazon.com/Performing-This-Week-Ronnie-Scotts/dp/B001NP8PQM - Amazon.com: Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's: Jeff Beck: Movies & TV Was simply amazing. I could almost feel JB bending the strings. When JB played the guitar just by tapping the strings up the neck, it was like you could hear the individual strands of the string on JB's fingertip. Joss Stone, doing "People Get Ready" her voice made my ears hard , not to mention Imogen Heap's sultry bedroom voice doing "Blanket" about finished me off  The contrast between JB's playing and the soulfoul,sultriness of Joss Stone and Imogen Heap was amazing. Even after a little more then 6 hours of the SRG warming up, the difference in the detail was now night and day and growing. I left the SRG on over nite and about cried when I had to ship it off this am, but over night the sound had gone more towards neutral, I sposse, then being close to the Green's the night before. I can't imagine how it would sound after 72 hours,as this is when Miguel says it really comes on full song. So after only having it for 20 some hours I can say this about the SRG compared to my Green Solo...... I was expecting the SRG to be better, natuarly, I didn't expect this amout of difference. The ampunt of detail blew me away. Soundstage was better,fuller, was to hard for me to try to nail down any more then that in the short time. Positioning was much better too. Also more upfront. High's are more extended. I didn't get the impression that is why it was more upfront then the Green, your also closer,almost on stage with the SRG. I found this paticularly true with regards to the actual recording. Sometimes you're between the musicians on stage, other times at the stage,. or a row or two away. Listening to Grateful Dead Melkweg Amsterdam, Netherlands 10-16-81 Chappell's matrix sick bits vol. 27 for all you heads outthere ... 1st set is acoustic, and it was heavenly. I was right in the middle of the boys and their acoustic guitars and bongo's, and I thought the Green SOlo sounded good with drums and bongos and stuff. Hard for me to say if the SRG's PRAT, impact and bass is faster,deeper, but I can tell that it is better. This hobby is funny, you never know what you're not hearing until you hear it. If you haven't heard some of the top end amps, you think you know what it sounds like, because that's all you know. Before I thought the Green Solo had a fair amount of detail and resolution... now I'm ruined  Hope that made some sense, I feel like I'm getting lost. Mighty fine amp you built there Graham. I was expecting better, not night and day. Job well done Graham, thank you! Thanks again Miguel  Edit: Final thoughts Every since my review, I have been thinking how best to describe the difference between the Green and SRG Solo's that I heard with my ears, my gear and only having my HD-580's to use, also having never heard any other headphone gear. Not to mention my short, but sweet time listening to it.Now mind you, this is from 6 hours in, of the SRG's 72 hour journey to come up to full song, which I haven't heard, YET 
, until roughly 18 hours or so before I had to pry it out of my
grubby mits, that the differences were becoming more apparent. I say
this because it is quite clear I do not know ultimatley how the SRG
would of sounded once said journey was completed.Sorry about this James  , but here goes.....All along I have kept frinding myself wanting to say that going directly from the Green to the SRG is like lifting a veil, looking through a hazy window to a clear one. But I think that does neither amp justice, and to me looks like a put down to the Green Solo, while also not giving enough information to whoever reads it. But simply put, the SRG is more extended with better resolution and texture. Now notice, I say nothing about the bass here. I don't feel I can. Most importantly, because the SRG wasn't settled in yet as the SRG sound sig was the same as the Green at hour zero,warmer, to 18 hours or so,colder, and also because the SRG was using the PSU-1 and the Green the SMPS. Also because if the SRG has taught me anything, it's that I don't know jack, but the SRG sure did introduce him to me  I use warmer and colder here only to describe the difference, not the product. |
Posted By: mrarroyo
Date Posted: 22 May 2009 at 11:08pm
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My pleasure, glad you like it. ------------- Miguel |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 23 May 2009 at 1:52am
| Nice write-up Charley, thanks. |
Posted By: Charley Phogg
Date Posted: 23 May 2009 at 10:59am
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Thanks tg. I forgot to add that in my postthat I did alot of a/b'ing psu-1 and smps with the Green Solo. I have no idea how many times i swapped them out to detect a difference, one time I thought I noticed a lower noise floor with the psu-1 on the green. Which if so, it was probably due to that nice power chord. But I really doubt it made any difference as I only thought I detected once out of probably a good 20 times. Also forgot to add, that the Green curps, dunno if churp is the right word or not, through the head phones with both of the psu's. Even with it muted and vol all the way down. If I did it fast enough it wouldn't, but it had to be really fast. Makes me think its due to a cap drainingg Graham, is their any upgrade gets to make the green into an srg, or is it a completely diffent? Either way, time to start saving them pennies. |
Posted By: jamescodway
Date Posted: 23 May 2009 at 11:49am
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There is an upgrade option in the pipe... I'm not sure how much longer I can wait after all the mouthwatering reports...
http://www.gspaudio-community.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=416 - Upgrade to SRG ------------- Voyager - HD25 |
Posted By: Charley Phogg
Date Posted: 25 May 2009 at 1:23am
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Sorry about this james , but here goes.Edit: in hindsight, I should of edited this, my final thoughts, into my original post, so I will do so now |