Solo ULDE amp

I got the Voyager in 2009 and then the Bitzie + Lautus cable in 2013.  I've been extremely happy with the Bitzie which has been in continuous use, night and day, ever since.

I've been a Sennheiser headphone user for many years and a few years ago got the HD700 (I know it has a mixed press) and I kept the HD650 for plugging into a Yamaha Clavinova -- it's still a great phone in my ears.

The HD700 with the Bitzie is great for most of my purposes, giving a very clear and precise sound.  But recently I've noticed that with a lot of CD recordings of string music (as in quartet) there's quite a harshness in the higher-mid to high frequencies.  This doesn't occur at all with, for instance, recorded piano music.

Some of this might be me and my age-related high-frequency loss (not severe, but I have to use hearing aids to watch television and for example at meetings if someone across the room doesn't articulate clearly enough).  

I emailed Graham, who to my delight replied with a quite long and detailed explanation, and with particular reference to my query about the Solo.

Basically I had been advised by A.N.Other (whom I'd unwisely consulted) to get a tube (valve) amp and I did quite a bit of amateur research around the web before deciding that at my stage of the game I didn't want to have to muck around replacing burnt out valves, or trying whole sets of different valves — I just want to listen to the music (mostly classical and jazz).   And in addition, I was put off by some reports of the 'hum' (noise floor) that you can get with some tube amps.  (Plus the hours you might have to spend chasing up the cause and cure.)  If I were still a young man, then maybe ...

So I came back to where I should, on past experience, have gone first — here!

If I can borrow the Solo, I'm fairly sure I'll know in half a day whether it does for me what I'm hoping it will do.   I'll try it primarily of course with the HD700, but also give it a run on the HD650 (connected to the Bitzie DAC, with Lautus cable).

And the rest of the fortnight will confirm initial impressions.

All best

Brian

Milton Keynes, UK

all best

Brian

Thanks to (Graham and) John C, I have a Solo ULDE on loan.

I wasn't sure whether to begin a new thread for my query, but seeing an appropriately-named albeit old topic is already here I hope Brian and others won't regard this a hijack!

Everything is sounding just fine, very fine in fact, but I'd like confirmation on the volume control settings.  Notes accompanying the unit explain that for low-impedance 'phones, to expect the control to be in the 5-to-1 o'clock range, depending on input level, and 11-to-5 o'clock for high-impedance 'phones.  With both my Sennheiser HD600 (300 Ohms) and Final E5000 IEMs (14 Ohms) I'm getting plenty of volume at around the 9 o'clock position.  Is this anything to be concerned about?  My source output level (from the manual) is 2.1V.