[Angel III]

Thank you. I do have a Violectric V220. Definitely food for thought.

If one day you would like to have a nice amplifier with a neutral sound and a very good soundstage, you know that the Linear I have indicated can be an excellent alternative (similar quality to Violectric). I was right not to recommend the more expensive Lehmann ones, these have a neutral/warm tone, similar to the V200/V220). Equally nice neutral amplifiers are the V100 and V550.

 

[Shane D]

If one day you would like to have a nice amplifier with a neutral sound and a very good soundstage, you know that the Linear I have indicated can be an excellent alternative (similar quality to Violectric). I was right not to recommend the more expensive Lehmann ones, these have a neutral/warm tone, similar to the V200/V220). Equally nice neutral amplifiers are the V100 and V550.

That is very interesting and thank you.
I am leaning towards something with a cleaner, more neutral sound. I am not looking for a wire with gain, but not another warm amp either.

I wish I could test one of those out, just for comparison.

I also have an iFi Pro iCAN which I find to be Very neutral, left stock. But I always tend to run it in tube mode with bass boost engaged. And I use the 3D effect with planar's. So, not very neutral in the end.

 

[Quadfather]

That is very interesting and thank you.
I am leaning towards something with a cleaner, more neutral sound. I am not looking for a wire with gain, but not another warm amp either.

I wish I could test one of those out, just for comparison.

I also have an iFi Pro iCAN which I find to be Very neutral, left stock. But I always tend to run it in tube mode with bass boost engaged. And I use the 3D effect with planar's. So, not very neutral in the end.

What is neutral even? I am never scared away from headphones described otherwise.

 

[Shane D]

What is neutral even? I am never scared away from headphones described otherwise.

That is a great question. My definition has moved around over the years. I prefer a warm amp like the older Violectric or I adjust the iFi to be warmer sounding.

What is truly neutral to me? I think back to my SMSL SP200 that I had about 5 years ago. I didn't care for it.

Not sure where I am going with this.

 

[Xerosnake90]

What is neutral even? I am never scared away from headphones described otherwise.

Describing something as neutral just means you're not going to get any coloration from the piece of equipment. It depends on what you're after

For example when I had the Bifrost 2 it was a nice warm DAC with my Jot 2. When I added it to my tube amp at the time it was just way too warm for me. So this time around I went with the Bifrost 2/64 which is more neutral, when I introduce a warm tube amp things should be better

 

[Quadfather]

Describing something as neutral just means you're not going to get any coloration from the piece of equipment. It depends on what you're after

For example when I had the Bifrost 2 it was a nice warm DAC with my Jot 2. When I added it to my tube amp at the time it was just way too warm for me. So this time around I went with the Bifrost 2/64 which is more neutral, when I introduce a warm tube amp things should be better

I am strange in that I love "neutral" Lotoo Paw Gold Touch and "warm" Sony NW-WM1Z equally.

 

[Angel III]

What is neutral even? I am never scared away from headphones described otherwise.

That is a great question. My definition has moved around over the years. I prefer a warm amp like the older Violectric or I adjust the iFi to be warmer sounding.

What is truly neutral to me? I think back to my SMSL SP200 that I had about 5 years ago. I didn't care for it.

Not sure where I am going with this.

The V100/V200/V220/Linear(II) are characterized in the neutral zone and are faithful to returning a natural timbre (as you would hear without headphones). In this (neutral) zone a good amplifier can be characterized as more or less neutral. A few years ago I tried a Sabaj amplifier with good numbers on sound distortion, but it was totally out of the neutral band (north pole sound), absolutely not faithful to the natural timbre. All Sennheiser HD headphones are characterized as neutral or neutral/warm (in any case in the neutral zone).

 

[SHAMuuu]

Describing something as neutral just means you're not going to get any coloration from the piece of equipment. It depends on what you're after

For example when I had the Bifrost 2 it was a nice warm DAC with my Jot 2. When I added it to my tube amp at the time it was just way too warm for me. So this time around I went with the Bifrost 2/64 which is more neutral, when I introduce a warm tube amp things should be better

I like this explanation of having minimal coloration.

In that; you can shape the sound to your desire. Or for professionals to match their systems in studio.

Most drivers seem to have sweet spots in terms of volume sometimes and when I'm other regions the sounds fall apart.

Or driver rub and buzz issues.

IMO the 660s/s2 are coloured more than just a teenie bit. Which is fine and makes them great for music listening.

Neutrality has sort of lost solidity in terms of a strict definition. It seems IME the true colourless and neutral leaned on thin and bright and were classical genre tuned first, but were easier to shape into preferred coloured desire of individual

 

[nuxos]

Just wonderful timbers all accros this recomposed version of Four Seasons. The balance, the extension, the separation, everything is exceptional and makes sense.

 

[Shane D]

If one day you would like to have a nice amplifier with a neutral sound and a very good soundstage, you know that the Linear I have indicated can be an excellent alternative (similar quality to Violectric). I was right not to recommend the more expensive Lehmann ones, these have a neutral/warm tone, similar to the V200/V220). Equally nice neutral amplifiers are the V100 and V550.

I am buying a well used base Lehmann Linear amp today. Thanks for the input!

 

[Quadfather]

I am buying a well used base Lehmann Linear amp today. Thanks for the input!

Sweet!

 

[Shane D]

Sweet!

Very curious! And to hedge my bets, I will be inserting a Schiit Loki in the chain. I was going to get rid of the Loki, but it might be a nice match with this amp.

 

[Quadfather]

Very curious! And to hedge my bets, I will be inserting a Schiit Loki in the chain. I was going to get rid of the Loki, but it might be a nice match with this amp.

I may try Lotoo Mjölnir or Shanling M30 Pro. I haven't decided yet. I do love my Lotoo Paw Gold Touch.

 

[Angel III]

I am buying a well used base Lehmann Linear amp today. Thanks for the input!

I also bought my Lehmann Linear used (but it's like new). The person who had it before rarely used it with the HD800s.. he preferred listening from the speakers. Mine is the black cube version.The Loky will be a good match.

 

[Shane D]

I also bought my Lehmann Linear used (but it's like new). The person who had it before rarely used it with the HD800s.. he preferred listening from the speakers. Mine is the black cube version.The Loky will be a good match.

I am going to pick one of the started and then abandoned Lehmann threads to document my journey. Already gone way too OT on this thread.