RAAL-requisite SR1a Has Landed

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, AudioDoctor said:

Chris, I have no experience with the RAAL headphones, but the Susvara's on my head right now sound pretty damned good via Roon > HQPlayer > Sonore Sig Rendu SE Optical > DAC > Amp

 

I suppose I could try using HQPlayers volume control as well.

NICE! You must try this. However, the benefit will depend on how your amp volume control functions. If you can set it to a certain level that essentially takes it out of the equation, that would be ideal. The cool part about the RAAL is that it uses a regular power amp and those don't have volume controls. I just set the DAC to 100% if it has a volume control, and all is right in the world. 

 

What amp are you using?

[The Computer Audiophile]

wait, @AudioDoctor, why haven't you tried the RAAL? I thought more of you :~)

[AudioDoctor]

5 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

NICE! You must try this. However, the benefit will depend on how your amp volume control functions. If you can set it to a certain level that essentially takes it out of the equation, that would be ideal. The cool part about the RAAL is that it uses a regular power amp and those don't have volume controls. I just set the DAC to 100% if it has a volume control, and all is right in the world. 

 

What amp are you using?

 

The Donald North Audio Stellaris Silver Special

 

http://www.dnaudio.com/DNA-Stellaris-2A3-headphone-amplifier.html

 

4 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

wait, @AudioDoctor, why haven't you tried the RAAL? I thought more of you :~)

 

Because I just spent an ungodly amount of money on Headphones, and Amp, and a DAC... 😉

 

Right now I have a volume control in the amp, that when turned to full is completely out of the circuit, and I am using the volume control on the DAC. I will have to research the volume control to see if it is out of the circuit at some point.

 

[AudioDoctor]

and now Chris ( @The Computer Audiophile ) I have to buy a 512 engineering thingamajig and pay the piano movers...

 

😉

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, AudioDoctor said:

and now Chris ( @The Computer Audiophile ) I have to buy a 512 engineering thingamajig and pay the piano movers...

 

😉

HA!

 

P.S. 512 should make a headphone specific transformer. 

[AudioDoctor]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

HA!

 

P.S. 512 should make a headphone specific transformer. 

 

Or a smaller one? My headphone amp has speaker taps as well for its mighty 3.5 watts at 8 ohms...  Right now I am plugging the stuff into a zero surge, but your impressions have me intrigued. Maybe after the pandemic so I can see how things shake out...

[ShawnC]

A small discount if anyone is interested in these headphones.  I've worked with TMR on a few transactions, they're great people.

 

https://tmraudio.com/personal-audio/headphones-over-ear/raal-requisite-sr1a-floating-open-baffle-ribbon-headphones-sr1-a-earfield/

[ThenewGearPPK]

On 4/11/2020 at 5:21 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Tonight I brought the SR1a to another level. This may sound crazy and I need to verify my findings over several days and listening sessions, but check this out. 

 

Roon > HQPlayer > APL HiFi DSD SR MK2 DAC > Audio Research VT80SE amp > SR1a interface > SR1a

 

I'm using HQPlayer's volume control and its upsampling everything to DSD256. What I'm hearing is astounding. There are many more variables to try in this scenario, so I won't draw any conclusions just yet. I only know that what I'm hearing now is on another level. 

 

I'm surprised you are getting enough volume with the VT80, I remember seeing a few people say the 75 watts was not enough to drive it.

 

When you do finalize the settings for HQplayer, could you share all of the setting so others can test it as well?

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

 

I'm surprised you are getting enough volume with the VT80, I remember seeing a few people say the 75 watts was not enough to drive it.

 

When you do finalize the settings for HQplayer, could you share all of the setting so others can test it as well?

 

I agree. The McIntosh MC275 didn't drive the SR1a very well, but the VT80SE does a great job.

 

Yes, I'm working on an HQP article. 

[TubeLover]

10 hours ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

 

I'm surprised you are getting enough volume with the VT80, I remember seeing a few people say the 75 watts was not enough to drive it.

 

When you do finalize the settings for HQplayer, could you share all of the setting so others can test it as well?

 

Based on everything I've read, and that actually is everything out there about the SR1a's, as well as conversations I've had with a number of the reviewers and people involved, you do have to be careful about power. Two different people who tried the otherwise very highly reviewed, and excellent Audio Research Reference 75 (at 75wpc) said it ran out of gas with the RAAL's. Now, I say that also knowing, from previous experiences, that the REF 75 doesn't quite meet it's stated power. I believe John Atkinson of Stereophile noted that at some time previously. I have it on good authority that the newer VT series that Chris is using solidly meets or likely exceeds its rated power. 

 

It truly can vary from amp to amp. RAAL's recommended minimum power recommendations for the SR1a's is 100wpc tube and 150 wpc solid state. And they have good reasons for that. I think those are good guidelines to pay attention to.

 

In my specific experience, the Modwright KWI 200 (at 200wpc) drove the RAAL's very strongly, and the sound was, especially for solid state, exemplary. A friends well respected 100wpc solid state amp simply didn't cut it. My tubed Conrad Johnson ARTsa (140wpc) was just superb on all levels, But then, given it's pedigree and price, it should be. Then there are my recently acquired tube based Quicksiilver Silver 88 monos (which am assured by Mike Sanders (their creator), will put out a solid 100wpc into 8, 6, or 4 ohms, without question). These sound exceptional with the RAALs, for 90% of the music spectrum. When I tried listening to full scale rock, at somewhat loud levels (Peter Gabriel, So, Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms, Led Zeppelin, the Who, etc, the Quicksilvers did start to struggle. Granted, in my office system, where they reside, I'm never usually listening to rock, much less at those levels. For every other type of music I listened to, at any normal level, they had no issue. Granted, I also don't listen to large scale classical symphonies, which might also cause them to run out of gas, again, very dependent on listening level. 

 

JC  

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, TubeLover said:

you do have to be careful about power.

Well said. For the SR1a people will have to depend greatly on user impressions because power rating is so imperfect. 

[Blake]

On 4/11/2020 at 8:43 PM, AudioDoctor said:

 

The Donald North Audio Stellaris Silver Special

 

http://www.dnaudio.com/DNA-Stellaris-2A3-headphone-amplifier.html

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the off topic detour but.... damn I am super jealous!.  I have been lusting after the Stellaris for a while a now.  Congrats!

 

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, Blake said:

 

Sorry for the off topic detour but.... damn I am super jealous!.  I have been lusting after the Stellaris for a while a now.  Congrats!

 

 

Yeah, its pretty amazing for sure!

[agillis]

On 4/11/2020 at 8:21 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Tonight I brought the SR1a to another level. This may sound crazy and I need to verify my findings over several days and listening sessions, but check this out. 

 

Roon > HQPlayer > APL HiFi DSD SR MK2 DAC > Audio Research VT80SE amp > SR1a interface > SR1a

 

I'm using HQPlayer's volume control and its upsampling everything to DSD256. What I'm hearing is astounding. There are many more variables to try in this scenario, so I won't draw any conclusions just yet. I only know that what I'm hearing now is on another level. 

 

Quite a few users have asked my if you can run HQplayer and Roon together on our sonicTransporter i9 optical. You can. It has an 8 core processor so there is plenty of CPU power for both Roon and HQplayer.

[The Computer Audiophile]

33 minutes ago, agillis said:

 

Quite a few users have asked my if you can run HQplayer and Roon together on our sonicTransporter i9 optical. You can. It has an 8 core processor so there is plenty of CPU power for both Roon and HQplayer.

HI Andrew, can you run HQP to DSD512 and convolution and the same time?

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, agillis said:

 

Quite a few users have asked my if you can run HQplayer and Roon together on our sonicTransporter i9 optical. You can. It has an 8 core processor so there is plenty of CPU power for both Roon and HQplayer.

 

You just answered my question.

 

One more. Can the Sonic Transporter i9 optical really be directly connected to the Signature Rendu SE Optical instead of going through a network device?

[TubeLover]

14 hours ago, Blake said:

 

Sorry for the off topic detour but.... damn I am super jealous!.  I have been lusting after the Stellaris for a while a now.  Congrats!

 

As you should be, I know someone who has one and its clearly worthy of a lifetime audio achievement award. Sublime and almost unreachable for most of us. 

 

JC

[AudioDoctor]

10 hours ago, TubeLover said:

As you should be, I know someone who has one and its clearly worthy of a lifetime audio achievement award. Sublime and almost unreachable for most of us. 

 

JC

 

It doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell of driving the RAALs though.  Ha.

[ThenewGearPPK]

Would anyone consider a 150watt tube amp?

 

The MingDa MC368-B150 sells on china-hifi-audio.com for $2,300 plus shipping.

This is the only KT150 tube amplifier that I found that advertises 150 watts.

 

Every other KT150 based tube amp I seen is either 100watts or under. The KT150 is, I think, the most powerful tube on the market for pure wattage.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

12 minutes ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

Would anyone consider a 150watt tube amp?

 

The MingDa MC368-B150 sells on china-hifi-audio.com for $2,300 plus shipping.

This is the only KT150 tube amplifier that I found that advertises 150 watts.

 

Every other KT150 based tube amp I seen is either 100watts or under. The KT150 is, I think, the most powerful tube on the market for pure wattage.

 

I'd definitely consider a tube amp that's 150 watts, but I have no clue about the specific amp you mentioned. It all comes down the how it's engineered. The Audio Research VT80SE is awesome and it is lower in power that the MingDa. 

[4est]

3 hours ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

Would anyone consider a 150watt tube amp?

 

The MingDa MC368-B150 sells on china-hifi-audio.com for $2,300 plus shipping.

This is the only KT150 tube amplifier that I found that advertises 150 watts.

 

Every other KT150 based tube amp I seen is either 100watts or under. The KT150 is, I think, the most powerful tube on the market for pure wattage.

 

Perhaps it isn't 150 watts then, or they are simply driving the tubes hard? There is no magic in this.

[AudioDoctor]

5 hours ago, ThenewGearPPK said:

Would anyone consider a 150watt tube amp?

 

The MingDa MC368-B150 sells on china-hifi-audio.com for $2,300 plus shipping.

This is the only KT150 tube amplifier that I found that advertises 150 watts.

 

Every other KT150 based tube amp I seen is either 100watts or under. The KT150 is, I think, the most powerful tube on the market for pure wattage.

 

 

 

Really?  None?

 

http://www.rogueaudio.com/Products_m180.htm

 

A pair of these makes 140 watts each with EL-34s, who knows how high that will go with KT150s which they can also run

 

https://www.primaluna-usa.com/primaluna-evo-400-tube-power-amplifier

 

Or the integrated version...

 

https://www.primaluna-usa.com/primaluna-evo-400-tube-integrated

 

McIntosh...

 

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC2152AN

 

Go all the way!

 

https://www.balanced.com/vk76se-power-amp

 

I suspect you didn't look very hard and I think there is more to it than a power rating. I think finding an amp with a stout ability to drive a lot of current into the load is more important than the ultimate power rating.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I’ve been dreaming of trying a pair of Nagra VPA monoblocks on the SR1a. Only 50 watts though. 
 

 

[AudioDoctor]

Chris, HiFiMans amp for the Susvaras puts 12 watts into their 60 ohm load, and 150 watts into 8 ohms in A/B mode, and my amp puts about 3.5 and runs them just fine. This leads me to believe there is more to it than wattage output.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, AudioDoctor said:

Chris, HiFiMans amp for the Susvaras puts 12 watts into their 60 ohm load, and my amp puts about 3.5 and runs them just fine. This leads me to believe there is more to it than wattage output.

I’m with you.