Emmeline XP7 vs Grado RA-1 vs Corda HA-1 (mk 1)

[Rameish 0]

Emmeline XP-7: 2 x 9 volt battery operated. Retail S$840 (depending on x-change rate - current rate is S$1.69 to US$1.

 

This is my first experience with a Ray Samuels product and I must say that I am impressed. The casework is made brushed aluminum with easy to access battery doors. My only gripe with this amp is as a portable amp the RCA jacks should have been recessed like the Headroom Supreme. I would have like to see crossfeed as well but not everybody likes crossfeed.

 

 

Grado RA-1: 2 x 9 volt battery operated. Retail S$630 (new)

 

A long time favourite of mine. Many have complained abut the part quality but frankly it's a good sounding unit even with the Senn HD-600. Because of some roll off at frequency extreames it mimics some of the character of a tube amp. The wood case is also very pleasing to the eye. My only gripe about this amp is the part quality. Many heare have made Clones that surpass the part quality. I even know one guy who has had silver hook up wire in his unit.

 

Corda HA-1 (modded): Initially this amp sold for about S$650. The price dropped to S$550 when the replacement model was introduced. However I have modded this unit with the so called Kurt W Corda Blue Mods but have gone one step further with elect Caps upgrade. Total cost of upgrades are above $200 if you were to do it yourself.

 

Other equipment used were the Marantz CD-6000 OSE CDP with Grado Signature interconnects and the following headphones: Grado SR-225, Beyer DT-931, Beyer DT 880, Senn HD-600 with Jan Meier's replacement cable, and HD-650 with Eqinox cable.

 

Music used was the Buena Vista Social Club Albulm,Chanchullo and Introducing albulms by the late Ruben Gonzalez. I also used the Burmeister Test CD Volume 3.

 

The XP-7 and the modded Corda HA-1 easily bested the Grado RA-1 (even with grado headphones). However the Grado still remains a favourite of mine - yes it's that good IMO.

In short the Grado sounded a little grainy and had less extension then the other 2 amps. No a problem unless you compare them side by side under home environment conditions (ie quiet). Under Meet conditions things are less clear. So in portable applications this may or may not be an issue.

 

The real fight was between the modded Corda HA-1 (mki) and the XP-7. The corda has crossfeed but the XP-7 is portable. The XP-7 IMO is wasted in pure portable use. The bottleneck here would be your portable CDP. But what it does offer the owner is the ablility to ive with one amp only for both portable and home applications. The XP-7 is slightly better than the stock Corda HA-1 (MkI). Some would say the Corda is mearly different but I fealt that the XP-7 had the edge in terms of sounding less mechanical and more natural.

 

The modded Corda is a slightly different beast - even then it was only a littl better than the XP-7 (somewhere around 5 to 10%. The modded Corda had a more natural sound to it. Precussion instruments like bongos, drums had a more skin quality to then. Cow bells also rang truer with the modded Corda but the XP-7 was not far behind. Unfortunately the XP-7 that I'm listening to has the AD-8610 op-amp which has a more forgiving sound. This lead to the Corda having slightly better seperation with it's now OPA-637 op-amp.

 

All in all I enjoyed all three amps throughly last night and most of today. I would say if you have do not need/like Crossfeed then the XP-7 is the amp to go for right now. It was used successfully with the Beyer DT-880, Senn HD-600. You now no longer need to have one amp for portable applications and another for home applications.

 

BTW from memory it's better than the Headroom Supreme, Porta Corda, Airhead, TA, META 42 and PIMETA. It may even be better than the PPA but my listening time with Ablaze's PPA was rather short and in the distant past. His former PPA used the same op-amp the AD-8610. Very nice amp too.

 

I'll do more listening next week after CNY witht he Beyer DT-931 and Grado SR-225 and report back.

 

I would like to thank Headphone Crazy for lending me his XP-7, Barradio for the Grado RA-1, and Lengcm for the Senn HD-650 and Grado SR-225.

 

Happy Listening

 

And Happy Chinese New Year in advance (reunion dinner tomorrow lah).

Edited February 11, 2004 by Rameish

[headphonecrazy 0]

Correction - the XP-7 is S$840 excluding shipping.

[N@Z 0]

Got a chance to try the XP-7 on my portable equipment at the Meet too. Sadly I have to agree with Rameish, it is not so pleasant to listen to as a portable setup, on my PCDP at least, it sounded brighter than my META. For some reason it couldn't drive the Beyer DT150. For the first time the DT150's mids/vocals was extremely recessed. With the CD3K it was better but the slightly bright character of the CD3K was amplified.

 

Other than that the quality of construction is impeccable. The Noble volume pot is very smooth.

[Rameish 0]

Actually N@Z you misundersttod what I said: The XP-7 is not the bottle neck it's the Portable CDP that is as I found very little difference betwwen the Grado RA-1 and XP-7 in portable use. However in home use with a home CDP the XP-7 really showed it's stuff. Now that I know the true price I'm not surprised at all - at S$840 without shipping it is one of the best if not the best portable amp I've heard including metas (what ever vintage) and probably even the PPA.

 

 

In a way it makes sense - instead of having 2 amps - one for portable and one for home all you now need is one amp - the XP-7.

 

You could get the supreme or cosmic but they are expensive too and don't come with a noble pot. They do have x-feed though but I for one an not a great fan of Headroom's x-feed. I prefer the much more subtle meier x-feed.

Edited January 21, 2004 by Rameish

[Scriberex 0]

Wonder if the Firefox/Rameish team are up to coming up with an XP7 clone?

pur-leaseeee.....

[N@Z 0]

Rameish, I may have worded it wrong as I meant my PCDP is the bottleneck & not allowing the XP-7 to shine. Of the few headphones I used it with (DT150, CD3K & EW9) I didn't like it. I was holding out on the PPA because of the XP-7 & it looks like I will still stick with the META which is fine on my current portable setup. The price alone doesn't justify it's use as a dedicated portable amp which was what I was looking for with secondary use as a home amp when I can't wait to warm up the Cayin. The "Big Ben" is a more suitable home SS amp for me... nudge-nudge, wink-wink!

[Barradio 0]

The "Big Ben" is a more suitable home SS amp for me... nudge-nudge

 

You can PM Firefox for the BB amp, may be up for sale.

Edited January 21, 2004 by Barradio

[Rameish 0]

I know he has one for sale. As for clone XP-7 nah. We need these guys to survive remember. They are specialists in this area and if everyone started cloning them very soon they will leave the market.

[N@Z 0]

The "Big Ben" is a more suitable home SS amp for me... nudge-nudge

 

You can PM Firefox for the BB amp, may be up for sale.

[cmk 0]

The "Big Ben" is a more suitable home SS amp for me... nudge-nudge

 

You can PM Firefox for the BB amp, may be up for sale.

What are you waiting for N@z, go for it!

[Rameish 0]

Waiting for a sale LOL. Firefox's email as changed and his PM does not seem to be working properly so contact him thru IRC of send me a PM.

[Ticky 0]

Good review Rameish! I'm in the market for a new amp and the XP-7 is a strong contender. I plan to audition the XP-7 (with power supply) and the HA-2 soon. Can't wait to see which one will take the crown...

 

 

[Rameish 0]

Keep us posted on the comparison.

[Ticky 0]

Just ordered the XP-7 with power supply and HA-2 from Todd!!

 

I get up to 30 days to decide which amp I'll want to keep. <Maybe both.... naw... bad idea, still gotta eat>. Should get it by next week. Keep you folks posted on the HA-2 vs XP-7 vs Supreme (premium module) shoot-out.

 

Don't think i'll be able to sleep much this week....

[Rameish 0]

Well do let us know which you prefer. I'm quite certain all 3 will sound quite good. One thing to note is you really need a good home source (CDP).