fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) Hi! Just received this small 80mmx65mmx30mm headphone amp yesterday. The designer is Gary from Canada. Some of the specifications are as follows: Amp model: PA2V2 Freq response: 5 - 40kHz 2x1000 microF output capacitors current: 200mA rms According to the designer it can drive speakers(I guess small one) and headphones from 4ohms to 320ohms. Just realised the DC external input is using a 2.5mm pin which my existing AC/DC convertor do not have. His website is headamp www.electric-avenues.com I got mine at eBay USA site at US$67. His shipping is flat rate for any part on earth for US$4. You can directly email him and order from him but somehow price not stated in his website. I read from a review stating the amp selling for US$70. I do see eBay bids exceeding US$70. The amp is designed to run on 2 RECHARABLE batteries. So once installed the batteries (2 screws to tighten) you can leave them inside the amp as u can charge the batteries as well as driving the amp with external DC source at 3V, min 200mA. So if u use alkaline batteries they will burst when connected to the DC source! The sound when I first connected everything up is horrible, but that was because I was driving a HD280pro not used for months, a cold start Philips PCDP and with the amp fresh from the envelope. After about 8 hours of running in the sound is OK already. Will post some pictures soon and maybe followed by some impressions on the amp. Most likely I will pass the amp to an expert to do a full review. Happy reading! Edited February 14, 2005 by fuwen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
av98m 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Looks very interesting! Perfectly sane pricing too. Looking forward to the review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Just listened to it in the office using DVD963SA as source. Initial impression is that it is quite powerful, transcient is fast, good enough details. I was listening to Butterfly lovers and Beethoven Piano trios. The Bass performance seems good. The Corda HA-2, in comparison, is more refine, more details and darker background. Anyway I think this amp is worth auditing, definitely not rubbish. BTW the designer Gary is a very friendly guy and the eBay transaction was very present. For about US$70 u get the amp with a AC110V transformer. There are no labels on the amp. All the amp details and operating instructions are availble in his website. Delivery is about 2-3 weeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nakedtoes 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 How does it compare to Xin's amp?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) I have a colleague using Xin supermacro will get him to compare. However his supermacro is down now (the power circuit knocked out after about a week) but he is very sensitive to sonic characteristics so should be able to compare from his memory. BTW supermacro is about 4 times the price. Edited February 4, 2005 by fuwen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2005 Moved to portable Audio Forum. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 (edited) Add a photo of the overall view of the PA2V2. Edited February 11, 2005 by fuwen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 A close up view of the circuit. I do not think very expensive components were used but for that price I think cannot complaint and anyway IMHO the sound is good. I guess the experts will be able to elaborate on the components used. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyskraper 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 will be interesting to see how this goes against the sgh a47 amp when it's done and possibly mint psb based amps the price is pretty hard to argue with. its cheaper then a portable pimeta for sure, i wonder how they perform against each other. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 (edited) Batteries seem able to last fairly long. Was running in the amp for about 50 hours already. Just realised that I mixed the 1600mAh Ni-MH battery with the 1300mAh one after posting the photo. The amp does not come with any labels so need some time to figure out the connections. Edited February 11, 2005 by fuwen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tropicalrips 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 can u see the numbers on the chip? i think its a variant Cmoy using low power op-amps, saw this amp a while back but can't see what opamp its using. it also look like theres no input caps which should make the bass more punch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mirage 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 Hmmm wonder how that will compare to THIS. Anyone can tell from the components alone? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fuwen 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 can u see the numbers on the chip? i think its a variant Cmoy using low power op-amps, saw this amp a while back but can't see what opamp its using. it also look like theres no input caps which should make the bass more punch The label on the opamp (I think, the black rectangular thing right?) ER46AC LM4 881N Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Firefox 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 Hmmm wonder how that will compare to THIS. Anyone can tell from the components alone? A Cmoy will sound better. But there are pros and cons. A cmoy will set you back more, have less running time and uses 9v batteries (these take a longer time to charge than AA's with fast chargers). OTOH, if you actually use the LM4881 circuit with proper audio caps for the output and input, it should sound at least decent and will be very simple to build and use. Proper boutique caps aren't small by the way... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
