N@Z 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Please ecxuse any typos or grammar etc etc etc... Music used: Chieftains – The wide world over Mark Knopfler – Sailing to Philadelphia Gear used: Sony D-EJ925 Portable CD player -> marketek mini to min cable -> META/PCII -> Sony MDR-7506/Ety ER-4S/Grado RS-1 Note: 7506 using Beyer Pads as I find the stock pads uncomfortable over longer listening sessions. It’s not uncomfortable like the stock Grado pads but it’s distracting enough for me not to be able to fully enjoy my listening session. KurtW META: Spec: AD8620 op-amp. Dual EL2001 stacked buffers. Single 9v built in battery compartment with optional wallwart input socket for up to 27v. Biased to Class A operation. This is my standard used for PCDP listening combined with my Etymotic ER-4S & until recently the Sony MDR 7056. Bass is huge & has a lot of impact. Mids are good too as vocals & instruments sound clear. Highs are sweet without sounding overly bright & gives that extra bit of detail. PCII: Heard so many good things about it so when Rameish offered this up for sale I jumped at the chance. Because the price is similar to Headroom’s Airhead I was apprehensive at getting it new due to my disappointment with he Airhead & slight with the Total Airhead. Detail in the instruments is what instantly struck me on first listening to this amp with the 7506. Impact from the strong bass is tightened up by the PCII & by comparison the META sounded less rounded, dare I say, flabby? Revisited with RS-1 META has more bite in highs whereas PCII has a lot of warmth. Too much in fact used with the RS-1. Then I realized to check the current configuration, according to the manual, the PCII was running on Class AB… so I clicked switch 1 & 2 downwards = Class A. Here we go again… META’s forte is top end detail. Acoustic guitar strumming timbre sounds nicer. PCII sounds faster & has oodles of punch making the META sound slower but bass goes very low. PCII tight well rounded & not muddy when things get busy. Vocals on PCII is it’s forte. Vocal timber is very pleasant. Had it not been because of the switch to class A the PCII would have lost outright but it’s better control of bass is plus point shame a tad too warm on the RS-1. Lesser when in Class A. META is crisp & sweet on the highs making vocals & instrument sound crystal clear without being bright. Shame about the looser bass but then again that could be the fault of the PCDP as I didn’t notice this on my CDP before. Back to PCII (Class A) + 7506 This combination is definitely the best. The bass is still big but better controlled & mids have a nicer warmth to it. It still lacked sweet highs but vocal & instruments sounds good enough & I can overlook this deficit as the 7506 finally has warmth using the Beyer pads as the stock pads would have made it bright. PCDP + PCII with coin tweak Wanted to take it a step further to see whether the 1 cent coin tweak would improve the midrange & highs further… Tried it with both the 1 cent coins on the center of the PCDP & amp. Whoa! Midrange delight. Sounded more forward than before without damage to the highs which is extended (within 7506’s limit). Bass seems less pronounced but maybe I’m getting used to the headphones? I’m liking this as I wasn’t expecting this modest tweak to make such a significant difference. Meier crossfeed I’ll get straight to the point. I didn’t like it. It felt unnatural. What I am so used to is the all encompassing sound (headstage) giving an impression of sitting in the middle of the performance. Switching crossfeed on made the sound compressed. Basically it moved the sound slightly forward & closer together. Nope, in this application I’ll give the crossfeed a miss. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blues 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 good review N@z!! so which amp will you still prefer overall?? Ah.. crossfeed. I used to hate the crossfeed effect just like you do. But nowadays I listen to it and it feels alright without crossfeed it's more fatiguing to me. But I do sometimes switch to normal mode because the atmosphere feels larger(better in that sense) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jasonhanjk 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Nice review!!! You really show me how a review should be re-written... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blues 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 so when's your clone ppa amp review coming jason? I can help u by lending my corda ha-1 to compare , just give me a call Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Thanks guys. I wanted to make it as simple as possible, as I'm a simple guy with simple pleasures Hard to say ulitmately but let me put it this way: 7506 -> PCII Ety's -> Meta Rs-1 -> Meta Will try out with more headphones in future to see how they fare. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sipher 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 (edited) N@Z, care to do a comparsion with dt880? i mean meta with dt880 i'm interested in this combo Edited July 11, 2003 by Sipher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jasonhanjk 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 so when's your clone ppa amp review coming jason? I can help u by lending my corda ha-1 to compare , just give me a call Be patience. After I got the original PPA, I will build another CLONE PPA. Let you all audit and compare both. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blues 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 pretty much as I expected... meta42. I've heard pcII and it's an alright amp.. well that was compared to ha-1 sometime ago. I can't say much about meta as I've not heard them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Hi Sipher, I think I did recently with Mat's & my META but I think a revisit is definitely in the cards (post burn-in) if Mat is free tomorrow afternoon. I can campare with his Headsave Mint Meta, KurtW Meta & PCII. Meta is alot more subjective to the components used, opamps etc. Bare in mind personal preferences & varying degree of individual tolerances. PCII is definitely a bigger step up from TAH. Even though TAH is pricier but it has it's uses on bright sounding sources or headphones like lower SR Grado range. Rolls off the highs & makes for a more listenable experience over extended period. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RawHit 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Nice review N@Z I have a JMT built meta42 with 8620 opamps I agree with most of what you have said. Regarding the meier crossfeed, I think its fairly subtle and I wouldnt mind it leaving on all the time. The modified linkwitz crossfeed on my meta has a bit more noticeable effect and I like the soundstage it presents. Rohit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sipher 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 N@Z, that will be great. i would love to hear what u have to say about dt880 when paired up with Headsave Mint Meta, KurtW Meta & PCII. i'm still deciding which amp to get.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matbon0013 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 Hey! Great one N@z, the DT880 is at your disposal dude. Just let me know Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ablaze 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 nice one N@Z! did you add your thread to the articles sticky? rawhit, new avatar! you made it yourself? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted July 11, 2003 No ablaze as I didn't think it was worthy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RawHit 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2003 rawhit, new avatar! you made it yourself? sort of...i took the basic smiley and did the HP1 part Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
