Solo SRG con PSU1 de Graham Slee

[mrarroyo]

A continuacion presento las dos primeras partes de mi evaluacion del Solo SRG. Espero terminar la tercera parte en o antes del Domingo 10 de Mayo. Esta hecho en ingles pues manejo mejor el idioma. Gracias.

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Part I:

On May 2, 2009 my Graham Slee Solo SRG and its PSU1 ( http://www.audiocontrol.co.uk/graham_slee/solomc.htm ) reached its 550th hour of burn in. Thus I decided to start some comparisons using various cans and music. You will notice that I will put a lot of picture and I hope they break the monotony of reading. Specifically for this round I used:

1.   Ultrasone HFI-780 which has been re-cabled by Alex of APureSound ( http://apuresound.com/v3.html ) using a 7 foot long V3 silver plated wires covered in techflex and terminated in a ¼" Neutrik plug. The diode board in the HFI-780 has been removed and the pleather pads have been re-placed w/ a set of velour pads made by Beyerdynamic for the DT250/280.
2.   Denon AH-D5000 that has been modded by MarkL ( http://lawtonaudio.com/index.html ) including a pair of his V4 Bubinga wood cups installed. The cable is the stock one.





The music is stored via iTunes as Apple Lossless files on my Dell desktop. I use a glass optical cable to connect a Chaintech AV710 to a Monarchy NM24 DAC. Since most of you use SS DACs I used the SS DAC output of the Monarchy to feed the amps. As far as music for this first round I chose Diana Krall, specifically the following albums.

1.   All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio
2.   From This Moment On
3.   The Girl In The Other Room



As of now I have three additional solid-state amps at the house. However one of these is a Graham Slee Novo powered by a switching wall wart. So I decided to use a highly modified Jaycar Amp (Australian based amp) and a highly modified Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. For those not familiar with the Jaycar it starts life as a kit sold by an electronics store in Australia. It is sold in two parts; the amp section and the power supply, to this you must add the transformer, case, volume pot, on/off switch, and rca's.

http://www.jaycar.com/productView.asp?ID=KC5417&keywords=headphone+amp&form=KEYWORD



http://www.jaycar.com/productView.asp?ID=KC5418&keywords=headphone+kit&form=KEYWORD




The Jaycar I own was built by a very knowledgeable "old codger" who proceeded to highly tweak the unit by using better components, not necessarily boutique but definite upgrades. He also added a board to eliminate the ripples in the power supply, JLH board and a stepped attenuator. Note my unit uses a metal LM4562HA, pic below.




The internals of the finished Jaycar looks like.



The second amp I used started life as a basic Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. This amp has fallen out of favor and to be honest not many cared for it outside of Great Britain. This is IMO a pity because it is a killer amp with just a few mods, and what better mods than those developed by PinkFloyd (Mike Grierson). His mods have evolved over many years of tweaking followed by listening. The mods done to my V2 include:

1.   Ultrafast Diodes
2.   Panasonic FM/FC 105C capacitors
3.   Evox Polypropylene capacitors
4.   Since my sources do not output DC I removed the DC blocking caps w/ wires w/ ferrites (lowered floor noise)
5.   Reduced the gain from about 9 to 5.7
6.   Alps volume pot
7.   Replaced power supply transistors w/ ZTX853/953
8.   New Jalco ¼" headphone jack
9.   Purple light (just for fun)
10.   Dampen the bottom interior of the case with dynamat
11.   Using Russian 6H23EB valves
12.   Using the latest Little Pinkie V3i PSU



Lastly here are some beauty shots of the Graham Slee Solo SRG.





As you can see by the pictures the Solo SRG has two inputs that are user selectable via a toggle switch in the front panel. You will also notice there is a ground post on the back panel, this is meant mostly for those who use the switching wall wart. Although I have the upgraded power supply (PSU1) I still run a wire from the ground post on the back of the Solo SRG to a ground post on the back of my Monster HTS 3500 MkII. Lastly there is no on/off power switch, according to Graham the unit is intended to be kept on at all times, if this bothers you then it is easy to unplug the PSU1.

The Solo SRG w/ PSU1 sells for 425.11 PB plus 39.37 PB with expedited SH to the USA. The price has remained relatively stable, however the BP has regained some of its strength. Thus an amp, which could have been bought for well under $600, a couple of months ago will now set you back close to $700. I wish I had a $650-$800 solid state amp to compare with the Solo SRG so I could comment on value, sadly I will only be able to comment on its sound.

However I have asked three members of Head-Fi and it appears two have already agreed to put the solo through its paces, I know one owns a solid-state amp that retails for over $1,250. This brings the question if it is "fair" to compare an item with another that retails for almost twice as much. Personally I would feel more comfortable if it was closer to 20% difference but I also know we go crazy in this hobby and what started as a $100 headphone ends up in a $2,500 expenditure.

So over two pages of "stuff" and yet nothing on how the Solo SRG w/ PSU1 sounds? So where should I start? I think with the soundstage, it is very wide and deep w/ openness to the presentation that keeps you coming back for more. The music is presented in such a way that every note has its place and makes for a very engaging and enjoyable listening experience.

Although people talk about bass and treble extension the reality is that most of the music is in the mids. This is one area where the Solo SRG excels at; it is very clear and detailed w/ lots of air in between the notes. As stated earlier the soundstage is wide and deep, this makes for a very easy exercise to place the instruments as well as allowing the singer "the room" to strut his/her stuff.  All of this allows you to pick-up the start and end of notes, for example cymbals and hi-hats. In other words it is very musical and it presents the material with excellent control and micro detail. All of this IMO makes for non-fatiguing listening sessions, yes it keeps you tied listening to your favorite music.

There is excellent treble extension this allows for notes to cut through and for the listener to place the various instruments. The amp kept its composure and remained tight and articulate.

The bass is tight and goes deep, although at times it is a bit light. What it has is very clean and punchy while staying in control. I found that once I stopped listening to the bass as compared to other amps it did not seem lean at all, actually it was at times a bit much with the Ultrasone headphone.

More to come.

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Part II:


I am back, hoping to provide meaningful feedback on the Solo SRG. Today is Sunday, May 03, 2009 and I will be using my trustworthy Grado RS-1. It will be accompanied by a Denon AH-D2000, which has had the MarkL mods and one of his V4 Bubinga wood cups. But wait! Isn't this the same as the D5000 used yesterday? Well, I left a piece of information out ... the D2000 has been re-cabled by HiFLYiN9. He used a 24 gage silver-plated copper cable, it is a 10 foot long and it is terminated in a ¼" plug. You can read more about the Xev cable at: http://www.zynsonix.com/Recables.htm

Here are some "beauty shots" of the two headphones used today.





As far as music goes I decided to use different artist, although all are in the jazz genre. These are:

1.   Modern Jazz Quatet – Pyramid
2.   Moss – Moss
3.   Najee – Share My World



The rest of the music chain remained unchanged from yesterday. Hopefully this will allow for some consistency in this process. Although I did forget to mention the Monarchy NM24 DAC is being fed power via a Monarchy AC Regenerator.

One thing I did not mention yesterday is that I listen at very low volumes. Rarely do the peaks in the headphones play reach 75 dB with over 95% of the time below 70 dB. As you can imagine the "average" music passages are in the low to mid 60's dB. This measured with a sound pressure meter I purchased at Radio Shack. I hope the low level listening does not produce results significantly different from those who listen at LOUD levels. As stated yesterday I hope the other testers will be able to add their feedback including how "loud" they listen.

Today's comparison pretty much validated all I heard yesterday, except one characteristic I will discuss later. As you can tell by my music selection I listen mostly to jazz, although occasionally I listen to classical, new age, and easy listening. I believe that all this genres of music will benefit from the Solo SRG. This because of its ability to have a wide and deep soundstage which when combined with the airy and detailed presentation envelops the listener. Also this types of music are by nature extended and fast, abilities which IMO the Solo SRG has a plenty.

I have not spoken of how quickly the Solo SRG responds, as the various jazz passages get more complex or revert to a solo rendition it demonstrates its ability to quickly transition and portray the music in a cohesive and engaging way. The word "musical" keeps coming back and it truly describes the sound I hear.

As I recall many aficionados to headphone listening have stated on many occasions that Grado headphones do best with tube amps or warm solid-state amps. Otherwise they will sound shrill and the treble will be too energetic to be a pleasurable experience. I also remember reading that if a solid-state amp is properly designed and built it will produce beautiful music. Thus it would reproduce the music in such a manner that it would not be shrill or fatiguing to the user.

Until recently I have felt the same that is that Grado headphones need a tube amp. Thankfully I have had an opportunity to listen to a few solid-state amps that have changed my opinion. Since I do not have those solid-state amps on hand to do a side by side I will not mention their brand, although I will say that few have all the characteristics of the Solo SRG: wide & deep soundstage, airy & detailed mids, clear & extended highs, and an organic presentation which combine to a very musical and engaging amp. No I lied, I will mention the name it was a Blue Circle Amp belonging to a friend. His unit was modified by the vendor for his particular needs. BTW this unit sells for quite a bit more than the Solo SRG, perhaps I could borrow to do a side by side. I also hope you all understand that what may be good to me may not be to you, we all hear differently and have different expectations of what good sounds like.

Well, back to the one characteristic that I was not able to validate: bass. Today marks the 24th consecutive day of burn in, or over 575 hours. You would think any amp would have stopped changing; well it appears that is not the case. The available bass continues to be deep, tight, and punchy. However there appears to be more of it, do not know if the perceived change is due to the two headphones being used today, 24 hours of additional burn in, different music, or just getting used to the sound signature. I will report back on my last installment, using a much harder to drive can (AKG K501 w/ a 10 foot V3 APureSound re-cable terminated in a ¼" Furutech plug).

More to come.

Part III:

Well, it is Saturday, May 09, 2009 and here I am back writing on the Solo SRG w/ the PSU1. I believe this will be my last time writing specifically on this amp. I may add a comment or so on other forums/post as I see fit. Anyways, the write up today will not be a comparison type. Instead I will write of my listening experience over the last few days.

Most of the time I was using an AKG K501, which as stated above has been re-cabled by Alex of APureSound. Here is a picture.



The amp has continued to evolve, but the changes have been IMO very subtle and the sum of all of them over the last week has been small compared w/ the changes since I received the unit or even over the last 100 hours of burn in. IMO the change over the last 25-50 hours have resulted in smoothing out the overall presentation, this has been followed by a bit more depth/width of the soundstage, and the bass amount has increased a bit. Do not expect the Solo SRG to shake the windows, it will not. However the bass is reproduced in a very tight, deep, and realistic way thus making this unit fantastic for jazz and classical users. I should also restate that the unit has amazing extension both ends.

It is apparent to those who have heard a lot of gear that some units may emphasize a frequency over others. Many of us compensate by getting an opposing headphone or source. For example, if the headphone is energetic in the top end we get a warm amp to tame the highs. No need to do so here, I find the Solo SRG to be very even in the way it present the overall frequency range, and it does so in a smooth controlled way.

For those wanting to know, I have used a variety of jazz music over the last week or so. For example:

1.   Maysa
2.   Mark Whitfield
3.   Mark Antoine
4.   Melody Gardot

       
   

My plans are to ship the unit out to a couple of aficionados so they can spend a couple of weeks with the amp and post their impressions. Even if they have a totally different opinion after listening to the Solo SRG it is IMO very good because it provides both the designer/builder as well as potential customers with valuable feedback. On one end the designer/builder can improve the product and on the other end the potential customer has a different take on the amp. To me this translates to a win-win situation.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

[caromire]

Miguel muy buen articulo, y con fotos de calidad para dar ejemplo.


Saludos.

[mako]

   ¡Magnífica revisión!!!!! Lástima que yo tenga un inglés deplorable y haya cosas que no entiendo ... Marroyo, te suplico, te imploro una traducción al castellano, aunque sea en extracto. Yo tengo el Solo SRG (sin PSU-1) en rodaje (unas 200 horas) y estoy muy, muy sartisfecho.
    Gracias por tu dedicación 

[mrarroyo]

Añadi la tercera parte, y espero que sea la ultima. Esto toma mucho tiempo.

mako, sabes de algun "software" que cambie de ingles a castellano?

[Eduardo]

Añadi la tercera parte, y espero que sea la ultima. Esto toma mucho tiempo.

mako, sabes de algun "software" que cambie de ingles a castellano?

Miguel, prueba con el "Google translator" en tu navegador.

Saludos

[azelais]

Añadi la tercera parte, y espero que sea la ultima. Esto toma mucho tiempo.

mako, sabes de algun "software" que cambie de ingles a castellano?

Coincido con Mako en la valoración y el inglés.
Pero prefiero que no la traduzcas para que no me guste m´s
saludos

[rocoa]

Como traductor yo uso el babelfish para el alemán y va bastante bien.
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

Saludos

[enos]

Gracias Miguel por estas impresiones muy completas. Cuanto trabajo debe representar esto 

Si me permites hacerte un par de preguntas más, que tal se comporta el amplificador con auriculares exigentes como los K501 ¿? Has tenido la oportunidad de escuchar el Heed Canamp ¿? Son muy diferentes ¿?

Gracias,

Edit: vaya, me olvidaba el Rudi NX-02  Por precio, son alternativas bastante comparables... Como se diferencian. Y ya dejo de hacer más preguntas 

[mako]

   Joer!!!! ¿Vosotros creeis que usando un traductor "online" te puedes enterar de algo? ... Como ejemplo mirad la traducción que hace de un párrafo del artículo, justo el que empieza debajo de las portadas de los discos de Diana Krall ......."En fecha ahora mí tengo tres amperios de estado sólido adicionales en la casa. Sin embargo uno de estos es un Graham Slee Novo accionado por una verruga de la pared de la comuntación"  Casi mejor que me apaño con mi "bad" inglés .... Saludos.

[picodeloro]

Bienvenido al GTLD (Google Translator Language Destroyer)  , o al que sea, que por ahí se andan casi todos.

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Rodrigo

[mrarroyo]

enos, yo vendi el Heed CanAmp hace mucho tiempo. Si tu auricular es el K701 el Heed es casi imposible de mejorar especialmente por su bajo precio. Comparado con el NX-02 o la version nueva que es el NX-03 pues te dire que el Rudistor y el Graham Slee son muy buenos y la diferencia en precio es minuscula (NX-03 cuesta 15 euros mas incluyendo envio y VAT).

El NX-03 es mas grande pero el Solo SRG requiere el PSU1 lo cual los hace equivalente. Pero con el Solo SRG pueds colocar el PSU1 en el piso lo cual te libera espacio en el escritorio.

El NX-03 te ofrece el usar dos auriculares a la misma vez, claro esta esto solo ayuda si ambos auriculares son de la misma impedancia y que ambos oyentes escuchan al mismo nivel. El Solo SRG ofrece dos entradas con un selector al frente, esta opcion para mi es mas practica. El NX-03 te ofrece dos colores (negro y aluminio), esto puede ser un punto importante para "la gran jefa".

Te diria que el sonido es mas extendido con el Solo SRG, pero el Rudistor NX-02 tiene los bajos mas fuertes. Tambien te dire que el Solo SRG es mas abierto y con mas aire entre las notas. Las diferencias no son gigantes pero estan presentes.

El K501 suena muy bien con el Solo SRG, y para jazz o musica clasica seria una excelente decision.

He tenido un enlace mas cercano con Graham y por lo tanto le daria mi dinero a el. Si algun dia escuchaze de nuevo el RPX-33 o el RPX-100 podria cambiar mi decision. Claro esta estos dos amplis son mucho mas costosos

[enos]

Muchas gracias Miguel por estas precisiones,

Pues por lo que comentas y lo que lei, el Heed CanAmp parece una alternativa relativamente más asequible en todo caso para alimentar unos K501/K701 en buenas condiciones... Esto es una muy buena noticia. Supongo que el Heed se defendería muy bien también con los HD600/HD650. Lei que estaba pensado para alimentar auriculares de impedencia al menos superior a 64 ohmios... Me gustaria probarlo algún día 

Es interesante leer también que el Solo SRG y Rudi NX-02 ofrecen prestaciones similares y muy validas, cada uno con sus matices, aunque los 2 son bastante más caros.

Saludos,

[picodeloro]

Otra de las virtudes del Heed es que existen modificaciones relativamente sencillas que lo mejoran por no mucho dinero.

-- o --
Rodrigo