Output impedance of the THX 789 as shared by Andrew Mason (I think the designer?).
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/zout-vs-frequency-png.16990/
Oh were you able to test the SP200 too? Have you noticed the same weird overly textured vocals as I did? Is the RNHP better in that regard?
Maybe but not necessarily something I noticed or looked for. What headphones are you using? and DAC i should ask
Amiron Home, Sundara and for testing purposes a lent pair for Argons MK3
Just warning you the argon’s aint the best match for the rnhp, but your other headphones should be just fine
Yea the Argons are just a lent pair anyway, will return them back to my friend once I’m done with my testing hahaha
When I compared the SP200 and RNHP it was through the Focal Clears and Topping D70 as the source DAC.
The Clears are easy to drive so they match up well with the RNHP.
And you weren’t able to hear the weirdly overly textured scratchy vocals on the SP200?
I don’t know about vocals specifically, but the sp200 would tend to get ‘hot’ so to speak pretty easily… but I felt that was mainly do to the stupidly sensitive and cheap potentiometer. Maybe on high-gain as well… but i only used it on low gain.
Yea the potentiometer actually felt worse than the one on my friend’s Little Dot 1+. From what I’ve read they’re using a cheap linear B tapered pot. On my unit it even had play up and down as if it wasn’t soldered correctly (since it’s only PCB mounted).
How to break traces design guide:
Can we like, not?
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I had the 887 as well and it was a bit better overall… and the build quality was definitely a step up from the SP200. Thinking about it… I think the original 789 is probably still the best THX amp… given the SP200 makes some compromises with it’s design and the 887 is more or less just a clone of the 789.
887 has a three year warranty… that’s enough to make me prefer the clone, in this instance.
Yeah, I think that is fair. And really the differences are going to be very minor if not mostly inaudible.
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Well, I say “prefer” but what I meant was “choose.” I was on the list for the 789 for a long time. Got pushed back just as the 887 came out. The ASR thread had the 887 measuring very slightly better (while acknowledging inaudibility of the differences) but also pointed out the warranty difference, and I was a little annoyed at Massdrop. Cancelled the 789.
There’s also just the aesthetics of the things, where you likes whichevah you likes… I did see the recent Z unboxing where he complained of a sharp edge on the 887. (Maybe around the xlr jack? Not sure). I haven’t noticed anything like that, but I no doubt rub up on my equipment less than he does.
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Yeah. I thought the build was pretty nice. And its a bit shorter than the 789… Making it more ideal for tuxking underneath a monitor or similar setup.
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I’ll add my 2 cents to this discussion. The TL;DR version is: to my ear the SP200 is the overall better amp, but not by much, with the Atom winning on midrange timbre but the SP200 being a little bit better everywhere else.
Other intro thoughts/questions: @Riya, what respective gain settings did you use? I found the Atom high gain and the SP200 “low” gain to be the most similar. This isn’t surprising givent the sources that say the SP200 doesn’t really have a true “low gain”. It’s gain settings are more like the “med” and “hi” from the 789 and 887. The differences I report below are audible on all the different gain settings I’ll describe below but are the closest when the Atom was set to “hi” and the SP200 to “low”. I think that also given what I just described, that’s the most true ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison.
Test equipment: Topping D10 DAC -> Atom -> Atom preout to SP200. Headphones used were stock HD6xx, stock HE4xx, and M1060 modded with Dekoni Elite Velour pads for Audeze and 2 ply paper towel (the Kirkland brand stuff you get in the huge packages at Costco) inserted between the driver and stock foam on the away-from-ear side - really calms the peaky-ness (but does not eliminate it) of the 1060 mids, gives them a brighter sound than stock, does reduce bass extension and quantity just a smidge from stock. Everything was connected via unbalanced cables and using SE headphone outputs.
My personal findings are pretty much in alignment with @Riya. The Atom is a little bit smoother in the mids with slightly better timbre. The tonality of vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, and common mid-rangy orchestral instruments (violins, trumpets, etc.) sound just a tad bit more natural on the Atom - across the headphones tried. Bass has more impact and tighter response with the SP200. Treble is slightly more detailed and possibly just a touch elevated on the SP200. Where I will expand upon previous comments is that I don’t think the Atom has overall ‘better’ midrange. The slightly better timbre can initially sound that way but after several midrange torture tests (check out 6:45-8:30ish of The Poet & The Pendulum by Nightwish) my ears picked up slightly more detail in the mids on the SP200. The SP200 added a slight breathiness to vocals and it resolved the reverb from instruments and vocals alike just a tad bit better. For orchestral music or harmonized vocals that are placed in various places than the soundfield, both amps imaged well but the SP200 was just a little more ‘blended’. Both amps put the intruments and vocals where they should be, but the SP200 did it a little more effortlessly and created a more seamless and continuous “blend” across the soundfield where the Atom sound slightly more, let’s call it “discreet”, meaning the individual sound sources were more individually ‘placed’ rather than just being there.
I think that if you have the Atom and don’t need the added power the SP200 gives you, I agree with previous commenters that you can just stay put. To those knocking the SP200’s build quirks - which are legitimate and a bit odd - I’ll also point out that no one buys the Atom because it’s the best built $99 amp either. Feature-wise, both have 2 inputs (the difference between the unbalanced and balanced inputs on the SP200 are basically negligible), the SP200 offers the balanced headphone jack whereas the Atom offers a pre-out.
I’ll stress again that the sonic differences I heard were very subtle. I’m able to just listen to either of these amps and get lost in the music for extended periods of time. I bought the SP200 a few months after the Atom because I wanted to try running my headphones balanced, wanted to see what the THX fuss was about, and needed more non-Schiit-y power to drive my T50RP mod. The SP200 was the cheapest entry into those things.
Thanks for reading this far. I hope these words are helpful to future shoppers considering these amps.
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Well it’s the Kirkland brand paper towels that change everything…
Lol. Sure does. Costco had no idea they were selling headphone nodding material in bulk.
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Has anyone tried the Asgard 3