Yeah I asked for the cheapest amps for the Clears, so it does seem that you need to spend a lot. There is no way around it. The V200-A is big and spacious, but the Gilmore lite MK2 and Lake People G103-s are quite small. Does the small form factor of the MK2 and G103 result in small soundstage and therefore making the Clear 1 Dimensional?
If your gonna spend i recommend the RNHP. Maybe you dont know this but this little amp has caused quite a stir in audiophile circles. it punhces way about its price point. I had a thx amp and when i upgraded to the RNHP it really blew me away. It was such a rich sounding amp. very refined. It was designed by a legend in studio technology. If your gonna pay, you should get that one. You can also find them used. heres one for 430$
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It does look pretty nice, but I checked Z-Reviews.
https://youtu.be/iyFpzZi3VH0?t=1217 Listen from 20:17 to 20:50.
He said that there are cheaper options nowadays like the JDS Labs Atom, Liquid Spark or Drop THX.
The RNHP was hype, but is outdated now.
The only reason to get RNHP is because of beautiful design and heritage.
Thatās what Zeos said.
EDIT: I also read through this review and the comments: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/rupert-neve-rnhp-headphone-amp-review.12040/ There are so many negatives to this product, but there are still people out there who recommends it. That makes me wonder
Oh yeah, all that stuff is wrong lol. The thing with Zeos is he doesnt have very good ears. and can be very closed minded about things. I was a big Zeos fan myself but over time ive seen heās not the best reviewer. I like reviewers more like Resolve Reviews (now The Headphone Show) Max Settings and Joshua Valor. Their more accurate reviewers. But one thing to keep in mind with reviewers is they always have their own preference and sometimes its hard for them to see past that.
And ASR is good but they rely more on technicalities and not so much subjective listening. I know that for a fact cause ive experienced what they are saying about amps ive had in the past and the RNHP. Which they almost criminally got wrong. We can ask Mon but iām pretty sure the RNHP is the best amp you can get for under 500$ maybe more.
Mon is also a big fan of the Clears+RNHP combo. Ive heard him comment before about how good they sound together.
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But if you must have a different amp i think the Asgard or the Archel are pretty good from what i hear.
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I just read that post: RNHP vs THX
The RNHP is definitely an upgrade to the THX technology.
I will sell my DT1990+SP200 in the future and get myself Clear+RNHP combo.
Also, what is the cheapest DAC you would pair with Clear+RNHP combo?
I currently have Aune X1s 10th Anniversary DAC
Thats looks like a pretty nice DAC. Dont think your gonna do better easily. Where you looking to upgrade it?
I have to get RNHP in new condition from Thomann.de for 500ā¬, because itās very rare on the used market. The Focal Clears are often to find on ebay for 1000ā¬. That would cost me 1500ā¬ in total fmlā¦
While I only spent 700ā¬ on SP200+DT1990 xD Gotta save/make some money on the sideā¦
EDIT: whats your current setup @Antpage2 ?
I got a bunch of stuff. but my main headphones are ZMF Auteur, Hifiman Arya, Focal Elex, Sendy Aiva, Fostex Ebony, Meze Nior, 1More Triple, Sennhieser HD600. My Amp is the RNHP, SP200, Liquid Spark, and Dark Voice. and my DAC is the SMSL SU8, Schiit Modi and Grace DAC Balanced.
Wait hold up, why do you have that many dacs and amps? It seems some of them are redundant to me. Or why do you have many different headphones in general? isnāt it better to find a jack of all trades headphone and pair it with the best possible amp+dac?
Well my first amp was a Schiit magni, but i didnt like the treble on it and compression. so when the sp200 came out i got it. and it was an upgrade but when i bought the Arya it turned out the SP200 still added a lot of treble to it. id been hearing a lot about the RNHP i upgraded to that. it helped the Arya and the treble wasnt annoying anymore. I got the Liquid Spark for the same reason. its a warmer amp. but it wasnt as good with the Arya as the RNHP. It just shines. awesome amp. beats everything i got really. but the dark voice went up for sale and i wanted to try a tube amp. id heard so much about them. and the dark voice seems to be entry for a OTL.
Its kinda hard to get a jack of all trades headphone. its like asking to get a jack of all trades band. They all sound different and i love them all. Same thing for Amps and DACās. although less so. My next purchase is gonna be a Focal Utopia headphone i think and the Bifrost r2r dacs. I heard they sound pretty good.
But dont get me wrong. You should get what your satisfied with and stick to that. I dont have many responsibilities and i have too much money lol so i ended up getting really into this hobby
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You will soon have a room full of audio equipment hehe How do you know the SP200 adds treble? Maybe itās the recording being treble heavy?
Well i listen to a lot of music. some of it dark sounding. also thats what i was advised of here. by Mon actually
I always believed that THX is tonaly flat. The added treble must be due to the bad recording quality?
No its a pretty neutral amp but also a little bright.
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Youāre describing the once-upon-a-time thinking of many of us here at HFGF, myself included. I bought an SP200 thinking it was āwire with gainā and I wouldnāt need another amp. I had an Atom previously and was very underwhelmed with the SP200.
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Used you can find them in the 600 range at times
The soundstage if the violectric are pretty dang large for sure, they are known for being spacious
The size of the amp does not mean the size of the soundstage, I think the mk2 is pretty spacious, the lake people yes but not to the same extent, but neither are one dimensional
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would you say the RNHP is the best amp for 500$?
No, but itās a great pick at that price imo