earmax silver headphone amp

[insanitybeard]

Whilst trying to find a headphone amp that suited my grado gs thous' recently I auditioned and bought an earmax silver valve headphone amp. I was very impressed by the sound and dynamics over the old creek obh11 I had before, however I have found a wee bit of a problem. The bass seems to start to distort before I reach a good listening volume- and I ain't deaf, nor am I trying to make myself deaf! The same amp will drive my senn hd600s' to higher volumes with no trouble! Is this another case of an amp optimized for the higher impedance senns rather than the lower impedance grados'? The specs for this amp don't seem to be readily available but I did find a technical review at the following address for the earmax pro headphone amp, the one I have is supposed to just be a high gain version of the same amp- though if I understand correctly I don't need a high gain amp for low impedance headphones! The address is:

www.audioxpress.com/reviews/media/902hansen2017.pdf

On reading the review it suggests the distortion I'm hearing is intentional by the manufacturer to prevent me from damaging my hearing but if that is so I don't understand why the amp will drive the senn hd600s' to higher volumes without distortion! Bottom line is, I love the amp, just wish it'd drive the grados' a bit louder before distorting!

If you've read this far without thinking "what a rambling arse, he's obviously got too much money, too much time on his hands and no sense" I'd appreciate any input you fine people might have!

Thanks,

Paul.

[Nigel]

I'm sure there's probably a way of optimising the amp for the Grado's impedance, thus allowing you to drive the 'phones louder without distortion but I'll leave that for more qualified people to tell you how. (Nothing to do with the fact that I don't really know :-)

Do you tend to listen very loud?

[insanitybeard]

I wouldn't say I listen massively loud ;D I must admit there are some rockin' tunes I do tend to crank the volume up a bit extra on but no, the volume pot on the unit is somewhere about half way when it starts to happen with the grados', sometimes less. It's most noticeable with bass heavy stuff- electronic and the like though I noticed it whilst checkin' out some Led Zep yesterday! The funny thing is my senns will go louder with no problems.

[gns]

Most likely it hasn't enough current to drive the lower impedance Grado and that's why it's OK with the higher impedance Senns

[insanitybeard]

The strange thing is the "silver" version of the amp I bought is supposed to have a much more powerful power supply than the previous "pro" model, the text on the suppliers website implies that the silver model has "seven times" the gain over the pro model, though having read some of the posts on this site gain is what the grados don't need if I understand correctly!

P.S, if you're reading Graham I'll give your solo a try when I have enough dosh!

[PinkFloyd]

The bass seems to start to distort before I reach a good listening volume

There's every possibility you're looking in the wrong direction and it could actually be the valves that are causing this distortion. If you read the blurb at www.audiophileclub.co.uk/earmax.html you'll notice they say:

"Valve replacement in the standard unit should be from specially sourced defunct stock, direct from the Audiophile Club, otherwise the output valves are likely to cause an unacceptable amout of distortion."

"Valve replacement in the Pro unit is with ECC 88 output valves and a central ECC 81 input valve, high quality matched valves being available from the Audiophile Club."

I'd be inclined to fire in a couple of 6H23N-EB output valves and see how you get on from there. Out of interest what ECC88 valves are in it? ECC88 is the equivalent of 6DJ8 you're better using E88CC (military spec) or 6922.... 6H23N-EB are Russian military spec valves, built like brick shithouses, sound amazing and will last ages and ages.... see here: rockgrotto.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=q&action=display&thread=1182955042

Edit: also quoting from that site: "Since that time, there have been 3 major improvements, firstly a new sleek machined finish replaced the home-made "Fred Flintstone design" collectors' item, and secondly the Pro version was introduced to cater for the low impedence and difficult to drive phones, such as those by Grado and Sony."

Doesn't that suggest it's the "pro" version for low Z 'phones and not the silver?

[PinkFloyd]

insanitybeard said:

having read some of the posts on this site gain is what the grados don't need if I understand correctly!

Correct, the Grado requires current this may be of interest to you: www.tubecad.com/july99/page16.html

Hope this all helps.

[insanitybeard]

To be honest Mike I'm not 100% sure but I think they're TAD (Tube Amp Doctor) tubes, dunno whether that's good or bad! These are the tubes that came fitted in the amp as I purchased it new. I just looked at the notes for the amp on the stoneaudio website and it said "premium" NOS tubes were used but I went looking for NOS tubes and all I could find was that NOS stood for New Old Stock- so is there a company called NOS that make tubes? Miguel was saying in his earlier post that the earmax had been modded to suit the Grados- but the version I have is the top spec one with the uprated power supply, so I have already got the improved model- unless the pro is the one that is more suited to the Grados.

P.S, I did e-mail the audiophile club to inquire whether infact the pro model would be better than the silver for driving the grados. Sorry to say the audiophile club never got back to me!

P.P.S, Mike- if you havn't sold all of those tubes and reckon that could be part of the problem tell me how much you want for a pair and we can sort out payment!

[PinkFloyd]

insanitybeard said:

To be honest Mike I'm not 100% sure but I think they're TAD (Tube Amp Doctor) tubes, dunno whether that's good or bad! These are the tubes that came fitted in the amp as I purchased it new. I'm sure in the literature at the audiophile club it said "premium" NOS tubes were used but I went looking for NOS tubes and all I could find was that NOS stood for New Old Stock- so is there a company called NOS that make tubes? Miguel was saying in his earlier post that the earmax had been modded to suit the Grados- but the version I have is the top spec one with the uprated power supply, so I have already got the improved model.

P.S, I did e-mail the audiophile club to inquire whether infact the pro model would be better than the silver for driving the grados. Sorry to say the audiophile club never got back to me!

This is pretty much shooting in the dark not having any experience of this amp but if the bass is distorting with Grado 'phones I'd be inclined to send it back pronto and ask them for one that doesn't display these characteristics.

The impression I get from your post is the amp is relatively new so probably under guarantee. Have you phoned the supplier? If so, what did they say... if not, why not? Get on the blower and tell them it isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing with low Z 'phones and you want it rectified pronto.

NOS is not a company it means "new old stock" and basically equates to a valve that has been sitting about in a warehouse for years that has never been used. This is good because NOS generally equates to "good quality" from companies that have long since gone out of business like Mullard, siemens, philips, amperex etc. The few companies that currently produce valves just don't have the expertise / staff / knowledge / experience of the old ways which is why genuine NOS is in such great demand.... in a nutshell, they reckon NOS from famous makers "sound better" The jury is out on that one as far as I'm concerned .....

"matched" is a gimmick IMO... they may both match up when tested from new but will soon (after a few hours) drift well out of the initial readings... a proper "matched" pair will have been "matched" after the valves have had a damned good lengthy burn in time.

Unless the valves come to me in sealed cartons (if Russian, with rusted staples) I don't trust them, quite a lot of these comedians sell pulls (ie: valves pulled out of obsolete equipment) and sell them as "NOS"..... NOS are only NOS if they have never seen action, unfortunately quite a lot of them being sold have seen action.

Had a look at the TAD website, they seem kosher enough but TAD labeled valves are certainly NOT NOS. They are current production made in China, designed in Germany made in China.

I've always wanted to try an earmax man, they're so simple they must be good.... I'll get around to it one of these days! In the meantime my advice is get on the phone to the firm that supplied the amp, tell them that it isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing (ie: driving the Grados without distortion) and see what they have to say on the matter.... hopefully they'll send you another one..... if not, let us know and we'll make sure they do

[insanitybeard]

Will do Mike, infact I got the thing from Stoneaudio! I did listen to it before buying it, I just didn't crank it up that loud! The central ecc81 tube is stamped TAD, the outer ecc88s' aren't but they're probably all gonna be from the same supplier. The amp sounds great to my ears, apart from the problems mentioned above!

Thanks for digging up that article for me and your comments on the tubes! The amp and headphones aren't fully burned in as yet but surely that couldn't be causing this could it?

[PinkFloyd]

insanitybeard said:

Will do Mike, infact I got the thing from Stoneaudio! I did listen to it before buying it, I just didn't crank it up that loud! The central ecc81 tube is stamped TAD, the outer ecc88s' aren't but they're probably all gonna be from the same supplier. The amp sounds great to my ears, apart from the problems mentioned above!

Thanks for digging up that article for me and your comments on the tubes! The amp and headphones aren't fully burned in as yet but surely that couldn't be causing this could it?

Stonedaudio are expensive but, from what others have said, very good when it comes to rectifying problems. Phone them, or even email them highlighting this thread.... I'm sure they'll be as concerned as you are.

These things happen, the occasional gremlin makes it's way in... stick with the Earmax and don't be put off.... if you get a replacement amp that exhibits the same symptoms then It's maybe a good time to call it a day or just decide to use it with 'phones like Sennheiser / Beyer / AKG.....

Edited (don't want to upset Grado lovers )

[insanitybeard]

Mike, if you're interested in getting a listen to this thing before I ask stoneaudio to exchange it or sort it out, let me know and I could send it to you if you give me an address. IMO it sounds good with the senns and the grados apart from my troubles as mentioned. Maybe you could give it a test and see if you like it and also see whether you experience the same problems when you plug in a set of grados and crank 'em a bit. I've nothing to drive the amp with for a couple weeks anyway as my CD player has gone away for cosmetic repair!

[PinkFloyd]

insanitybeard said:

Mike, if you're interested in getting a listen to this thing before I ask stoneaudio to exchange it or sort it out, let me know and I could send it to you if you give me an address. IMO it sounds good with the senns and the grados apart from my troubles as mentioned. Maybe you could give it a test and see if you like it and also see whether you experience the same problems when you plug in a set of grados and crank 'em a bit. I've nothing to drive the amp with for a couple weeks anyway as my CD player has gone away for cosmetic repair!

Sure thing beard, I've always wanted to have a listen to one I'll PM you my details.

All the best.

Mike.

[PinkFloyd]

Hi beard,

She arrived about an hour ago, am having a listen right now.... absolutely silky and airy with the Senns but she certainly does run out of steam with the Grados just as soon as you crank her past the 11, o' clock position on the volco... I haven't tried any other tracks as yet, just the Shpongle one you noticed it with, will go and try a few different ones now and report back.

[PinkFloyd]

Nope, she definitely runs out of juice big time with the Grado 'phones, most noticeably just after the 12, o' clock position.... not so noticeable at 11, o' clock but definitely not suitable for driving the Grados IF you like listening to your music relatively loud. I've swapped out the valves with two different types and just the same.... quite simply, the earmax is not providing the current the Grados are demanding at the volume you are listening at, absolutely perfect with the Senns at most listening levels but no where meaty enough for the Grado unless you listen at pretty low volume levels..... they actually don't sound too bad at low levels either (the Grado) but I can see why you're concerned, sometimes you want to crank things up.... unfortunately, this is not the amp to use with Grado headphones if you occasionally listen at high levels.... the performance with the Sennheiser is pretty sublime, it's a cracking little amp and would be a shame to send it back just because it can't drive Grados.... thing is, the manufacturer claims it is sutable for Grados and maybe you bought it on the strength of these claims? It's not ideal for Grados unless, as I say, you listen at quite low listening levels.

I'd have great fun with this and the Sennheisers.... so easy to valve roll, it's a rollers dream .... and it's sooooooo cute! I didn't realise they were that small. I'll give her a few hours to warm up and pitch her against the Graham Slee Solo (the Solo has been on for 24 hours now so should be well stabilised) I'll use both the Senns and the Grados and concentrate on the track we both know backward.... Shpongle "once upon the sea of blissful awareness" (the track you had most noticeable problems with when listening through the earmax / grado)

Mike.

[Nigel]

I keep tuning in for more developments, this should be interesting.

[insanitybeard]

Glad you got it Mike, thought it might take a while with the royal mail strikes.......... yeah, it's a nice sounding amp ain't it, with both the senns and the grados, if you wanna rock it's a bit lacking with the low impedence phones-just as you say, especially once you pass half way.... Shame! So no benefit with different tubes then. Well, it is a cute piece of kit- I'd be reluctant to get rid of it. I dunno if the pro would be any better to be honest, the output is even lower, though as it's not putting out as much gain it might work better with the grads. It's probably only had 20 hours burn in time as yet but I'm sure the characteristics of the amp won't alter massively from its performance at present. Bugger, guess I'll have to find something else to drive the grads when I wanna party! ;D

[PinkFloyd]

I've been listening to her for a few hours now Paul (insanitybeard) with a wide variety of music and one thing's for certain, it's not "ideal" with the Grado 'phones, especially when listening to all out full frontal music at relatively high levels.... fine with simple acoustic, jazz trio kind of stuff but anything more complex and she runs out of gas when the going gets tough.... as I said earlier, she's fine at low to middling levels with the Grado but as soon as you crank her up she just runs out of steam. Listen to the same track you were having problems with (Shpongle) through the Solo and you get the impression that the Solo has a swimming pool full of current to tap into as opposed to the teaspoon full the Earmax has on offer.

I don't quite know what to add, you were wondering if the amp was suitable for use with Grado 'phones and the answer is no IMO unless you are happy to listen at "low to middling" listening levels. Absolutely fine with the Senns, you can crank the dial and she'll deliver the goods.

Initially I found her to be quite appealing being very smooth sounding (easy to listen to) but the more I listen I'm asking myself "where's the music?" "where's the impact?" "where's the excitement" it's nice initially but tends to border on the bland after an hour or so, some people love this type of syrupy rose tinted presentation but I find it quite tiring after a while.... not tiring in the fatiguing sense of the word but tiring in its blandness.... it's like sitting at a constant 2000rpm, smooth and comfortable but no excitement involved it just plods on amplyfing the music through a haze of syrup coated mediocrity.

Now remember Paul you did ask for my opinion and my opinion you shall receive, I won't gloss anything over, in the same way the earmax is glossing over the music, and coat it with syrupy prose..... it really does nothing for me sonically, it's one of the nicest (if not the cutest) amps I have ever clapped eyes on... you get the "wow factor" the minute it comes out of it's little box, there's no doubting it's a little charmer and many mad audiophiles wives will just love dusting it... I think this is one audio appliance that will get a big "ooh it looks lovely" from 'er indoors.

Sound quality wise I just couldn't live with it, it's extremely mediocre, uninvolving and (it's the only word I can think of) "boring" to listen to. I keep looking at it thinking "I shouldn't be saying this!" it just looks as if it's about to produce something magical at any moment... well, it hasn't and if this is what gets Ken kessler creaming his pants then it goes toward to confirming what I already suspected.... he's deaf!

Don't get me wrong (and please do regard my opinion as just that... "an opinion") it's a very nice little amp and it presents music in a very "nice" inoffensive fashion but it just doesn't allow the music, the passion or the emotion of the music through... it's a typical "gloss over the cracks with a valve" presentation.... some people LOVE that type of thing and there's nothing written in stone that says they're wrong to like it.... one man's meat is another mans poison and we all have different ears and perceive things in different ways, thank god.... how boring would it be if we were all the same and all had the same opinions

The Shpongle album we both love so much just sounds "wrong" through the Earmax Paul... where are the dynamics? plod plod plod plod plod plod...... I expect a crash to sound like a crash and not come across like a seagul crapping on someone's head, no (seriously) this is not what I expected from an amp costing £650... it's all show with very little substance.... you may think I'm being overly harsh but I have every right to be, £650 is a lot of dough to fork out on a headphone amp... you could easily get this kind of performance from an amp costing a quarter of that.... sure, that amp may not look as pretty and have Ken Kessler creaming his pants over it but, trust me, this is not what I'd consider £650 worth of performance.... far from it.

Half way through typing this I swapped over to the Graham Slee Solo (with Shpongle "Tales of the inexpressible" on loop) and initially thought "ouch!" talk about chalk and cheese!! Took me about 10 minutes of listening to the Solo to get my ears zoned back into the music and, boy, what music! back were the cymbal crashes, back were the thwack of the drums, back was the ambience, the emotion, the life, the thrills and spills of the recording..... a total transformation and akin to drinking a pint of real ale instead of a glass of mineral water, full bodied / magical / honest / revealing... a much more realistic experience (the best and most economical way to describe it... "realistic")

I won't turn this thread into a Graham Slee appreciation society / bum boy thread, it just happens I was using the Solo as a comparo to the Earmax (see here rockgrotto.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=149&action=display&thread=1185919072&page=1 ) and the Graham fared better against the earmax on this particular occasion (or should I say it helped me pinpoint the some of the flaws the earmax has) I am the Solos biggest critic (and an honest and sometimes brutal critic) so please rest assured the Solo isn't getting any preferential / favourable press from me as will become evident when we get into Solo v MF v3, Solo V bargain basement, Solo V Darkvoice, Solo V WNA mk1 / MKll / MKlll and many more to be announced.

I have always taken pride in saying things as I see them and couldn't do it any other way.... I'm not a "fanboy" I'm a thorn in the side of these manufacturers and will do my best to ensure they are kept on their toes and do my best to alert you to a real good deal (as the yanks would call it.... "bang for your buck" or as we would say "sound for your pound") The Earmax Silver @ £650 is, IMO, very overpriced and extremely underwhelming SQ wise. Nice looking shame about the sound.

Full Earmax / Solo shoot out to appear soon.

[insanitybeard]

To be fair I thought the earmax sounded more "alive" with more accoustical music rather than heavier rock/electronic. Certainly some music I listened to through it left me cold. Do the same flaws present themselves via the senns? Maybe I should bung it on ebay! Once upon the sea of blissful awareness is an amazing track, and distortion at higher volumes aside, I think you're right to say the amp wasn't doing it justice.

[PinkFloyd]

insanitybeard said:

To be fair I thought the earmax sounded more "alive" with more accoustical music rather than heavier rock/electronic. Certainly some music I listened to through it left me cold. Do the same flaws present themselves via the senns? Maybe I should bung it on ebay! Once upon the sea of blissful awareness is an amazing track, and distortion at higher volumes aside, I think you're right to say the amp wasn't doing it justice.

Hold on harry! I shouldn't be so quick to judge..... just rolled in some different valves and the sound has "opened" up somewhat (reflector 6H23N-EV) I'll leave her powered up for a few hours with these puppies on board.... deffo a much nicer sound though

[leo]

The review in post 19 is exactly how I'd describe the sound of this Millet amp i built!
Sorry to go off topic ;D

[leo]

If the Earmax uses a pair of non discript valves in there as standard upgrading to those reflector 6H23N-EV is certainly a wise move.
The TADs could be rebadged junk where as those Reflectors from Mike ARE known quality

[PinkFloyd]

The TADs could be rebadged junk

Pretty poor internal construction which may suggest they are of Chinese origin... look like a low grade ECC88 with steel pins...... the 6H23N-EV are built like brick shithouses with chromed pins.

A good point of reference for 6DJ8 / 6922 / E88CC etc is www.audioasylum.com/audio/faq/joes-tubes.html#6DJ8

[PinkFloyd]

I'm not too sure about the ECC 81 input valve Paul, I've noticed she occasionally flashes at power up ( the one in the middle ) have you noticed that?

I won't dare to explain a flashing valve (not on my current keyboard!) but please do have a good read of this thread I wouldn't expect (or accept) a brand new amp with valves that flashed.

Unfortunately ECC81 is one flavour I don't keep in my armoury or I'd have slotted one in.... the input valve is definitely working but questionable as to whether it's working as good as it could.... I'm still pretty much underwhelmed Paul (even with the 6H23N-EB on board) , if it were my £650 at stake I'd go the refund route.... this is nothing special and, at best, it's mediocre.

[PinkFloyd]

Under the bonnet.



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