Black Widow [Update] - Second round official, 100 amps total, single chassis

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by purr1n, Oct 5, 2015.

  1. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    And to think, once the Gungnir Multibit arrives it won't even sound good until it warms up for 2 - 3 months. Stay strong in these tough times.

    Good luck with the bw. Have you gotten a taste with a lesser Dac? Low volume impressions?
     
  2. cardigan

    cardigan Facebook Friend

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    No proper DAC yet. Just the onboard DAC on my pc (x99 deluxe), line out of FIIO X5, or headphone out of various apple products. Preparing to have my horizons broadened.
     
  3. kirayamato

    kirayamato Friend

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    2-3 months wait what? i thought it was a week or maximum 2
     
  4. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    (Limp) dick mode = on.

    This thread (along with others) has been getting pretty HF. Let's keep SNR high and make it strictly BW. There are other threads for DAC talk etc and shoutbox is better option for shipping status, scratching your nuts etc...

    :sail:
     
  5. snoogans

    snoogans New

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    Picked mine up on Saturday (#25). No proper DAC at the moment either. Still waiting on my GOV2A Infinity upgrade. Also running line out of FIIO X5. Using stock HD650, HE-500 and HE-560.

    Will eventually stack with a Gungnir Multibit sometime next year. Holding out for b-stock black chassis and/or a revision. I've been spending way too much money lately, so I'll pick up a Modi to tide me over when I come back from vacation.

    I asked Craig about warm up and whether to keep it on all the time. He said it sounds 5% better after 5 minutes and recommended that it not be on all the time.

    He mentioned that the Loop and Input on the back were reversed by the production house, but said you can use either (I've been using the Loop).

    Even without a proper DAC, I'm still really enjoying the sound.
     
  6. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Just a quick drive-by, since I had the opportunity to listen to #23 (@brencho owner) this evening over at drfindley's place and what a smooth, pleasant sound this solid state amp produces. Enjoy them Black Widows!!
     
  7. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Indeed! We also briefly compared my BW2 to drfindley's BW1 (with the same power supply as is in the BW2). We may have picked up on some very subtle differences, but we seemed largely in agreement that the differences would be virtually impossible to distinguish in blind comparisons. So if there are any differences, they are so diminutive/infinitesimal so as not to really matter at all.

    To echo the BW's lore, the three of us agreed that the BW is an extremely pleasant sounding solid-state amp with qualities of good tube amps. It's a jack of all trades amp in that it is equally comfortable driving orthos and dynamic headphones.

    The following does not detract from the BW in any way, which is a wonderful amp in its own right: We also briefly compared a fully upgraded T3 with all of the ccs boards to the BW2. The T3 had a more dynamic and engaging sound, and was pretty noticeably more holographic, enveloping, three-dimensional. That said, the T3 has it's limitations in terms of what kinds of headphones it can drive well (e.g., lots of harder to drive orthos that we all own/have-owned sound pretty bad on the T3).
     
  8. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    How much fully upgraded T3 with all the ccs boards? I have enjoyed reading that thread btw.
     
  9. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    @insidious meme if you buy a built unit from Beezar, probably in the same ballpark as the BW, maybe a tiny smidgy hair more. can't give you an exact figure because a) i'm not Tom and b) i don't quite know how much the ccs boards and installation costs.
     
  10. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Tube CCS boards aren't a drop-down option on the Beezar page yet, but the other upgrades are and the total comes to $1,325. Plan on about $1,400 with shipping and the tube CCS boards.

    Kit alone is much less.
     
  11. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    Yea, I was just trying over poke fun and exaggerate the Gungnir Multibit warm up panic that new owners have.

    Excited the hear BW & Elear impressions. Hype train / FOTM be damned, I feel like this is going to be the 2016 SBAF super combo.
     
  12. Ray

    Ray Friend

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    BW arrived this evening. Powerful, detailed, & lush. Really shows how inferior my other amps are. Many thanks Marv
     
  13. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    addition to my post above about the headstage on the BW... listening to regen - mutec 1.2 - Gungnir Multibit - BW - hd800 SD and this chain DOES NOT suck LOL :)

    if the BW loses somewhat to the T3 in soundstage and immersion, the expansive hd800 on the BW remedies this and is actually pretty stellar. sadly i don't have my T3 with me now (it's with Tom getting bigger boobs surgery, i.e. ccs boards) so i can't do back and forths tonight.
     
  14. BleaK

    BleaK Friend

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    Got mine in the house, running perfect with 230V (EU)!

    Chain is NAD M51 -> BW2 -> HD650m (and some other HPs as well)

    Upgraded from Vali1/Valhalla2.

    I have a very hard time describing the sound. It just sound so good. Everything flows together from bass to treble.

    Actually if I were to begin comparing, the sound is kinda like a super Vali1. The Vali1 has a very fun sound with big mid bass, small stage and smooth, yet not extended treble. If you take that sound signature and iron it out to be just as dynamic, but more extended in both subbass and upper treble, you get the BW.
    This is without being v-shaped at all, because the mids are there. It just got more of everything, resolution, detail and soundstage.
    Still, while writing this I have still a hard time grasping the BW signature sound.

    I think the BW might be a kinda chameleon amp, and that's why I (and maybe many others) have a hard time describing its sound. It just adapts smoothly to any headphone and/or music it plays.

    I know it's the honeymoon phase, but right now I am very happy to have found my endgame SS amp. Anything I will buy from here be it new headphones or DACs, I am very sure the BW will adapt and effortlessly throw beautiful music my way.
     
  15. AppleheadMay

    AppleheadMay Friend

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    I was just checking to put a slow-blow fuse in my BW.
    On the back it says 0.5A for Europe, but when I check the fuse that's in it it says 4A.
    Is that normal?
    Which fuses should I get now?
     
  16. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    a pair of amps so metal they go to 11:

    IMG_3661.JPG
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2016
  17. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    Rats.. that's what I get for not scrolling past the "For Sale" subsection. I need one of these amps! This the last run?
     
  18. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    Nice, jealous...and could not resist:

     
  19. AppleheadMay

    AppleheadMay Friend

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    Nobody knows? 4amp vs 0.5amp fuse for the european amp?
     
  20. Uchii

    Uchii New

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    Is BW too powerful or will there be an impedance mismatch for the Andromedas? I love these little things and they've given me so much more pleasure than any ear/head phone I've heard yet.

    Also, has any tried this with the HE1K? Impressions if any, thanks.
     

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