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

Ha, the post comes off as "Don't buy his, buy mine! " No hate. Just thought it funny.

 

Did he actually listen to it or just judge the paint quality?

 

Why waste time listening to the amp! One quick scan if the pcb layout should tell you everything you need to know.

And maybe he can, dude has serious building cred and has been at the tip of the hobby for a long time. I just know different components and specifically transformers / caps can made the same layout or amp sound drastically different - might warrent a listen, but instead he dismissed it and recommended that people buy his Chinese clones from eBay.

I think he was subtlety trying to say Craig copied his design? Or is he trying to say his design started out similar but he evolved it further?

 

KG being KG. He is an incredible designer but he is also perfectionist with a fixed view on amps; his was 'or the highway'.

 

Why then does the Black Widow sound great, the Liquid Carbon (and supposedly other Cavalli amp) sound good but a bit too syrupy, and the GS-X Mk. 2 like a bright, glary piece of shit? The Asgard 2 just sounds a lot better than the GS-X mk2. The GS-X sounds like everything bad about the higher end Schiit amps plus O2 bad harshness and glare but probably not actually clipped (I hope).

Audio-GD and Krell better? He's out of his mind. Krell sound sig is boosted bass impact masking the lower mids a bit without actually being warm/syrupyness and also somewhat limited staging but nothing like like class AB with negative feedback shit. It can be fun as hell with the right recordings but isn't the utmost neutrality. Still infinitely better than KG's own solid state amp.

 

Definitely not a fan of the GSX MkII's sound myself. The Krell KSA-5 KG clone doesn't sound like most Krells (and yes that's a good thing). It's a very good, neutral-bright amp with open spacious staging. Quite detailed, but still has a bit of solid state treble etch and slightly compressed microdynamics. If anything, the KSA-5 could use a bit of added warmth from a tube DAC, ultraanalog DAC, Bifrost Multibit, or synergistic pairing with a warm headphone. (I regret selling mine a bit. Really great amp).

I've heard a couple of China-built KSA-5 clones, including one that Gilmore linked to (the KREEL one). They don't sound like a properly built one at all and I'm a bit sad to see him recommending or linking to them. Certainly wouldn't buy them over a Black Widow - I actually wouldn't buy them over a second-hand Mjolnir 1, Gilmore Lite, Leckerton, CKKIII, and about a couple dozen other amps. IIRC I recall reading some accounts of poor build quality over at Head-Fi with regards to the Kreel ones as well, though I don't have time to go crosslink the thread. Might track it down later.

At the end of the day, KG's going to be KG - no point in spending too much time worrying about it. I did want to chime in on those clone recommendations though because I think those needed a comment. Especially for any lurkers reading.

 

Mtoc stirs more shit than a Scotts factory

 

It sounds like anything build or recommended by KG is not gonna be to my liking then, no matter how good the build quality may be. I'm surprised so many like the GS-X MKII and HD800 pairing.

 

You know with all of KG dislike for the non estat stuff by EC, DNA etc Id like to hear how good his best design sounds. If anyone has a Susy dynahi, let me know.

 

I'm just glad that he only saw the internals. Imagine if he'd also seen the font...

 

My chain is: Soundcard optical out -> glass toslink -> Theta DS Pro progeny v. A -> Asgard 2 -> TH-X00/HD600. I really enjoy that pairing and I have been curious about getting the Black Widow as an end-game alternative to the Asgard 2. I usually listen to my HD600's on my EAD CD-1000 -> vanilla BH Crack w/ stock tubes setup. The EAD has been completely reserviced by Noble Electronics with Elna Silmic II caps and repair to pcb trace area that shorted.

I like both setups a lot and I haven't paired the Theta many times with the BH Crack but I'm sure it might sound even better than the Theta with the burrito filter that delivers great imaging and separation without the wimpy sterile/edgy sound of a lot of the modern DACs out there.

So to anyone who has compared them.. would they approve the Black Widow as the logical upgrade to an Asgard 2??? It might be awhile before I get my hands on the BW but I would like to know if preorders for another run or first come first serve buying happens.

 

@JoshMorr: Was perusing the backthread and noticed this:

I listened briefly to @drfindley 's Jensen IsoMax at the T3 tubeup recently, and shit's for real. It enhances the sound of my Gungnir Multibit. I noticed better soundstage, and no "bad transformer" traits. The model # is PC-2XR.

I didn't want it to deliver an improvement, but it did to my ears, and that's eventually gonna cost me ~$300

 

Yea, I was curious from earlier threads where a bunch of people were almost calling this box manditory and Marv half thinking about a small batch of EC transformers. So one thing led to another and I bought one used on Ebay for $200 shipped from a recording studio. I told myself it was an experiment and I would likely sell it for close to what I paid.

I feel a bit like a special kid now that I have $700 invested in the boxes just to get signal in and out of my DAC, but I found the difference significant enough that it is worth it to me. The Jensen XLR to RCA adapter did have cleaner bass / mids, a bit more sparkle on the top end and a blacker background. If I am reading the Schiit website correctly, Gungnir Multibit is 2V out fo RCA and 4V through balanced XLR's, which explains why everyone says the RCA output is a bit gimped. As a wise feline leader once said, focus on the source.

Here is a picture of the ridicioulusness. I could stand to have a bit of wire management and cleanup, but currently too busy listeneing! I feel quite spoiled, this is a dream setup for me.

 

congrats @JoshMorr ! I'll be in the same boat soon and will likely add a jensen and possibly spdif guy soon as well. @philipmorgan is right, there is a noticeable improvement. just trying to decide somehow whether the jensen is enough, or whether i should add the transport guy too. i like simplicity so the possibilities are messing with my brain.

 

@jexby its groundbreakers like you that make it easy on us new guys! Thanks!

 

Just snagged a PC-2XR for $200 on eBay

 

I was also impressed by the Jensen isolator at our tubeup. It took all of 10 seconds to hear its positive effect. Like @philipmorgan what I immediately heard was a more expansive out-of-head soundstage. I'm going to acquire a Yggdrasil soon and will certainly add the IsoMax when I do.