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

Do you guys still have black widows for sale?

 

Basically some folks, such as myself, are still waiting to receive theirs. Not taking orders yet for the second round.

 

I have word it will be soon.

 

For those asking about where they maybe on a list, I've been informed mine will be shipping very soon. I sent my order to EC on 12/31/15.

 

Listening to BW with the cheap - hyped up - flavor of the month TFZ series 3 and 5's. Too loud is 8:30 ish or between the 2nd and 3rd volume dot. Very small amount of hiss when no music is playing and volume turned up all the way. Zero hiss for first 6 or 7 volume indicators. I'm not a portable guy, but these headphones are quite good, and they certainly work well with BW. Both iems are fairly bass heavy, but it doesn't feel ridic, BW seems to be able to grab onto the low end and not let it get overdone.

Anyone else try iem's with theirs?

 

Since mine is getting closer to being shipped, I went ahead and ordered a Gungnir Multibit. No need to delay it any longer.

 

Last week Judi reached out to me by email and let me know my Black Widow was near completion. I asked her if I could come pick it up in person and save myself the shipping and handling cost. She said no problem and would contact me when it was good to go.

This morning I headed up from Orange County to the Eddie Current Shop North of Los Angeles. I thought leaving mid morning was going to help me avoid traffic... boy was I ever wrong... I was running late and fumbling for Craig's phone # in my emails to let him know, but with the heavy stop and go traffic I held off until I reached the shop. When I pulled up to the shop, I saw someone I thought was Craig driving away (looked similar to photo's from meets), so I found his phone # and called him. He said he was heading to lunch, but would turn around and come back within 5 minutes. Before I said I could wait, he hung up and ripped back.

I apologized for being late and thanked him for returning, and said I would be out his hair quick so he could get back to lunch. He was gracious enough to give me a smile and told me not to worry about it. After a quick listen to his "French Track" on a set of well worn (no loss of sound quality though, even had their own inner foam mod) HD600's, I gave him the thumbs up and we put a layer of bubble wrap around the Black Widow and I was off. I didn't bother with the extra cost of the industrial grade foam packing block (it looks like it could withstand a direct hit from a meteorite.) I was almost back in my car and on my way until Craig came back and hollered at me asking if I wanted a power cord, dang I almost forgot and left without it. I quickly went back in and grabbed it, and started southbound.

I got back home almost an hour ago and rigged the Black Widow into my system. First up was the HD800 with Super Dupont mod playing one of the tougher brighter pieces of vinyl I have. Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" album, the opening track's intro "Let it Rock" can be piercing and down right ear splitting at higher volumes. Out of the bubble wrap, the Black Widow ate it up and spit it out without sounding rolled off, strained, or lacking detail. Impressive first impression for sure. I'm only on the B-side of this album and I feel like my money was well spent, and don't see this amp leaving my system ever.

Thanks Judi, Craig, and @Marvey for making this possible

 

Congrats JK. I got the same email but decided to not drive up there and just have it shipped. I still have my liquid carbon and will have a straight comparison once the black widow is in my hands. Probably invite a couple of local friends to do the comparison as well. We'll see.

 

I was deployed away from home with work for 'an indefinite period of time' (which ended up being 3 weeks ) and so I had to pull out of this round, but I am looking at getting back in on the next.

Am I crazy considering BW for Slants? I know BW will put a tonne of power into them, but do they scale to the same extent as HD6X0?

 

I sold my Liquid Carbon months ago and don't miss it at all. I think my $125 DIY Pete Millet Butte can kick it's ass. I think once you get a taste of "The Widow" your Carbon will be sold to an HF member in short order. Mine literally took 3 minutes to be sold on HF. I think that member post's here also and has since sold the Carbon... Just sayin' but as always YMMV

 

I can't comment on the slants, but the BW did take away a tiny bit of grain in the treble on my modded Fostex Tx0RP mkIII cans, and drove them just fine.

I know we discussed the Andromeda sound signature briefly by PM, and I just gave my coin modded and rear foam removed HD650 cans a whirl, and it almost reminded me of the CFA Andromeda being run from the Chord Mojo, borderline too dark for my taste. My Super Dupont HD800 cans are just right and I can almost compare them to the Andromeda out of my iPhone SE (a touch brighter than the Mojo) which I prefer. Other than listening briefly to Craig's HD600, I can't comment on them, but would bet in their favor if you liked a slightly brighter sound. Both my HD800 and HD650 are being run through the BW 4 pin XLR jack as per Craig's recommendation.

 

Interesting! So is it the case that xlr out on the BW is preferred over SE? I thought one of the things with the BW -unlike the rag and mjolnir2- was that the SE out was just as good as xlr.

 

Craig said it's not a truly balanced output, but sounded better than the 1/4 TRS ...

 

Cool good to know! Should pick up some xlr in preparation perhaps...

 

Wait...

Since when did the BW have a XLR out? I thought it was scrapped?

 

Single ended XLR for convenience. It has been there since Red Top.

 

Considering both my headphones have balanced cabling, I'm good to go.

 

I too used the 4-pin XLR connection over the 1/4" phono connection - why? I believe it simply to be a better connector.
I did not expect any sonic changes would occur had I used my adaptor. The audio nervosa runs deep with me. I will now need to check.

 

It was the balanced input that was scrapped as an option.