RAAL requisite audio SR1a Review: HOLY MOLY! Buy this now!

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Jul 12, 2019.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Nope.

    The bass was better with SR1a than the JBLs, where I didn't really find the bass from the SR1a to be an issue. One thing I've noticed is that bigger good quality woofers make very apparent differences in bass presentation with upstream gear. Audiophiles don't run woofers larger than 9" and most typically 7" these days, so most wouldn't notice.

    I've never heard a preamp fix mushy bass from a power amp.

    Honestly, I think the way to go is the XA30.8 by the sounds of it, with the more expansive soundstage, better bass control, which I bet would be more along the lines of the CA2 or Aegir. The XA25 sounds intentionally gimped.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2019
  2. skem

    skem Friend

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    If anybody does XA30.8, I’ll just mention that you must short the negative XLR pin to ground if using single ended inputs. Otherwise the noise floor lifts well above spec. I love my 30.8, but with headphones it does not have quite the delicate nuance of the (recapped) M22.
     
  3. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    Did you try it with any other headphones?
     
  4. bozebuttons

    bozebuttons Friend

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    I have used the XA25 feeding different headphones with excellent results
    Bass is not a issue with any of them.i Have have used HD800 sdr,Susvara,
    HE500 recabled with wireword eclipse 6 Sony qualia 010,grado old school RS1
    Great impact & dynamics ,
    Only headphone I used that gave me any noise issues in my enigma recabled
    Ath 2000 with dual3pin xlr & 1/4 inch adapter with no music playing ,but boy the XA25 had some grip on them.
    All headphones where hooked up to the speaker terrminals using a k1000 adapter & 4pin xlr to 1/4 inch adapter for non 4 pin terminated headphones.
    feeding the XA25 is a Lampozatar big seven(3 volt output) emmlabs CDSD transport to a Hegel P30 preamp
    I have yet to try the Xa25 with my Pieaga C8LTD 89db 4ohm due to my speaker cable spades are to big to fit the Xa25 speaker connections due to plastic covers on the Xa25
    I need to find my monster cable exterminators to use the cables into the banana plugs
    I use my Hegel H20 normally to drive the Speakers.
     
  5. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    There's definitely nothing delicate nor nuanced about the 30.8. it's all brute force, all the time. Shit, even acoustic strings had an overdone slam. Highly articulate, yes. But mainly there's bass, and then there's everything else as an after thought with that amp. Good air in the treble on non-bassy tracks though. Non-descript midrange. XA25 is cut from a different cloth, appealing in its own way, and a SS favorite of many. Something tells me, though, that the highly articulate F5T would be a cool amp for these headphones, if its power is sufficient (which may not be the case).
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2019
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yes, with the Verum (~10ohms), JAR HD650, and JAR HD600. No noise issues. It's a solid amp all-around for headphones. Good heft, slightly on the polite and forgiving side (which is a good thing for headphones), but ultimately I think it falls short in terms of resolution, nuance, and clarity compared to dedicated high-performing mid-level and TOTL headamps that I have heard, e.g. ECP, DNA, EC, etc. I don't have an HE5/HE6 here, but extrapolating, I would say that I would prefer the Krell FPB series power amps or even Aegir to the XA25. I think part of it is that XA25 tries so hard to emulate a softer tube sound (a la Woo, which is not to my taste), and I still can't past that MOSFET murkiness in the lows, especially when the XA25 is operating under a watt.
     
  7. skem

    skem Friend

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    F5T remains my favorite of all time. It has slam and can drive HE6. I will be testing an F5T against the XA25 in the coming weeks.

    Would not there be ways to get more power out of F5T with cascoding more output transistors and raising the bus voltage. With careful curve matching, I imagine you might preserve most of its acoustic qualities.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I did really like various F5 build's with the HD800, Code-X, etc. That was a while back, so no direct comparison to anything now.
     
  9. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    That's F5T V3, 4 FETs common-base per side IIRC. I think it can push 100W/8R. Gandalf talks about it in the F5T docs.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Anyone heard the A3? Kind of curious about how the A3 compares to the F5 to XA25 for high-efficiency speakers.
     
  11. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    I've wondered about this too but haven't seen an answer until now. @Galm posted in the RMAF thread:

    [​IMG]

    "Does not require any interface box as with speaker amps"
    That is really fantastic.
     
  12. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    I kinda thought "direct drive" made it obvious.

    With Jotunheim R, you can have one USB cable going to a computer, one AC cord going to the wall, and plug the SR1a in the front of the Jotunheim R, and be completely and utterly done. No stack of amps, no interface box, no separate DAC, nothin.

    Or you can add the DAC of your choice into either the balanced or SE inputs on the Jotunheim R. It's Nexus™. Balanced or SE in are just fine.

    May we suggest Bifrost 2 as the DAC pair? LOL.
     
  13. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    I am thrilled when I found "Estimated shipping END 2019 | Estimated price $999 with Multibit Dac"

    Looking forward to reading a chapter for Jotunheim R soon!
     
  14. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    I heard at the booth that you may try and get Raal to remove the interface box as an included option to drop the price. I’d jump on Jot R + SR1A - 500 bucks without that box.
     
  15. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Exit stage left....
    heard the pair today at RMAF and had goosebumps during a few songs. that good, despite the ballroom noise.
    just completely Live sounding.

    bass has good impact and attack, only minor nit is the sub bass may be lacking compared to traditional headphones.
    need more time on these for certain!
     
  16. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    "Delivers 13 amps per channel" does the Jot R need to be on a dedicated 20 amp circuit at home?
     
  17. schiit

    schiit SchiitHead

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    13A at 5V isn't 13A at 115V. It really only hits maybe 40-50W peaks (from the wall). Most of the time it'll idle down around 20W.

    Though it does require a heatsink inside, unlike Jotunheim.
     
  18. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    Thanks, it is amazing how quickly you are progressing with the Jot R.
     
  19. mscott58

    mscott58 Friend

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    Was pretty excited to jump into the SR1a waters, although was fretting a bit over the choice of stereo amp pairing and the fact that the best ones looked to cost as much as the HPs. Now with Jason and team's work I'm way closer to taking the jump. Well done Schiit and now I'm kicking myself I'm not at RMAF this year!

    @purr1n & @schiit what's the chance we could set up some type of dual Jot R/SR1a tour?
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'll ask RAAL if I can use my current loaner SR1a for a limited tour. We'll wait for Jason to get closer to production or after production is ready.

    But really, my cheap-ass Crest CA2 works fine. If tonal synergy isn't there, just EQ to perfection.
     

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