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Review: Ray Samuels Audio Apache Headphone Amplifier Amplifier

Category: Amplifiers

Review: Ray Samuels Audio Apache Headphone Amplifier.

Maybe Ray should have called it the Can Opener.

It creates a vividly open sound area with whatever cans
I try it with (Senn 650s, AKG 701s, Grado GS1000s).
In short, the sound is un-headphone-like. (Uncanny?)
The Apache produces a very compelling listening experience that I have never had
with headphones before.
Tonality is excellent, striking a perfect balance between detail and smoothness.
It rivals the what I have heard in
audio shows and dealers with some extreme high-end speakers.
(The Apache also functions as a Preamp. I have not used it in this mode.)

All of my listening is from my McIntosh C46 preamp into the Apache.
I have a CD-only system. My previous headphone amplifier was a 1999 Headroom
Max (updated with a newer reference module in 2004). I still have the Max.

I have had the Apache for only a week, so I may be
updating this. Consider these initial impressions.

The sound is quite speaker-like, especially with the Grados.
The Grados are natively tipped up and bright, so I use the
tone controls on the McIntosh preamp (which has an 8-band equalizer)
to roll-off the highs somewhat.
With the AKGs or Sennheisers, no equalization is necessary.

(I like using the McIntosh preamp to feed my headphone amp becuase
I sit some distance away from my system and use the McIntosh
remote to adjust the volume. Actually, I wish headphone amps had a
remote volume control. I also appreciate the Mac's tone controls--blasphemy I know...)

Listening to the Capitol Beatles CD set, other classic rock or popular music
(which is what I mainly listen to on headphones), with the Apache
I feel like I am in the studio, with the voices and instruments spread out,
fleshed out and distinct in a 3-dimensional space much larger than I have
ever heard with headphones.
The musical components, if not life-size, are far from the miniaturized images
that, to my ears, are common with headphones. The Apache somehow creates some
sort of ether-field with honest-to-goodness 3D images, each with its own
size and shape. This effect is more prominent with the Grados,
but still quite evident with the other phones. The Senn 650s seem
especially helped by the Apache--really coming out of their shell.
The vauge claustrophopic or compressed feeling I always had with the
650s (and predecessors) has just about disappeared.

The images have real body and density but are not heavy or hard-edged or super-pinpointed.
They blend just enough into the recording venue to sound naturally placed.
And, thankfully, nothing shouts or sounds pushy.

In comparison with my Headroom Max
everything sounds de-congested. Many of these old CDs of 60's and 70's
recordings sound raspy and rough through the Max.
Somehow, the Apache separates all
the pieces and smooths out the rough edges just enough to produce a natural sound.
The spatial cues are there but the harsh abrasion is gone.
The sound is still vivid but no longer annoying.
I really feel as if I am among the performers.

The vocals are liquid and rounded and have just enough grit to sound
genuine without being mechanical,
grainy or telephone-like. I have always felt that vocals were always
the ultimate truth-test for a system. Sometimes even when instruments
sound fine, a vocal comes along and sounds artificial, raspy, buzzy, and
nothing like a real voice. With the Apache, I can listen deep into a voice,
and I hear a continuous, smooth sound that is just extremely satisfying.

Percussion is precise and fast without being assaultive. Wind instruments
are airy and have just the right density. (I think the famous flute solo on
California Dreamin' is as pure as I have ever heard it.) Strings are silky
and never scream or make me wince.

The Apache's bass is a real joy. It is "just-there," with no subwoofery/boombox
feel. I love the way the bass is attached to the the object creating it,
rather than just part of a pervasive
bass-fog. I am reminded of the bass from well-set-up Wilson speakers.

At first I thought the highs were more spotlighted than with the Headroom Max,
but then I realized I lately had been using the Max's high-frequency filter (a useful
feature by the way), and concluded that, In A-B'ing the two amps, that
the Apache is no more aggressive or less warm than the Max with its filter off.

To sum up, I think that
the great thing about the Apache is that it is revealing, but not ruthlessly revealing.
Details are well evident, but just recessed enough to produce an inviting, relaxing sound
that is still live and involving, along with a wonderfully plausible sense of space.

Associated equipment:
EMM DCC2 SE DAC and CDSD SE Transport,
McIintosh C46 Preamp,
Stealth Indra RCA IC from DAC to Preamp,
Kubala-Sosna Balanced IC from Preamp to Apache,
Shunyata Anaconda Power Cables on all components except Apache,
Kimber PK-10 Palladium Power Cable on Apache,
All equipment plugged into Shunyata Hydra 8.
Headphones: Grado RS1000s with Moon Audio Black Dragon cable (single ended).
Sennheiser 650s with Zu Mobius (single ended).
AKG K701 with Moon Audio Black Dragon balanced.

Associated gear
EMM DCC2 SE/ CDSD SE Digital Source
McIntosh C46 preamp
Shunyata Hydra 8
Stealth Indra/Kubala-Sosna Emotion ICs
Shunyata Anaconda power cables

Similar products
Headroom Max.
Stax Omega/007t system.
rgs92
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
The Stax generates exquisitely pure, continuous, beautiful images that are well defined and have very distinct boundaries. Tonality is perfect from the sweet highs to
the firm and clear bass. There is an overall fluid sound; everthing just flows. There is no tizziness, rawness, or discontinuity of any kind. It seems to fill in the blanks everywhere. The sound in very similar to Quads I have heard. They never offend, regardless of the quality of the recording. Like Will Rogers, the Staxes never met a recording they didn't like.

But, the images are smaller than life, and there is not the sense of expansiveness or distance up, down, around I hear with dynamic phones, especially with the Grado GS1000s, which open up a new frontier in this respect to my ears. The dynamics put me in the performance space. (With the Grados, they actually give speakers a run for the money in this regard.) The dynamic sound is more raw than than the Staxes, more challenging to listen to, but
not in an offensive or abrasive way. While the Staxes are more absorbing, the Grados are more involving and participatory.

I enjoy both of them depending on my mood. I like to listen to the same recording on one than the other for
a different experience. (Maybe there is no absolute sound...)
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
One more comment comparing comfort:
The Staxes, while comfortable and do not make me sweat at at all,
still press on my head somewhat and I find myself adjusting them a lot.
I am always aware of them.

The Grados are super-comfortable and feel great, like a fine, light shoe does.
I actually like the way they feel.
mdhoover
695 posts
 
Rich,
When you get tired of one or the other, you have my permission to just ship it to me and I'd be willing to listen to it for you.....so that you don't have all those pesky high end phones cluttering up your listening area, etc. Yeah, that's the ticket.

OK, seriously, your headphone set-up reads as though it must be just astounding. Your detailed and nuanced descriptive comments convey a great deal of (what I find to be, anyway) highly useful information. Thanks for taking the time to post all of that info. Hopefully I'll get a chance to listen to the Omega 2s with the 007t and/or the Grados with an amp of similar caliber to the Ray Samuels Audio Apache, if not the Apache itself. Probably won't be any time soon, though.

-Bill
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
I wanted to post some updates on
my Apache impressions now that its
had about a month of use.
It is actually now more
silky and smooth and continuous with dynamic phones as my old
Stax Omega 007t tubed system, but with big, round and palpable images
on a totally silent background. Bass is absolutely perfect, too:
deep and satisfying but not pounding at all.

I have sent it to Ray for the newer OP-Amps, as I think
it would complement my Grado GS1000s, which I think
need a little roll-off in the highs to sound their best.
(Ray is now using a new, warmer sounding OP-amp and
is offering to upgrade all Apache owners for free.)

The Apache is, IMHO, the amplifier of choice for the Sennheiser 650s.
I think it may have been voiced for these. With the Senns,
Everything sounds "in place," with no frequency anomalies,
no harsh artifacts, with the rare combination of peacefullness
and excitement at the same time.

I listen to Fleetwood Mac a lot, and Stevie Nicks' fuzzy vocals
are now as clear and natural as I've ever heard them,
from phones or speakers,
about on the level of my old Apogee Stage speakers.
The same goes for other CDs that I use for evaluating equipment,
like Jim Croce (some buzz in his voice), Nat King Cole,
Carole King (some distortion on the CDs like Tapestry), Carly Simon (some ringing
in the upper midrange), the Supremes (some shrieking)
and the earlier Beatles CDs (which seem to have a "white-sounding",
high-pitched overtone).
Amazingly the Apache deals with all these problems very gracefully,
makeing these CDs entirely listenable.

The Apache/Senn 650s strike a perfect balance between the natural
grit of vocals and the smoothness I need for a relaxing listening experience.
Guitars, percussion and brass and piano are just recessed enough to avoid being abusive
but still have real, palpable presence. Pecussion has great speed and drive,
without being too "smashy."

Again, I am reminded of ribbon speakers like Apogees and the
ribbon-tweeter speakers like the big Von Schweikert VR9s I heard.
The sheer beauty of speakers like these is to a large part duplicated
with the Apache.

I thought I would need to switch between my Stax system and the Apache
but now the Apache is the clear winner.

I'll report back when I get my Apache back with the new op-amps.

mdhoover
695 posts
 
Between the 650s and the GS100s, which do you prefer with the Apache?
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