H20 Revisited

Audiofrankj: I'm curious if Henry has the Special Edition available for the Stereo 250 Signature too. I couldn't find anything on his website about it. I am also using a tubed preamp with my H20--an Audio Research Reference 2 modified by Great Northern Sound with great effect including the attributes that you mention including that fabulous liquid midrange and spaciousness.

Vince: When Henry installed my V-Caps he broke them in for about 2 weeks. Before he sent the amp back to me, he e-mail me that he was a little worried about the sound until they started to break in but once they did he was elated and stated that "my H20 set new standards" at least at that time. I've recently upgraded both speaker cables and Interconnects from my preamp to the H20 with more improvement in sound. I borrowed a whole bunch of cables from The Cable Company's lending library to tune in even better sound. It is amazing how changing cables can affect one's impression of this amp. It is so sensitive to changes and I can see that with the wrong cables one might not be impressed with the H20.

Dotsystem: He did replaced the nickel binding posts with Cardas as you had recommended to me in the past. Thanks for that suggestion.

Rlf, those were astute observations. When confronted with one of the web's most vociferous H2O critic, I asked about the attending wires and components on his listening. His answer told all.

These H2O amp systems are the most difficult to get all right. When you do, though, you really know how special these amps are.

I have given up on production speaker cables. I am making my own using very short ribbons to go with my H2O monos. I never will be tempted to buy commercial SCs again. The change was hugely positive.

My Audio Note DAC is also crucial to my system favorability. Crubio heard that.

Rlf: My apologies for not noticing your question earlier. I am not certain if Henry is offering a Special Edition on the stereo model. You may want to inquire with a phone call.

Don_s: The V-Caps are the TFTF's.

Audiofankj, Thank you for the response.

Standing at $2000 new, the Signature 100 stands as my personal reference for what is possible at and under the $3000 mark. It has the cajones to drive any speaker on planet earth, and is what I consider to be a solid 8 out of 10 in every regard to sound reproduction. In the year I have ran the Signature 100, I have yet to find anything it cannot do very well. Linearity? Check. Ridiculous dynamic power reserve? Check. Great low level resolution? Check. 'Musicality'? Check. Extended, non brittle highs? Check. Clean and open midrange? Check. Well extended, detailed, and controlled bass response? Check. Super quiet back-round? Check. The list goes on and on..

That said, I should make it clear that I do not feel that the Signature 100 is the perfect amp. I seriously doubt that such a beast exists. However, when you consider all that you get with the amp for its price point, it bewilders me as to why more people haven't taken it for a spin. Unless you run speakers that were specifically voiced to work with tubes, this affordable super amp should be on a lot of peoples 'short list'.

That said, I feel the amp struts its stuff when paired with a good linear, if not an ever so slightly *warm* sounding tube pre. I've had much success running it in conjunction with the Lamm LL2 Deluxe. Those looking to dip into a more affordable pre amp to match their H2O should look at the Transcendant Ground Grid.

Good as the Signature 100 is; the real star of the Henry's product line is the "FIRE" pre-amp, but that's a whole other ballgame right there.