国外耳机论坛烧友对Novo的评价摘译

小白

交易区新帖推荐

下面是mrarroyo在携带NOVO出席一次耳机聚会后补充发的帖子:

Ok, the meet IMO was fantastic! The other participants voiced the same opinion. We started at 2:00pm and it was over by 10:00pm.
(耳机聚会非常精彩! 其他参与者表达了同样的观点. 从下午2点开始直至晚10点.)

If there was a little letdown is that many who indicated would be attending and even paid failed to show up. On the other hand it allowed more time w/ the gear and believe me for the number of participants at hand there was a lot of gear (see pics below).

60% of the individuals who tried the Beta Novo loved it and indicated they would be hard pressed to justify spending $3,500+++ for my tube amp. This for a Beta Novo w/ only 25 hours of burn in. The others liked the sound but were hard line tube lovers and preferred the Singlepower MPX3 SE Slam.
(听过NOVO的人里,有60%的说喜欢它,而且说难以接受我在胆耳放上花的3500美金. 这还是一台只使用了25小时的NOVO测试版耳放. 剩余的一些人喜欢它的声音,但是胆机支持者,所以更喜欢Single Power MPX3 SE Slam.)

I do look forward to the 200 hour mark of burn in. Graham, so far I can not hear a difference between the wall wart and the PSU1 even after I installed an expensive aftermarket power cord. The wall wart you provide is doing a fantastic job.

I left the meet wanting a new set of cans the Denon D5000, man do they sound sweet! Specially after the Mark mods. Anyways here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.
(我离开耳机聚会时想要买一副天龙D5000耳机. 声音真是好听!)

mayao11

原帖由 小白 于 2008-12-14 19:31 发表
I left the meet wanting a new set of cans the Denon D5000, man do they sound sweet! Specially after the Mark mods.  

这老外还不如搞个D7000

小白

下面是tg的听感:


Novo has been with me for 8 days now and is happily playing music to itself most of the time. (NOVO已经在这里8天了,大多数时间在独自播放音乐.)

Source is a modded Marantz CD 52 SE Mk II via a Burson buffer ATM - may try others later. (音源是一台马兰士CD52SE II,通过Burson buffer ATM.)

My very well burned in Solo is connected via the pass through connector and so far I have only used K701, later I will also try ATH-W1000. (我一台煲透的SOLO耳放也连接着. 目前我只用过K701,晚些会尝试W1000.)

Astute readers will recall my disenchantment with the K701 when I first got them and even after 500 hrs I was not happy with them. (有些读者可能记得我和K701之间的不愉快的经历,甚至听了500小时后,我还是对它不满意.)

In fact, I could not understand how reviewers could rave about the K701/Solo combination, to me the Solo did not have enough grunt for them, only my Yamamoto HA-02 seemed to give them what they needed.  However, following some rather brutal treatment and with probably over 1000 hours on them I now find the combination quite enjoyable. (实际上,我不太明白为什么很多评论者对K701/SOLO这个组合大加赞赏. 对我来说SOLO不是很合适,只有我的Yamamoto HA-02才能给K701它需要的东西. 然而随着一些很残酷的处理,还有随着超过1000小时的使用,现在我终于发觉这个组合的美妙之处.)

I did say this was a "tease", I am not about to rush into glowing prose.  Which is not to say it is not good - merely that it is not ready - IMO - for a fair evaluation.

This amp has a definite burn-in required and will sound better and worse at times during that period.  It now has around 190 hours and this morning I listened to Eva Cassidy and Chuck Brown "The other side" album and there were some goosebump moments. (NOVO耳放绝对需要一定时间的煲机,在此期间有时好,有时不好. 到目前它煲了约190小时. 今早我用它听了Eva Cassidy和Chuck Brown的"The other side"专集,欣赏过程中有一些很颤栗的时刻.)

There have also been times when it was Solo first and daylight second and I briefly wished not to have to say anything - thankfully that too passed.

So, as the 200 hrs draws near it is sounding very promising indeed. (现在200小时接近了,它听起来确实非常前景美妙.)

kendal3334

原帖由 Bluetango 于 2008-12-14 18:21 发表
美国人也用黑嗓336i？？
黑嗓都到国外去了？ 看来做得不错呀！

黑嗓和小不点在head-fi的热度不是一般的高

cpstream

IRIVER H140到现在还妖气逼人啊

小白

tg在煲机后写的评论:



The star - Novo headphone amplifier (明星: NOVO耳机放大器)

Supporting cast - AKG 701, ATH-W1000, Marantz CD 52 Mk II SE, Burson audio clock and discrete opamps, Turntable, Reflex/Exp phono stages, VDH cabling - much software. (配角: AKG K701, 铁三角W1000, 马兰士CD52 ii, Burson时钟和运放, 唱盘, Refelx/Exp唱头放大器, VDH接线, 大量相关软件)

References, Green Solo, Yamamoto HA-02, speaker system. (参照物: SOLO绿色版,Yamamoto HA-02胆机,喇叭系统)

Summary - the series name "Entheos" is well chosen.
If there is one characteristic of this amp that stands out to me, it is enthusiasm. (总结: 产品名称Entheos起得非常合适. 这台耳放的性格如果有一点是最突出吸引我的,那就是"热情".)

Skimming the notes I made during listening sessions over the last 3 weeks I find a theme of repeated remarks to the effect of melodic, bouncy, infectious.

While not failing in any of the major disciplines of tonality, extension, dynamics, detail retrieval and soundstaging it is its apparent ability to project the emotion of the music effectively that is most striking. (它不会在任何的主要方面令我失望; 音调平衡,延伸,动态,细节还原,声场. 最吸引我的一点是它具有演绎出音乐感情的能力.)

I found this to be equally true of pieces as disparate as Eva Cassidy singing the Judy Garland standard, Over the Rainbow and the absolutely cracking pace of Carlos Kleiber directing Beethovens 7th Symphony.

There were a number of times when it succeeded in doing the goosebump and hair on the neck thing.
While I have heard others speak of this phenomenom it is not one I recall experiencing often. (有几多次,它成功地使我听得直起鸡皮疙瘩. 我也听说过别人谈论这个现象,但我自己很少体验到.)

I have a most delightful recording of Baroque trumpet and soprano, with the right phones and amp, there are places where the high notes of the trumpet and the soprano blend and mingle as they do their call and response duet and it is almost impossible to tell which is which, that combines with a wonderful sense of the notes soaring ever upwards in the cathedral in which it was recorded - the Novo pulled this trick off well. (我有一张非常愉悦的巴洛克唱片,内容是女高音和小号. 当放大器和耳机对头时,有些地方会营造出非常动人的效果: 小号的高音和女高音的高音音符混合在一起,几乎难以辨别哪个是哪个,飞扬的音符在录制地点——大教堂的空间里高高翱翔,效果非常好. NOVO能够很好地制造出这种效果.)

I listened to a great variety of music, mainly CD but some vinyl, with a remembrance there of a most memorable rendition of Pictures at an Exhibition on vinyl.

Some indicators of the range, Prodigy - Fat of the land, Bob Seeger, Loreena McKennit, Eva Cassidy, Diana Krall, Led Zeppelin, Yello, Mike Oldfield, Aaron Neville, Diana Krall, Pink Martini, Oscar Peterson & Jon Faddis, Beethoven, Mozart, Lizt, Schumann, Bach, Baroque trumpet, Tallis scholars and more.

No blow by blow on that listing, just some general observations.

The design brief included the ability to impedance match most headphones - to check that, I used for the first 2 weeks, the AKG 701 which I have previously noted to be not the easiest to drive.
The Novo handled them with aplomb, average listening level being between 9 & 10 o'clock on the dial - 12 o'clock was as high as I went with those and that only for some serious head banging with Prodigy.
(这个设计是要匹配大多数耳机. 为了检验这点,我最初2周使用了K701耳机,一副不那么容易驱动好的耳机. NOVO很轻松地对付了它. 平均音量开到9-10点足够.)

The amp, as I have indicated elsewhere, needed around 350 - 400 hours to fully develop and for SQ to stabilise.
During that period its primary characteristics were always apparent, but there were aspects of presentation that took time to fully mature, bass definition was one of the last.

As it reached its majority I changed my headphones to the ATH-W1000, these are an easy phone to drive but are my preference for listening to most music - I find them more revealing of subtle nuance and detail and having a fuller more rounded sound to drum and upright bass reverb particularly.
One of the things I listen for is distinction between bass drum and timpany, the Novo presents this distinction quite well when it is there to be made.
With these phones volume was generally below 9 o'clock but this did not seem to alter the quality of the performance.

I did not seriously compare the Novo to my 2 reference amps, I used them as references to check its development.  

That said, I will offer that the character of the Novo and the Solo are somewhat different, both have their strengths and their own particular appeal. If price were not a consideration (isn't it always) i would be hard pressed to choose between them. (我觉得SOLO和NOVO两机有着各自不同的特性,各有各的优点和特殊之处. 假如不考虑价格的话,我觉得很难在两者里选择.)

小白

这是Jake的评论. 不翻了,翻腻了,自己看吧.


Systems
I actually used 2 systems for testing the Novo, my main hifi system and my PC based system.

PC System
PC
Stello DA220MKII DAC
Green Solo
Original Master Headphone Amp (solid state)
AKG 701 headphones
DH Labs Air Matrix Interconnects
DH Labs Coaxial Digital IC

Hifi
VPI Scout TT
Green Reflex
DH Labs Air Matrix Interconnects
Nordost Red Dawn Interconnects

Construction
I was quite surprised initially to see that the Novo was so much smaller than the already diminutive Solo. This follows Graham’s apparent principle of no more than is required to achieve the desired result. I like the simple styling of all the Slee products, and the Novo certainly didn’t disappoint.

Setup
I initially installed the Novo in my headphone rig, and utilising my trusty signal splitter (the Tri It Out triamping box) I was able to run 3 pairs of interconnects from the DAC to my 2 headphone amps plus the Novo. I could then change amps as quickly as it takes to remove the headphone lead from one amp and plug it into the next. This allowed me almost instant comparisons between amps, very handy when you have a favourite passage of music that you want to hear through both or all 3 amps. This also meant I had no need to utilise the Novo’s pass through connection, an option that I always try to avoid in any case. In retrospect I should have tried this to see what effect if any it had on the signal.

Mostly I didn’t bother too much with my Chinese headphone amp (Original Master). Although for the price it is a great performer, it doesn’t match the Solo for resolution or outright slam, and as this is a fairly uncommon amp I thought the best comparison was always going to be with an existing Slee product.

My AKGs are about 2 years old and have plenty of hours on them, so I have no doubt that they are well burned in. However, only a few weeks before receiving the Novo the 701s actually opened up another level, with the bass extending down more than they had ever before. Apart from offering me even more enjoyment I’m sure this improved their ability, and mine, to determine any differences in the amps.

Listening PC System
Using the PC as my source I performed extensive listening tests over several days, feeding it plenty of Hi Res FLAC files and ripped red books. Tony (tg) was surprised at how quickly I completed my testing of the amp, but I had plenty of free time that week and was able to devote quite a few hours each day to the task.

Unfortunately in my PC rig I had trouble hearing much difference between the Solo and the Novo. I was starting to wonder if I was coming down with a case of the dreaded Cloth Ears. I could hear a very slight reduction in the bass registers, like it wasn’t quite reaching the depths of the Solo, and the soundstage was a smidgeon tighter but the top end was still pretty much there in all its glory.

Listening Main System
After a couple of days in the PC rig, and to be honest getting frustrated at not really being able to pick much of a difference I then moved the Novo to my main system. In this system I skipped the digital sources and hooked the Novo straight up to my Reflex. This kept the signal pure, and bypassed the CJ preamp , a stunningly fine amp it is but not much point in this test.

Switching it on now I noticed a slight hum through the cans, and remembering what Tony said about the earthing I grabbed some wire and ran it from the Novo to the VPI. I found that even just earthing the wire to the VPI motor casing was enough to completely silence the hum. I then connected it more permanently to the Reflex’s binding post. Whether this earthing improved the sound or not I cannot say, but the hum was sufficient for me to not want to listen without the Novo being earthed. When connected to my PC rig I had no earth attached, I didn’t even think about it till it made its way to the main system.

I began to spin the vinyl. The new self titled album from Mudcrutch, followed by a host of older classics from Alan Parsons, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and Santana. All are albums that I know intimately.

Well now I was getting somewhere, this is where I really started to hear the differences that existed between the Solo and the Novo.

For those of you who know, think of all the attributes of a nicely burned in Solo, the gloriously smooth and silky yet detailed high end, a bottom end that digs deep and low yet like the highs still contains great clarity and detail, and a midrange that while never in your face is always just about right. (I’ve always found the Solo midrange to be quite neutral which to me is a good thing).  

The Novo is almost all of this, it almost has the same great bass, almost has the same reach up high, and there is a little less air between the instruments across that slightly diminished soundstage. But the sound is pure Solo. All those wonderful dynamics are there, the same tonal characteristics, the same flavour, all just the same but just a little reserved. This to me is the Novo – its 96% of a Solo.

Basically it displays all the great characteristics of the Solo, the punch and the drive, the clarity and definition, the way it can delicately relay the finest details to you –but then it pulls ever so short. More like its keeping something in reserve rather than having a shortfall. Who knows, maybe it needs another 500 hours on it?

Now this is no mean feat, and bear in mind the Novo is half the size and less than half the cost of the Solo, so now we are starting to see the importance of this new amp. I would never call it a poor man’s Solo because that wouldn’t do it justice, this amp is remarkable on its own merits, yet I was amazed that something so small, and so affordable could come so close to an amp as capable as the Solo.

I thought I did hear on some tracks a slight kick in the lower midrange of the Novo when compared to the Solo. Some drum beats seemed to stand out more on the Novo, which is interesting given that all else seemed to be a little less than the Solo.

Summary
Not much different to a Solo in sound but at a bargain price. What more do you want?
A greater difference was heard when using an analogue source. Im not sure of the reason for this but I feel this points more toward the failings in my digital system than it does any failings in the Novo. And we all know vinyl rules don’t we?  

小白

ServerBaboon的评论:


System consists of:

Michell Gyrodec , OL modified Rb250 (with slot) and Ortofon 2m Black
GS Green Reflex
John Shearne Phase 2 & 3 Anniversary Amps biamping Audio Physic Yara's
Denon DV3910 Universal Player.

Green Solo
ATH-A900 Headphones

Cabling
I use some homebrew CT100 cables with Monster Connecters for the Solo and Relex.

I am still using the tape out of my amp so I can switch between CD and LP, also I didn't want to use the through connector  on the Novo  as I am not sure whether this would be a fair comparison with the green solo. I will be physically switching cables between the solo and novo but leaving them plugged in and warm.

Tingling.
When I had the Novo plugged into my amplifier using my CT100 homebrews I did  not detect any tingling. When I had the no signal cabling connected I did get some tingling. I am not sure if this lack of tingling is from using the shielded cables  or the fact I connected to my amps and not to my reflex. Using my CD player because of CDs lower noise floor I could detect any noise other than the music.

While not intending to do a detailed comaprison for a couple of days more burn in I did a quick compare between the green solo and novo with Rodrigo Y Gabriel doing Orion from their latest studio album and the novo seemed to be a of comparable quality.

Listening
Switched to Vinyl for some general listening.

Little Richard - Here Comes Little Richard - All the energy of this recording is there from the opening ' A-Wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop-bam-boo'.  This recording is more a foot tapping test rather than detail, its all there but there are places on the original recording where Little Richards voice overloads the mic which you can really hear. Still very enjoyable.

Burial - Untrue
This 'dubstep' record has some deep bass but still has some high  frequency detail in there which was all there and not swamped by the bass.

John Barry - Themeology
Started with the the theme to 'The Persuaders' wonderfully dramatic synth tune reproduced with all its scale from the low key beginning to the baroque? main piece.
Ipcress File - The spooky overtone to this sparse tune is all there, the clarity of the flute (or what ever wind instrument it is) the sinister keyboard (harpsicord?). Simple starting tune but heavily atmospheric.

At this point 'She who should be obeyed' decided that she was also 'She who should not be ignored' and so further listening was rescheduled to tonight.

Been doing some side by side listening with my green solo now, reviewing is hard work especially side by side.



I haven't got a spare IC to use the pass through so I am having to swap both the ics and the phone socket and my age induced aad means I have forgotten what the previous sounded like.



Marvin Gaye - Lets get it on (LP)

Just got this repressing from Zavvi for £7.

Novo seems to have a heavier bass line, perhaps for my taste a tad to heavy for me and had to resist the urge to turn it down so keeping the mid at the same level as the solo. The bass line did not wallow just seem more pronounced where as the green solo was still firm but seemed better integrated. Not sure how much burn in this Novo has had yet to say whether the base will reduce. Outside of the bass comments had trouble picking differences between the solo and novo.

Japan - Ghosts (LP)This piece of 80s electronica has a mixture of keyboards and percussion instruments. Listened to this track several times on both amps trying to gain a idea of the differences. The differences as for me was that the solo seemed to have slightly more space or air in the treble especially the cymbals, triangles and xylophone(?) Its not that there is a problem with the novo treble just that I preferred that of the solo in a side by side comparison, the novo seemed to play the ting of a triangle where as the solo played the ting and also more of the harmonics.

I am struggling to pick up clear differences between the two (besides the bass) and have to wonder about the relative costs .... the £250 difference between the solo and the novo. For me there is a difference but novo is so close and enjoyable that I would seriously wonder whether it is better to have the novo and spend the savings on more music or some ATH-W1000 from pricejapan.


That said I lived with my green solo obtained at the trial price and so the Solo is the choice for me.

小白

jonclancy的评论:


Novo Review Part One

OUT-OF-THE-BOX

The Graham Slee Enteos Series Novo Discrete Solid State Amplifier is housed in an extruded aluminium case measuring approx 10cm x 10cm x 5cm.  Initial impressions – Black aluminium volume knob is nicely finished.  Overall case fit is very good, but finish on front and back panel edges could be improved.  This is a beta model, so perhaps the edge finish on the production model will be improved.  I’d like to see ink-filled engraving rather than silkscreen on the front panel, but the market will probably not allow this, as the extra cost would push the price in excess of £230 plus VAT, and this is an entry level model, after all.  Silkscreen printing is nice and accurate.

The quality of the aluminium extrusion is, however, excellent, and I especially like the use of flush-fitting hex-head screws on the case.  The quality of the RCA sockets on the back panel appears to be very good, too.  The Novo features a chain-through circuit that makes integrating it into your system a doddle.

Power supply is a small, switched-mode, wall-plug unit in black plastic.  Multi-voltage in and 24VDC output.  The lightweight unit comes with a selection of international plug adaptors, which is superb as the Novo is certainly small enough to take with you on trips.   I’d like to try the Novo with a linear PSU, and have a standard 7824-based regulated supply I will try later.

The Novo instruction sheet is very comprehensive.

Overall out-of-the-box impression is pretty good!

UNDER THE BONNET

Next step is opening up the unit for a nose under the bonnet.  Inside is a very tidy PCB with excellent build quality and premium components.  Attention to detail bodes well for the listening tests.  Because of the nature of the beast, some PCB tracks are necessarily long – however, if the PCB was used as a drop-in upgrade board for an op amp based CDP headphone output (or in a pre-amp – or AS a pre????), then these tracks could be shortened considerably.  Hopefully, Graham will be offering the PCB only through diyaudiokits. While having a poke around, I noticed that Q3a andQ4a, Q3b and Q4b appear to be thermally coupled, and perhaps could use a little more thermal grease and a cable tie?  Finally, I measured PD between the casework and ground, to see if there was any SMPS tingle (or if I was imagining it).  I had about 4.25VAC on the meter, and it was almost imperceptible to the touch.

Channel imbalance is evident with the volume pot turned all the way down, but this is corrected by the time the volume is in the 7 o’clock position.  Depending on the source level, normal listening position is around the 9.30 to 11 o’clock position.  So not an issue, but worth pointing out as initially thought a channel on my new DAC was faulty until I gave it some more Vees.  With the source paused, and the volume pot turned up fully, there was virtually no hum at all – very, very quiet, and what was present was probably caused by our crappy mains here.

Overall, the Novo has a nice PCB, very clean, super layout, using good quality parts.  This will be great for a kit, suitable as a first time project, and I think everyone building one will be very pleased with it indeed!

TUNES

All Review and Listening notes were made in real-time with a Dictaphone and then transcribed (ish) to the report.  I started off listening to the Novo with Hugh Masekela’s “Hope”, Track 12, “Stimela (Coal Train)”.   This is a very nice live recording that is recorded at a pretty low level, needing around 12 o’clock volume setting with the K701s, vice around 9.30 – 10 o’clock for my other test tracks.  The joy of this track is the dynamic range, and the song has a couple of crescendos that would have lost impact had the recording been more heavily compressed.

I decided to start out trying two sets of cans – the K701s and also Sennheiser’s bang-for-buck PX100s.  Transport duties were undertaken by my Philips CD960 (unmodded, with the battleship build CDM1 transport) and the numbers sent via HDXV coax (RCA to BNC) to my recently completed Pedja Rogic AYA Rev2.0c DAC (Vanilla TDA 1541A, trick powersupplies, re-clocking, custom-wound trafo).  Analogue sent via Van Den Hul hybrid ICs to the Novo.

NOVO LISTENING TEST  - MASEKELA

PX100 at 9.30.

Good bass weight and separation, and quite fast, but lacking the air in the recording.  This results in a slightly enclosed sound.  Mids are quite good, really.  Not a particularly huge soundstage.   Altogether not as if you’re actually there for a live performance, so pretty unexciting really.  Kick drum carries a weight you can feel in your head, but not too much detail or timbre with the kick.  The crescendo at 3:50 is a little harsh, but trumpet is pleasantly smooth., but without that rasp to the notes you get with good reproduction.  The listening test was stopped there, because the PX100 were a limiting factor.  As they are pretty new, with less than 5 hours on them, it’s clear they need running in.

AKG K701 at 11.30 o’clock

Much less bass weight, but the air!!!!! Drums have a timbre to them and speed / accuracy that is very, very good.  Crescendos are not harsh.  Sax sounds very nice, though not that full-bodied.  Accuracy and detail much improved.  Trumpet much, much better – you can hear the breath going through it as he plays and you can hear the vibration of his lips on the mouthpiece as he’s playing.   Great instrumental separation.  Guitars easily discernable in the mix.  You can hear Masakela inhaling before starting to sing, his breath and the rasp in his voice.  Tympanies at 8:00 have masses of timbre.  Brilliant!  At the end of the track, the ambience is there – you can feel the size of the room!!

SCHA LISTENING TEST

I decided to compare the Novo wih the op amp-based SCHA.  Mine is modded to the Rock Grotto standard (give or take) and I’m using a TKD stepped attenuator for volume control.  Input caps are 10uF Wimas and op amp s LM4562.  I have a  Teddy Reg and JLH PSRR fitted between HA and the PSU, and will try the PSRR by itself in later tests.  The SCHA kit will be on your doorstem from Jaycar for £20 in stock form, and a fully build and modded version will cost around £60.  With the TKD and TR the price is similar to the Novo.

Great stereo separation, almost too wide, but very detailed.  Very good, nice bass weight, similar to Novo, and perhaps a little rolled-off on top.  Smooth delivery.  Perhaps a tiny bit less definition on the bass.  Weight is there.  A rounded, musical presentation.  Nice air and echo on the trumpet – you hear the rasp, but it’s smoother.  Ties in with the rolled off highs, but musical – very pleasurable.  Perhaps the soundstage isn’t as wide as the Novo, but a “blacker” and creamy presentation.  It’s certainly a more rounded delivery.  Tympanies have the timbre and detail.

BACK TO NOVO at 4:07 – Trumpet Solo to end.

A little bit more air and separation.  Different, but not necessarily better.  Separation on the guitars is better, but might be the LM4562 in the SCHA, and I have decided this is the best of the OPA627 pair and stock 2132.  AD826 sounded great, but had high DC offset.  Novo is very detailed.  You can hear the wavering in the repeated trumpet notes – vey good.  Definitely better definition.  Voices sound great.  How would this be as a pre-amp????!!!  Backing vocals readily discernable rather than being part of the whole picture.  Timbre in the mix is easily discernable.  Highs are not harsh, even at high volume.  Very, very good.

SNEAKY PREVIEW - PATRICIA BARBER

Volume at 9.30 o’clock.

Very amazing timbre, good separation.  For some reason, my eyes are sweating! This is very good! You can hear the bass sliding up the fretboard in the background on note decay.  Piano sounds natural.  Detail is fantastic.  Wow, brilliant!

There is definitely a lot more air, separation and detail on the Novo.

More to come…………..

小白

jonclancy 太会写了,这是他的第二部分评论.


Novo Review Part II

For Part II, I concentrated on the post-mod Novo with both SMPS and Linear power supplies.
Music was a repeated section from Patricia Barber’s “Night Club”, and Hugh Masekela’s “Hope” and all other test equipment remained as before.
Novo SMPS - Barber
Volco 10:00
I wasn’t able to compare the sound immediately pre and post mod, but I would stress that I didn’t find the SMPS artefacts affecting the sound as reported elsewhere.
Stereo separation and detail are (still) there in spades.
No smearing or haze.
Nice defined bass (as before – not too huge, but accurate and fast).
Piano is natural, with good timing and timbre.
Novo Linear - Barber
I hot-swapped power supplies without any pops, crackles, noise or complaints.
I was surprised to immediately find an improvement in space and air.
More reverb was evident on the piano, and I’d say even greater stereo separation.
Bizarre!!
There was more slam to the bass, but not really any more weight to it.
It was tighter and faster – crisper and more defined.
Overall it was a very fluid presentation, with more definition, air.
I am certain there is an overall improvement with the Linear PSU.
Novo Linear – Masekela
Great separation and texture.
You can really get the feeling of the live performance – the crowd shouting in the background is clearly discernable.
Great highs with no distortion from the trumpet, brilliant stereo separation – very, very good listen!!
Overall, a more detailed delivery compared with the Op Amp based SCHA (which had a different, more homogenous presentation).
I would have to recommend the Linear PSU over the SMPS for sound quality, although the SMPS is very convenient.
It’s easy enough to build your own Linear PSU using a 7824 fixed regulator, and more performance gains may be possible using a JLH PSRR, ALW Super Reg or TeddyReg.
Unfortunately, time didn’t allow me to test these with the Novo, but hopefully one of the DIYers will be able to sometime.
Using the Novo as a Pre-Amp
I decided to try the Novo as a pre-amp, driving a pair of Arcam D290P amps in a bi-amped configuration.
Transport was a Marantz CD85 into a Pedja Rogic 1.1b (vanilla TDA1541A), speakers were IPL transmission line with ribbon tweeters.
When I plugged the SMPS in, it was the first time I noticed there was a little high-pitched buzz when running.
This’ll be the nature of the beast, but thought I’d mention it for later reviewers/owners, as it was noticeable.
There was quite a bit of hum through the speakers, but I had NOT earthed the Novos case (this was a quick and dirty test), but the hum did NOT increase at all, even with the volco turn up full.
This is a quiet circuit!!
The 8:30 position was definitely loud enough and if you wanted to use the Novo as a pre, you’d need to reduce the gain to get the volco in the mid range.
A small gain reduction would be a happy medium, and allow you to use with cans or as a pre without running out of volco range at either end.
Musically, there was a definite improvement over the op amp based Arcam pre-amp stage in the previously installed D290 integrated.
The Novo was driving the amps through a bog-standard 6.3mm stereo to RCA cable, about 5 ft long, so not a perfect install!!!
The same brilliant timbre was there, and the IPLs really do present bass well.
It’s a big sound.
Top end is nice and not harsh in any way.
I could live with this as the pre-amp in my system.
I’ve been having a thing about this, and don’t think it would be at all difficult to mod the Novo to make a great pre.
Perhaps a bit of track cutting and wiring would allow the chain-through sockets to be fed from a shorting headphone socket (if you get my drift).
With the gain reduced a little, “Hey Presto!”.
A decent headphone amp and pre-amp for £235 (or less for the kit).
Conclusion
The Novo is a great headphone amp, with a detailed, non-fatiguing presentation.
For the money, it’s a steal and will make many music fans very happy indeed.
I’d recommend a Linear PSU if you are able to source or build your own, but, if you can’t, don’t worry.
The SMPS does a competent job.
For me, with my ears, in my system, with the AKG K701 headphones, the Novo makes a lot of sense.
It does make you wonder what the upcoming Graham Slee Solo SRG will sound like at around double the cost!!!!!
I can’t wait to read the reviews on that one!!

小白

这是 less 写的听感:


The Novo came to me well run in but I have kept it powered up 24/7 since it arrived.  I paired it with my Arcam alpha8 CD Player and Senneheiser HD580 headphones.  I was going to listen using my Shure SE530s but I enjoyed the Sennheisers so much that I didn't bother to change over and anyway the Shures are really for a different application.

My initial few minutes with the Novo reflected the other reviewers comments in this thread:
Wow! Really quiet, and lots of 'air' around instruments.  I think, having listened some more, that it is the silence of the electronics that creates the sense of spaciousness and what to my ears is a very neutral sounding amp.   My regular amp is the Arcam alpha nine and comparing it's headphone output to the Novo I would definately say it is on the warm side.

I played a wide range of music through the Novo;  Jazz, orchestral, choral, rock and never once found the listening tiring, which is something I cannot say for the Arcam.  Instruments and voices were all crystal clear, so much so that I 'jumped' a couple of times when say Ted Hawkins or Michael Buble started into a new track.  There was a great sense of realism in the voices, which is rather disconcerting at times as it seems someone else is in your head!

I have not experienced any problems with hum, and as I noted above the unit is quiet at the night.  The only earth connection being through the mains cable (PME).

Listening to my music collection with the Novo has been a genuine pleasure, and more than once a revelation as more of the recorded sound is delivered to the ears.  I will be ordering the kit version and doing a lot more of my listening with headphones.

Thankyou Graham for a superb product at an astonishing price point and for giving me and others the opportunity to preview the product.

nadesicozhao

看到了个DAC-1pre屁股上插了好多管子

小白

老实说国外的NOVO评价里,我看到最靠谱的还是英国Hi-Fi Choice杂志的专业评论,作者Rochard Black.




The Graham Slee Novo is built into a solid metal case that's actually a 'clamshell' design held together by front and rear panels.

Inside is a circuit built entirely from discrete transistors, using (Slee tells us) multi-path feedback, a remarkably painstaking approach to such an apparently simple job as driving headphones.

In agreement with Slee's specifications, we found distortion not quite as vanishingly low as some can offer, though still in practice more than adequate, while frequency response is not entirely flat: treble slopes off perhaps just audibly at some volume-control settings, while bass is a little leaner into low impedances than high, 3dB shy at about 24Hz/15Hz respectively.

Specialist amp (有专长的耳放)

In a group which showed subtle, but consistent character differentiation between the contenders, this was very much the beguiling one. (在一组声音存在细微区别的竞争耳放中,NOVO是有着非凡诱惑力的一个产品.)

That's not to say that it is perceptibly short of detail or any other particular quality, but it does seem to specialise in a very attractive vocal register in such a way as to seduce the listener, particularly with ballads, gentle instrumental pieces and anything at all sentimental or smoochy. (这并不是说它缺乏细节或任何其他特质,但确实,NOVO专长于表现出非常有吸引力的人声频段,在比方歌曲,轻柔的器乐曲,或一切感性的,柔和的音乐等方面,对听者具有特别的诱惑力.)

On the other hand, given something lively like a Mozart symphony or some upbeat jazz, it bops along most cheerfully, with perhaps a little subjective highlighting of middling-range instruments, but also plenty of extension in both bass and treble, the latter being admirably open and 'airy'. (另一方面,如果是播放一些活跃的音乐,如莫扎特的交响曲或者有节奏感的爵士乐,NOVO的播放非常欢畅,也许带着一些对中频乐器的强调. 不过与此同时它的两端延伸也是充分的,特别是高频,非常开放和具有"空气感".)

The Graham Slee Novo is excellent choice, we feel, for regular long-term headphone listening. (我们觉得,对于常规的长时间耳机聆听来说,NOVO是一个出色的选择.)

缥姚校尉

这个小耳放，看起来  很像是  小O1DAC

[ 本帖最后由 缥姚校尉 于 2008-12-14 20:53 编辑 ]

cpstream

这帮人是纯粹的器材党，听啥都说好

懒的看