Audionet Heisenberg Mono Amplifiers

[shakti]

I started already a thread about the great Audionet Heisenberg amplifiers,
It would make sense to continue the thread in the new Audionet hemisphere :

Audionet Heisenberg Mono Amplifiers

After it was clear to me that the Audionet Stern would stay in my system, https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/audionet-stern-preamplifier.31911/ I got the chance to listen to the Audionet Heisenberg Mono Amplifiers http://www.audionet.de/maschinen/heisenberg/ Fortunately, the...

www.whatsbestforum.com

 

[heihei]

In my experience, the Heisenbergs are the star of the show in the Stern / Heisenberg pairing. The Stern is an excellent pre, but on a stand-alone basis is bettered by CH L1+X1 for example. I've not heard better power amps than the Heisenbergs however.

 

[peter pan]

cant express how pleased i am with the heisenbergs.

 

[sbo6]

I wonder how different a Stern / Max combo sounds versus a Stern / Heisenberg combo? Or Stern / Max versus the Humboldt?


Also, I recently purchased the Max mono blocks and besides how absolutely beautiful, bold, realistic and effortless they sound I'm amazed at how ruthlessly discerning my system has become in terms of cable changes.

 

[sbnx]

Try the pre-g2. It is a really nice preamp. The stern just gives a little more of what the preg2 does. It will take what the max amps are doing in your system and multiply it.

 

[peter pan]

shaki, on the pictures it looks like you are using xlr between stern and heisenbergs.
audionet strongly recommends rca.

 

[shakti]

Audionet was known for ages to strongly recommend RCA. Humboldt, Heisenberg and Stern are the first Audionet components with equally good working xlr connection. On Humboldt I even prefer the xlr inputs.
My main sources are connected with 2m and 3m xlr cables, the cable between Stern and Heisenberg is 8m long. I prefer to have source and amps connected in the same way. All xlr or all RCA. I tried RCA connections as well, unfortunately I could not get the same cable type for the comparison. I preferred XLR in my set up.
But I am going to try other RCA cables, if I can find a matching length.

Who at Audionet recommended the RCA connection for the Heisenberg amp?
Maybe he can suggest a RCA cable as well.

So far, I will stick to my XLR cables in use.

 

[peter pan]

thx for the detailed answer.
it was mr. schwehr himself, however, you might be right.
and woowww, you do have the humboldt as well. how do you like it

 

[beaur]

My only worry with these amps is - If I enjoy them will I really have them?

 

[Uk Paul]

Audionet was known for ages to strongly recommend RCA. Humboldt, Heisenberg and Stern are the first Audionet components with equally good working xlr connection. On Humboldt I even prefer the xlr inputs.
My main sources are connected with 2m and 3m xlr cables, the cable between Stern and Heisenberg is 8m long. I prefer to have source and amps connected in the same way. All xlr or all RCA. I tried RCA connections as well, unfortunately I could not get the same cable type for the comparison. I preferred XLR in my set up.
But I am going to try other RCA cables, if I can find a matching length.

Who at Audionet recommended the RCA connection for the Heisenberg amp?
Maybe he can suggest a RCA cable as well.

So far, I will stick to my XLR cables in use.

8m is getting a bit too long for a reasonable comparison between the two; what you may gain you may lose with the single run. The only experience I have with Stern / Heisenberg's is at HeiHei's amazing system, he uses our B52 RCA but at 1.5m. My colleagues that distribute Audionet here also advocate RCA, but in your case you should experiment..
Rgds,
Paul

 

[XV-1]

Is the Stern / Heisenberg a single ended or fully balanced design?

It says nothing on the website, so assume it's single ended. That is why rca should sound better.

 

[peter pan]

fully balanced/double mono, that goes as well for the humboldt.

nagra recommends rca as well and many others.
then again, 8 meters might be better done by xlr

 

[shakti]

and woowww, you do have the humboldt as well. how do you like it

No..., no need for a personal Humboldt.
But a good friend has bought the Humboldt after having heard the Stern/Heisenberg at my home.
So I am actual hearing the Humboldt on a regular base and like it a lot.
Previous amp were VTL 7.5 MKI Pre and ML33h monos, Humboldt replaced them.
Humboldt is a great saver space

 

[christoph]

No..., no need for a personal Humboldt.
But a good friend has bought the Humboldt after having heard the Stern/Heisenberg at my home.
So I am actual hearing the Humboldt on a regular base and like it a lot.
Previous amp were VTL 7.5 MKI Pre and ML33h monos, Humboldt replaced them.
Humboldt is a great saver space

How close does the Humboldt come sonically to the Stern/Heisenberg combo?

 

[peter pan]

that is an incredible replacement
used to have the 33h / no32 myself, went then krell evo2 / evo600, then nagra classic amp/tube dac then humboldt and now heisenberg.
levinson was very good. no32 is still by todays standart a top allround pre. one of the best values on 2nd market. 33h is very transparent. one could wish more slam. and a less dangerous casing.
the krell was excellent on the piega line source, not good on the wilsons and focals.
in the end the evo600 failed twice, reperatur etc and i sold it.
the nagra was the very best but had not much power. low volume outstanding, higher volume falling apart on both the pieaga and the wilson tunetot.
i wish i had kept the levinsons and didnt waste all the money.
evolution in the world of amplifier is much slowlier than one thinks.
that said, from levinson 32/33h to humboldt is very great evolution, sound-price-space-wise.

 

[shakti]

How close does the Humboldt come sonically to the Stern/Heisenberg combo?

We never had the Humboldt side by side to Stern/Heisenberg, too much weight to move around...
But knowing the sound of Stern & Heisenberg, it is easy to recognize, that Humboldt is from the same DNA.
Stern& Heisenberg can play even on very low level with a lot of energy and transparency, most other amps I owned before do need a higher SPL to sound authentic.
Listening to Humboldt can give the same low level SPL magic.
I would say, the difference between this components is becoming bigger with growing difficult speaker load.
The Heisenberg can drive anything with control, so far the best amp I know for my Avalon Osiris.
In todays times many 90db plus speaker with a fair load do exist, so the difference between Humboldt and Heisenberg to drive them is becoming smaller. At my friends home a pair of Verity speakers is connected to the Humboldt. Impossible to hear any limitation from the Humboldt in a 60sqm room.

 

[sbo6]

Another compare I'd be curious about - Pre G2 + Max amps versus Humboldt.

 

[heihei]

Having owned Max and Heisenbergs, and knowing how close the Humboldt gets to Stern / Heisenberg levels, I don't think this would be particularly close - I would be expect the Humboldt to be ahead by quite a margin

 

[sbo6]

Thanks Heihei. I wonder how much of a difference there is in dynamics given the Max deliver 400/700/1100W and the Humboldt delivers 320/460W.

 

[heihei]

I guess for tough speaker loads you may notice some differences on challenging music, but in the scheme of things, the Humboldt has plenty of power