[Erick Muller]

It drive tungsten beautifully.

That's all I needed to hear, this is my next amp then. I also own the S17, just wondering if anyone else here has had problems with the S17 having some background hiss on IEMs?

 

[quawn0418]

That's all I needed to hear, this is my next amp then. I also own the S17, just wondering if anyone else here has had problems with the S17 having some background hiss on IEMs?

This is very subjective hobby my friend. I personally felt like it couldnt drive the tungsten well when i heard the combo at canjam. Sure canjam floors are a bit noisy, but i was at 90 of 100 i believe on high gain and i dont consider myself a loud listening, sound was smooth but really lean compared to the speaker amp tap beside it, not sure which speaker amp exaclty. The dac was an a26. Very little headroom if any, you should find a way to audition one first as you may be ok with the pairing, just sharing my experience.

 

[Erick Muller]

This is very subjective hobby my friend. I personally felt like it couldnt drive the tungsten well when i heard the combo at canjam. Sure canjam floors are a bit noisy, but i was at 90 of 100 i believe on high gain and i dont consider myself a loud listening, sound was smooth but really lean compared to the speaker amp tap beside it, not sure which speaker amp exaclty. The dac was an a26. Very little headroom if any, you should find a way to audition one first as you may be ok with the pairing, just sharing my experience.

Ok, thx my friend, tbh I'm also looking at a speaker amp to run tungsten but I would really would like to find a dedicated headphone amp that can run them properly and that doesn't break the bank, and it's not a topping amp.

 

[quawn0418]

Ok, thx my friend, tbh I'm also looking at a speaker amp to run tungsten but I would really would like to find a dedicated headphone amp that can run them properly and that doesn't break the bank, and it's not a topping amp.

Smart man lol

 

[muths66]

That's all I needed to hear, this is my next amp then. I also own the S17, just wondering if anyone else here has had problems with the S17 having some background hiss on IEMs?

But if you listen music in very loud volume this amp or your music record is low will go quite max.my volume high gain on this amp is around 80% for tungsten.

 

[Cuthbert 80]

That's all I needed to hear, this is my next amp then. I also own the S17, just wondering if anyone else here has had problems with the S17 having some background hiss on IEMs?

I also have the Gustard H26.

After a seriously long break-in period...I can say that this amp sounds really great.

However, it feels nowhere near as powerful as what the specs would lead you to think.

I was expecting to run my hugely efficient Meze 109 Pro on a scale of 1-10 out of 100 on high gain.....instead I'm running at 31 out of 100 (albeit with -3 on my EqualiserAPO PEQ Preamp).

I've found Gustard amps to generally sound excellent but you should take their official specs with a big grain of salt.

 

[muths66]

I also have the Gustard H26.

After a seriously long break-in period...I can say that this amp sounds really great.

However, it feels nowhere near as powerful as what the specs would lead you to think.

I was expecting to run my hugely efficient Meze 109 Pro on a scale of 1-10 out of 100 on high gain.....instead I'm running at 31 out of 100 (albeit with -3 on my EqualiserAPO PEQ Preamp).

I've found Gustard amps to generally sound excellent but you should take their official specs with a big grain of salt.

Yes power state is powerful then real. But at least it still able run my tungsten at volume 80.This amp is good can use iem and hp no issue for me and the preamp is good too.

 

[Erick Muller]

Yes power state is powerful then real. But at least it still able run my tungsten at volume 80.This amp is good can use iem and hp no issue for me and the preamp is good too.

So this amp can run Tungsten properly?, That's what I'm looking for, more than subjective takes on how this amp sounds like(which I'm sure it's going to sound great). I'm looking at Cayin's new amp, the iHA-8, Schitt's MJ3 and Flux Labs Mentor, from my reading, MJ3 maybe can run them but it depends on your music, how loud you listen too and some report that it doesn't them well enough, iHA-8 and Mentor might have the power to run them properly, the problem is for me that they lack proper pre-outs which is a big bummer, which is why I'm interested on this amp, with my current amp, the S17 I might just barely run Tungsten well enough, but just barely, and the problem is that I do EQ and upsampling with HQPlayer so I need some headroom on my amp in order to do this and I have a -6dB digital attenuation.

Currently I can run all of my cans on low gain at ear destroying levels on my current setup(I don't listen at those level but I do listen loud), but I'm frequently above 50% of the volume range on the S17 on all cans, honestly it doesn't bother me that I'm about two thirds of the volume range on my amp, this just means to me that my current set up is fine and good for my needs, the only thing that can be of concern is when you go above 80% and are about to max out on your volume range because that can introduce noise and distortion, well that's at least what I found on my amp but I can only hear that on IEMs if I max out the volume(this test was made with no signal going through the S17, there's a noticeable noise floor if you max out the volume even at low gain).

 

[muths66]

So this amp can run Tungsten properly?, That's what I'm looking for, more than subjective takes on how this amp sounds like(which I'm sure it's going to sound great). I'm looking at Cayin's new amp, the iHA-8, Schitt's MJ3 and Flux Labs Mentor, from my reading, MJ3 maybe can run them but it depends on your music, how loud you listen too and some report that it doesn't them well enough, iHA-8 and Mentor might have the power to run them properly, the problem is for me that they lack proper pre-outs which is a big bummer, which is why I'm interested on this amp, with my current amp, the S17 I might just barely run Tungsten well enough, but just barely, and the problem is that I do EQ and upsampling with HQPlayer so I need some headroom on my amp in order to do this and I have a -6dB digital attenuation.

Currently I can run all of my cans on low gain at ear destroying levels on my current setup(I don't listen at those level but I do listen loud), but I'm frequently above 50% of the volume range on the S17 on all cans, honestly it doesn't bother me that I'm about two thirds of the volume range on my amp, this just means to me that my current set up is fine and good for my needs, the only thing that can be of concern is when you go above 80% and are about to max out on your volume range because that can introduce noise and distortion, well that's at least what I found on my amp but I can only hear that on IEMs if I max out the volume(this test was made with no signal going through the S17, there's a noticeable noise floor if you max out the volume even at low gain).

My friend did tried max volume but he didn't said got noise.

 

[Yamato37]

I also have the Gustard H26.

After a seriously long break-in period...I can say that this amp sounds really great.

However, it feels nowhere near as powerful as what the specs would lead you to think.

I was expecting to run my hugely efficient Meze 109 Pro on a scale of 1-10 out of 100 on high gain.....instead I'm running at 31 out of 100 (albeit with -3 on my EqualiserAPO PEQ Preamp).

I've found Gustard amps to generally sound excellent but you should take their official specs with a big grain of salt.

I've seen you on the H16 thread, giving impressions of it. If you don't mind, please compare the H26 to it for a bit, even if only added to whatever impressions you were already gonna write at some point.

 

[Cuthbert 80]

I've seen you on the H16 thread, giving impressions of it. If you don't mind, please compare the H26 to it for a bit, even if only added to whatever impressions you were already gonna write at some point.

I was actually very disappointed with my H26 when I fired it up straight from the box. Why you might ask? Well...it sounded almost EXACTLY the same as my H16 lol.

Gave the H26 a thorough burn-in and now...it does NOT sound the same although to be fair...they still share some similarities.

In essence..the H26 is like a H16 on a serious dose of steroids. The stage on the H26 considerably wider...there is slightly more extension up top, however, it is MUCH smoother not only in the higher frequencies but all areas. The depth and height is actually about the same as the H16. The H26 sounds slightly more neutral than it's little brother but it's not at all clinical, cold etc. It sounds "musical" with the tiniest hint of warmth.

The bass/sub bass is tighter and has a much nicer texture...especially in the mid bass. The midrange is smooth and silky as hell but with the added extra bite when called upon from the track. It is a very energetic amp that demands your attention.

The only thing I don't like about my H26 is it's nowhere near as powerful as the official Gustard specs would lead you to believe...unless you maybe had a DAC outputting 7 volts into it lol. It is however, probably more than powerful enough to drive the VAST majority of headphones with absolute authority. Outside of a Susvara, I suspect the Modhouse Tungsten would also make the H26 weep slightly though lol.

Considering how well the H16 holds up to the H26....I don't think I'll ever sell the H16.

 

[BC00]

Looks like it's hard to justify the price difference going from h16 to h26...?