I happened to plug my LCD-5 into a Nimbus amp (below) and the sound was great, but the amp costs USD 6000 here -- tooo much, yet I want something like that but much cheaper to feed my phones. WHAT?
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How about the new IFI Pro iCAN signature,which I will get it for EUR 2300?
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You've done something to yourself.
Which version of the Niimbus did you hear, the one with volume control via relays or with the Alps potentiometer (the same as in the SA-1, by the way)? Old Niimbus US 4 / 4+ or new US 5 / 5 Pro?
About 3 years ago I listened to various headphone amplifiers at the Audiovista, also very expensive ones, but overall it was rather disappointing.
Most recently I was at the booth of Violectric and Lake People and didn't expect anything spectacular. I have owned an HPA V100 for many years and also know the G109, V200, V280 and V281 very well.
I didn't know the Niimbus and assumed a V281 in a high-quality case (the "industrial-style" cases have often been criticized). First I listened to the V281 on the V850 DAC with my K812 and my own music and wasn't disappointed either, all as good as I knew it.
Without much expectation (to be honest, none at all) I then listened to the Niimbus. Fried just gave me a cheeky grin as he watched my face fall and my jaw hit the floor. I had never heard music so clean and clear, at least not on headphones.
I switched back and forth between the V281 and the Niimbus a few more times, but the difference remained. It really was a lot clearer, a lot cleaner and a lot more detailed than anything I've known before. Normally, differences in good devices are more in a subtle area, which also does not lend itself to blind testing, but these two devices could have been really easily distinguished blindly.
I haven't had the time or opportunity to listen to Niimbus again for the past two years, but I'll definitely do that this year.
Incidentally, the IFI cannot do that, in my personal experience.
