hello amir, thank you for the review. very interesting!
i just had a G100-W at home for a short audition. too sad i have to send it back tomorrow, as it arrived a bit late and i need to leave for some weeks and have to send it back to not loose my EU " free send-back" warranty...
as far as i know, the G100-W is the father of G109 and violectric V100.
i have to say im VERY impressed with the power this device puts out... its literally INSANE compared to my actual hpa (which is an old lite audio DAC-AM)...
the G100-W has unlike the G109 no SMD parts as far as i know and 5 jumper settings for gain, -12/-6/0/+6/+12.
i tested with 0 and +6dB.
on 0 i was a bit underwhelmed with DT880/250, but set to +6dB gain, beyond 12oclock this amp really does a serious job, i have no clue whats going to happen on +12dB
unlike yourself, im VERY impressed by the housing... to me, its nothing short of PERFECTLY build. i think, it looks much nicer then the G103/G109 series housings.
only thing i noticed are the plastic buttons for the switches, which i guess are a bit "retro" or vintage feel...
and sure, it does not look "hifi", but i assume its intended... for "good looks", they have the violectric line? the G109 is actually for professional use as far as i know and im sure thats the reason why it has no external gain switch aswell, and you have to open the case to use jumper for gain control... to me, this makes sense.
the G100-W DOES have unbalanced and balanced XLR input, has an input switch (unlike auto-switching on G109-P) and its 120euro less... 400euro MSRP in EU.
i think its a MUCH better deal for consumers then G109-P (which is around 520)
so, as for competition in EU, there is simply not one single device i can think of in that pricerange, which would be equal:
equal high power output
minimal output impedance
balanced input
quality integrated power supply
AND a good quality case with premium pot (RK27)
there simply are none.
im not talking about devices that put out 100mW into 300Ohm, theres plenty!
im talking about really powerful devices to drive headphones which need that power.
the only contender in my opinion spec whise we can buy here as you mentioned is the atom for around 150-160euro.
but honestly, alot ppl wont buy it for the plastic case and the pot alone... regarding haptic and feel, the atom is not only not in the same league, its not even in the same game...
not to mention it
has no balanced input (debateable wether this is useful to users, or not)
obviously does have some flaws (reading about some poti hissing, some stuck relais, wobbly volume control)
has that external power brick which alot of ppl simply dont like...
all acceptable things for such a flawless performance at that price, i totally agree, but it is still, in my opinion, NEVER a direct contender to a lake people device like the g100-w... its simply the only alternative performance/spec wise in a given pricerange.
whether the advantages of g100-w are worth the 2.5x price, is debateable aswell, thats true.
and the THX AAA 789 is simply not an option in EU, as there is no importer so far, so has to be imported directly (which gives you alot trouble for warranty issues), and, with taxes and shipping fee, in the end cost the same or more... heck, is it available at all atm, i mean in the US? i have no massdrop account so i donno how this works tbh.
what would be REALLY interesting, how the G103-S would perform compared to the here mentioned devices, as it is not 400, but only 265euro in EU... but then again, i dont know about its availability in the US/ME/APAC.
but i totally agree on recommendations regarding buying the G109-s... if someone askes me to buy the G109-s or G109-p, id say buy the G100-w, IF you need the output power. thats what this device was designed for in my opinion, demanding 300 or 600Ohm headphones. if i dont have a demanding headphone, why would i want to buy a totally overpowered amp for my needs then in the first place, that would make zero sense (unless i plan to MAYBE buy one in the future, and want to be prepared for that already), i could simply go with a topping dx3 pro for 200 and be happy, AND get the DAC for free...