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Review and Measurements of Massdrop THX AAA 789 Amp

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So what is needed to run this unit Balanced? Do you have to run Balanced in from a DAC or can you do SE RCA and still get balanced out?
 

JohnYang1997

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Nice, is this still a viable AMP for the price these days? Amazon has it for 320 prime shipping so no need to go through Drop.
Currently have a Topping A50 and am using balanced but I feel I want a little more power.
At that price point 789 is a beast, powerful and low distortion. You can also wait for the A50s that's internally completely redesigned for class leading performance.
 

dreadknot

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is the 6watt output constaint in balanced mode for the DROP + THX AAA™ 789 LINEAR AMPLIFIER or is it less at lower gains to anyone who knows what the power level output is at Gain: 0.66x , 2.0x i want to give my m570 cans sound good power an sound

but not blow them out i plan to put a Peavey PV215EQ Graphic Equalizer between it an my DROP + GRACE DESIGN STANDARD DAC BALANCED i really hate pc software eq's just never quite right for me

but please if anyone who knows what the power level output is at Gain: 0.66x , 2.0x at 32ohms let me know it will be helpful in my decision making for buying this amp
 

panther

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I ordered an Element II not thinking I would really care about Balanced XLR, but while I am waiting for it I have been wondering if that was maybe poor judgement on my part. AAA 789 was my other choice with a Modius when I was deciding. Will I really miss anything when my music library is like 90% AAC iTUnes matched files and 10% Loss Less. Headphones are 660s.
 

Veri

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Headphones are 660s.
660s are really not very demanding headphones, slightly less power needy than the 650/600 even. The Element will more than suffice. Balanced XLR interconnects are handy when connecting devices for noise immunity, since the Element is an all-in-one you have no real need for balanced, whatsoever. Balanced headphone cables (so not interconnects) require a balanced wiring on the headphone and can provide more power (at a slight cost in increase noise due to dual amplifiers). But JDS labs have never made an amp with balanced output. Probably they don't believe it improves anything, cfr. https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better
Since you don't need the extra power I think you made a good decision. Don't worry ;)
 

panther

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660s are really not very demanding headphones, slightly less power needy than the 650/600 even. The Element will more than suffice. Balanced XLR interconnects are handy when connecting devices for noise immunity, since the Element is an all-in-one you have no real need for balanced, whatsoever. Balanced headphone cables (so not interconnects) require a balanced wiring on the headphone and can provide more power (at a slight cost in increase noise due to dual amplifiers). But JDS labs have never made an amp with balanced output. Probably they don't believe it improves anything, cfr. https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better
Since you don't need the extra power I think you made a good decision. Don't worry ;)
Thanks for that link to read and advice. My only previous experience had been moving some Yamaha speakers to XLR years ago as where I was living I had some terrible issues with power which seemed to go away moving to XLR and a Furman power conditioner. Not sure which did the trick so I kinda was regretting not going XLR for the amp in this case.
 

madugo

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this may be a dumb question, with a balanced cable that has a 1/4" connector vs a balanced cable that has a XLR connector, does it make any difference on the volume, if one is going in the XLR plug and one is going into the 1/4" plug?

asking because the newer version of the HD800s has a balance cable with 1/4" connector.

Thanks.
 

Veri

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asking because the newer version of the HD800s has a balance cable with 1/4" connector.
There's an included balanced 4.4mm Pentacon cable. The 4-pin XLR Cable is an optional accessory.
1/4" TRS is inherently unbalanced.
 

bboris77

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There's an included balanced 4.4mm Pentacon cable. The 4-pin XLR Cable is an optional accessory.
1/4" TRS is inherently unbalanced.
Sennheiser really should be including a 4.4mm to XLR adapter cable as well for comparability with the other 90% of amplifiers. These adapters are available but not widely. I’m looking for one for my hd800s in Canada.
 

Veri

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Sennheiser really should be including a 4.4mm to XLR adapter cable as well for comparability with the other 90% of amplifiers. These adapters are available but not widely. I’m looking for one for my hd800s in Canada.
I used this (back then there were not many around)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078SS9WLT/ ships from China so not sure how customs handle that in Canada? Cable works reliably for me. Amazon has similar products just read the reviews.
 

madugo

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There's an included balanced 4.4mm Pentacon cable. The 4-pin XLR Cable is an optional accessory.
1/4" TRS is inherently unbalanced.

Ha funny I read the manual wrong...somehow I thought the 6.35mm was the balanced cable...
This solve the problem I think, i will just get a 4 pin XLR adaptor..
 

odyo

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odyo

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Yep this is what you need. I bought one from Hama brand for like 7.99eur from amazon. Works perfectly.
I would suggest the cable replacement over a plug adapter really: less reliable.
There is nothing special to it right ? Every cable should work ? IEC C7 Figure 8 power cable. I guess this is the naming.
 

odyo

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Yep this is what you need. I bought one from Hama brand for like 7.99eur from amazon. Works perfectly.
I would suggest the cable replacement over a plug adapter really: less reliable.
Can you use this amp with active speakers ? I don't see preamp out.
 

Veri

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There is nothing special to it right ? Every cable should work ? IEC C7 Figure 8 power cable. I guess this is the naming.
Nothing special to it, nope.

Can you use this amp with active speakers ? I don't see preamp out.
There is an SE passthrough if you use SE input. Could route that to active speakers.. but yes no active preamp. From the top of my head only Topping A90 has that functionality and same or better specs.
 
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