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jersey_boy
197
Sep 6, 2017
wait, the mk3 SE is twice as expensive as the mk3?
HollowState
198
Sep 8, 2017
jersey_boyApparently so...but consider this:
standard MKIII - 350mw @ 300 Ohm, 100mw @ 32 Ohm MKIII SE - 800mw @ 300 Ohm, 2.5w @ 32 Ohm
It appears that the MKIII SE has entirely different circuitry and components as simply scaling the analog circuit wouldn't produce the discrepancy in max to min power at a given impedance...maybe..I think...since the natural most efficient impedance of the standard MKIII appears to be near 300 Ohm, and the natural most efficient impedance of the MKIII SE appears to be near 32 Ohm.
jersey_boy
197
Sep 8, 2017
HollowStatethe audio gd nfb11 puts out that kind of power if not more, and includes a top sabre dac and a preamp out.... for about 330$ shipped.
the mk3se looks like a great amp, but i dont like it at that price. i could get an mjollner2 used or nfb11 at that price. im biased towards high power/current amps because i have around 5 sets of planar headphones. i do recognize that the mk3se is a tube hybrid and the nfb11 is solid state.
currently, i own a deckard, a littledot mk2 and several sets of tubes, and a few other amps. have the md x cavalli on order too.
i've had my littledot mk2 for around 2 or 3 years now and its a fantastic little amp.
HollowState
198
Sep 8, 2017
jersey_boyHi! Thanks for your reply. As my moniker suggests, I have an association with tubes going back many years, and I like them. But, I'm not against solid state at all. My first "good" stereo was an all-tube Pilot component system, and the next "good" system was an upper scale Carver system (all analog), and then I added the first Yamaha DSP to get into digital.
Back to your reply, I currently own a Little Dot MT and an ifi iDSD Black Label (and a couple of portables). I'm hoping to get my Massdrop x Cavalli by Easter. Again, thanks for your reply.
Z0d1Ac
251
Sep 9, 2017
jersey_boyThe names may be mostly the same, but are quite different. The SE has balanced xlr and also gives you more power.
TheIzzardKing
359
Sep 29, 2017
HollowStateTeach me: how do you figure the mkiii to be naturally better @ 300 ohm and the SE at 32 ohm?
I thought the SE was more powerful?
I'm looking for something that can push the 600 ohm berys...
Complete noob but I promise the time you spend on me won't be wasted, I'll actually digest what you tell me, do my research with the explanation you give and I'll be active in the community and answer dumb questions like this myself once I know what the hell I'm talking about and not a complete idiot anymore...lol
HollowState
198
Sep 30, 2017
TheIzzardKingHi, TheLizardKing. I'll give it a try, just keep in mind that I learned what little I know a long time ago. They teach electronics theory differently these days. My moniker is "Hollow State" as opposed to solid state. I learned a lot from tube circuitry.
In the early days of radio, the analog circuit that produced an audible signal was called a "ringing" circuit. That refers to the waveform of the electrons running through the circuit, Think of a sine wave on an oscilloscope. When a device like a speaker or headphone is introduced to a ringing circuit it affects the impedance of the circuit. You can think of the circuit as having a particular impedance at which the "ringing" is at its peak strength. If the added impedance of the speaker is close to the impedance of the circuit the signal remains strong. To the listener the speaker is easily driven (has more power delivered at that impedance). If the impedances don't match, the peak power of the signal drops off. The stats as to power at a given impedance for an analog circuit can give you a glimpse of how the circuit may behave. The bigger the mismatch, the more the natural ease of delivering the signal is reduced. That is why relatively large imbalances need more power to drive a given headphone.
That is the reasoning behind my previous post: the "standard" MKlll goes from a high output at 300 Ohms down to a low at 32 Ohms, while the MKlll SE goes from a low output at 300 Ohms to a high at 32 Ohms...the exact opposite. I don't really know what the circuit in each is, but I can guess that circuits must be fairly different in design to give such different output curves.
For the "standard" MKlll, the output at 300 Ohms (compared to the output at 32 Ohms) indicates the natural impedance is closer to 300 Ohms, all other things being equal...or the signal is more easily transferred to 300 Ohm headphones. Therefore, I can deduce that for the MKlll SE the signal is more "efficient" at 32 Ohms.
Furthermore, the relatively large power differential in favor of the MKlll SE at peak efficiency would indicate more amplification in the circuit. So, you are quite correct, the MKlll SE is more powerful...even at 300 Ohms. This also explains my observation that the circuitry might be very different.
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