HiFiJeff
Super Member
It's been a month, have you given it a whirl??? LOL
10 Watts it's plenty of power for my 97db efficient ZU Audio DW's.
1969 HOOD AMP REPRO
- Thread starter Archguy
- Start date
It's been a month, have you given it a whirl??? LOL
10 Watts it's plenty of power for my 97db efficient ZU Audio DW's.
I like the packaging, but for that money there are so many choices.
Stefan Wood
Active Member
Man, I am sorry. I have it sitting right here next to me. I simply haven't had a chance. I have been running around every single weekend. Father's Day.
HiFiJeff
Super Member
Where are your priorities? LOL
GuyNoir
Hallowed State
Stefan Wood
Active Member
Got it hooked up tonight. Using a Raspberry Pi3 + DAC, connected to a mini hard drive filled with 4TB of jazz. Hood amp connected to Wild Audio Betsys. First impressions: smooooooooooooooooooooth! Real smooth. Everything is balanced just right. Now to endure the break in period........
Stefan Wood
Active Member
OK, now expanded to having the Pi connected to a passive preamp, then connected to Hood to Betsys. The passive preamp also connects to a Dayton plate amp which is connected to an Eminence Alpha 15". Solid! Tight!
I had some time this weekend to compare the Chinese Hood to both a Decware UFO ZEN And a Rega Brio R with the Zu DOs. Here’s a quick and dirty between the three amps.
The Brio can be a fun amp. Punchy with lots of bass, drive and excitement. With the wrong speaker the Brio can come across as a bit too much highs and a bit too much lows. With the Zu, it works really well. I’ve played the Brio with everything from Harbeths, Kefs, single drivers and open baffles. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. With the Zus it’s a fun match. Lively, fun and pretty good soundstaging and imaging.
Putting in the Hood, you can tell it’s not as powerful. I use the Hood in another system with some Betsy drivers. It’s a great match in that system. Big huge soundstage with a nice authoritative sound. It images well and has good dimensionality too. With the Zus, it’s a decent amp, a solid state amp that tries to sound like a tube amp; mellow with softer highs. For example, one of the pieces of music I used in my listening had lots of sustained high frequency bells. With the Rega, the high frequencies had a nice attack, but the sustained sound of the bells were more artificial sounding than with the other two amps. While I loved the Hood on simple pieces, when the music became more complicated, the Hood couldn’t keep up as well as the Rega. I really like the Hood amp with other speakers and was surprised how it sounded with the Zus. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t assert itself like it has in other pairings. I wonder if the high impedance of the Zus have something to do with this as I don’t hear this with the Betsys, and I much prefer the Hood Over the Rega with some of my single driver speakers.
The Decware was my favorite of the three. Putting it in, you immediately notice how the music floats. When your system is dialed in, you’ll look at the two big speakers in front of you and wonder, what are these two things doing and why are they in my room? It’s as if the music totally detaches itself from the speakers and just happens. With the bells, you get the attack and an ethereal sustained dimensional ringing. Everything is more dimensional and presents itself in a more real way. Even though it’s got a fraction of the power of the Hood, it was able to present complex music better.
A few notes. I’m not a loud listener, if you are, you might have a completely different viewpoint. My listening room is well treated and small. I sit about 6 feet away from my speakers in a near field arrangement. If you have a large lively room with hard surfaces, I’d bet that the Decware wouldn’t fare so well as it’s subtlety’s will be lost in room noise.
Hope that helps.
mjw21a
Super Member
Yes, I found the Hood to be very speaker dependent with respect to its performance. I expected it to do well with my high efficiency Dayton USA PS220-8 based speakers (96.5db). Not so. It sounded like it was struggling. Paired with Boston Accoustics A100 two ways it's just magic. The speakers disappear.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
Nice review. Your Decware is an amazing amp with few peers. No amp can resolve detail at low levels like a single ended triode.
HiFiJeff
Super Member
Yes. I do miss my Decware. Thought about buying another one but it seems like this is a VERY competent single ended amp as well. The Musical Paradise MP-301 MK3. At 3 times the power of the Decware and 3 times less expensive, this will most likely be my next purchase.
http://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=54
Stefan Wood
Active Member
I've been using this as my main amp for the better part of this month. It really mates well with my open baffle speakers. Clean sound.
mjw21a
Super Member
Must say, I'm really enjoying the little Hood amp paired with an AKM4396 based sound card and little Polk Tsi100 bookshelves + Wharfedale SW150 sub for my computer audio. Absolutely leaves the S.M.S.L class D amps in the dust. Far far more useable volume in comparison despite supposedly 40WPC less to play with.
HiFiJeff
Super Member
Leaves all class D amps in the dust? I have the Allo Volt+. Wonder how it compares to that.
mjw21a
Super Member
Is the Allo Volt+ an S.M.S.L product? I've only specified those you'll notice. I'm sure there is class D amplification will better it, just nothing I've heard yet. Hence my comment "Absolutely leaves the S.M.S.L class D amps in the dust."
Justgotohm
Super Member
I received one of these Hood amps a few months ago, I’ve been using it with some Fostex FE166En’s in BR cabs with Foster super tweeters and a Grant Fidelity Tube DAC. It has plenty of power for these speakers, as mentioned previously has a nice smooth mellow sound while producing plenty of lowend. I was running the 166’s with a Little Bear P3/Shure 50w class D combo, the Hood amp sounds exponentially better.
My biggest gripe is the stupid Krell logo, it’s hard to get past that, why not just brand it with something unique. I could just peel the logo off. Ironically enough I plan on using the little Hood with a Krell PAM 5 pre and Cornwall II’s in a couple weeks when I get home. I’m curious to see how this combo sounds.
My biggest gripe is the stupid Krell logo, it’s hard to get past that, why not just brand it with something unique. I could just peel the logo off. Ironically enough I plan on using the little Hood with a Krell PAM 5 pre and Cornwall II’s in a couple weeks when I get home. I’m curious to see how this combo sounds.
Last edited:
hifix
Active Member
Just wondering what SMSL amp you are comparing it to ?
mjw21a
Super Member
So far, the Q5 Pro, AD18, SA-50 and SA-98. No plans to get any more though I do like their DAC's. The SU-8 looks interesting. Just wish it used an AKM chip is all.
As for their DAC I own, or have owned the SD1955+ Sanskrit, SD793-ii, M3, M8.... I've played with a bit of their gear. It's been a fun journey
As for their DAC I own, or have owned the SD1955+ Sanskrit, SD793-ii, M3, M8.... I've played with a bit of their gear. It's been a fun journey
Last edited:
