HEADAMP GS-X MKII - REVIEW
HEADAMP GS-X MKII - HEADPHONE AMP
“Once more into the breach”, that is with regard to HeadAmp, a manufacturer who has consistently provided us with products for review which have continually distinguished themselves as top notch performers and thus award winners.
As I mentioned in an earlier review, HeadAmp is based in Virginia and run by the very affable Justin Wilson, who will more often than not take your calls and questions regarding HeadAmp equipment. This in and of itself is quite rare, as calls to manufacturers more often than not find themselves in voicemail purgatory or worse. I could list the names here of the various culprits, but that would be in ‘bad form’. Perhaps.
I have had a number of conversations with Justin. Sometimes the conversation was simply to get his view on the lay of the headphone space and other times to schedule a review of HeadAmp equipment. The information was always helpful and insightful and the equipment was alway shortly mailed out for its review.
To date, I have had the pleasure of reviewing the HeadAmp Blue Hawaii Special Edition (BHSE) electrostatic headphone amplifier, an exceptional product, which remains one of my reference headphone amplifiers. I have also reviewed the HeadAmp GS-X Mini, the ‘little brother’ if you will to the headphone amplifier currently under review. The Mini is quite small but packed with ability, ample power reserves, and a rather delicious musicality.
This brings us to the review of HeadAmp’s Top-of-the-Line dynamic headphone amplifier and big brother to the Mini, the HeadAmp GS-X MkII. The GS-X MkII is a two-chassis, 6-Watt amplifier with multiple inputs, outputs, and headphone outputs for, literally (with adapter in some instances), all dynamic and planar headphone and In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) as well. But how does it sound?
REFRAIN: Unlike most reviews, this review will be non-sequential, as it will start, below, with how the equipment actually sounds and not the process of physically “undressing” it and/or laying out its various parts, specifications, etc. Think of this review then, as a non-linear movie—Memento, Kill Bill, Arrival, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Terminator, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Queen’s Gambit, etc—that, likewise, starts at the end and winds its way to the beginning.
The Sound
Whereas the HeadAmp GSX Mini touted a good measure of transparency, resolution, and detail retrieval, it was, above all, musical, richly musical, employing a degree of warmth that tube lovers would no doubt fall in love with. The HeadAmp GS-X MkII goes further in every respect, while bringing a greater sense of neutrality or getting out of the way of the music. And this trait alone allows the music—CD, album, stream, etc—to more accurately tell its story.
I used several headphones for ferreting out the GS-X MkII’s voicing, its skills and abilities. The headphones were the Meze Empyrean, the ZMF Atrium, the Dan Clark STEALTH, and the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC. Each developed its own ‘relationship’ with the HeadAmp GS-X MkII and thus its own quite distinct synergy. I used the Abyss AB1266 as the main headphone for its outstanding transparency and resolution and its ability to let the music flow unencumbered by ‘editorial’.
The HeadAmp GS-X MkII is a good deal more transparent and resolving than the Mini and this brings forward a wealth of detail/information and spatial cues—positioning, spacing, relative depth, etc—which will allow one to better hear or ‘see’ the performers on stage and to have a much better understanding of the stage and venue. The GS-X MkII also displayed an openness and transient speed and overall ambiance that the Mini could not match.
The GS-X MkII’s dynamic range also moves well beyond its ‘younger’ sibling—GSX Mini—and its noise floor is much lower still. There is no area where the HeadAmp GS-X MkII does not eclipse its sibling and this, in turn, allows for greater refinement, detail, ambiance, air, three-dimensionality, and overall musicality.
The HeadAmp GS-X MkII’s volumetric cube—its soundstage or how it recreates the original venue—is chameleon like in that it will take on the great difficulty of unfolding a choral landscape in the most natural manner, though only certain dynamic and planar headphones—Abyss AB1266, ZMF Atrium, etc—in tandem allow for the full unfolding. When a component, in this case the HeadAmp GS-X MkII, is able to lift the 500-lb choral/live music weight, all less difficult genres are relatively easy to render. And that proved to be the case, consistently.
The balance of the headphone reference system was taken up by the Baetis Audio Revolution X4 streamer (review coming), the Silent Angel Bonn N8 network switch, the Silent Angel Forester F2 power supply, and the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and the Mojo Audio Mystique X DAC.
Bass
Dominique Fils-Aimé’s “Birds” (Nameless, Ensoul Records) plays and the bass lines are taut, articulate, deep. This is a refinement beyond the GSX Mini’s abilities. Christian McBride and Regina Carter’s “Fat Bach and Greens” (Conversations with Christian, Mack Avenue Records) follows and its rendering is aided by the GS-X MkII’s greater refinement, transparency and resolution which lifts ever more detail free, while blazing transients set things rocking. Collectively the traits allow for a deeper dive into the upper and mid bass. As I had mentioned in my review of the HeadAmp GSX-Mini:
“And when the ruckus starts with the playful, musical, quick-moving mix of Christian’s bass and Regina’s violin dueling or doing their ‘call and response,’ texture, palpability, and microdynamics are liberated.”
This rendering is now bettered by the GS-X MkII with its improved dynamic contrasts, greater transparency and insight into the music, and its faster-still transients that facilitate much head-bobbing and toe-tapping and swaying with the music. And the music, relative to the Mini, is delivered free from editorial and is, as a result, more natural.
Midrange
Transparent. Resolving. Musical. I play the same songs/tracks that I used to evaluate the GSX-Mini (still currently in-house). Muddy Waters’ “My Home is in the Delta” (Folk Singer, Geffen) plays and there is more “there there” in relation to overall information (see transparency and resolution) which provides greater insight into the music, greater immersion, blazing dynamic contrasts, and more overall emotion relative to the GSX-Mini. There is also, interestingly, a sweetness that diminishes nothing but that pulls one even further into the music. It was my intention to go on to Mercedes Sosa’s Misa Criolla (Universal Music Argentina S.A.) but Folk Singer has me rapt and listening intently as I attempt to take notes. Suffice to say that the HeadAmp GSX MkII has laid bare the various tracks across this album (and others), and its greater transparency has allowed for the performance’s innate live emotion, its ‘blues’, to come flowing through.
Treble+
Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and then “Three to Get Ready” (Time Out, Columbia-Legacy) play and there is greater air and ambiance, speed and weight with regard to the resolution of Joe Morello’s Hi-hat cymbals that the GSX-Mini cannot match. Neither can it match the textural detail coming from Paul Desmond’s alto sax. It is a no-nonsense portrayal that does not bring the ‘tube-like’ warmth of its sibling but, again, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” And it is both unadulterated and lovely. It is this portrayal and those like it that stand the HeadAmp GS-X MkII squarely near the porch of electrostatic headphone amps.
The Wrappings and Accessories
The HeadAmp GS-X MKII, likes its sibling the GS-X Mini, comes in a printed, cardboard box that bears the HeadAmp logo across, literally, every inch of its every side.
Inside the box one finds a utilitarian enclosure with the GS-X MKII wrapped in a pinkish plastic bag and encased at its left and right ends in foam braces. Instructions, a power cord, warranty, decals also lie within. Minimalism.
Functional utilitarianism and minimalism seem appropriate ways to describe the external and internal aesthetic of the GS-X MKII, again much like its sibling GS-X Mini.
Design—Look, Feel, and Technology
The similarities, however, end with the GS-X MkII’s clean, no nonsense, industrial aesthetic, and solid, rather substantive build quality in relation to the GS-X Mini. The GS-X Mini is rather petite by comparison and does not support dual-balanced headphone outputs, nor a dedicated, standalone power supply. And, given those two differences, there are also substantive differences from the perspective of functionality and power on tap (up to 6 watts) between the two.
The HeadAmp GS-X MkII comes in a variety of finishes—blue, purple silver, gold, black. In the end, the HeadAmp GS-X MkII is well-constructed, an aesthetic beauty, and substantive in direct comparison to the GS-X Mini.
FUNCTIONALITY
The HeadAmp GS-X MkII is as easy as eating cherry pie—plug-and-play—to get going and to listen to music.
One simply plugs the headphone amplifier module via its umbilical cord into the power supply, plugs the power supply into one’s wall socket. Then come the various sources, DACs, etc, all powered and ready to go. Plug in one’s headphones, press On, and you’re ready to go.
The GS-X MkII operates in Class A, which can get hot. One should keep the top of both GS-X MkII modules clear in order to provide proper venting.
The front face of the GS-X MkII main module from left to right features an On/Off switch, a three-toggle gain switch, headphone outputs—balanced (four pin), balanced (stereo), single-ended (6.3), a large volume knob, and an input selector—RCA 1, XLR, RCA 2.
The front face of the GS-X MkII power module, from left to right features an On/Off switch and indicator light as to whether it is “On” or “Off.”
The back face of the GS-X MkII main module from left to right features a pair of XLR inputs and two pairs of RCA inputs, followed by a pair of XLR loop outputs and two pairs of RCA loop outputs, followed by a pair of XLR preamp outputs and two pairs of RCA outputs, a ground pin and an umbilical connection.
The back face of the GS-X MkII power module, from left to right, features a single IEC receptacle, far right side, for the power cord.
Conclusion
The HeadAmp GS-X MkII is an exceptional headphone amplifier that not only outperforms its GS-X Mini sibling, but a goodly number of headphone amplifiers that have come my way for review these past years, some being a good deal more expensive.
Its attributes are many, starting with its exceptional transparency and resolution, which ferret out both detail and insight in a manner that compels one’s attention. And one mustn’t forget the lickety-split transient responses or the dynamic contrast or the air and ambiance set free.
As I look over my review of the HeadAmp GSX-Mini, I’m reminded that “things change” and “everything is relative”. When I wrote of the Mini that, “You can’t possibly be making all of this incredible music”, the same thought, though of a higher order, can now be said of the HeadAmp GS-X MkII. The HeadAmp GSX-MkII wins, easily, our GOLDEN KEYNOTE PLUS AWARD that sits it on the doorstep of our highest award.
Pros: Transparency, resolution, ability to unearth detail that some HPA ignore, a natural rendering of the music free from editorial (especially when coupled with like headphones—specifically the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC).
Cons: None.
Technology and Specification
HEADAMP GS-X MKII
Dimensions - 14x 9 x 2" (HPA), 14x 9 x 2" (PSU)
Weight - 8lb
Inputs - 1x XLR, 2x RCA
Outputs - Headphone: 1x 4-pin XLR (balanced), 2x 3-pin XLR (balanced), 1x 6.35mm (single-ended)
Pre-Amp: 1x XLR, 1x RCA
Operation - Pure Class A
Power Ratings - 4W into 50 ohms, 6W into 25 ohms
THE SYSTEMS
Grimm Audio MU1
Mola Mola Tambaqui
Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch
Abyss AB1266PHI TC
Dan Clark STEALTH
Meze EMPYREAN & ELITE
ZMF Atrium
AntiCable, Audience, RSX Cables & Wires
TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner
2.
Baetis Audio Reference X4
Bricasti Design M1SE DAC
Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch
Abyss AB1266PHI TC
Dan Clark STEALTH
Meze EMPYREAN & ELITE
ZMF Atrium
AntiCable, Audience, RSX Cables & Wires
TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner
3.
Silent Angel Z1 Music Streamer
Silent Angel Forester F2 Power Supply
Silent Angel Bonn N8 Pro Network Switch
DENAFRIPS Pontus II
Abyss AB1266PHI TC
Dan Clark STEALTH
Meze EMPYREAN & ELITE
ZMF Atrium
AntiCable, Audience, RSX Cables & Wires
TORUS RM20 Power Conditioner
The Company
HEADAMP
GS-X MkII Headphone Amp $3,299
www.headamp.com
support@headamp.com
Call or Text : 434-981-2829