LH Labs Geek Out GO2A, V2, V2+, Infinity and SE Impressions and Reviews

Now, i understood what he meant utilitarian sounding. Thank you.

 

There's only one mode worth using, the one with the green light. I don't remember the name of the specific mode, but it's available on all the versions. It's not the SSM.

 

Thank you. Green light is FRM mode. TCM is blue, FRM is Green and SSM is Red. I will just stick to Green light.

 

Yep, FRM is the one you want.

 

No need to get the Infinity version for the HD 650 -- Not worth the extra 100 bucks...

 

Thanks for your feedback. Can you elaborate why it is not worthy upgrade for HD650? Is it because there is not much difference between GO2A and GO2A Inf?

 

There is really not much difference between the GO2A and GO2A inf. Just make sure you have a balanced connector.
Balanced is key!

 

Admittedly there has been comments about the deleterious effects the iEMatch has on the sound, so if the hiss is not obvious then just skip it.

 

Thank you very much for clarification.

Re: ranking, since SE version is very limited and expensive, would below still apply the same in terms of engagement?

GOV2+ Infinity > GO2A Infinity > GOV2+ > GO 2A

I guess that the gap between would be very marginal though. I was intrigued to see from the rank that V2+ (battery version) is better than non battery version.. I guess that it is because battery version comes with better power management and blacker background?

 

Use your own ears to decide. I like the blue over all others.

 

Good to know. I will try both when I get the unit and decide which one to use for Streaming

 

I strongly prefer the Green (linear phase) filter as well though I can appreciate that the Blue (minimum phase) filter might appeal to other ears. I'm not sure why you would want to use the SSM filter nor what it does. IMO streaming has zero difference from playing a file off disk unless they mean "we optimized this filter for low bitrate content" at which point I would be asking... what's the difference and why does it need something different vs the existing minimum/linear phase options?

Anyhow, I did eventually do the shootout between the V2 and GO2A Inf and my main setup.

Briefly:
GO2A (Inf) improves both digital (small improvement) and analog (big improvement) sections over V2+. The analog section is the real star here and to be brutally honest I think it's almost on par with my Ragnarok in driving a load like HD650.

Vs the main digital stack (Yggdrasil/Mutec/Rag) the GO2A was clearly inferior in digital land however like I said the amp section is a superstar for a portable device... just keep it away from contact with anything that could melt easily because it gets seriously toasty.

In summary:
GO2A Inf digital is about on par with a Modi Multibit/Bifrost Multibit definitely below Gungnir Multibit. Analog section is killer and actually hangs in there with fullsize desktop solutions... just watch the heat! I think it's a strong contender for "best sound available" at it's price point and makes an ideal entry level all in one solution due to it's integrated and super portable nature.

 

I thought the V2+ also had the same analog stage as the 2a. Maybe not the old all 3D-printed ones, but the ones with the metal plates should. Is that not correct?

 

Crap my bad.... It's just a regular V2 which actually belongs to @Mikoss



For some reason I've been associating the V2 with V2+ all this time even though AFAIK the only difference between the V2+ and to GO2A currently on sale from lhlabs is the battery in the V2+.

 

Thanks for the clarification! The various revisions and naming schemes don't always make it easy to keep everything straight.

 

DELETE (due to double posting)

 

Thank you for further clarification. Very helpful indeed. I noted that Operational Manual states, "SSM (Stable Streaming Mode)* - This digital mode optimizes the timing of audio being played from streaming sites such as Spotify and Tidal or any other music streaming services." Hence, I perceived that it is the most ideal for streaming music. Not sure why they created this mode after all since it adds zero value.

I guess that above awesome Analog section performance is based on balanced output. Just out of curiosity, if it is Single Ended, it would drastically reduce the performance from Ragnarok level down to Magni 2 Uber level ?

 

What are the technical differences between the Green and Blue filters?