Project Polaris Discussion Thread

I doubt this will get as much traffic as the Ember thread, but here goes.

The Project Polaris is Garage1217's solid state amp. From what I understand, it's very similar to the Ember II, but uses a JFET in place of the tube. Supposedly the JFET lends some mild tube-like distortion. It's got all sort of jumpers with adjustable output impedance, 6 overall gain settings, and even some bandwidth settings to roll off top end if that's your thing.

I bought primarily for use with HD650. I'd read so many good things about the Ember II, but just don't want to deal with tubes and tube rolling at the moment, so this seemed like an easy choice. It's a bit less expensive, too.

I gather @Luckbad has/had one. Anyone else have thoughts, feelings, likes/dislikes? I haven't spent a ton of time with it, but out of a GOV2, it's an improvement over the GOV2 balanced output. Part of me wishes I'd sprung for the aluminum chassis.

 

I really like the Project Polaris. It does indeed sound a lot like a tube amplifier.

The jumpers you can adjust are freakin' awesome. It's one of the most versatile amps you can get at the price point.

It's really on par with the Project Ember II unless you specifically want to tube roll (and I do, so I have the Ember now).

As for the chassis, you can always order the aluminum from him later. I got acrylic on both because I think it looks really cool inside.

Edit: Polaris is still a solid amp, but the Sunrise and Horizon as the best in the G1217 lineup at this time.

 

Having both an Ember and PS-III, I suppose I should listen to one of these as well. Of course, it is no secret that I like the PS-III a lot, second only to my ZDSE.

20151109 edit: Ok the Project Sunrise moves to 3rd place now, after Cavalli Liquid Crimson has taken 1st and ZDSE moves to 2nd, in my acoustic lab.

 

How does the Polaris stack up against the Asgard 2 (and any other comparable amps), and what amps would you put it on par with? I currently have a Vali but am considering getting a do-it-all unit for everything from sensitive IEMs to a possible future HD650 purchase. The Ember's tempting but I'm not keen on rolling tubes and dealing with tube hiss/noise again - always a sad face when I want to plug sensitive headphones/IEMs into my Vali...

 

I haven't heard the Asgard to make a comparison, but I'm not sure I'd recommend the Polaris for IEMs. Even on low gain with input attenuation, I can't turn the volume up enough to get out of the channel imbalance range with my UERM.

 

The choice between the PP and the A2 is exactly what I am currently facing. I don't need to use with iems, I have other options for those, which I really only use on the go anyway. Any info re the comparison with the A2 would be greatly appreciated.

 

Weird... I had no issues with IEMs or noise on the Polaris. Did you have input attenuation on, low gain, low output resistance? No background hiss, no cellphone beeps even with it charging a few inches away.

I was usually past 10 o'clock with 16 Ohm earphones for extended listening sessions on the Polaris.

You sure you aren't thinking about one of the Garage1217 tube amps?

 

I am considering selling my micro iCan and replacing it with either a Polaris or an Asgard2. Anybody here owned both? Any thoughts, comments, warnings, etc? I actually like the sound of the iCan, but was hoping for a little more headroom powerwise. Anyone?

 

The Polaris is better but has no bass boost.

I'm temporarily running the iCAN Micro at work and felt the Polaris was superior, but it does sound a little like tubes.

If you use bass boost and 3D settings you might miss it.

If you prefer the neutral solid state sound, the Asgard 2 could be a better option.

 

Does the project polaris have enough power to give my zmf vibro's some balls? I have a magni and little dot 1+ both being fed by a modi, no wyrd, but much prefer the little dot 1+ sound, although it's underpowered.

Other headphones are dt880, he400, and mad dog pros.

Just worried it's "only" 2w into the planars.

 

I don't have the vibros, but I use low gain with HD600s, dt880-250s, he500s, and lcd 2s, and never get past 2 o'clock on the volume knob and no sign of strain, with the stock input attenuation module, and set for attenuation; in other words, shit-tons of head room left.

 

Toying around with the Polaris after my Gustard H10 burnt up. And as far as i can remember, the Polaris doesn't drive sub bass with the same balls as the Gustard H10 (maybe 98% intensity), but it's able to pull detail and space much better than the H10 + Burson V5 op-amp combo.

After some bandwidth settings, my preferences seem to be low gain, low bandwidth (Mellow) and medium impedance with attenuation enabled. This creates comfortably loud volumes at 8 o'clock on my modded Hd650's or about 9 o'clock on my Zmf Omni's. (Made me realize how quiet I typically listen to things)

I'm still looking for that sweet spot with all the available tweaks, but it's nice to sit back and listen to music again.

 

Thanks so much for posting this. I wish we had more Polaris and ember comparisons too. I keep going back and forth between the two.

 

Yeah, I was actually torn between the Ember and the Polaris myself, but then I figured I can use the money saved from tube rolling and put it into other headphones. And as much as I love my modded Hd650's and Zmf Omni's, there's still plenty of signatures that I want to check out before I settle down.

 

Curious if the Polaris would compare against the O2? Thanks.

FWIW my headphones are the AKG K7XX and Philips Fidelio X2.

 

Polaris is better than the O2 in every way. I actually owned both at the same time for a while. I don't own either anymore, but if you're looking in that price range for a solid state amp, Polaris is the best choice I'm aware of.

 

Is there a setting on the Polaris to make it sound neutral? Thanks!

 

No? The jumpers are mostly gimmicky and don't do much to the sound, with the obvious exception of the gain switch. It's technically a SS amp jerry rigged to sound like a tube amp, there is always going to be a haze or 'pleasant distortion' in the midrange to give a sense of euphony. That being said it will still crush the O2 as an amp.

I suggest going for the Ember2 if you can swing it, it'll be much easier to tweak to your liking via tube rolling and G1217 is including a free set of RCA cleartops for the time being