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Top Ranked Products from Melos.
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Rating Reviewed by:
 Andres
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date May 23, 2004Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
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Review 1 of 13
Price Paid:
$450.00
from nd Summary: I bough this Line amplifier-headphone amplifier heavy used. I change the original Alps brand 2-Gang Stereo Attenuator for a DACT CT2 Stereo Attenuator, I try several pairs of Tubes, including two sets of Amperex NOS tubes from 60's, Siemens NOS tubes, Russians Sovtek 6922, Russian NOS 6H23, JAN-Philips, Westinhouse NOS from 70's, among others. The very best results (after my personal sound tastes) were with the Siemens NOS E88CC (99uSD e/a), and second with the Russian 6H23 (19USD), and the great disapointemt where with one paris of the Amperex NOS (89USD ea), the sound have a excesive roll-of in the high frequencies. This headphone-line amp is as good as it gets (and for the price!!!), I try with my Sennheiser HD-600 headphones, my Grado RS-2, and my Ethymotic research ER4s and ER4p earphones, in all cases with very very good results. I love this unit. May be have some problems with bad grounded systems, may hum and buzz. I use the preamp capabilities with My Pass Alep 3 amp, and with a Bryston 3B-ST, and PS HCA-2, untill this moment I never try to use with tube amps, I'm waiting for. In any case the sound was holographic and with a very good soundstage, not as much as my Pass aleph P preamp, which handly surpases the preamp capabilities of the SHA-1. If you can buy a second hand, good state SHA-1 may be a great deal. This headphone amplifiers realy sings with any of the head/ear phones that I tell you before. The sound is very very trasparent, fullbodied, very good bass, very sweet highs, very detailed.
What more I can I say. Strengths: As a headphone amplifier all that you may think, of course, after use it with a good pair of tubes. As a preamplifier, lovley sound, holographic, trasparent, etc. Weaknesses: May hum and buzz. In this moment I not remember specifically any other, but may by I forget something. Similar Products Used: Grado headphone amplifier (very goood bass).
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Rating Reviewed by: PAUL(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date January 30, 2004Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year |
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Review 2 of 13
Price Paid:
$0.00
from GIFT Summary: EXCELENT SOUND,SETING WITH MCINTOSH 275 ,QUAD ESL 63. Strengths: EXCELENT IMAGE,NICE HIGHS Weaknesses: NO RC Similar Products Used: AR,MF,CJ
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Rating Reviewed by: Mark (Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date June 7, 2002Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
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Review 3 of 13
Price Paid:
$1200.00 Summary: This is a follow-up to my review below. I have had absolutely NO problems with my SHA-3 since purchasing it in about 1993 or 1994.
I recently replaced the tubes (for only the second time) with a pair of new Sovteks from Audio Research ($70 a pair). The sound became dark and second-rate. Clearly the ARC tubes were not a good match.
So I ordered a pair of JAN Phillips US-made 6922 from www.thetubestore.com for $19.95 each ($52.85 delivered by Express in 2 days from Canada), and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
I have never heard this preamp open up and make such beautiful music. Based on the performance with these new tubes, I'm upgrading my rating from 4 to 5 stars!
Don't spend more until you've tried this tube-hybrid preamp / headphone amp in your system! Strengths: Superb low-level dynamics, sweet yet crystal-clear highs, luscious mids and powerful lows. Weaknesses: No remote! My next preamp will have to have a remote! (But I'll probably keep this Melos unit forever.) Similar Products Used: Electronic Visionary Systems stepped attenuators (the ultimate passive reference); Audio Research LS-7 (another great buy).
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Rating Reviewed by: Mark H.(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date January 11, 2002Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
4 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year Visitors rate this review 4.00 of 5,
1.00 votes
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Review 4 of 13
Price Paid:
$1200.00 Summary: I'm VERY concerned about the service problems people have cited above. However, I bought my SHA-3 new in the mid-1990s, and it has performed like a champ, without problems. I leave it on all the time, to keep it warmed up.
HOWEVER, I wanted to mention that I neglected to change the tubes for about 4 years or so, and that buying a new set from Audio Advisor for about $50 renewed my enthusiasm for the SHA-1 and for CD playback in general. DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR TUBES once in awhile, or you'll have no idea how good a preamp it really is.
Best wishes,
Mark H.
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Rating Reviewed by: Theodore Neff(Unregistered User)
(Audiophile)
Review Date January 14, 2000Overall Rating
1 of 5
Value Rating
1 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
2.00 votes
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Review 5 of 13 Summary: I owned the original Melos Sha for 3 years. It sounded incredible and was built to a very high quality standard. Because I wanted three inputs I ordered the newer edition two years ago. I noticed right away that this unit had not undergone the same quality control that my original had. It was obvious to me that Melos was resting on their laurels. I wrote them a letter and detailed my concerns on the registration card. I never heard from them. About a year ago my Snell E/III LF drivers blew for no apparent reason. I found out that the Sha was the culprit as it was literally spewing DC offset. This was confirmed by a very reputable local tube equipment repair facility. The tubes were not the culprit. The unit was. I tried to contact Melos by mail, fax, phone, and email. No response. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU LOOK ELSEWHERE, NEW OR USED. Strengths: Very good sound for the money. Weaknesses: Insidious DC offset problem (confirmed by local tube equipment service facility) destroyed my Snell LF drivers Similar Products Used: AR LS-8, Golden Tube SEP-1, Bryston BP-25, Adcom GFP-565, Adcom GFP-750, Threshold T3i
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