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.

May hum and buzz. In this moment I not remember specifically any other, but may by I forget something.

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.

Similar Products Used:

Grado headphone amplifier (very goood bass).

Superb low-level dynamics, sweet yet crystal-clear highs, luscious mids and powerful lows.

No remote! My next preamp will have to have a remote! (But I'll probably keep this Melos unit forever.)

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!

Similar Products Used:

Electronic Visionary Systems stepped attenuators (the ultimate passive reference); Audio Research LS-7 (another great buy).

Very good sound for the money.

Insidious DC offset problem (confirmed by local tube equipment service facility) destroyed my Snell LF drivers

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.

Similar Products Used:

AR LS-8, Golden Tube SEP-1, Bryston BP-25, Adcom GFP-565, Adcom GFP-750, Threshold T3i

Not Solid State; Not Tubey. Indestructable!

Can't take it to work with me ... too large

Hello,

This thing sound so good. This has not tubey but not solid state sound which I like. This takes good things from solid state and tube state. Not too sweet not too crisp. I dont need speakers anymore. I never know 6922 make so nice and tight sound with mosfet.

SHA-1 I think is indestructable like a tank. SHA-1 has the simplest circuitry I have ever seen. I saw it when I was retubing and I fell in love with the simplicity. It was design to work not to fail. Unless of course if you drop it, soak it with orange juice, or shoot it with an anti-tank missile. Mechanical problems are certainly possible but by then I would have sucked up all the blood off of SHA-1 thru my ears.

Some people go as far as using regulator tubes to do OTL to avoid transformer distortions, but I am not so "purist" (Psycho) I would rather invest in signal sources or recordings. Besides regulator tubes are not so linear. And with mosfet, this amp can drive 600 ohm monster headphones to a darn piece of metal.

I am a third user. And I paid so much less than listing price. So value rating is 5 too for me.

Similar Products Used:

Homemade Headphone Amps

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.

I have been listening to music with an old boom box, and recently got curious about what was available in the "high-end" system arena. Looked around at different possibilites, which included Rotel and Creek integrated amps, I decided to go the headphone route.
I got a Melos SHA-1 and a CAL Icon MkII cd player and am in "audio heaven."

The Melos SHA-1 makes me hear things in the music that I have not heard before, and makes it sound very realistic, listening to jazz trios is such a pleasure now. It is like hearing someone in reallife, well maybe not as good, but I am happy about how close it makes me feel to the real thing. The cal cd player also has something to do with it. The music is just so musical, and I don't want to use any "audio terms" to describe my enjoyment.

Pure music, oh! by the way I use SR-60 Grado headphones, and am looking for HP-1's in the used market. anyway, overall I am very very happy with the SHA-1 and am going to use it as a pre-amp for the day I get am amp and speakers. cheers.

I just bought a used Melos SHA-1 and it is remarkable. Even my friends who scoffed at my other audiophile purchases thought I had hit the jackpot on this one. Through my Sennheiser HD545 headphones, I can pick out individual instuments like I've never been able to before. And as a preamp it VASTLY improved the precision and widened the soundstage over my Marantz AV550. The bass it tight and clean. Highly reccomended (particularly for the price... you can get these used for about $500 and they are built like tanks so they're likely to be in great condition.)

I have to agree what everybody said. Melos' people are hard to talk, and providing terrible service to their customers.
I used to send a check to them. They cashed this check but without keeping any record in their company. With numerous phone calls, they still insisted they never received this check. I have go to my bank to get a proof. All they want to do is cash you check. Do not send your check in advance. If you have Melos products, trade them in ASAP. If you are shopping stereo components, do not even think about Melos. I predict they will be out of business soon.

I've owned a Melos SHA-1 preamp for about 4 years and have been very happy with it. Give it 5 stars for both sound & value. If you prefer to buy one new via mail-order instead of used on the 'Web, Audio Outlet (916-666-0550) may still be selling it for $1,000 (versus Audio Advisor's $1,100).

But the reason for this entry is to inform SHA-1 owners of an awesome interconnect when listening via headphones. It's the AudioQuest Ruby. When listening thru 'phones via 1 meter of Ruby the sound is exceptionally liquid
and relaxed, far better-sounding than any other interconnect I've tried between
CD player & preamp - some costing 3 times as much (such as AudioQuest Emerald).
Choral music is rapturous, with classical & jazz almost as good. Even the rockish Mysterious Traveler (Weather Report) sounded better than with any other interconnect: intense, very detailed, but minus the harsh edge. (My headphones
are Sennheiser HD 565 Ovation.) When listening via loudspeakers, adding a pair of Ruby interconnect will add smoothness, widen the soundstage, and slightly reduce brightness (but they'll also reduce soundstage depth noticeably).

If you own a Melos SHA-1 and listen to headphones, check out the AudioQuest Ruby. (Give 'en about 100 hours to break in.)

Hi guys:

I got bad experience from MELOS. MELOS is notorious. They lied to me several times. MELOS SHA-Reference is not on the list of Stereophile now. I think it is the conclusion. Try other companies.