How does it sound?
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We pulled out the Focal Elear again for the listening test. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard it on a serious headphone amp. Yes: it occasionally is connected to the Grimm UC1 or the Grace M108, and it sounds nice. But we know that a decent amp that can deliver some current can just get more out of it. We used the Sonnet Pasithea as a source. The Pasithea gets its signal through the trusted Mutec MC3+.
Fast!
What is immediately noticeable is the speed of this headphone amplifier. Boy: everything is so tight and correct…. you really look right through everything. We had the same feeling with the Violectric, we remember. That one was also so nice and pointy and fast, but with a little more ‘juice’. A little more ‘HiFi’ to use a cliché. It is abundantly clear that the Lake People G108 has the same roots; the signature is clearly present.
Is it then a ‘poor man’s’ Violectric? No: the Violectric does have a little more glow and sophistication, but this G108 comes close. Although, of course, you are missing a pair of outputs and a dac. So the DHA V590 can do a lot more. And you pay for that too. But if you already have a nice converter and do not need a pre-amp, you can get 80% of that quality for much less money, we estimate.
Incidentally, it is useful to know that the G108 is the most expensive in the series of Lake People … right… 699 Euros is the most expensive. There are 250 Euro versions. We are very curious to know what they do.
