Heed Audio Obelisk Integrated Amps
- Thread starter Shane2468
- Start date
pocketkitchen
Registered User
Heed have kept Richard Hay’s design alive and it’s essentially the same as the old ION amps. As Richard was chief engineer at Radford, his dream for ION was for valve sound from transistors. They’re all very good but Ondont know how much Alpar has diverged from the earlier ones such as the Si nowadays.
I can remember reading an article about the Heed Obelisk where they changed the power amp circuit board and reduced the physical gap between components to a minimum. The sound quality was improved. S3?
I think this was to get the same performance as the old Ion Systems Obelisk which had everything incredibly close together.
The power amp design between Ion and HEED is nearly identical, the output transistors are different because the orginal ones are no longer available.
I can't comment on the HEED sound quality but the ION systems equivalent, with big additional power supply, is very good. Not too much hifi, very enjoyable to listen to music, live music comes over as live.
I think this was to get the same performance as the old Ion Systems Obelisk which had everything incredibly close together.
The power amp design between Ion and HEED is nearly identical, the output transistors are different because the orginal ones are no longer available.
I can't comment on the HEED sound quality but the ION systems equivalent, with big additional power supply, is very good. Not too much hifi, very enjoyable to listen to music, live music comes over as live.
Yes, we all hear differently; to explain the sound quality is almost impossible.
I think the main characteristics of the Heed amplifiers is rather special: when they enter the system, the hifi 'exchange compulsion' is greatly reduced; some kind of special musical content emerges.
I use to be a hardcore SE tube beliver - then I accidentally borrowed a pair of Heed blocks. It was 7 years ago...
No more tubes or any amps since then.
Here is a review.
I think the main characteristics of the Heed amplifiers is rather special: when they enter the system, the hifi 'exchange compulsion' is greatly reduced; some kind of special musical content emerges.
I use to be a hardcore SE tube beliver - then I accidentally borrowed a pair of Heed blocks. It was 7 years ago...
No more tubes or any amps since then.
Here is a review.
Bas V
pfm Member
I have also used an SI for quite some time. It's a very musical amp with a tad of warmth. Wonderful with jazz-music. It was replaced by a NuForce class D amp that I bought blindly. The presentation of these amps is very different. It's like analog vs digital. Preferred the NuForce for rock. Both can suit me from time to time. My problem is that no matter what the brand, I always feel like trying new stuff. The only exception is Naim. So I'm back with Naim (a simple UQ2) and happy again. (Please don't shoot me 
)
)I have the Obelisk Mk2 but also use an Exposure 2010S
The Heed gets me really listening to what’s being played, kind of draws me in to the music, if that is what is meant by the term engaging then I guess the Heed is more engaging of the two amplifiers.
The higher frequencies are sweet sounding, midrange is where this amp excels, with a nice richness to the tone.
The Exposure has more power, digs a bit deeper in the bass, and produces more extension in the higher frequencies, with more detail.
I’d like to try the Heed Mk3 which has more power than the Mk2.
Still on the search for my end game amplifier, something that combines the strength of the Heed/Exposure would be ideal.
The Heed gets me really listening to what’s being played, kind of draws me in to the music, if that is what is meant by the term engaging then I guess the Heed is more engaging of the two amplifiers.
The higher frequencies are sweet sounding, midrange is where this amp excels, with a nice richness to the tone.
The Exposure has more power, digs a bit deeper in the bass, and produces more extension in the higher frequencies, with more detail.
I’d like to try the Heed Mk3 which has more power than the Mk2.
Still on the search for my end game amplifier, something that combines the strength of the Heed/Exposure would be ideal.
per flemming
Registered User
When I used a Heed Obelisk I recall some easy driven like Rega RS3 or Ela, Royd (various) and old Heybrook HB1.
Worked well in medium sized room.
I first bought a Obelik Si with its Psu and changed for a Obelisk Pre-monos combo. Quite different beasts, very fast and not far from being tube-like. The guy who bought them from me when I decided to move back to a Copland CSA150 integrated for convenience compared them with his Krell KSA50!