Kavent S33 owners...are you out there?

Hey Wolf

From looking through the A'gon archives there was a member in Jan of 2006 that listened to the S33.

Here is part of what he said about it:

"You might want to consider the S-33 preamp by Kavent.. It runs about $1199.00 new and sounds great for the money. Me and 3 others did have the chance to hear the difference between the S-33 and the X-1 Pass labs preamp and all agreed we thought the S-33 sounded a little better overall.. There will always be matter of option , but we all thought it did sound a little more impressive.."

I also found an owner of the Kavent S-22 here and his system is pretty sweet. The title of the system in the Virtual Systems part of the forum is called MUSIKAVENT.

So I guess unless other members come forward it looks like it is just you and me with an S33.

I'll bug you about your headphone set-up in bit. Sounds like you did some cool things to get a headphone amp incorporated with the S-33.

Keep those funny posts coming too.

Good catch there Wolf. I honestly never noticed the writing of SA 93 on the S33's circuit board and I think I've seen that pic quite a bit from when I was looking for info about the S-33. I had also forgotten that there is a relationship between the Vincent Audio SA-93 and the Kavent S-33. I guess we can open this up to SA-93 owners as well.

I had heard about Kellsie Audio Video Design going under as well. I too hope they can get some VC or acquired by someone who cares about audio.

Thanks for the tip about how to hook up a headphone amp to the S-33. I'm saving that one for later.

I was able to get a pair of AKG K-701's that have been modified so that they can be plugged into XLR outputs. I was thinking I could plug in the AKG K-701 into the XLR outputs of the S-33. I just don't know if I'm going to have volume issues. That and currently the Kavent P-3300 amp hooked up to the XLR outputs of the S-33 and the combination is quite pleasing to my ears. If it ain't broke don't tweak it I'm beginning to think.

Hi Wolf

After reading your response above about hooking up my headphones to the balanced outputs of the S33 directly I had one of those what the hell was I thinking moments. The K701s aren't amplified and they would definitely need more than a signal to sound good.

Thanks for the help. You saved me a lot of unnecessary connecting & re-connecting of gear along with frustration. I can go back now to listening to music.

Looks like it is still just you and me with the Kavent S33. No owners old or new of either the Vincent SA-93 or S33 have come forward. Maybe they are all sitting back and relaxing.

Cool. Another Kavent owner coming out of the wood work. Very nice set-up you got their Kinn. I was contemplating buying an S-22 for my 2nd system but I needed a preamp with a good phono section and headphone jack. I needed to keep the 2nd system more simple than my main system where I have all sorts of separates. The S22 was very tempting though.

Wolf. Again you crack me up. Keep em coming. I saw the Bravo headphone amp but decided for a headphone amp from (you are going to get a kick outta this) Schiit Audio. Yup it is pronounced like you would think. I got the Valhalla headphone amp but haven't hooked it up to the S33 yet but might soon.

Melanco: Any luck with the XLR cable quest? Did you audition the Acoustic Zen Reference XLRs yet? Those Audioquest ones Wolf mentions are nice. If I ever get a source that was XLR outputs I may consider the Mogami Gold Studio XLR Male to XLR Female Studio Mic Cable (3') for them. I'm still pretty cheap with cables still.

Melanco
3 AZ cables to audition at once. Very nice. I probably would get confused after a while switching between all of them. Still a nice problem to have. How much time will you have with all of the AZ cables you are trying out? Do AZ cables require a long burn-in period?

Weseixas
I got my Kavent S-33 used from an A’gon member not too long ago. The P-3300 amp I got directly from Kelsie Audio Video Design. I called them about a question regarding S-33 and after talking to them they told me they had a B-stock P-3300 for sale. Maybe just give them a shout to see if they have anything left?

Wolf
Man AQ Diamondbacks for under $100. Good deal. All this talk of different XLR cables is making me think I should swap out what I got but I currently enjoy the sound of my system. I must resist the urge to tweak.

So far I’m really enjoying the Schiit Audio Valhalla. I got it hooked up to a Cambridge Audio CD30 and I’m getting lots of sweet music going on there with the AKG K701s or the K240 Mk IIs I got. It does run a bit warm but thank goodness for longer headphone cords. What headphones do you use when you are recording?

To the Kavent amp owners sorry for the stupid question but how long do you warm up your Kavent amps for before listening? With the P-3300 sometimes I wait for the meters to say .02 watts or until the amp is a little warm to the touch. I keep thinking about the Class A amps I’ve read about in the past that take about 45 min to an hour before they sound good. I don’t think I’ve noticed a difference in sound in my system though when the P-3300 is warm or cold but I figure I’d just ask anyway.

Thanks

Hey Wolf

Good catch again. My last communication with KAVD was on March 31 2011. I was talking to them about XLR cables. Oh well. That stinks they aren't around.

Hi Newcent

Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear there is another Kavent owner out there in this world. That Audio GD Master-1 preamp is some pretty serious gear. I still love my Kavent S-33 though but should I ever want to replace it I'll keep the Audio GD in mind. Since this thread was last updated I've tried tube amps and even a Hafler 9505 amp with the S-33 and it has matched well. In my systems I'm very happy that the -10db gain adjustment is available with the S-33. That function has come in very handy for me especially with the Hafler 9505 and a Schiit BiFrost DAC in the signal chain. That combo and really make music play loud clear and in your face.

Hi Kinn

Thanks for sharing. I’ll try to make note next time when I power up my P-3300 and listen to music from cold start and after it is warmed up.

Regarding power conditioning I’m part of that faction or cult. I plug the Kavent P-3300 amp into a vintage Tice Power Block power conditioner. It doesn’t limit current. The S-33 and my main source (Oppo BDP-83SE) are plugged into an industrial 1Kva Topaz Isolation Transformer and that doesn’t limit current as well. I believe with all this stuff I did get a bit more clarity out of my system. Not huge but I did notice something I think. I guess the power by me is noisy. From what I’ve read if you can plug directly into an outlet go for it. Most of my life pretty much everything electronic big or small was plugged into a surge protector or some kind of power conditioner. The audiophiles in my family plug all their stuff into power conditioners. I guess I got it from them. There is only 1 amp I have that I plug directly into the wall because of many conversations with a tech who was VERY familiar with it. Many times I look at it I want to plug it into a power conditioner of some kind. Haven’t heard any issues yet but the circuit it is on is different than the ones my Kavent gear is on.

When I last spoke to KAVD they said I could plug in the P-3300 or any of the Kavent amps directly into the wall socket with no issue. It is mostly preference. When I asked what power conditioners they would use with Kavent gear they recommended an APC S10 or S15. They said it has pure Sine Wave output with battery back-up, which is a true power conditioner instead of filtering that is found in most simple ones. I couldn’t physically squeeze either APC unit into my set-up but if I were in a market for one I’d look into those. They have dropped down in price significantly.

Hi Wolf

I guess the end of March might have been it for KAVD. I didn’t e-mail them after March because I didn’t need anything else from them. That stinks they were able to help you now.

Hi Melanco

Man that is quite a power set-up. Very Impressive. I haven’t done the dedicated lines for my audio system in my house because the circuit breaker box is full and it really costly for another sub panel. At times I have been thinking about getting a used power re-generator but I may stop as my system is sounding very nice to my ears. Even used those are pretty costly as well. Have you thought about the Pangea AC-9 SE to replace the AC9? I’ve read good things about the SE series Pangea cords.

Hi Melanco

How is it going with the AZ cable auditions? Just an FYI give Audio Advisor a call. I got their latest catalog and after getting my concentration back after looking at the cute brunette they always have standing next to various audio gear I saw they had the AC-9 Signature Edition power cords in. They even offered a trade in program for your older Pangea cords.

Wolfman

To me you got more cred because you stick with what works and aren't afraid to admit you've got some "budget" gear that sounds good. I'm still trying to talk myself into the more expensive audiophile outlets. I just used the heavier duty outlets from those big box home hardware stores. Might try an Albert Porter outlet in the future.

That Adcom isn't the prettiest looking power conditioner but hey it is still working and is getting the job done.

Last guy I spoke to @ Kelsie was Raeon via e-mail. I don't think I ever spoke to Shan Lei but I think that was the person I had to wire funds too. I saw the Kavent SP-320 integrated also and thought it was cool looking. Almost like something from a Sci-Fi movie.

I think my Kavent gear too will last for a long time as I'm not over driving them. I don't even think I get out of the Class A amount of watts. From the manual it says the 1st 50 watts of the P-3300 are Class A.

I was listening to my system this weekend and took note of temps. The P-3300 gets warmed up when it's temp is about 90 degrees F. When music is playing at a volume level I like the hottest it got was 111 degrees F. The funniest thing I found was with the wattage meters. When I play music from a CDP it goes to at most .04 watts. When I play music from a TT or from my computer I think the most it goes to is 1.0 watt. I was going to ask Kelsie about the meters but oh well they aren't around any more.

back to work for me.