Project Polaris

I'm a fresh Polaris owner.

First - listening impressions. I own O2 and EMU 404 USB. Comparing to those two the Polaris is definitely warmer. Bass extends deeper than on O2, you can even feel a bit of rumble. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of audible addition, especially comparing to EMU. Not only it extends deeper, it's more punchy and loud. I even had a feeling that it's a bit too much for my taste and then Foobar shuffled to "Equinoxe 8" from Aero album by J.M. Jarre. That's basically a thunderstorm with rain. Oh myyy... It has never been this realistic, even when using Sonarworks with EMU driving my HD 600. Now I'm actually scared what Polaris will sound with the Kameleon filter attached.

Mids are also audibly improved. It brings this slight coloration, which elevates synths, strings, voices and trumpets. It doesn't make it audibly louder like in bass department, it's all just smoother and pleasant to listen to. Combine that with bass that massage your ear canals and you have a deadly mix. Let me just say that I stayed with Jarre for full Aero album and then few others, rediscovering his early works.

Highs are as sparkly, smooth and detailed as on EMU. Scene is as wide as on EMU. I'm very pleased with that. O2 was a bit harsh.

Besides sound signature, what really struck me is the amount of headroom. Now setting my whole audio chain on max everywhere would blow the drivers clean out of headphones, probably to a next room.

So yes, definitely an audible improvement. I really recommend the Polaris, especially to people that want their HD 600 to reach deeper bass levels without loosing any of the sparks.

I'm so happy with it that I've proudly added the Polaris star to my avatar. Let the UV diode shine

BTW, I use attenuation, low gain, low R and high BW.

I have to say that lately I have been jumping from Polaris to ember at my office.
With the Chameleon filter and HD650 I actually prefer the Ember with a Bad Boy 6SN7GT over Polaris. The bass extension and bass amount is simply astonishing and it never gets harsh in the upper end.
With the HE-400i + Kameleon module, I prefer Polaris. To be honest I am not sure why, because both headphones (when filtered) sound pretty flat to me, but each to these combinations seem to engage me optimally ;-)

Nice to hear that you like your Polaris, it is a very good amp. Adding the Kameleon filters to my system has left me finally wanting nothing else, I am sonically satisfied!

EDIT: Well...not really true...this coming summer I would like to build my own portable Kameleon-2 to be able to travel with it! :-)

@rabbit, What attenuator do you use? I wanted to use my mdr-v6 with the Polaris so I didn't have to mess around with my setup but the noise floor was too high for me.