What makes the Orpheus great is the synergy between the HE90 electrostatic headphones and the HEV90 tube-based amp. They were designed together, to work as one unit, and "voiced" appropriately, with (I believe) the goal to reproduce large-scale classical works as if you were in the concert...

Any used tube amp that supports Stax (with the right connector, PRO or Regular) from any manufacturer ... never heard a bad one, Buy used! I have maybe 7 pairs of Stax and never had a dust problem. I do not cover them in any way. I do keep my Orpheus HE90 in a box that costs $5 from a hobby...

Wow an 8-year-old thread comes to life! Head-Fi alerts sure work, I got an email about this! I love my ATH AD2K and still listen to it all the time, especially for classic album rock. While many would disagree with me, I think it renders electric guitar licks even better than my button Grado...

Count me in. Looking forward to seeing everyone. I am fulfilling my assigned task of driving Kerry to the meet; I know y'all would rather talk to him than me, he knows his stuff. I might bring my old-school (balanced with dual XLR's) Grado GS1000's (original issue) which I continue to mod in...

Bringing this thread back from the dead ... knowing the companies with GREAT customer service is so important.  More posts here, people.   This outfit has been mentioned before, but I need to give a shout out to Blue Jeans Cable.   Today is Sunday, in fact Super Bowl 50 Sunday.   Monday I...

Thank you!  That thread is huge, and it seemed to be all DIY, but indeed you were right, a member posted in that thread not too long ago that he does this type of work.   I will reach out shortly to him via PM.  Exactly what I was looking for.   I love Head-Fi.  Thanks again, Relma!   I...

Yes, I tried searching here and I know GIYF but I am coming up with no actual recommendations or reviews for a commercial shop or for-money modder I can send a bunch of iMods and iPods to (about a half-dozen) to get the hard disks repaired/replaced.  Is Tarkan's flash product still the way to...

jcx made this point already, but when explaining CDs vs LPs to friends I dumb it down as follows:   An analog waveform that gets infused with errors as it is moved from component to component can actually be further away from the original signal than a digital version that suffers some error...

Shaffer -- great "uncle" story. But we can turn that around too, yes?  Maybe some of the CD bashers are listening thru inferior DACs, just as your uncle was listening thru an inferior TT?  I could imagine someone saying "but that's a $10,000 CDP/DAC!"   As I said in an earlier post, there are...

Loved jcx's post ,,, even though I myself have a true Quadraphonic decoder still functioning, and lots of Quad LP's.  And two fine TTs, but I hardly use them.   Question for jcx -- why the dither step to get 44.1?  Decimate the 96 to get 48, a half-sample. All DACs I know of handle 48, and I...

A thread back from the dead.  I just spend 10 minutes writing an answer to a 2010 post that I already answered!  I deleted that.   But I do have something new to add, an experiment I did a little while ago:   With the same tube amplifier, a BHSE, will genuine NOS Mullards, and Stax 007, I...

Sure ... no mystery ... GQ called Senn, since I guess they learned somewhere that the Orpheus rig is currently the most expensive headphone you can sort-of buy (there is one on ebay now for $35K).   Stax + BHSE represents two different manufacturers so that wouldn't fly for GQ, since they...

Thanks man.  We need 1 Million views!  We are close.  I promised Kerry and my nephew Brian (aka "silent man", who loves Grado) that we would hit that magic number.   009  (or 007 w/ Spritzer Mod) + BHSE with the right tubes (Mullard Original xf2 late breakup) will outperform Orpheus on most...

Notice the 1/2" thick front panel.  And notice that Kerry needs two alarm clocks to wake up for his day job (after spending all night milling and drilling).   Kerry -- yes you can use some of the rare African ebony (you are the only one who knows where it is anyway) to make a proper volume...

If the Kerry KGST will be there, so will I.  Leaving Boston at 9 a.m., will try to make the auction.  I've got too many points on my driver's license to speed, and at my age I need alternating coffee and bathroom breaks (it's a closed-loop feedback system), so we'll see what time I actually make...

Sorry to bring this old thread back to life, but I have a bet going that we'll reach 1 Million views on YouTube and we're stuck in the mid 800K's.   So help fellow Head-Fi'ers out and watch directly on YouTube, not elsewhere, or just click to help us!  ...

The 009 is unbelievable.  I don't own it, but I heard El_Doug's.  It is very expensive and too new -- above your stated budget.   I think Pierre's comments probably apply to the 007 Mk II.  I have 007 Mk 1, and 007 Mk II with Spritzer Mod (fully documented by Spritzer, and I have been told it...

You asked Asr, not me, but I have been down this path with all the named phones, and you are so close to the right answer I couldn't help but jump in (I listen to a lot of classical, and have done a lot of A/B comparisons).  Put your two ideas together: go used Stax.  Pro bias.  Check the usual...

Vinnie at RWA is the best.  He will do a great job for you.  The rig will sound great.

So with your iMod you will use an ALO cable into an RSA portable balanced amp, then have the 880s balanced with the 4-pin connector that Ray uses?   That doesn't sound like a great plan to me for portable use, and why use the iMod for anything else?.  Sticking with beyer, just get the 1350's...

A well-covered topic here.  See, for example,   http://www.head-fi.org/t/565791/on-usb-cables-and-controller-transfer-modes-a-series-of-questions-to-replies-from-usb-org   Conclusion: any USB-IF certified cable will do.  Amazon has plenty of them at reasonable prices.

Now you know why we kicked Doug out of New Jersey.   Actually he left for a better job and we miss him (and his opinions) terribly.   Doug -- you doing OK in ChiTown?   Doug's 009's are the best HP's I have ever heard.  So, aklein55, your new rig will sound fantastic.

Mshenay -- I went to the expense of balancing and re-cabling my 880/600's, and they still sound the same as my 880/250's, at least with my amps.  Wasted my money.  But I do agree the sound is a great "all purpose" dynamic phone at a reasonable price.   Argyris -- agree 100% with your...

I think Beyer themselves would tell you they were aiming for the identical sound on all three models, just making the three for better amp synergy.   And it's always about HP-amp synergy, isn't it?   As I posted earlier, with a good SS amp meant for high impedance HPs, there is no sonic...

You can contact Ying at YBM and see what he can do for you if you ship your unit back to him in trade for a fully balanced unit (balanced input from the DAC that is, then your choice of how you want the HP connectors ... Ying can give you both balanced and s.e. HP outs, and the balanced can be...