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I just say it the way it's spelled... curly butthole. That's close enough idn't it?

Looks like you guys had some interesting stuff on hand. Maybe we could combine a NY, maryland meet. Maybe at Grados the next Time around? Would be a pleasure to meet all of you.
Bozebuttons

Man, I wish I could afford to fly to all these meets...

...Damn, we gotta hold a Seattle meet!

I'd be very interested to hear a more indepth Arcam vs. Creek review, since the Arcam has been at the top of my "next source upgrade" list for a while...

what do the various amps cost?

I'm one of Kerely's polar opposites... loved the 580s, loved the R10s, thought the at100ti's were smokin'. But I would like to concede up front that he's right and I'm wrong.

I REALLY loved the 580s. In fact, it was probably just my imagination at work, but I could have sworn the 580s were just a shade brighter and more analytical and less warm and less smooth and generally less laid back than some 600s I tried. I liked the 580s better. Very insecure about this opinion of mine though. But I took a good long listen. The 580s smoked my treasured HD497s. I was appalled. In fact, um, I've just ordered some HD 580s.

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Geez-o-flip! This guy's IQ must be off the charts!


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True fact!

What turned out to be the best amp for the HP-1/2? ZOTL, Melos or RKV? I've heard that they're all excellent for the HP-1/2, but which did all of you prefer that had a chance to compare?

Thanks in advance.

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say the DT231s ARE better, but I would say I LIKE them a whole lot better. The HD280 Pros are headphones with good sound. IMHO, the DT231s are headphones that sound good.

For that matter, for pure listening enjoyment, I thought the DT231s beat out the V6s by a good margin as well. However, I have no doubt the V6s are more accurate and more detailed.

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Still, I thought your observation was very interesting considering the DT231 gets no props around here. I really should have listened to it and the HD280 so when the inevitible "what's the best can for under $100" question comes around next time I could say more than "well, I've only heard ..." Quote:



Not at all, Steve. Based on your impressions I think you're much closer to the Head-Fi norm than I am. Also, don't be deceived by my post count -- I really don't know much.

However, I would like to emphasize that I didn't just think the HD600 had a muffled sound because I prefer a slightly bright sound -- that made it unlistenable to me, but compared to what I consider objectively neutral (according to others' opinions, which I still think is slightly off-base), the HD600 was definitely dark.

TQG, the MicroZOTL was good with the HP-1000. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, but that's where I started off, and it did well. As I mentioned, I tried the HP-1000 in pretty much every amp except the SHA-1 (stupid, stupid, stupid!), but none of them impressed me as much as the Kevin Gilmore Dynamic. I really should have taken notes so I could expound more on specifics. ...

kelly, so if I cut the 'bonto' off my handle will I just be 'curly?' I'd prefer that to 'curly butthole,' anyway, so an amputation may be in my future.

kerely

wow... that microzotl really um...

stands out?

Haha, yeah, it's the only amp that can pass as a toaster oven.

I'm still trying to avoid writing an essay, so I'll take some of the random questions throughout: Quote:



Sorry Vertigo-1, but we didn't A/B any of the sources or even set them up on the same equipment. Too much stuff for that. The Arcam only ran the Kevin Gilmore Dynamic. It's antness's if you want to ask him about it. Quote:



The HD590 is a bit smaller than the HD600 and a bit lighter as well. I thought it felt about the same comfort-wise, but some of the guys with bigger heads/ears felt the teardrop-shaped chambers and pads were less comfortable than the HD600. Quote:



Hey, if I get to vote, you're there. Would you really consider flying down for one? Quote:



I didn't get any pictures of his theater setup, but it was pretty impressive. He has an enormous wide-screen (projection?) and all the components in a very attractive tall rack with a glass door. We should have turned a football game on. Quote:



It really would be cool to have a national or broader regional meet sometime. Philly would probably be a good central location for most of the active east coast Head-Fiers. ... Quote:



Do you really want to know, Matt? Let's see ... the Blockhead goes for between about $3300-3900 depending on its configuration. The EAR HP4 goes for about $3600. The Cosmic's about $700. The RKV runs about $900. The MicroZOTL is $750. Antness is selling his version of the Kevin Gilmore Dynamic for about $500. That's all of the heavy artillery that you can still buy new, I think. You can get a lot of it for cheaper used, of course.

kerely

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I'd actually had another pronunciation in mind but thought "curly butthole" the less offensive of the two.

Interesting impressionf of the HD600. They are certainly dark in comparison to Grado's current line of phones.

They're also dark in comparison to the old lineup of Grado 'phones.

kerely

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This has not been true in my experience. I do consider the HP-1 a reference for linear tonality but I don't find an overall tonal shift with the HD600 by comparison, rather the HD600 simply doesn't sound very flat across the curve--lots of dips and peaks.

Okay, let's try this again. Dark is not the right word for what I'm trying to convey, which is a lack of high-frequency response, probably in the overtones range. You know the HD600 much better than I do, but this was very apparent to me when I put them on the first time. Do any of the peaks you identify account for a perceived attenuation of the high frequencies?

I remember reading a thread some time ago in which people were discussing very high frequency and ultrasonic sounds, things that aren't supposed to be very audible to humans. Things like TVs and flourescent lights on the low end up to light bulb filaments and strange electrical component noises on the high end. (So that's 15kHz and up.) I'm very sensitive to these kinds of sounds and was surprised to find that others who said they also were often prefered the Grado sound. This and hearing the HD600 for the first time has made me wonder if most people just don't care about those frequencies and therefore concentrate on the midrange, which the HD600 admittedly does well. This opposed to the normal opinion that old people with bad high-frequency hearing prefer Grados. (Then there's also the issue of euphonics -- very high frequencies are not pleasant, regardless of whether they're supposed to be there.)

Anyway, point is that the HD600 sounded to me like someone wacked off the top frequencies, even in comparison to the HP-1000 (the headphone I listen to most), and I know I can hear these frequencies well, so it's not an issue of needing them accentuated like with the current Grados.

kerely

kerelybonto
In short, my impression of the HD600 is that the treble is there up to 20khz but that there is a significant dip in the lower treble - probably around 3khz or so (just a guess). The bass on the other hand, has a significant rolloff somewhere around 40-50hz and a bit of a bump somewhere between there and 100hz or so. I don't have any tools to measure these things but this estimate should give you a vague idea of what I'm hearing, relative to our somewhat common point of reference, the HP-1000. Both of these problems are somewhat reduced with the addition of the Cardas cable but at no point would I mistake it for an HP-1000 or Stax.

I do consider myself very sensitive to high frequencies but also find it distracting when they are absent or rolled off significantly, as with the RKV, MG Head, McCormack, etc. I am however, very sensitive to harsh high frequencies as are common in digital sources.