rgs9200m said:

I finally sat down to listen to my T1s and these things are awesome. The music just flows beautifully without any strange artifacts. I listen to old 60s-70s CDs of popular music (some in mono) and the T1s deal with the glare, etch, edginess with finesse like no megabuck speakers I have heard, but there is no feeling that something is lost in the translation or blunted sound. I just couldn't stop listening for hours. No boom, no piercing highs, just natural music. This is with the stock cable, single-ended. Granted, I give them good upstream support, but 600s, balanced 650s, RS1s, 880s, 990s, K701s, Stax O2s/007t and Lambda/T1W phones never sounded anything like this, and I really never liked any of them truthfully (need to sell the ones I still have when I get around to it). I've seen a lot of nitpicking on the T1s, but I finally got a pair and I am amazed.
And they are really comfortable and light, too!
Maybe my expectations were low because I have been disappointed so much in the past, but I still think I am not overstating this.
 
(Upstream: RSA B52 w/upgraded tubes, EMM SE CD, Stealth Indra ICs, Shunyata power cords + Hydra8).

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rgs9200m said:

I finally sat down to listen to my T1s and these things are awesome. The music just flows beautifully without any strange artifacts. I listen to old 60s-70s CDs of popular music (some in mono) and the T1s deal with the glare, etch, edginess with finesse like no megabuck speakers I have heard, but there is no feeling that something is lost in the translation or blunted sound. I just couldn't stop listening for hours. No boom, no piercing highs, just natural music. This is with the stock cable, single-ended. Granted, I give them good upstream support, but 600s, balanced 650s, RS1s, 880s, 990s, K701s, Stax O2s/007t and Lambda/T1W phones never sounded anything like this, and I really never liked any of them truthfully (need to sell the ones I still have when I get around to it). I've seen a lot of nitpicking on the T1s, but I finally got a pair and I am amazed.
And they are really comfortable and light, too!
Maybe my expectations were low because I have been disappointed so much in the past, but I still think I am not overstating this.
 
(Upstream: RSA B52 w/upgraded tubes, EMM SE CD, Stealth Indra ICs, Shunyata power cords + Hydra8).

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rgs9200m said:

It's a little dreamy, and maybe not entirely accurate, but it is a real joy.

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rgs9200m said:

Thanks to the people who commented on my T1 impressions. OK, I have HD800s also (stock form) and I really like these also and feel they are also very fine phones, a major step forward from past phones I have owned. The HD800s make the musical components sound more distinct, with the tonal character, size, shape and placement of each object evident, and not in any sharp or over-accurate way, and are hence very musical. There is excellent layering, also, and things just sound real, especially with good source material. In fact, I have to say I kind of love the 800s too. The 800s are kind of an audiophile checklist sound: staging, tonality, tight bass, black and silent background. When I took out my Beatles 9/9/2009 box set (stereo version), I was really swept away with the natural vocals and sweetness of the instruments, with no harshness or bass boominess or pumping of the mids (a fault I find with many phones I had in the past). So do I enjoy the 800s--absolutely.
 
But somehow the T1s, which actually fall short in some of these areas compared to the 800s, create some sort of nice, plush, soundfield,
maybe just so slightly foggy, that melds things together into a friendly space. A coloration? Maybe. They are definitely more closed in than the 800s, without all the micro-staging and layering, and the images do not have the special "roundness" the 800s have, and there is not as much air and space around instruments. But that said, they do a wonderful job of spinning straw into gold, taking really bad CDs that I have been familiar with for decades and weaving all the pieces into a coherent musical event. It's a little dreamy, and maybe not entirely accurate, but it is a real joy.
 
(I will probably get balanced cables for my 800s soon, and see if that leads to the major improvements that balancing did to my 650s, which I did actually think were very good before the newer phones came around. I was always annoyed by a closed in feeling from the 600s & 650s, and did not like the clamped-down fit.)
 
Thanks for reading.
 

 

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macedonianhero said:

So with my silver experiment going so well, I've recently picked up the Kimber Silver Streak RCA cables (with WBT-0147 terminations) and the T1s are still not bright. Are they less warm? Yes, but actually they are more balanced now.
 
Just amazing how the interconnect can have such a subtle, but still profound change to the sound. The mids on all my cans (especially the D7000s) are more forward (a good thing) and the sound stage has opened up even more.
 
So if anyone wants some really good interconnects, you might want to refer to my sale on the F/S cable forum.

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downsize said:

 
I am so very impressed !  Someone who hears the not so subtle differences in copper and silver conductors, and has used this to better balance the end sound.  This is EXACTLY why I believe the T1s would GREATLY benefit from a good re-cable with a more open sounding conductor being used .... Maybe the Silver Dragon from Moon Audio. I do think my T1s are the best headphones i have heard in most ways .... But I will continue to say that something is being left on the table when it comes to being slightly too lush, veiled, or warmish with the T1s.  I do believe there is a more airy and open presentation to be had with a good re-cable.
 

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macedonianhero said:

It was quite impressive how the very slight veil just lifted with the silver interconnects (between my amp/dac). I'm not sure if I would open up my $1300 T1s for a re-cable though and I'm liking the sound as is right now (with all of my cans). Actually the best improvement was with the D7000s. The mids were brought out more and the bass more refined.
 

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thewuss said:

thanks for that post, MH
i like hearing that subtle improvements can be made with simple changes like interconnects, etc.
i think i'm done with headphone modding for the time being.
time to focus on cables, tube rolling, async usb, etc.

 

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macedonianhero said:

Don't get me started on tube rolling (again)....with my NOS GE-5 Star and Sylvania Grey and Black Plate Triple Mica 5751s, I think I'm done (and cables too).
 
Now onto BDR cones.
 
Cheers
 

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