best DIY amplifier? - Page 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod 

 

I have not heard the "full" HV akido.

 

There is not much more talk about it because nobody builds them commercially. The 4 DIYers (OK, so perhaps its more than 4.... but its not many) who have built one chatter amongst themselves, and the rest of the world buys the standard crap they are told to buy.

 

Do you remember how much chatter there was about Pimetas and PPA's when there were 3 DIYmot's building them? The pimeta has only gotten better since 2007, odly nobody ever seriously considers it as a home amp. PPA gets mentioned even less often.

Funny how cyclical everything is here.

I have never even heard of either of the amps you mentioned, admittedly I am a fairly new member.

Something achieves a great status, then eventually that status harms it more than it does help it, and people forget about it.

Kinda like the R10, people say it is the best dynamic headphone ever, even those who have never heard it. In turn, a lot of people think that it is only good because people say it is, and not actually fundamentally good. Who is to say who is correct? And at the prices they ask, its no wonder they don't sell like hot cakes.

Availability affects things a lot too, for better or for worse.

The current batch of R10 in the FS section are all priced a few bills too high. People who have resarched them and followed sales all know this, and most people in a position to buy the R10 have done their homework. part of the "little bit high" prices we are seeing now is a result of a certain flipper who bought quite a few rare&desirable headphones and sold them at even more absurd prices than they normally fetch. This both boosted the market between individuals, and of course any sale with capitan douchebag. I guess he figured out that tiying up $6000 for 3-6 months to make $500 wasn't as profitable as other things (particularly when audiogon fees are considered), but it took him the better part of a year and he did singlehandedly jack up the prices on a lot of gear. Anyways, A guess of why the few up there are up there: the people selling their R10 now are looking at short-term sales history, or perhaps bought from capitan dickwad. Rather than pricing at the $6K (tops!) which is the price that has stood the test of time they are priced a few dollars higher. 

I guess nobody can really say that they are the end all be all headphone, as that is a very personal choice, but they do have a unique sound that (clearly) many people like. If you want a headphone that sounds like the R10 you have to buy an R10. Unfortunately, with all the effort people have put into tweaking the less expensive cousins of the R10 there still isnt really a real way around that. 

I guess the same could be said for most of the truly high end headphones. You can get a "taste" of them in the lower-end models from the MFR, but at the same time there is a difference. If you want to hear it the way the more expensive headphone plays it....

Spun a different way, this could be said about a mid-tier headphone too. If you want a headphone that sounds exactly like the (insert cheap ipod headphone looking thing here) guess what you have to do - buy that headphone. 

Nice entries people. I haven't had time to read all of it, but what's related to the topic question, is good stuff.

Thanks.