Day One
This post is, for me, something of a special occasion. For starters, it's my 2000th here as a member of the head-fi community. Additionally it serves as the starting point for what I hope blossoms into a catalog of my impressions of something I've long since admired, something that has fascinated me immensely and stirred my sense of curiosity. This post marks my first experience with TakeT.
I don't consider myself an audiophile. If the sentiment seems bizarre, I can say it ultimately stems from the view that there are many different approaches to our hobby, different motivating factors and different objectives. To me one of the clearest delineations is between the horizontal and the vertical in orientation. Those who are preoccupied with the vertical are searching for ultimate fidelity, striving to reach the unobtainable summit of the "best" sound. This seems, to my mind, an apt description of the traditional audiophile. With regard to the horizontal approach, the objective is rather one of multiplicity and diversity: to sample as many different ways of presenting sound as one can. One is thus an explorer of sorts, and the summit of a singular perfection has been replaced by the horizon of infinite possibility. There is thrill in discovery more than in improvement.
How fortunate that my love of music should overlap with my love of collecting audio equipment, each a hobby in and of themselves and together benefitting from a mutual reinforcement. Why mention all of this? Perhaps I'm just self indulgent, in love with the sound of my own typing. Though in genuinely practical terms it should serve as a statement of intent. My impressions are not conducted for the purpose of establishing whether I feel one device is "better" than another, or whether or not I feel someone should choose TakeT over Stax for their next purchase. What I am searching for---and what I ultimately hope to convey---are new and unique experiences. Any comparisons to other devices such as the LCD-3 and SR-009 are made with the intent of providing a frame of reference, for the sake of comparing my perception of each. Whether the products made by TakeT are worth the price of admission is something I cannot answer.
My hands were trembling as I opened the two well-packaged treasures from Japan. The smaller box was the heavier of the pair, its contents the TR2 transformer box. Housed in a clean white package with a grey label adhered to the side, the TR2 is much smaller than I had imagined and also more solidly constructed. It looks like a futuristic munchkin's lunchbox, the polished metal handle and clean matte finish adding up to a rather attractive little device. On the back is a set of hookups for stereo cables; the front is adorned with a single XLR output. Included is a set of instructions in English that seems to be the result of a translation program. The warnings specify that the TR2 is not to be used with any other headphones aside from the H2+. It also details a one year warranty that TakeT offers on its products. They'll service or repair issues that arise from "normal wear and tear" so to speak.
The H2+ comes in a simple box made of a black, corrugated plastic-like material. The inside is lined in foam. Obviously not the fanciest packaging, but it gets the job done and provides an easily accessible means of storing the headphones. Speaking of which, the H2+ is a truly glorious oddity. The thick pads were pre-installed, and this only enhanced the effect. Thin pads were included in the package as well, wrapped securely in bubblewrap. Included in the box was another set of translated instructions with some diagrams illustrating how to change the pads and even detach the earcups to use separately in one's speaker system. What surprised me the most however was the weight of headphones. If the TR2 was heavier than I expected, the H2+ was much lighter than I could have imagined. They're simultaneously among the largest headphones I own and also the lightest. The build quality seems robust enough to inspire confidence, and I don't find myself babying them above and beyond my normally exercised care. They're mostly constructed of plastic, and it's clear that precision machinery was used in their production as everything is clean and fits together just so. The only cause for concern is the cable; where it enters the housing on either side it seems a bit loose without a baffle to secure it firmly in place.
I was expecting some seriously uncomfortable headphones based on the descriptions of their ergonomics. While they're undeniably awkward in a certain respect, overall I find them to be fairly well behaved and not too bothersome. The biggest issue is their lack of grip: if I move my head forward in any manner other than with exercised caution, they feel as though they might slip off. The "wings" are more or less wire loops covered in hand-stitched leather. They function better than I expected, providing enough resistance so that the top bar of the assembly doesn't contact my head. The thick pads are something of an enigma to my mind. Aside from looking vaguely pornographic, they have a curious topology rife with creases and folds that suggest some premeditated reasoning to their being that, frankly, alludes me. They don't so much cushion my head as lightly contact it. The irony of ironies is, without any proper seal to speak of, conventional wisdom suggests there shouldn't be much bass presence. Oh, but then you actually hear them. More on that later. Suffice to say, these headphones seem to be all about defying reasonable expectations.
Hooking everything up was straight forward enough. I fed the Onkyo DAC-1000 into the Leben CS300XS, and using banana cables I connected the TR2 into the Leben. Indeed, it was straight forward enough. Or so it should have been. When I plugged the XLR connector into its receptacle, I held my breath and hit play. To my absolute horror only one channel came through. I felt my spirits sink to the pit of my stomach and a sense of nausea wash over me. Something was wrong with my precious headphones. After fiddling around with the cables, I was able to transfer the signal from one channel to the other, and so a minor sense of relief was gained by determining the problem wasn't with one of the piezoelectric Heil-type drivers. Panic once again began to take hold as I realized the problem may be the TR2. To this end, an hour and fifteen some odd minutes were spent trying to diagnose the issue which continued to elude me. The thought of having to send the TR2 back to Japan wasn't a particularly endearing one.
Just when I was about to fire off an e-mail to Mr. Takei asking for his opinion on the matter, I noticed something amiss at the back of the Onkyo. Turns out only one channel was plugged into the output section, the other channel mistakenly placed in one of the inputs in my excitement-fueld morning's haste. I felt like an utter imbecile, but at least I was a relieved utter imbecile.
I'll save my first set of listening impressions for the next major post. I feel the need to take my time before I can say anything remotely adequate about what I'm hearing. However there are some preliminary things I'd like to mention. First and foremost, these are some of the most unique-sounding headphones I've ever experienced; nothing else I've ever tried really comes close in that respect. Secondly, even though they're handicapped by the TR2's inability to drive them to their full potential, I feel these still occupy the upper echelon if I were to be so compelled to rank them in a hierarchy. Thirdly I actually do notice a difference when using the super tweeters. Finally.... BASS. Oh glorious, glorious bass!
And that's all she wrote.
More to come.
Edited by MuppetFace - 1/19/12 at 3:01am
