preproman said:

Look:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/419625/wtb-headphone-impedance-adapter-6-3mm-socket-to-6-3mm-plug

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http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=300453295797&cmd=VIDESC

I've been wondering about ones like these since they'll customize it to your desired resistance.

Then the question is what resistance to choose?

Quote:

preproman said:

 
Awww man - it's for the bedroom

.   How you like the combo?  Have you compared that DAC to any other DACs?

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Concero is brilliant, the best I've ever had the pleasure to own. Sadly I can only compare it to the Bifrost and of course the Concero is in a different league. BTW, the blue lights match that of the Emotiva perfectly, but then again you would want to use the filters on the Concero which changes the light to purple color. Matching aesthetics or sound quality? You can pick.

I also agree with Preproman in saying that the Emotiva is a very aggressive amp, very engaging, but not relaxing at all. I think the dynamic range is pretty explosive in the bass and treble which might give the impression that it has a v-shaped curved because the treble and bass sounds like they're hitting hard and fast, but in actuality they're not more accentuated. Hard to explain.
 
Oh yeah I also agree about the extension. This amp is definitely not rolled off in any direction. Hits you from very high and also very low, also giving the impresson that it might be v-shaped, but it is not v-shaped. Hard to explain, but yeah it sounds neutral to me, just aggressive and revealing.

Quote:

kamakahah said:

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=300453295797&cmd=VIDESC

I've been wondering about ones like these since they'll customize it to your desired resistance.

Then the question is what resistance to choose?

Click to expand...

 
 
I've got an Emotiva on the way, and I have one of these from a long time ago. I'll look around and see how it goes. 
 
I'm also thinking about putting on a 1/4" TRS on the front, and building it with in line resistors. Anyone have any suggestions for this? This could make a sweet headphone amplifier on the cheaps. 
 

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zilch0md said:

+1 to the quotes I have made bold. I've been on the verge of selling my T1 for several months, now. Like you, I find it has some great qualities, but I've yet to find an amp that can compensate its weaknesses (too bright and weak in the bass, for my tastes). My best chain for the T1 thus far is DACmini CX > Decware ZSTAGE (tube gain stage) > Burson Soloist, and I'm still not pleased with the T1.
 

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Oddly enough, I thought the Soloist really was a stellar match for the T1, even thought it was a somewhat bright tilted headphone amplifier. I was afraid of selling the T1, because of that love/hate relationship, but it just never could hold its own again a pair of HE-6 or HE-500.
 
I'm sure at some point I'll miss the things I really liked about that headphone and buy it, only to put them on an remember all the things I didn't like and then sell it. Kind of like HD650s for me. 

Quote:

elwappo99 said:

 
 
I've got an Emotiva on the way, and I have one of these from a long time ago. I'll look around and see how it goes. 
 
I'm also thinking about putting on a 1/4" TRS on the front, and building it with in line resistors. Anyone have any suggestions for this? This could make a sweet headphone amplifier on the cheaps. 
 

Click to expand...

If you can drill through the thick aluminum faceplate, it should work well and look quite nice!  You could then wire it into the speaker tap stage internally, resistors and all if necessary.

I am still curious as to what it is about the emotiva and he-500 pairing that ppl don't like. Is it the headphone itself or the actual pairing?
 
Is it because it makes it too bright?

I'd like to go ahead and add the LCD-3 to the list of headphones that work nicely with the Emotiva. In order of preference:
 
1) Emotiva + LCD-3
2) Emotiva + LCD-2 Revision 2
3) Emotiva + HE-500

m-13 said:

I also agree with Preproman in saying that the Emotiva is a very aggressive amp, very engaging, but not relaxing at all. I think the dynamic range is pretty explosive in the bass and treble which might give the impression that it has a v-shaped curved because the treble and bass sounds like they're hitting hard and fast, but in actuality they're not more accentuated. Hard to explain.

Oh yeah I also agree about the extension. This amp is definitely not rolled off in any direction. Hits you from very high and also very low, also giving the impresson that it might be v-shaped, but it is not v-shaped. Hard to explain, but yeah it sounds neutral to me, just aggressive and revealing.

Click to expand...

Thanks M-13,

What you're saying might be hard to explain, but I think I get it. After burn-in, I'm going to try reducing the input voltage to my Mini-X to "compress" the dynamics - first trying a pair of 6 dB Harrison attenuators (at the inputs to the amp, for a fixed 50% reduction), and then trying my Decware ZSTAGE between DAC and amp (which can be attenuated all the way to zero).

Mike

So far the Emotiva doesn't seem that much better than my O2.  There seem to be some minor improvements in soundstage and clarity.  I'll keep listening and will report back again.

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limniscate said:

So far the Emotiva doesn't seem that much better than my O2.  There seem to be some minor improvements in soundstage and clarity.  I'll keep listening and will report back again.

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You'll get there eventually. This was exactly my thoughts on the two back in December. Write notes and listen to Emotiva for a month and then go to O2 again. You're gonna love the comparison then. I certainly enjoyed looking back at the initial impressions I wrote.

Quote:

modulor said:

If you can drill through the thick aluminum faceplate, it should work well and look quite nice!  You could then wire it into the speaker tap stage internally, resistors and all if necessary.

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This is basically my exact thoughts. Internal wiring, and even having two jacks? Maybe one with resistors and one without. I wonder if there's an easy way to have a switch which would cut power to the speakers. 

Quote:

elwappo99 said:

 
This is basically my exact thoughts. Internal wiring, and even having two jacks? Maybe one with resistors and one without. I wonder if there's an easy way to have a switch which would cut power to the speakers. 

Click to expand...

You could easily place a toggle switch for each channel so that you can switch from taps to TRS, and same could go for the resistor setup so you don't have to have multiple TRS jacks.  It'll take a little bit of planning (I had actually considered this at one point because someone else mentioned the idea earlier in the thread) but it's definitely feasible - look into NKK Switches, they have some good audio signal grade switches.

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Quote:
 
 
This is a great idea.  You think a 4-pin XLP can be installed on the faceplate?  Up in the right hand corner would be sweet.  OK - who do I send the amp to??  Modulor or E....?

Shame on me for posting impressions prematurely.

I've had a new Emotiva Mini-X for three days now, and following a dramatic (necessary) 24-hour burn-in (where a somewhat harsh treble went away, thankfully), I'm just about ready to say I prefer the Mini-X to my Burson Soloist - cabled to LCD-2 rev-1 (without resistors).

85 dB SPL is achieved with the volume at 9 o'clock. The Soloist has smoother highs, but that's about all it offers (for my tastes) over the Emotiva's superior bass extension, control, speed, dynamics - everything one would expect when given a lot more headroom (8 Wpc into 50-Ohm vs. 1 Wpc). The Soloist is more laid-back, too (4th row seating instead of on-stage), but I'm enjoying that aspect of the Emotiva - just as I prefer it with the DACmini CX vs. the Soloist. A few more days of this and I might be selling my Soloist. The Mini-X is a remarkable amp - worth a lot more than $189.00.

And although I still prefer the signature of the LCD-2, I can say that the Mini-X is no cure for my issues with the T1's brightness, but I can also say that the T1 sounds better in the bass and mids with the Mini-X than with the Soloist. In other words, the T1 and my taste are the problems here, not the amps.



Mike