Does anyone have impressionsof the senn woodies? Was the HD650 woodied?

thanks in advance

So... any Ack Dack! impressions/comparisons?

I'll be posting up my impressions shortly. I also had many hours to compare the HE90 to the SR-007 after the meet. Xtreme and I compared the two until ~5:00a

I don't believe there were any 650 woodies there, at least I didn't get a chance to listen to them. There were a pair of 600 woodies though. I listened to them early on and I remember liking the sound. I've never heard the 600's stock though so I really couldn't tell you how they compare.

Well, although it's a few days later I'd like to give my impressions of the meet.

First and foremost a warm thanks to Patrick, the host of our meet. I would also like to thank
all the attendees. Not only was there lots of friendly conversation to go around, we had
a great variety of gear as well!

Well, the biggest suprises for me at the meet came from the same person. That would be Larry,
from Headphile. I had an opportunity to listen to a plethora of "gone woody" headphones. When I
placed the HD600 woodies on my head, I, like most expected a bad experience. In fact, I was
already prepared to tell Larry "You know, they're not bad, but I really do prefer the stock HD600's".
This however was not the case! In fact, quite the opposite. I had expected the HD600 gone woody
to sound as if I placed my hands on the metal grills of the HD600. Although with an unnatural wood
resonance to make things worse. Well, I placed them on my head, and plugged them in to Xtreme's PPA...
They sounded great! In fact, I couldn't believe what I was hearing! The bass was significantly tightened,
treble extension was unaffected, and that sweet, sweet midrange! The typically fat sounding HD600
midrange was cured! It was a miracle! In fact, I tended to like the headphile HD600 + blacksilver cable
more than the HD650 + Mobius.

I then decided to listen to the SR225 woodies. Encouraged by my suprising experience with the modified
HD600's I placed them on my head. These particular headphones were also powered by a PPA, however it was
Larry's own PPA. I had a set of stock SR225's on hand for comparison. The first thing that struck me was
the depth and power in the bass region. It easily matched the bass monster Joe Grado HP-1. I was also quite
taken again by the midrange. Feeling it was suprisingly natural. Much more natural than I remembered the SR225
being. After about ten minutes of critial listening I carefully removed the SR225 woodies from the PPA, and popped
the stock SR225's on my head. Listening to the same few tracks I was struck by how unbalanced, and, well, boring
the stock SR225 was. It lacked the bass slam and depth of the woody, the treble was etchier, and the midrange was
unblanced sounding; as if there existed a dip in the middle of the midrange. I was actually quite put off by the
stock SR225 both aesthetically and sonically. I had owned the SR225 at one time, and remember them sounding better.
<shrugs> ignorance is bliss I guess! A bit later in the night, I listened the MS-Pro's with the same setup, and
after comparing them to the SR225 woodie I was disappointed with the MS-Pro. In fact, the SR225 seemed to best
it in every way.

Both the woodied SR225 and HD600 were aesthetically appealing, however I found the SR225 to be more to my liking.
Larry actually conserves the black endcap, but the chamber itself is replaced. It's a great looking can, and looks
very "factory". I do suspect that alot of the openess of midrange naturalness was also due to the cable upgrade.
Didn't I mention the cable upgrade? Well, Larry takes the SR225 woodie to the max. Silver all around! I can say
with complete confidence that the SR225 full woodie should be considered before the MS-Pro. The SR225 woodie is simply
a better phone. The HD600 woodie is also excellent. It is decidedly the best dynamic Senn I have heard. The chamber
and cable upgrade seemed to improve all the things I like about the Senn sound.

More soon...

What type of wood did the SR-225 woodie use?

Quote:



Looks like Paduak.

Yes it was a nice meet (Thanks Patrick) My primary reason for going was to hear the CD3k with wood. Indeed I did not only get to spend some quality time with two slightly different pair on my own Rig and thus music and sources I know well I also Brought along my own pair of Completely Stock MDR-CD3000’s (CD3’s) I must say that with the exception of Eric’s KGSS and HE90’s that the CD3k’s reveal the most detail out of any other headphone I have heard. I really did not like the Stax the Midrange voice sounded slightly hollow to me while the HE-90’s sounded real as if the performers were singing right in the room. Moving along to the CD3k’s, retains most of this uncolored reality with only a slight hint at being closed in. the speed and attack on the CD3k’s are also in the KGSS/HE90 League IMHO. The ultimate speed is obtained from the KGss/HE90 combo on the best sources and recordings but unless your using SACD the speed and attack on both the Electrostatic and Dynamic are real close.

So there I was situated with three pairs of CD 3k’s one pair stock and the other two slightly different wood versions. I also understand one version did not have the CD3K Drivers. Well the one with the Dark wood and two cords coming out had the stock driver so that is what I compared to the stock CD3k’s. Overall the differences were more in refinement than an actual night and day difference. This is a good thing because the 3K’s already sound quite killer and I am sure a dramatic difference would be bad sonically overall and perhaps take something away from the wonderful Sony Sound. Well I must say as an avid supporter of team Sony that the Ear cup wood mode in the dark wood allows me to hear into the blackness more and the return echo normal on cd3000’s to just suddenly drop off now lightly fade into silence, Like I say not night and day but surly noticeable and if you have cd 3K’s all ready you all ready have a sizeable investment in sonic goodness already so the wood mod in a nut shell is like adding icing on the cake. I surly would like an extended week or so listening to more hourly describe exactly what all the subtle difference is. The also rather high ambient noise made listening to fine details harder also.

Moving along to my big surprise of the Night! Yes folks unbelievable that every once and a while along comes this Canadian Packing with him all the way from Canada this mysterious old fashion looking tube amp that used an rather strange assortment of Tubes from old 1930’s rectifier to 1970’s TV sweep tubes, along with the obligatory 6SN7’s as gain stages. This is Trevor’s custom amp hand made by fellow named peter Mc-Alistair..
http://home.comcast.net/~headphile/m6.jpg

As you can see this is defiantly made to old school tube amp build standards Big power trance former and plenty of chock filtering. The only thing missing was gas regulator tubes that would have really toped this amp off nicely and would have been used on high quality tube amps intended for serious musical reproduction and still be devoid of any solid state devices. These amp doses not contain any solid state devices.
http://home.comcast.net/~headphile/m8.jpg

Well since the Sony MDRf1 were handy by and I also have listened to lots of tube amps at meets through the F1’s I know what to expect, or so I thought. Upon first listening I noticed that the bass was way more controlled on the f1 compared to most otl tube amps like the new Woo tube amp shown hear that I compared this tube amp monster to.
Also I listened to the MG head OTL the new one http://www.divertech.com/mgheadotl32.html
http://www.wooaudio.com/products/wooaudio3.html

Also the high end was now present and this is something the F1 don’t normally have even on a good solid state amp and only the RKv I hared at the last meet seamed to offer this kind of high end from the F1’s. This resulted in me grabbing one of the many stock MDR-CD3000 on hand and gave the Tube amp Monster and the OTL32 and Woo Audio a good listen thought the same source and recordings. The OTL32 and woo sounded almost the same with the woo Audio Amp primarily being slightly less punchy than the OTL32. But no where near this Tube amp monster ability to control the drivers and giving me The impression I was listening to a solid state amp. Over all I am most impressed by this mysterious Tube Monster amp from the great white North.

Well last but of no less importance is I finally discovered that the PPA drives the AKG K1000 Headphones plenty well with lots of drive and almost unlimited extension of high frequency sounds. The transparency of extremes PPA and the AKG K1000 are truly amazing but not any greater than with the CD3k’s but the K100’s are in the F1 class and as such sound orders of magnitude better than the f1’s with the surprising lack of achieving the best in sound stage compared to the MDR-F1’s that I was somewhat disappointed in that respect. One California guitar trio track will give a full 360 degree illusion of width and depth of soundstage that all other dynamic headphones even the CD3k’s reduce to an oval with the depth or width restricted to just outside the sides or just to the back of your neck while with the F1 this track is at least 3 feet at its widest point and moving about in a full 360 degree arch. The MDR f1 are also the only headphone I have heard that can accurately reproduce binaural recordings.
http://www.sonicstudios.com/mdr-f1.htm


In conclusion the only piece of Equipment I would like to add to my collection is the Tube Monster Amp but however done in one of Larry’s case creations. Also I really loved the Audio Technica AT-900 Oh these are like smaller CD3ks. While lacking in the last bit of accuracy of the CD3k the AT900 are close enough that I might use these as my portable headphone augmenting the MDR7506 I like the detail and speed of the K-1000’s but since they failed to give my the 360 degree California Guitar trio Effect I get on the MDRF1 I am going to have to spend more time with them before I commit to another pair of headphones. Hearing the AT900 also made me change my mind at the present of wanting the new MDR-900ST that are apparently better than the V6 however like the K-1000i will have to actually hear these. I have heard the AT900 now and I am pleased and this is what I am going to add to my collection.


Oh one thing I forgot. Now I am not a Grado fan but after hearing the SR225 and the SR225b wood version I thought that was a night and day difference with the wood Grado. GONE is that peaky upper midrange THAT MAKES VOICE AND FLUTE SO HARSH AND COLD. The Added mid bass warmth and almost an octave of apparent Bass extension of the wood version over stock Grado SR-225 in fact the wood Version of the 325 sounded better than the MS Pros by a long way. The MS pros are Honky sounding in the voice and screech in the upper midrange. I can not stand the MS pro and for along time made me not linking Grado headphones since they discontinued the HP-1. In fact the HP-1 and the Wood SR225 sound real close with the wood adding mid bass warmth and still better Bass extension. are well worth the Price. This is IMHO a Must have Grado option for Grado fans.

The 225b woody really is making me salivate. If my MS-2 doesn't please me when it comes, I wonder if I could swap em for this Paduak Grado...

Review continued:

I had an opportunity to listen to the AKG K1000's and would like to share my experiences. The K1000's are a
fascinating headphone. Their aesthetics are particularly striking. They build quality felt superior through
and through. From the hefty cord, to the metal grills, the temple pads right down to the solid wood box.
I liked the way they say on my head, but, as expected, do not expect to do any head-banging with these on.
It's probably best to rock out to a different phone. That's not what these phones are for anyway.

One of my objectives in going to the Seattle meet was to hear the K1000's with a variety of amplifiers. These
include:

1. My "monster" tube amp
2. ASL OTL32
3. Xtreme's PPA
4. Grace 901

A quick review of my findings on each:

OTL32:

Plugging the K1000's into the OTL32 felt right. The OTL32 has the correct connector right on the front of it.
No messing with cords, connectors, extenders, or any of that. Just plug, and play. Listening to music I was
immediately impressed with the midrange. Followed by a depressing bass and treble response. Further listening
confirmed it for me. The OTL32 simply did not have the power to drive the K1000's. They felt flat, and lifeless
I was a bit put off by this having read many raves about the K1000's. Is this it?

Monster Amp:

Utilizing Textual Intercou's adapter I was able to convert the K1000's to a more standard 1/4" headphone jack
I placed them into the mon' expecting this -really- powerful amplifier to kick their ass. It did. That was until
the left channel tube started to go. I had known that my NOS tubes were beginning to die, and die they did.
I did not feel that the K1000's were at fault here. This tube had flaked a bit on me in the past. The point was
the Mon' had more than enough power for the K1000's. They finally had the sound I had read they had. Articulate
like an electrostatic, but full, like a good dynamic. Bass was textured, and nice sounding, but lacking in extension
not unlike the HE90, but that's another review! The midrange and treble sounded phenomenal. Sound staging was
projected far in front of me. Many times I was unsure whether I heard an ambient sound in the room, or if it was
being reproduced by a CD I was listening to. Impressive.

Grace 901:

Mr. Intercou's amp. The 901 is famous as a K1000 amplifier. I was excitied to hear it. I will not get in to an
actual 901 review, but may do that later. The 901 was acting in a DAC and amplifier capacity utilizing a NAD player
of unknown model as a transport. Eagerly, I plugged in the K1000's in to the 901, encouraged by my finding on the Mon'.
How did it sound? In a word... disappointing. Decent extension, but the midrange suffered from compression. I also
did not feel that the 901 had the authority to drive the K1000's properly. The treble was fairly etched, and not at
all smooth. This could be mistaken for detail, but I was not fooled. Midbass, did not have any authority behind it.
It lacked the attack of the Mon'. Overall, not very impressive.

Xtreme4099's PPA:

Well, I gingerly plugged the K1000's in to the maxed PPA expecting the PPA to be humbled by its lack of power.
Immediately I was impressed by the attack of the midbass, and the "snap" of the treble. Extension was also excellent.
The bass was however lacking in texture somewhat. Not that it was a "one note wonder", but the bass did not seem very
"organic" to me. What caught my attention most was the soundstaging though. Several times I was unable to tell I was
wearing headphones at all. I felt like I was listening to speakers. The sound staging was excellent. The midrange
also was very organic, and real sounding. The PPA drove these phones effortlessly. Colour me impressed.

I am so bummed I had to miss this meet. Sounds like a great time and some very cool equipment. Well, maybe next time.

(still waiting for a food review )

The food? The food was really good. They had a public barbeque near the hot tub where Patrick went back and forth while we conversed inside. He served up boneless chicken breasts and well done sausage to put on long rolls or some good bread, possibly sourdough. There were little carrots and lettuce, mustard and whatever, lots of pop, Guiness and great ice cubes. Just right as it wasn't overdone for us geeks

Besides the Omega II's and HE90's and partner amp, KGSS, which are in a class by themselves, I did like some other stuff. xtreme's PPA with adjustable bass boost, BlackGates and beefy separate PS was a real winner. I think I must go for a clone rendition of that PPA. What really surprised me was how it handled K-1000's, enough where I tested my PPA with semi beefed PS with my K-1000's when I got home (had to make an adapter first). No contest, his kicked mine doesn't. I got the impression that it outdid the Grace 901, hmm.. The adjustable bass is a sweet feature also. PPL and Binary_Digit had the same feature in their impressive Global Reference PPA, which is battery powered. Seems logical since PPL is the designer. I'm sold on the fact that PPA is the best amp value out there.

I also was surprised how good TrevorNetwork's tube "monster" sounded. Looking at it, you have to be a tweaker to appreciate it cuz it sure wasn't too pretty... yet! It's definitely a nice design, would like to hear it totally tweaked with the tubes Trevor mentioned for the near future. Seemed to almost sound SS with just the right amount of tube "flavor".

The WooAudio 3 was a beautiful little amp and it was very kind of Woo to send it to the meet to audition. Very nice outward construction. Maybe when it's broken in the sound will live up to it's looks. It seemed really "tubey" and lackluster, not my cup o Joe. Vlad's Emmeline HR-2 was nice enough for the brief time I was with it. It was paired with an Ack dAck and I think Magnavox source. The Xin Superdual made an appearance, a small one, heheh, that is in man is that a small amp. Amazingly small but I didn't listen.

There were only two Grado cans that I liked, mine, and the HP-1's (though I somehow missed the 200's). All I can say is if the HP-1's had a cable upgrade, dang those would be some nice cans. I've done enough that I can tell they will sound fantastic. While they were nice stock, they only seemed to lack what a cable upgrade would bring. I would like to find a set and take that task on, too tempting not to for the outcome I'm envisioning.

I guess the rest has slipped my mind already, heheh, 'cept for the peeps. I guess Matt and friend slipped out before the pics started, hope they found some answers. Interesting talking to PPL and Binary_Digit about designs and business. Vlad wasn't a big talker but seemed a real nice guy. Same with JamesBean who came up from Oregon. Didn't get a whole lot of time with Textual Intercou since he seemed to either be on his laptop or have K-1000's on most of the time but still found time for a brief chat about MIT. Trevor never quit talking, haha, which was fine since he was interesting and knowledgable and glad he came down from Canada. xtreme4099 is a cool dude all around, no one could not like him. Patrick the host was the gentleman of the group, I think he got a lot out of the meet even while hosting duties came first to him. I brought my daughter along since she loves pools, always the lady, some may have not even noticed her. If I forgot anyone, oops

Hearing the legendary HE90's is still on my to do list.


-Ed

The price and prestige are definitely legendary, but its like any other headphone; some like it, some dont.

Well, I'm a little behind on posting my impressions of this meet (I was away on vacation). I looked over this thread and generally agree with the impressions posted so far. You guys have done a great job! I also wanted to emphasize how much better woody CD3000 sounded. After I came home and absorbed the experience at the meet, I realized how much difference the woodies made. In the recent past I've been gradually moving from CD3000 to HD650 as my primary headphones. Since hearing Larry's modified CD3000 I've been eyeing his page for a possible upgrade. Wood + cable upgrade really added a much needed warmth to the some what bright sound signature of the CD3000. I used my Ack dAck + HR-2 to audition my pair of stock CD3000 and Larry's moded pair. The difference between the two is more than obvious, especially with slower records. You really don't need to work hard to hear it. Same goes for the wooded pair of HD600. I can't comment on differences between stock and moded, but will say that the moded pair sounded tremendously good. They didn't sound as airy as the HD650 + zu, but didn't sound veiled either. What I did notice was a much higher upper end. The HD650 sounded more recessed in comparison. Nice midrange and very pleasant low end. The moded HD600 didn't reach as low as HD650, but had a lot of bass. More so than with HD650 + zu. I never felt that the bass was sloppy or bloated. Woodies are definitely worth checking out.

Besides Larry's headphones, I spent a lot of time auditioning three pairs of Grados: HP 1, MS Pro, and SR-200. Between the three, (this shouldn't be a surprise) the HP 1 sounded the best. They felt more balanced than the rest. The SR-200 sounded more HP1-like than MS Pro... but the HP 1 had a much more powerful bass to speak of and the SR-200 sounded just a bit more flat to me. The MS Pro was interesting, in that it was more involving given it's brighter sound signature. At the same time, I found that it sounded harsh with some records (fast sounding records) and could be fatiguing in the long run if you enjoy warmer sound. In comparison, the HP 1 sounded like it was missing some liveliness, but again at the expense of a more powerful bass and much more resolving sound. I felt that the HP 1 unlike the MS Pro didn't smash things together especially in the upper range.