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R10 versus K1000 performance - Page 2

post #16 of 66
11/28/04 at 9:29pm
My px100's outdo them both
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post #17 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:06pm
mikeg,

i know what you mean about the k1000's & mono blocks. i heard meech's dared vp-300b mono blocks at the nyc meet & plugged my k1000's in. i broke down & bought a pair of dareds. the price was right before i bought the brand new sophia electric mesh plates (princess mark III's) & now i have to replace the quad of 12au7's. my beloved refurbished fisher 400 is now operating on the dining room table & the beautiful sounding h.h. scott 222b will pobably end up on the kitchen table. it is pretty rude to avoid conversation while dining. now i can listen to music & converse!

the k1000's are tops! why don't they get more respect?
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post #18 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevieo
the k1000's are tops! why don't they get more respect?
I agree that they are sensational headphones. But not too many people can fork out $700.00 for a pair. Also - finding the right amplifier is an ordeal.

Why? Here's why :-

- very few people can afford the K1000
- even fewer can afford to toy around with different amps and find ones that go nicely with the k1000
- very few people can afford those few amps that go well with the k1000
- very few people are willing to jump into that unknown because really - it is a hit or miss situation if you only have *so much* money
- it is easier, because of the vast amount of information present on headfi, to choose a headphone like the HD-650 and a suitable amp within your budget AND be confident that you will have good sound (if you do research and choose an amp based on that)

I would love to have a k1000 and an amp and actually came VERY close to buying mikeg's monoblocks. But a quick audition between HD-650 + Rudistor RP5 and the K1000 + monoblocks (ASL Wav 8 I think) and even the K1000 + ASL AQ005DT (??) proved that the HD-650 + Rudistor was a superior combo for most genres of music.
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post #19 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari
I agree that they are sensational headphones. But not too many people can fork out $700.00 for a pair. Also - finding the right amplifier is an ordeal.

Why? Here's why :-
.

no argument here. i'm just a step ahead of the collection agent myself.

you are very right about hd-650 working well with all kinds of music & easily being paired with many amps & without much risk.
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post #20 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevieo
no argument here. i'm just a step ahead of the collection agent myself




The risk of picking the wrong amp for the K1000 is quite real and that is what , I think, keeps people out of K1000 ownership.

Flecom (from the recent headfi meet) is VERy happy with the K1000 he picked up there...and guess what...he is powering it out of the same amp Gene picked up (the $30.00 affair).

It also worked well out of the PIMETA he had at the meet
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post #21 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari



The risk of picking the wrong amp for the K1000 is quite real and that is what , I think, keeps people out of K1000 ownership.

Flecom (from the recent headfi meet) is VERy happy with the K1000 he picked up there...and guess what...he is powering it out of the same amp Gene picked up (the $30.00 affair).

It also worked well out of the PIMETA he had at the meet
so now the amp risk is down to $30!? i thought that flecom walking home from his 1st meet with k1000 was very cool & indicated a very high level of aural sophistication.

you are right however about the amp risk. that's why meets are so helpful.
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post #22 of 66
11/28/04 at 10:57pm
I like Flecom's approach. I think the same way he does - it shouldnt cost a lot to get good sound. Most audio manufacturers have HUGE markups anyway. He is a DIY guy and I think he will slap together a Dynahi to power his K1000 (which it will do with ease).

Yeah...he has a good head on his shoulders and the right attitude towards high end audio - a shrug, smirk and a "whatever! " to those who believe that $$$$$ buys good sound.

I agree with him 100%
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post #23 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:00am
Thread Starter 
Guru, when you heard my K1000 driven by the ASL AQ-1005DT power amp., this amp was controlled by an ASL Passive T2 passive preamp. What I've been trying to let people know is that use of my SinglePower SDS amp as a powered preamp for driving the AQ-1005DT gives a totally different result. The K1000, when driven by the combination of ASL AQ-1005DT/SinglePower SDS units, sounds far superior to the way it sounded when driven by the Passive T2 unit. Anyway, you should (and will) hear it soon.


Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari
I would love to have a k1000 and an amp and actually came VERY close to buying mikeg's monoblocks. But a quick audition between HD-650 + Rudistor RP5 and the K1000 + monoblocks (ASL Wav 8 I think) and even the K1000 + ASL AQ005DT (??) proved that the HD-650 + Rudistor was a superior combo for most genres of music.
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post #24 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:01am
Thread Starter 
I now have two of the $30 amps, and will try them soon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari



The risk of picking the wrong amp for the K1000 is quite real and that is what , I think, keeps people out of K1000 ownership.

Flecom (from the recent headfi meet) is VERy happy with the K1000 he picked up there...and guess what...he is powering it out of the same amp Gene picked up (the $30.00 affair).

It also worked well out of the PIMETA he had at the meet
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post #25 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:10am
Mike,

What I am wondering is what exactly the Supra is doing in that chain to improve things so dramatically now? Is it the additional amplification of the signal that is improving things so much over your former passive preamp? What is the line-level output of your source?

Or is it that the Supra is altering the sound characteristics so that you now prefer the result? If it is the latter, then couldn't one potentially achieve the same (or better?) result by rolling tubes in the main amplifier? Shorter/simpler pathway, and all. What 300b's are you using? What other tubes are in the AQ-1005DT that could be rolled? What IC's are you using in between to two amps?

Btw, I don't dispute your findings, nor the fact that the K1000's are a stellar headphone. Just curious.
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post #26 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg
Guru, when you heard my K1000 driven by the ASL AQ-1005DT power amp., this amp was controlled by an ASL Passive T2 passive preamp. What I've been trying to let people know is that use of my SinglePower SDS amp as a powered preamp for driving the AQ-1005DT gives a totally different result. The K1000, when driven by the combination of ASL AQ-1005DT/SinglePower SDS units, sounds far superior to the way it sounded when driven by the Passive T2 unit. Anyway, you should (and will) hear it soon.
Yes - I expect the results to be quite different this time. YGPM again...more developments
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post #27 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:40am
Thread Starter 
When I first encountered the improvement of using the SDS as powered preamp, I contacted Mikhail and asked for his opinion. From what I recall, his explanation was that the improvement in base, clarity, fullness, etc., were to be fully expected contributions of the SDS unit. As I understood Mikhail's explantion, the fine qualities of the SDS that accrue to any headphone that's connected directly to it, are also "passed through" to units connected to it, when it's used at the preamp. that drives these units. I should add that the Passive preamp. that I previously used (i.e., the ASL Passive T2) is really a high quality one, and yet, it's performance does not match what I get by using the SDS as powered preamp. As for the line output that I used when I made these observations, it was the RCA connectors (i.e., regular outputs) of a Marantz SA8260 SACD Player. I used the front speaker outputs of this CDP. As for tube rolling the 300B tubes of my ASL AQ-1005DT power amp., I've done so in the past, but found the difference to be rather slight. I'm using TJ mesh 300B gold tubes, and I've previously compared them with Electro-Harmonix 300B tubes. The difference that resulted from this tube rolling test was substantially less than that obtained by switching from the passive preamp, to the SDS powered preamp. As for IC's, I'm using DiMarzio M-Path cables.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jpelg
Mike,

What I am wondering is what exactly the Supra is doing in that chain to improve things so dramatically now? Is it the additional amplification of the signal that is improving things so much over your former passive preamp? What is the line-level output of your source?

Or is it that the Supra is altering the sound characteristics so that you now prefer the result? If it is the latter, then couldn't one potentially achieve the same (or better?) result by rolling tubes in the main amplifier? Shorter/simpler pathway, and all. What 300b's are you using? What other tubes are in the AQ-1005DT that could be rolled? What IC's are you using in between to two amps?

Btw, I don't dispute your findings, nor the fact that the K1000's are a stellar headphone. Just curious.
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post #28 of 66
11/29/04 at 2:23pm
Thread Starter 
I've provided additional information in my following new thread:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=95241


Quote:
Originally Posted by sacd lover
Hey mikeg, did the ps audio ultimate outlet have minimal negative impact on the Supra's sound quality? I know you were dissatisfied with your power conditioning before and liked the amp best straight from the wall.
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post #29 of 66
11/30/04 at 12:18pm
[QUOTE=mikeg]When I first encountered the improvement of using the SDS as powered preamp, I contacted Mikhail and asked for his opinion. From what I recall, his explanation was that the improvement in base, clarity, fullness, etc., were to be fully expected contributions of the SDS unit. As I understood Mikhail's explantion, the fine qualities of the SDS that accrue to any headphone that's connected directly to it, are also "passed through" to units connected to it, when it's used at the preamp. that drives these units. I should add that the Passive preamp. that I previously used (i.e., the ASL Passive T2) is really a high quality one, and yet, it's performance does not match what I get by using the SDS as powered preamp.

Mikeg, would you say that it's the SDS that's really making the difference in what you're hearing and if it were possible to use the SDS as direct amplification to the K1 you might get the same results?
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post #30 of 66
11/30/04 at 12:36pm
Quote:
As I understood Mikhail's explantion, the fine qualities of the SDS that accrue to any headphone that's connected directly to it, are also "passed through" to units connected to it, when it's used at the preamp. that drives these units.
Perhaps Mikhail (or anyone else familiar with the SDS topology) can elaborate more specifically on what the SDS is doing when acting as only a preamp, as in this case? What tubes are in the preamp-only chain? What/How much amplification is taking place to the signal when passed thru the preamp-only chain?

Also, are there impedance-matching issues with the "passive" ASL preamp that are being corrected using the "active" SDS instead? (anyone?)
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