[mikeg]

I'm really sorry for the difficulties that you've encountered with the EA-6, and I hope that your request for refund wll be resolved satisfactorily. The EA-6 that I expect from Peter McAlister will be a loaner, at first, and I will listen to it very carefully for clipping at high volume, or for other obvious performance aberrations. Perhaps my conclusions with regard to this amp will be more positive than yours. I'll be evaluating the EA-6 with an HE90, but unfortunately Peter has never had the opportunity to hear this headphone, and therefore can't actually optimize his amps for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabbi1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let me know how it works for you - I have requested to return my EA-6 for a refund, and if not, it will go to the 'For Sale' forum with the reasons why. Basically, with acoustic / classical, it sounds wonderful. But, with complex rock (Tool, Hoobastank, and even Rolling Stones 'Sticky Fingers') I get clipping. This amp is not in the same class as the BH, HEV90, nor the ES-1, and I have heard them all extensively, with everything except the Omega 1. Even without the clipping, this amp is still about 85% of the BH, with less than spectacular tubes, even after upgrading the 6CG7 in the EA-6 to the MIJ Raytheon tubes. No doubt someone can use this amp - just not me. Now, off to buy some Mullards for the Blue Hawaii and be done with it.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think Ippinkan do international sales, but the SC-1 isn't really worth the price they sell it for. If they dropped 10-20k yen off the price maybe. I paid less for mine than many have been paying for Lambda Pros recently.

I was thinking about ordering the entire Stax lineup and pick them up as well. I'm going to order quite a few Stax setups soon for all those hopeless souls I've infected with this disease.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif They started off that way. Then I fiddled with them and they went thin and bassless, which made me do a double take. Finding the golden middle is certainly a challenge with them.

The golden middle is a tough one and it is also elusive. I thought my phones were broken because they sounded off but it was only the pads were busted. Changed them and they were back to their full glory. Same goes if you are using the wrong IC's or PC's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Only up to a point, at least for those of us with narrow heads. The thing is just too heavy to clamp properly. I guess there's only so much you can do when you've working with a big block of wood.

I'm more of the "enormous melon of a head" type. The Sigmas even look small when I put them on. The ESP6 just doesn't fit unless I use the ESP9 headband and the Micro Seiki MS-2 and the HE90 are a very snug fit.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Only up to a point, at least for those of us with narrow heads. The thing is just too heavy to clamp properly. I guess there's only so much you can do when you've working with a big block of wood.

Isn't that the truth! I've got a big, wide head, and I'm experiencing this same problem, so it appears to be universal. They really are 2 big heavy blocks! The sheer weight of them makes it hard to get a good seal. They lift off of your face at the top, inner corners ('inner' being the corners that you see while looking in a mirror, as opposed to the opposite top corners that face the back of your head). I suppose if someone had high cheekbones, that might help to hold them in place!

Since they are closed, you can lean back against a curved neck pillow, which gives them just enough clamping force to complete the seal without affecting comfort. But as Carl said, this sense that you get that they're pulling away from your face and not sealing properly doesn't really affect the sound much.

Another trick that I've been using is to try to gently "screw" them into place once they've positioned properly. Essentially, it's a matter of trying to get the pads to bond to your skin. It works best when you first come out of the shower and your pores are wide open and squeeky clean (i.e., facial oils work against this principle). It's kind of like when you try to get a spoon to hang off the tip of your nose... works best if your nose has some grip!

BTW, they must have changed the design at some point, because my 4070 are most definitely plastic, and not wood! At least the outer casing, that is. I can't speak for what else is going on inside.

 

[swt61]

I've heard the OII's with the ES-1 and the Blue Hawaii. Although I did not get to hear them at the same time, they were both incredible with the O11's. The 2 different stax amps I heard them on (Sorry don't remember which models) were mediocre at best IMO.

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Isn't that the truth! I've got a big, wide head, and I'm experiencing this same problem, so it appears to be universal. They really are 2 big heavy blocks! The sheer weight of them makes it hard to get a good seal. They lift off of your face at the top, inner corners ('inner' being the corners that you see while looking in a mirror, as opposed to the opposite top corners that face the back of your head). I suppose if someone had high cheekbones, that might help to hold them in place! Since they are closed, you can lean back against a curved neck pillow, which gives them just enough clamping force to complete the seal without affecting comfort. But as Carl said, this sense that you get that they're pulling away from your face and not sealing properly doesn't really affect the sound much. Another trick that I've been using is to try to gently "screw" them into place once they've positioned properly. Essentially, it's a matter of trying to get the pads to bond to your skin. It works best when you first come out of the shower and your pores are wide open and squeeky clean (i.e., facial oils work against this principle). It's kind of like when you try to get a spoon to hang off the tip of your nose... works best if your nose has some grip!

They sound slightly better when they aren't pushed right up to your ears (maybe because the ports are less covered that way), so I just tend to let it do its thing.

Quote:

BTW, they must have changed the design at some point, because my 4070 are most definitely plastic, and not wood! At least the outer casing, that is. I can't speak for what else is going on inside.

Tap it with your fingernail. I'm not aware of any plastic that resonates like that. Certainly not polypropylene or PET. Now that I think about it I'm not entirely sure what it's made out of, but it's bloody heavy whatever it is. The magnesium alloy parts of it only make up a fraction of the weight by comparison.

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't claim to have gotten anywhere near 100% out of them, but I didn't find the musical extention (as opposed to frequency-sweep extention) that spectacular with them, but that may well have been a combination of lack of time to get the setup right and high expectations. The 4070 still remains as the only headphone where I've been able to define a sub-25Hz kickdrum that's low in the mix as a distinct musical event and place it within my headspace. Of course, they have other issues, so such is life.

I too have found the SR-007 bass extension a bit lacking but as my knowledge of transformers has increased I expect that my SRD-7 MK2 is actually a major source of the problem for me. It would seem a transformer as small as those in the SRD-7s with such a high ratio is just not as physically big as a transformer that would be able to produce the lowest frequencies given such a step up ratio.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I too have found the SR-007 bass extension a bit lacking but as my knowledge of transformers has increased I expect that my SRD-7 MK2 is actually a major source of the problem for me. It would seem a transformer as small as those in the SRD-7s with such a high ratio is just not as physically big as a transformer that would be able to produce the lowest frequencies given such a step up ratio.

This has been the case here with me. It just seems to tap out early compared to the BH.

 

[pabbi1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really sorry for the difficulties that you've encountered with the EA-6, and I hope that your request for refund wll be resolved satisfactorily. The EA-6 that I expect from Peter McAlister will be a loaner, at first, and I will listen to it very carefully for clipping at high volume, or for other obvious performance aberrations. Perhaps my conclusions with regard to this amp will be more positive than yours. I'll be evaluating the EA-6 with an HE90, but unfortunately Peter has never had the opportunity to hear this headphone, and therefore can't actually optimize his amps for it.

Yes, he needs a pair of HE60 / HE90, but also needs to expand his hearing testing with loud, snotty rock, some hip-hop, rap, and other challenging music. Apparently, an EA-2 has some of the same symptoms per an independent observation, so this hints at a design voiced for certain music genres, and ought to be disclosed as such.

Heck, I'll send you mine if the amp from Peter doesn't magterialize, simply for (another) second opinion, unless he's in a big hurry to get this one back. I would be curious if the two units have the same deficiencies.

 

[Snacks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW, they must have changed the design at some point, because my 4070 are most definitely plastic, and not wood! At least the outer casing, that is.

How can you tell?

 

[Frihed89]

My biggest disappointment with McCalister is the inability to meet commitments and many constructions flaws and mistakes that are hard to explain in view of his mastery and design of tube circuits.

 

[milkpowder]

That's not good news for McAlister. All the bad news has taken my potential money elsewhere. I'd rather settle on something slightly more costly, but I know is going to work flawlessly like a Stax 007tII or 727 than something that involves risk.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think that the O3 will be along the same lines allowing everybody to experience 95% of the phones ability and hard core users to play with the pressure to shape the sound to their liking.

is an O3 a reality or merely speculative? is there any info about it (what is it, when, cost, etc etc)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's kind of like when you try to get a spoon to hang off the tip of your nose... works best if your nose has some grip!

Wayne, i must say i've never heard of such a thing nor has it occured to me to ever try something like this. in fact i'm having trouble conjuring up a proper image. would you be so kind as to post some pictures (wm w/ he90s and spoon?).

 

[spritzer]

The O3 will be here but we do not know when. The SR-007 has sold by the thousands and there is really nothing wrong with them but you can be sure that there will be a replacement. They are nearly 10 years old now so I'm guessing we'll see a replacement in 2008 but it's pure speculation.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif The O3 will be here but we do not know when. The SR-007 has sold by the thousands and there is really nothing wrong with them but you can be sure that there will be a replacement. They are nearly 10 years old now so I'm guessing we'll see a replacement in 2008 but it's pure speculation.

Lets hope your speculation is right. That we will see an Omega III next year...

 

[milkpowder]

That means stock up on O2s. I wonder if the O2 will ever achieve legendary status like the O1s...