[eric343]

I'd be interested to hear the results of R10+KGCA (or R10+META42 w/ EL2009s)

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by eric343 I'd be interested to hear the results of R10+KGSS (or R10+META42 w/ EL2009s)

I would very much be curious about what R10 owners think of the Gilmore.

But then Gilmore has the HP-1 which is a better headphone anyway. Tsk.

 

[eric343]

D'oh, that should be KGCA. I'd certainly hope no R10 owner tries to hook their headphones up to a KGSS - you'd have something known as a "flaming headphone" (the KGSS puts out up to ~600V bias and +/-600V signal - at those voltages, the dinky wires in the transducer would probably explode. Literally.)

Kelly: Man, you just LOVE egging people on to upgrade their systems

Just so you know, thanks to your, uh, prodding, I'm currently planning on getting some Orpheus headphones

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Calanctus Has anyone tried the R10 with either the Earmax Pro or the Headroom Max?

I've heard both. I initially liked the Max with the R10, but the novelty wore off, and the Max doesn't have the high end necessary for the R10 to perform its best. Not as bad at the low end as many. The Earmax Pro with stock tubes was boring at best. I haven't heard an EMP with decent NOS and the R10 (at least I don't remember trying it).

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly But then Gilmore has the HP-1 which is a better headphone anyway. Tsk.

kelly,

Don't you have anything better to do than post flame-bait?

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch kelly, Don't you have anything better to do than post flame-bait?

Last I checked, this thread was about two headphones, not just one. Nice to see that mod hat is fitting so comfortably on you.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly Last I checked, this thread was about two headphones, not just one. Nice to see that mod hat is fitting so comfortably on you.

Weren't you the person who was complaining about the "this one is better than that one" posts with no substantive content to them? Must be another kelly I'm thinking about...

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch Weren't you the person who was complaining about the "this one is better than that one" posts with no substantive content to them? Must be another kelly I'm thinking about...

My comment was in reference to the Gilmore amp and its designer. My explicit opinions of the R10 and where I feel they rank comparatively are found in this post:
R10 opinions .

I would say your sarcastic rhetoric qualifies more for flame bait than my on-topic headphone remarks.

 

[andrzejpw]

<breaks open microwave popcorn seal>

 

[yidimsum]

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs Grado HP1--listening time: ~4 min. I actually auditioned the R10 first, but since I have much less to say about them, I'd rather put this on top. These have the characteristic Grado punchy and aggressive sound without sounding sibilant and completely off the mark of real-life sound like the SR125 I heard last time. These may or may not be a whole lot better than the Senns and Etys, but I was too busy trying to evaluate the R10 to listen to these enough to say much about them beyond their general tonal characteristics. I need to go back and listen to them some more at the upcoming Hong Kong Head-Fi meet (stay tuned at the Meetings forum )

Hey Joe Bloggs (Mr. Princeton Review Man - I taught in HK yo),

I was wondering about your comments about the HP-1. Gino bought the pair of HP-1s from ze-ant, and the pads on them were pretty much demolished (cited in his ad and also judging by the pictures). Did you replace these pads with the newer bowl type, or did you just listen to them w/ the worn out pads. Either way, the true nature of the HP-1s were probably not realized. The pads on the HP-1s make an immense difference on the sound. Also it doesn't seem very objective to mention the HP-1s in a thread more or less dedicated to the R10. 4 minutes vs. 1 hour of listening is a huge difference. The "characteristic Grado punchy and aggressive" applies to the HP-1000s depending on the music chosen. Break out a classical CD recording of Vivaldi Four Seasons - Winter: II. Largo - Rain (I highly recommend Gil Shaham with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra - Deutsche Grammophon). You can really hear the interplay and separation between the soloist, 1st & 2nd violins, violas, cellos, and the double bass. The sautille of the cellos (~bouncing bow action) and the plucking of the 1st & 2nd violins are really useful to grasp how the headphone handles decay. This is a really good reference for classical music by the way. For contrasting style, Summer: III. Presto - Summer Storm is also a great piece. Get someone to bring our buy this recording to the HK Head-Fi meet. Thank you for the interesting comments on the R10, it's one of the dynamic cans I really want to try.

 

[ze-ant]

Hi Joe,

It was interesting reading your comparison of the R10 and HP-1. I did a short comparison of the same 2 headphones last week when I met Gino to let him audition the HP-1s, which he was interested in buying.

I did not have the benefit of using Gino's Cosmic but used the only portable source I have (actually, it belongs to my wife's), a Panasonic cd/vcd player (forgot the model number).

I took along with me 4 cds and played the tracks I was most familiar with, when comparing the R10 to the HP-1.

In a nutshell, I found that the HP-1 was nowhere as transparent, airy, detailed and had a much narrower soundstage compared with the R10. Although I must add that the bass of the HP-1s was more pronounced than on the R10.

If I can use words to describe the sound of the R10s, the words heavenly, lush and sweet come to mind, especially with when listening to the female vocal cd I took along with me that night, which was by Lisa Ono.

I played the same cd on my home Stax setup and definitely preferred the sound (and the colouration) of the R10s, which sounded more natural to me. I now know which set of headphones will be my next (and hopefully last) pair.

Perhaps I should also add that I agree with your theory that the sound of the R10 is tailored for older ears - or putting it another way, acoustic and vocal music.

Gino, if you are reading this, perhaps you can drop me an e-mail when you have plans to go away on vacation/work and leave your R10s behind, so that I can have a change to 'further evaluate' them

 

[yidimsum]

Quote:

Originally posted by ze-ant In a nutshell, I found that the HP-1 was nowhere as transparent, airy, detailed and had a much narrower soundstage compared with the R10. Although I must add that the bass of the HP-1s was more pronounced than on the R10.

Not to beat a dead horse, but see post above your own about the messed up flat pads on the pair of HP-1 that were used in the A/Bing. Those pads were virtually crumbling and you could clearly see the metal ear pieces protruding out of the foam ear pads in the pictures provided with the ad. I'm not sure if this is a fair evaluation of the HP-1 vs. R10... My disclaimer is that I haven't had the opportunity to try the R10, but I've had experience listening to 4 different pairs of HP-1000s (2 pairs HP-1s and 2 pairs HP-2s).

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by ze-ant Perhaps I should also add that I agree with your theory that the sound of the R10 is tailored for older ears - or putting it another way, acoustic and vocal music.

I tend to agree with this, which is when I'm actually trying to see what the R10 can do in a particular setup, I like to use electric rock or blues, or just about anything with a lot of bass and dynamics. For me, it's easier to diagnose the limits of a system by throwing things at it that are supposedly difficult for it. If it starts getting those right, I may be on the right track. My goal is to have a system in which the R10 handles anything I throw at it, regardless of music type.

 

[ze-ant]

were a pair of 'inverted' bowl pads, which was the nearest equivalent I would find, having been unable to locate a pair of the old flat pads.

I don't know whether they would sound significantly different from a pair of flats, since I never had a pair of flats on them before.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

The HP-1s seem to have a new pair of regular bowl pads...

So you want us to find a pair of flat pads? Funny, I thought that the SR60s sounded rather off with its flat pads... although for all I know they would sound off even with bowl pads

Quote:

In a nutshell, I found that the HP-1 was nowhere as transparent, airy, detailed and had a much narrower soundstage compared with the R10. Although I must add that the bass of the HP-1s was more pronounced than on the R10.

Sure, the R10s are more transparent, airy and detailed, but at least with the setup I had yesterday this came at the expense of tonal balance and naturalness. I would rather have a more neutral presentation and live with less detail than go for the R10 sound I heard yesterday, and I assume the sound you heard out of a portable couldn't have been better than what I heard...

Of course, there's the old ears issue...

Er, as you can see in my listening impressions, I felt that it did worst in the vocal style music I tried

My favourite classical songs are Tchaikovsky's Op35 (and a new addition, er, Op26 I think) and Mozart's Requiem. But my experience with classical is limited. In any case, I did not have these albums with me yesterday

Looking forward to the Hong Kong Head-Fi meet with its selection of amps (although no HP4 or XCans so far?). If I can't find an amp to 'naturalize' the R10s there I'd start listening to the HP1s for sure.

The HP1 gave me less of that sense of weirdness--I think with extended listening there's a chance that I may prefer them to the R10s... esp. after experimenting with different pads