[Sarchi]

I'm getting my first real high end 'phones on Friday, a used pair of W1000's.

I plan to try them with all of the following over the next little while:
Little Dot Micro-Tube bought last week
Musiland MD10 also picking up Friday
Aikido 24v 6GM8 hybrid, once I finish the hybrid part
HP jack on my Pioneer PDR509 CD
Speaker taps of my Sophia 'Baby' amp

Once I start eliminating contenders, I might also buy a CD5001 and try that direct.

I'm a little leery of driving a nice pair of cans with a speaker amp, but I have a pair of HD205's I can sacrifice first as a test case. (specs are similar)

I will post my impressions in this thread.

Opinions and comments welcome....

 

[kugino]

seems like the amp that matches the w1000 well is the yamamoto ha-02

 

[Sarchi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif seems like the amp that matches the w1000 well is the yamamoto ha-02

the yammy is most definitely on my list.........and probably the end of 'the search'. I just have to convince the wife, y'know, ease her into it.....or she'll hit the roof.

 

[kugino]

be careful with using a speaker amp to drive these ATHs. i asked vinnie at redwine audio about this very scenario and in short, he told me not to do it

 

[wes.coleman]

Let me know how they sound with the Little Dot, as that amp, and those cans are likely to become my next setup.

 

[Sarchi]

I didn't get the 'phones today, it'll be another week or so 'til I can pick them up.

 

[mrarroyo]

I have had my W1000 for about a week, I bought them used. I have had them burning in since they arrived and I believe you will be very happy. The detail, micro dynamics, clarity, soundstage, and high/mids-treble extension is superb.

At first I felt the bass was not sufficient, well with burn in I can say that it has plenty of bass and it is tight. Good luck.

 

[Superpredator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have had my W1000 for about a week, I bought them used. I have had them burning in since they arrived and I believe you will be very happy. The detail, micro dynamics, clarity, soundstage, and high/mids-treble extension is superb. At first I felt the bass was not sufficient, well with burn in I can say that it has plenty of bass and it is tight. Good luck.

Mind if I ask what amp(s) you're using?

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superpredator /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mind if I ask what amp(s) you're using?

- Mapletree Ear + Purist HD100
- Green Solo
- Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 w/ the PinkFloyd Mods, Russian 6H23-EB valves (2), and a Little Pinkie PSU
- Musical Fidelity X-Can V2 w/ the PinkFloyd Mods, Russian 6H23-EB valves (2), and a Little Pinkie PSU

In front of amps 2 and 3 above I am using a Musical Fidelity X-10 V3 w/ the PinkFloyd Mods (done by me) and a Little Pinkie PSU. The Source is an stock Musical Fidelity X-Dac V3 w/ a Little Pinkie PSU.

If I feel like using them transportable then:

- Beta Reference
- UHA-3
- Voyager High Gain
- Voyager Low Gain
- iBasso D1 w/ OPA2111 in L/R w/ LM4562 as Buffers
- MiniBox-E

With the portable amps I use Apple Lossless files out of a 4th Gen iModded iPod Photo and a Revelation Audio 99.999% Cryo IC.

 

[Superpredator]

I just meant which amp were you using with the W1000 (and liking), since synergy seems to be a big issue with that particular Audio-Technica.

 

[Sarchi]

So I got my W1000's and I've been enjoying the hell out of them.

My impressions with the various sources/amps:

Little Dot Micro-Tube -- quite good. I think this amp is not quite up to the task of driving the higher-end 'phones, but it comes pretty close. Loads of power into 40 Ohms, that's not an issue. The detail is also good, and musicality is good. It's just not the last word in transparency.

Musiland MD10 -- using the headphone jack, this combination didn't work for me. It sounded ok but was bettered by all the others by a fair margin. Using it as a DAC only, it seemed decent but not noticeably better than other digital sources, even USB.

Aikido 24v 6GM8 hybrid -- well, I bailed on this project and decided to sell the Aikido to a friend.

Headphone jack on my Pioneer PDR-509 CD -- this was surprisingly very good. 2nd best of all the ones I tried. I've always thought this was a decent sounding CDP, so what did I do? Sold it and ordered a Marantz CD5001.

I never used the recording function much on the Pioneer, and convinced myself the new gen DAC's must sound better....we'll see.

Speaker taps of my Sophia 'Baby' amp -- voila, this is the killer combo. I experimented with different load resistors (as per the Headwize FAQ), first using cheapo RS ones, and finally settled on some big Mills 12W 10 Ohm resistors in parallel, i.e. accross the speaker taps. I took heed of the warning above, but got some guidance on this and decided to go for it. As long as you are loading the outputs with the right resistors it should be fine. With 10 Ohm resistor + 40 Ohm 'phones the amp is seeing an 8 Ohm load. I also replaced the MKP signal caps in the amp with 0.1uF Jupiter beeswax caps, they made an amazing difference. Everything opened up even more, the bass got tighter and deeper, etc.

So I'm happy as a clam now, except that I still keep wondering how much better the spud amp HA-02 might be. A single stage tube amp is desireable indeed...