I don't know who made the first, but the AudioValve RKV has been around since the early 80's, and still sounds fantastic even today.

In my opinion, you have a fabulous start to a very good system. In no certain order: - Keep your CD player. - Buy the HD 600 grills from Sennheiser. - Upgrade your Sennheiser HD 580 stock cable. My favorite is the Equinox. - Buy a headphone tube amplifier with good power supply. - Upgrade...

Quote: Originally Posted by Black Stuart Crescendopower, you do come out with a lot of absolutes don't you. You listened to (1) CDP with some Nordost I/Cs and panned all the cables you know someone from a particular speaker co. and quoted him and then you come out with another...

Quote: Originally Posted by Patrick82 Yes, instead of covering up the brightness with tubes it's better to fix the problems instead. Two years ago the brightness was so bad that I didn't have a choice, I needed to cover it up with Mullard tubes. Valhalla + tubes still sounded more...

Quote: Originally Posted by Patrick82 Nordost Valhalla reveals problems in the system... That's right! Any system that obtains synergy with a different cable than Nordost has problems.

Quote: Originally Posted by tourmaline I can see you never heard any of the reference series of Nordost cables; they are FAR from bright. They are neutral and never get harsh in the extreem highs, not even with their extension! I had some pure silver IC's before, now, those were...

Quote: Originally Posted by Gil Schwartzman I would like to get some speakers as well, but most listening is done through headphones. Personally, I would buy a kick-@ss headphone amplifier that had pre-amp capabilities, and buy a cheaper amp to drive the speakers. You do not want...

You know what I would do? I would contact Ray, and ask him what phones he thinks match best with the Raptor.

Motley Crue - Wild Side

Quote: Originally Posted by Spareribs Please keep the Benchmark comments out of this thread. Plenty of discussions of it elswhere like at the source forum and the Audiogon general forum as well. Lot's of internet discussions have been done already on this product. Thanks. Yes...

Quote: Originally Posted by robm321 Thanks for the impressions. The HD580 is a great value. Get the HD600 grill and it gets better... from what I've read anyway. Yep, and it is possible to like the HD 580s with HD 600 grills better than the HD 650 depending upon what system you...

Annie Lennox - Little Bird

Sennheiser HD 580s with HD 600 grills.

Quote: Originally Posted by televators thread derailer : So is there a DAC under $1k you would recommend over the DAC1? I don't have a lot of experience with DACs in that price range. It will simply come down to what DAC fits best within your system, and that may be the DAC1, or...

Quote: Originally Posted by televators did you change you profile and avatar because of this thread I have been known to do these things in the past. Just think of it as the voice of reason.