Look, this is just becoming far too circular, the time spent to benefit gained ratio is fast shrinking for me. I'll see myself out.

I don't have a problem with a specific individual, and I've never once indicated that. Disagreeing with your argument that money is the only killer of DIY does not constitute an ad hominem attack. I just think that there are far more nuances to the reason people aren't DIYing that aren't being...

I would definitely agree with this. However, and I think obsidyen may agree with me, I would not call this a basshead's audiophile headphone. I think the 610 picked up the basshead label somewhere early on and I think that is a mis-characterization.

I really would recommend you find somewhere to try the Fostex out before buying. I feel like the TH-610 are more hifi oriented than fun. It's just that they have a little more bass presence than some other hifi oriented cans and are a little warmer and easier on the ears. I'm unfamiliar with the...

Martyn, I have not heard the HE-400i, but I did own the original HE-400, which I understand are pretty different. I could never fall in love with the HE-400, they had a 'glare' to them that just bothered me. It was almost like how 96kbs MP3s have a digitalness to the sound, the hifiman made...

I've got to say that for anyone considering building the Headwatt it is worth it. Paired right now with HD-650 and an old Rotel CD player listening to Hendrix and it's excellent. The amp is totally silent with no music playing. I'm using the higher impedance secondary, and approximately 1/3 of...

As The Godfather's of this forum it is one thing for you to say why people aren't participating. As a newbie myself I'm trying to give my perspective/experience. Economic facts are not the reason I feel discouraged from DIY.

Got it, thread closed I guess. How else am I to take your direct manner of speaking than as discouraging? I thought this was an open discussion, but I feel like you are telling me the question was asked and answered, no further contributions necessary.

I guess my genuine question then is why does this thread exist if DIY is so encouraged? There is something keeping new builders away, just trying to tease out what that is.

You know, now that you mention it the only commercial amp I've ever bought was the Vali 2. Hahaha, and I put it away after a week. My first was a Bottlehead SEX 2.0 that I mildly rebuilt and it's been DIY since. I'm happy tweaking amps I've built, but I'm probably an anomaly in that I won't...

I will say that DIY in general is not necessarily well suited to everyone. Some people though, myself included, want to DIY for the fun, not always the performance. I always prefer DIY, whether I'm building a basement bedroom, custom furniture, or doing car maintenance. I've just seen that...

That's essentially what I am talking about. Some feel like there is no point for the newbie to build anything when for the same or less cost they can get measurably "better" performance by pulling up Schiit's website on their phone and getting a new amp delivered 2 days later. For what I spent...

THIS! It gets very demoralizing as a new builder to find a project that looks like it has great promise just to research it and find people poo-pooing some aspect of the design. So then it's off in search of the next awesome project, which subsequently is also criticized. I just finished a...

So I have some free time. Attenuation numbers Per Inner Fidelity measurements: TH-610: 1k hz - minus 15db 10k hz - minus 30db ATH-M50x: 1k hz - minus 18db 10k hz - minus 40db HD-650: 1k hz - minus 0db 10k hz - minus 15db

Isolation is better than I expected, but not as good as say ATH-M50x. The 610 is not really suited to being a portable headphone, but it is much less instrusive if you are sharing living space than an open headphone would be, assuming you don't have the volume cranked. They definitely do cut...

An OTL design that interests me is the Transcendant Sound Masterpiece 300B. Tubes alone make that a more costly design, but one user here on HF gave a glowing recommendation to me. But truthfully, my Elekit TU-8200 is probably going to be my long term amp. It's just really good, has massive...

I was pretty disappointed when the T3 went to pre built only. It seemed like it was one of the great DIY values. I've struggled to find many transformer coupled DIY headamps that have much information on them. Only a few mentions of the Headwatt, but it was cheap enough to experiment. Pete...

I've found the 610 to work well at blocking a relatively quiet tv in the next room from intruding on my music. I can also listen to the headphones with my wife in the room without her really being able to hear anything. Another reason for these becoming a go to. All of this is at moderate volumes.

The Torpedo has been a tempting amp to me. I had seriously considered buying the T3 kit when it came out, but i just don't like the look of the amp. I know the whole point is to be long and thin, but it just looks odd to me. And now that the T3 is available only as pre-built I can't justify the...

More and more the 610 has become a go to can for me. It really sounds much more open than I was expecting and is very enjoyable to listen to. It has that hard to describe musical quality that makes it easy to listen to.

Tubey, Thanks for the compliment. Personally, I think my tube builds look messy, but I guess there is some level of birdsnest with point to point. I like polished aluminum, but I can't say I would try that again. Like Sodacose said, it just scratches too easily. I've since found this chassis...

The Purpleheart are available now.

I'm using the Elekit TU-8200 with KT-66 or KT-88 tubes in triode with a smattering of capacitor upgrades. Very happy with it, for the DIY crowd I definitely recommend it. It will pop up on sale at tubedepot now and then. No experience with Fostex electronics. Looks like a versatile unit at a...

Not entirely sure what you mean, the sub bass blends into the bass then the mid bass etc. I would not call these basshead headphones. They have a mild U shaped response, good soundstage, and detailed presentation. I am using a single ended tube amp with output TX so my bass experience will be...

Well, it's alive! Due to the near sub zero temperatures I had a little extra indoor time to work on projects today. Fired right up. My one concern is that I am getting 159.7V on each of the plates and the datasheet rates the 6DJ8 for 130V. Do I need to replace one of the HT supply resistors with...