You would be safer soldering the tubes in place and being happy with what you hear is great. But then, who am I? The same guy that knows that it can't get any better, and still keeps tweaking.

With pretty much the same misleading logic, or just poor English, I saw a sign on a speaker in a Hi-Fi shop. It read $1,000. Hey, says I, that is a pretty good price for a pair of these speakers. Salesman 'corrected' me by pointing out that the cost was per speaker. Really? So we are still in...

Threads like this could go on forever. When you find an amp that you prefer, it should end there. Oddly enough, it can have less to do about price, number of tubes etc, but so much more to do about the synergy of the complete system, and what YOU like. Having said that, don't be too tempted by...

My experience with the HE400S is really quite good. I have used a variety of amps, but one that is better than expected was Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. It is a tube based amp that I upgraded with a bunch of new parts, but got it used for about $115. With upgrades, I may have spent $150 total. I...

From my experience synergy has bee fleeting, but rewarding. Most everything sounds just right, and then for whatever reason, a recording, your restlessness (read OCD), or some other factor sways the system into a sort of blind path. Start over, and wonder what you did right, and why you had the...

Should I decide to crack the cups open for surgery, what is the safest method to do so?

Got the RS225e a bit ago, and really thought that they might be sold after a shoot out with some other cans. Trouble is, they grow on you. I get the preferences that other headphones can offer, and I will say that I really enjoy the 225 for certain recordings and not so much others. NOW I...

Just got back from Target practice, and it is always great. I have owned numerous rifles and pistolas, but keep coming back to the time honored 22 LR. Currently I am using a new CZ 453 bolt action, and need some advice for a scope. Not as easy as it sounds because of my eyesight not being...

Despite the fact that I do not have a formula on hand, I find it impressive to see that headphone amp attenuated right from the main output. One possibility is that more power could be drawn by replacing the 470 ohm resistors with a lesser value. It should also be noted that if this headphone...

At some point here we are referring to perception and preference. These lend themselves to many topics out there besides audio, and that proves to me that they are a valuable and variable experience. There is no doubt that my hearing and tastes have changed over my life, and so I continue to...

Well, I didn't read the many pages of thread here, but it would interest me to own a headphone that is of a closed back design make the grade. After all, many times that I am using headphones, it is for the purpose of some privacy. Even tonight as I was listening to music, I was also listening...

Thank you for your kind words. I will readily say that metal, though being so completely different a medium from wood as one can imagine, also can posses beauty. I think that it is not so much a beauty exposed as a beauty created. A real pocket watch for example (if I must, then that is a...

Many years ago, I worked numerous exotic woods, 27 different species to be exact. Simply put, they are individual, and nothing like plastic. Now and then a customer would make an 'observation' as to the color, texture, rightness of the grain amongst other grains, etc. It seems that some folk...

This is the headphone amp/chassis that I am building from mostly parts as far as the chassis anyway. I cut a brass plate for the front panel so that I would chose where I want to drill the holes needed. The special stepped attenuator has 3 knobs, center is for coarse volume adjustments, and each...