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  1. skeptic

    Feedback by 'skeptic' on listing 'Auralic Taurus Mk2/Mkii'

    I bought GarlicBiscuit's Auralic Taurus mkii. It was a flawless transaction, and I really enjoyed our communications along the way. The amp was carefully packed, shipped immediately and arrived cross-county in only a few days. Highly recommended seller!
  2. skeptic

    Feedback by 'skeptic' on listing 'GS-X mini in black'

    Excellent seller, and very nice to deal with! Amp arrived in pristine condition and ahead of schedule. Thanks again!
  3. skeptic

    Crack;Bottlehead OTL

    I have the same tkd that Beefy recommended in my crack, and it is a very nice pot. That said, I view it as a non-essential upgrade, and it is easy enough to replace in the future if you decide the channel imbalance at the very lowest volumes are a problem in your setup. I actually ended up...
  4. skeptic

    Best Bass...

    They didn't exist when this thread was started, but for great basshead phones that don't need an amp, Audio Technica es10's have got to be on the list. Those 53mm drivers slap, and they are lively enough to be great with rock as well as hiphop. New pairs on ebay go for < 300, and paired with a...
  5. skeptic

    Crack;Bottlehead OTL

    It has been years, but you can add me to the list of those who tried multiple 6sn7 tube adapters and never managed to get one that didn't introduce significant noise. I eventually gave up on that avenue and added an early iteration of maxhawke's bias selector board to my crack. Been very happy...
  6. skeptic

    IS there a boo/website/series I can watch to learn more about amplifiers?

    I really like these Nelson Pass articles as a starting point: https://www.passlabs.com/technical_article/single-ended-class-a/ https://www.passlabs.com/technical_article/leaving-class-a/ https://www.passlabs.com/technical_article/audio-distortion-and-feedback/
  7. skeptic

    Westone 4 Impressions and Reviews Thread

    When you go from a two channel to four channel balanced (push pull) amp, you quadruple power and cancel common mode distortion but also double output impedance and noise. Output impedance in particular impacts cross overs in multidriver ba iem's and will shift frequency response. It is not at...
  8. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

      Haven't dropped in around these parts for a long time.  Hope you all have been well!   The recent comments about output impedance sparked a dim memory that PJ once weighed in briefly on the topic of the mainline's nominal vs. actual output impedance.  On low, he suggested the real world...
  9. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

    I wonder how much of what you are hearing can be attributed to phase distortions caused by the bypass caps.  When I tried adding Russian teflons across the obbligatos in my crack, I liked the change at first but then became convinced over time that the sound was overall less clear and pulled...
  10. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

    Very nice! Mainline should be right up your alley - retaining that wonderful bottlehead house sound, but substantially improving on the already venerable crack + sb across the board. The resolution, transparency, speed and bass detail are all in a different league, and the beautifully refined...
  11. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

    I'm running my mainline with hd800's, tweaked with a superdupont resonator and cork mods (google it!) (which replicate the changes in the hd800s, taming of the 6k peak, but have significantly less LF distortion and less of a peak at 15khz, per Innerfidelty). It is headphone audio at its finest...
  12. skeptic

    Woo Audio WA8 Review - Head-Fi TV

    Beautiful industrial design - I look forward to hearing one!  Can anyone answer a couple of questions as to the all tube nature of the amp?   If fed by the analog input, does the signal pass through any solid state devices (i.e. are the tubes the only gain stage in the amp circuit)?    I...
  13. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

    Both the 650's and 800 are just ridiculously good with mainline - you can't go wrong!  If you do ever pick up the latter though, make sure you give sorrodje's hd800 "french mod" a try, as described elsewhere.  It is derivative of what Senn did with the hd800S but costs about $10 and takes 5...
  14. skeptic

    Bottlehead Amplifier Discussion / Comparison Thread: Crack, SEX & Mainline

      No kidding - and George's asking price is an incredible steal.  I'm half tempted to buy a second one for my office.
  15. skeptic

    Schiit Yggdrasil Impressions thread

    I'm not that familiar with everything JRMC has to offer, but there are certainly plenty of full featured music player options in linux. I've been test driving various programs mentioned in this Dec 2015 article: http://www.tecmint.com/best-linux-audio-music-players/
  16. skeptic

    Schiit Yggdrasil Impressions thread

    In lieu of pills, magic stickers, mystical fuses, kilobuck isolation feet or consecration in rick schulz's bodily fluids - I recently tried a yggy related mod that actually does something real (read: real good): took Mike's sage advice, got off my ass and installed a copy of elementary linux on...
  17. skeptic

    Sennheiser HD800S Unveiled!

      Conversely though, hd600's have a hump at 3k within the range of fundamental frequencies of many acoustic instruments.  I don't know about you, but I love having a violin suddenly get way louder than it should according the the source media as it goes up a high run.  /sarcasm  I'll take a...
  18. skeptic

    The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

    Ditto that here.
  19. skeptic

    The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

      Compared to all alternatives - no exaggeration.  Copper ain't bad though.  http://eddy-current.com/conductivity-of-metals-sorted-by-resistivity/
  20. skeptic

    The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

      That's certainly the popular HF mythology, but many disagree and favor silver for its superior electrical characteristics/conductivity.  The whole claim that copper sounds "warmer" or somehow tames the hd800's highs is something that would show up in simple FR tests if it were true, and it...
  21. skeptic

    The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread

      Jamie - I reterminated mine after reading this: http://www.head-fi.org/t/490316/re-terminating-the-sennheiser-hd-800-cable-to-balanced     Internally, the cable has two separately insulated pairs that are then enamel coated.  Based on the posts I've read, and my own experience, it appears...
  22. skeptic

    [VOTING CLOSED]

      Basically, language advertising viagra and cialis were displayed/intermingled in the body text of various chesky pages I flipped through that day.  Never seen anything like it before or since (thankfully).  Wish I had taken a screen shot under the circumstances.  In any event, the site looks...
  23. skeptic

    [VOTING CLOSED]

      Vote cast, but just FYI, you guys appear to have been hacked.  There's a bunch of text about viagra popping up on the chesky site. 
  24. skeptic

    Crack;Bottlehead OTL

      Congrats Jamie - that's wonderful!  Yeah, I daresay your project time will be more limited for a while going forward, but within a few years you'll no doubt have your little one helping you sort your parts and tighten down simple hardware.  There's also nothing like having a great headphone...
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