[spacemanspliff]

I am looking towards next month and my Christmas present to myself. I love Stax but am open to anything. Right now, I use my PC as a source. I play a lot of games but music is very important to me. I can get an optical out X-FI to feed a dac but was thinking more along the lines of an Ultrasone ALO 780 or 900 PRO, Head Direct EF1 combo.

I would really love to try some Sigmas and an SRD-7 and something like a Pop Pulse T40i but doubt that I can find another pair in time.

Previously, I had some normal bias Lambdas and a SRD-7 and loved it but was possibly missing just a bit of presence/weight/slam which I think the Ultrasones might bring.

Anyway, just kicking ideas around obviously. Any new directions or experiences are welcome and appreciated.

Space

 

[Suntory_Times]

Depends on what you want to play. For that price Stax IMO is to expensive, I'd think about meier audio opera (with DAC) and HD600 or Ultrasone's for that price range. MAybe even go balanced if it can fit within the busget with a N22 balanced amp, balanced HD600 and there are many choices for a dac (a cheaper dac with balanced outs is the cambridge DACmagic, which I havn't heard, but have heard great things about).

But I honestly expected you to know a lot more then me looking at you're post count etc... (though $1500 more likely then not is not going to be enough for a trully high end system).

 

[jellojoe]

Wasn't there a pair of sigmas with an SRD-7 on sale here a while ago? Maybe it's still available.

 

[juzmister]

Yah, $1500 doesn't push too far in the high end...

Perhaps a nice new source?

 

[spacemanspliff]

Hmmm

Ok. Let me put this out there just to show that you can get a serious system for $1500.

Say a Ultrasone 900 Pro, Darkvoice 332, Oritek Zhalou dac. That would be plenty nice I would bet. I have had the 332 and an Oritek and man that was some good sound. My problem was that I kept changing parts and never was able to keep what I had b/c I needed to sell it to get the next thing lol. Now I have a modded Elite Pro X-FI, JVC X900 and a cmoy! Not bad but man is it making me hungry for more. Actually, the X-FI is a pretty damn good transport.

I am the king of banging the buck.

What I am looking for is ideas of what combos folks have heard which wowed them for the $$.

 

[tako_tsubo]

Stax: used SRM717 with a new SR 404 via kuboten and live.com

Dynamic: the EF1 that you have in mind with a JVC dx1000.

Both, money well spent...
I plan on getting the DX1000 soon.

 

[juzmister]

It would be a really nice setup...but, it doesn't constitute high end?

 

[tako_tsubo]

ok how about one of those singlepower amps on FS , with a used Senn HD650...should be right on the 1500 spot.
Hmmm maybe needs to think about this fo m'sef...

 

[gp_hebert]

Single-ended B22 and Sennheiser HD600 w/ Cardas cable. I'd then save a bit and get a good source later.

 

[raffy]

Head direct EF1 = $400
MHDT Paradisea3 = $745

Now you have $355 left for a set of cans.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raffy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Head direct EF1 = $400 MHDT Paradisea3 = $745 Now you have $355 left for a set of cans.

Damn. I did not know the Paradisea3 was that much. Is it worth the $$?

I believe in source first btw. Without it, might as well be pissing into the wind. I suppose I am going to have to find some more $$ huh?

I like the ideas so far btw thanks. Not a huge Sennheiser fan due to the need for positional sound. I like the sound stage of Stax, Ultrasone, AKG, Beyer better than the Senns. I love the 600 and 650 for music though.

 

[AudioCats]

$850 for that used prototype GES (if still available);
$500 for a ESP950 (I think Koss now offers phones-only-no-amp deal).
$150 for a recable.

But that is just the phones and the amp. No IC, no source (supposedly you already have such things, right?)

 

[compuryan]

If you buy things used, you'll get a lot better bang for your buck. I'd get:

a used Benchmark DAC1 (non-usb) ~ $750
a used HD650 ~ $250
a Woo Audio 3 ~$470 OR a used Cayin HA-1A ~$450-500

The brighter, detailed signature of the Benchmark is complimented nicely with the darker HD650 and lovely tube amp. What you get is a very nice sound, I am enjoying it right now. There are tons of possibilities for DACs (Benchmark, Apogee, Lavry, PS Audio, NorthStar). I personally really like how the slightly bright Benchmark livens up the HD650.

 

[XXII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacemanspliff /img/forum/go_quote.gif Damn. I did not know the Paradisea3 was that much. Is it worth the $$?

The Paradisea3 brand new should be around $621 (including shipping). I think Raffy added an extra 100 by accident. You should be able to get a used Paradisea+ for a lot cheaper (<$500). I know some people who might be selling soon if you're interested. And yes, it is worth it.

 

[krmathis]

I would go...
Amplifier: Stax SRM-1/MK2 Pro ($4-500)
Headphone: Stax SR-404 ($400)
DAC: $500 one, but don't know the candidates
Cables: Signal Cable Silver Resolution ($100)