May be the best first album by anyone..............ever. Love every track!
An audiophile and petrolhead's journal: Buckle up!
- Thread starter Magick Man
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Oh man, I played the HECK out of that one. I was a freshman in high school when that album was released.
Magick Man
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The tape player works perfectly, they rebuilt it, replaced the belts and printed new gears, but it sounds like ass (tiny 4" speakers only 12" apart). Hey, it was '69. 
Needless to say, the engine sounds more musical than the stereo.
Needless to say, the engine sounds more musical than the stereo.I still have the original vinyl I bought when it came out..................and still play it to this day. Retro lives..............and love Magick's 8 track! Probably the only working one in existence!
Magick Man
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Bought it with all the others, case and all, at a garage sale for $5.
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I did own that 8-track and also the vinyl album, but I also had a friend with an 8-track *recorder* - that was a valuable friend to have! Piracy was alive and well, even back in the 70s. I think about half my 8-track case was homemade 8-tracks. That was really the genesis of my audiophilia - that friend had a system with a pair of Polk floorstanders, a set of Sansui separates (integrated amp + tuner), a Dual turntable and the 8-track recorder. I was fascinated by the gear. By the time I had switched to cassettes, I only bought vinyl and recorded all my own cassettes. I have never owned a single store-bought cassette.
veyrongatti
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The Alpha pads on the Mad Dogs are so very comfy, they are practically worth the $300 all by themselves. I wish the modded T50RP (Mad Dogs included) weren't so heavy, but I suppose that comes with the territory for all the good planars. If they could sound like the Mad Dogs, but at the weight of an HD558, that would be nice...
Seriously, if you like warm and smooth at $300, then for sheer enjoyment of the music, it's hard for me to recommend anything other than the Mad Dogs or a DIY T50RP. I need to spend more time with the HiFiMan planars - I only had a brief listen at a meet. I was so overwhelmed by how much I liked the Audeze planars, and how much I did NOT like the HD800, Grados and Audio-Technica headphones, that I fear not much else stuck with me. And, I missed the last LA meet where I would have been able to hear the Alpha Dogs, the LCD-X & XC, etc. Oh well, I'll just have to wait until Spring...
VG: What amp do you have?
Just a portable amp..... Sony PHA1 its decent but not sure if its enough for planars.....
Magick Man
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I'm working on a new <$100 flagship "killer", not much modding required either. Think HD800s with the mids pushed forward a little with the treble dialed back 3-4dB, big soundstage with tight bass. I'm very impressed so far. Stay tuned.
Hutnicks
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I'm figuring they arent based on the Martian Logjams?
I'd suspect a Philips product with that sound description.
customcoco
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veyrongatti
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Magick: Here's my feedback: Boost the bass a couple of dB more than *you* think they should have. That will probably make everyone else (except you) happier... 
Hutnicks
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Magick: Here's my feedback: Boost the bass a couple of dB more than *you* think they should have. That will probably make everyone else (except you) happier...
Yes, just when exactly did the online "audiophile" community become completely bass centric?
Magick Man
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I think maybe they're just a bit too bass heavy for my personal taste, but it isn't loose or sloppy bass so it doesn't bother me very much. HD800s have great bass, but they're a little too hot in the upper treble for many people so they don't notice it.
Magick Man
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Okay, I've finished my tinkering, and even though I feel that I could extract more from them in one way or another, other areas start to suffer when I do. So, without more ado, the budget "flagship killer" is...
the Philips SHP9500.
They're that good? Yeah, they're that good. After listening for quite a while trying to figure out what these sound like, I figured it out, they're very similar to the Koss ESP/950s, only they have ~3dB more mid bass. The mids and highs are practically ripped directly from the 950s and are just beautifully smooth and silky without any harshness, and the soundstage, though not the largest I've heard, is substantial and all instruments are well placed. Resolution is fantastic too, THD numbers must be near rock bottom because I detect almost no coloration or grain and what warmth they do give off is natural and unobtrusive. Overall they're really great, and when you factor in their price (~$85US on Amazon) they're miraculous. What makes them so special is their drivers, they actually have 50mm neodymium ring drivers (no joke). I don't know of any other inexpensive full-size cans packing such hardware. (Also the cable is swappable, it's a standard 3.5mm M-M cable, for those who want to use something different from Audioquest or whatever. :rolleyes: )
But, they aren't quite that sonically gifted right out of the box, they need a little work to pull out more of their potential. Without mods they're a little harsh ~6kHz, mids are a bit honky, and bass, though tight, is simply too recessed. Here's where the simple mods come in.
Other downsides?
-the fabric used for the earpads and headband feels a little like burlap, it's not the softest out there
-the plastic is pretty cheap feeling
-the size adjustment mechanism is kind of crappy
-head clamp is very, very light (might be a plus for many), I prefer a little more
What you'll need:
A sheet of 2mm thick craft felt, it's pliable but fairly dense
A sheet of 4mm thickness EPDM butyl, it feels pretty rubbery
Glue stick
Scissors
X-acto knife
Ruler
1. Feel around the inside of the ear pads, underneath them, and you'll notice that the padding is glued down a bit. What you need to do is firmly but gently pull that glue apart. Don't worry, the fabric will hold the pad to the baffle, we just need to get some space underneath the earpad itself.
2. Using the pad itself as a kind of template, you'll want to draw an oval in the craft foam. It'll be 10cm wide by 12cm tall. Then inside that you'll draw another oval that's 6cm wide by 8cm tall. That will give you an oval ring with a 2cm "wall". Now cut out that ring; I used scissors on the outside and an X-acto for the inside, you want to keep it in one piece. It'll look like this:
3. Cut a circle of felt 8cm wide then apply a light layer of glue from the glue stick to one side, then apply that to the exact middle of the ear side of the baffle (apply it to the fabric back there), tucking the edges underneath the earpad. Let the glue dry, takes ~an hour. Here's a pic of the felt in place:
4. After the glue has dried, take your rubber oval that you cut and slowly work it underneath the earpad, it'll act like it wants to bunch a little but just keep working it under the pad until it's completely under the pad. You can see the edge of it barely visible under the pad here:
5. That's it! Seriously. I stripped one set all the way down to the frame and monkeyed with them like crazy (completely ruining the earpads in the process), but this is by far the most balanced mod for these. In this instance, less really is more.
Get them while you can, though, Philips didn't distribute many in the USA and I think they may even be discontinued now. Sad.
the Philips SHP9500.
They're that good? Yeah, they're that good. After listening for quite a while trying to figure out what these sound like, I figured it out, they're very similar to the Koss ESP/950s, only they have ~3dB more mid bass. The mids and highs are practically ripped directly from the 950s and are just beautifully smooth and silky without any harshness, and the soundstage, though not the largest I've heard, is substantial and all instruments are well placed. Resolution is fantastic too, THD numbers must be near rock bottom because I detect almost no coloration or grain and what warmth they do give off is natural and unobtrusive. Overall they're really great, and when you factor in their price (~$85US on Amazon) they're miraculous. What makes them so special is their drivers, they actually have 50mm neodymium ring drivers (no joke). I don't know of any other inexpensive full-size cans packing such hardware. (Also the cable is swappable, it's a standard 3.5mm M-M cable, for those who want to use something different from Audioquest or whatever. :rolleyes: )
But, they aren't quite that sonically gifted right out of the box, they need a little work to pull out more of their potential. Without mods they're a little harsh ~6kHz, mids are a bit honky, and bass, though tight, is simply too recessed. Here's where the simple mods come in.
Other downsides?
-the fabric used for the earpads and headband feels a little like burlap, it's not the softest out there
-the plastic is pretty cheap feeling
-the size adjustment mechanism is kind of crappy
-head clamp is very, very light (might be a plus for many), I prefer a little more
What you'll need:
A sheet of 2mm thick craft felt, it's pliable but fairly dense
A sheet of 4mm thickness EPDM butyl, it feels pretty rubbery
Glue stick
Scissors
X-acto knife
Ruler
1. Feel around the inside of the ear pads, underneath them, and you'll notice that the padding is glued down a bit. What you need to do is firmly but gently pull that glue apart. Don't worry, the fabric will hold the pad to the baffle, we just need to get some space underneath the earpad itself.
2. Using the pad itself as a kind of template, you'll want to draw an oval in the craft foam. It'll be 10cm wide by 12cm tall. Then inside that you'll draw another oval that's 6cm wide by 8cm tall. That will give you an oval ring with a 2cm "wall". Now cut out that ring; I used scissors on the outside and an X-acto for the inside, you want to keep it in one piece. It'll look like this:
3. Cut a circle of felt 8cm wide then apply a light layer of glue from the glue stick to one side, then apply that to the exact middle of the ear side of the baffle (apply it to the fabric back there), tucking the edges underneath the earpad. Let the glue dry, takes ~an hour. Here's a pic of the felt in place:
4. After the glue has dried, take your rubber oval that you cut and slowly work it underneath the earpad, it'll act like it wants to bunch a little but just keep working it under the pad until it's completely under the pad. You can see the edge of it barely visible under the pad here:
5. That's it! Seriously. I stripped one set all the way down to the frame and monkeyed with them like crazy (completely ruining the earpads in the process), but this is by far the most balanced mod for these. In this instance, less really is more.
Get them while you can, though, Philips didn't distribute many in the USA and I think they may even be discontinued now. Sad.
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