[longbowbbs]

Quote:

I had a moment tonight of near nirvana.  
 
A thin cardboard package arrived from Elusive Disc.  I opened the package, removed the album, and set it aside.  This is going to take the right moment, undisturbed, for complete emersion.  
 
I fed the cats.  Emptied the garbage and got everything out of the way which could intrude into my thoughts.  
 
Sitting back in my office-- I fired up the phono stage, ignited the tubes in my Woo WA5LE, and carefully separated the top of the bag over the record.
 
It contained the 45rpm remastered pressing of Fleetwood Mac's eponymous.  
 
Placing the vinyl on the Scout, spinning on the clamp, I dropped the needle on side 3, inched up the volume and listened to the low swish of the needle riding its groove.  
 
Out of the rumble, the first piano chords from Christine McVie's fingers broke the silence across nearly 30 years.  Mick kicked his thunderous bass drum into life, while John thumped out his first notes, bending at the end of the measure of "Say You Love Me."
 
It's the most satisfying moment I've experienced since setting up a modern analog system.  I've never heard the HD800 dig so deep.  The soundstage and nuance of the harmonies and musical fills dropped into the production with exacting precision was never lost, and even surprised, though I've heard this recording probably a thousand times since it was first released.  
 
"Landslide" was an acoustic gem.  The reverb on Stevie Nick's falsetto seemed to echo into infinity.  But the biggest treat was yet to come--
 
The quirky syncopation on "World Turning" raised this three song audition to an even higher plane.  The song crafted to build as each repeating musical phrase wrapped back around.  It's a musical orgy for the senses.  
 
Then it was over as quickly as it began.  Three songs per side, admittedly, is a cumbersome way to enjoy the experience.  But the fidelity reached tonight I've only caught glimpses in the highest-end listening rooms I've had the pleasure to visit.
 
I still have a new phono stage on backorder.  It should arrive next week.  I will gladly be repeating this journey. 

Awesome reeltime! What cartridge are you rockin on the Scout?

 

[reeltime]

The Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood.  It's been exceedingly difficult to setup, mostly because it is so light (6 grams).  I nearly sent it back at one point because I was struggling with getting the setup right.  A heavier cartridge would have allowed for a much easier setup.  But the persistance seems to have paid off.

 

[jtinto]

I have the same Virtuoso wood on a Clearaudio Satisfy arm and Performance table.
It's a great combination. Glad to hear you like it on your VPI too.
Cheers

 

[reeltime]

I like it-- but I don't have much to compare it to, either.  The VPI is the first high-end turntable I've owned.  I bought it mostly because of the Stereophile review.  They said don't look at any other cartridge if you're planning on spending $2500 or less.  How could I argue?

 

[kazsud]

Quote:

 
Very interesting. Anyone else who have found holographic imaging on a SS amp?

Me on the Dac-100/hd-800 playing radiohead

 

[BournePerfect]

Me on the Dac-100/hd-800 playing radiohead

An old post of mine regarding the HD800/Radiohead:

  Any Radiohead fans blown away by the HD 800 pairing?? Honestly I don't think I've ever heard a more synergistic combo. Rest of chain is Eximus DP1 and ZDSE. I know it's cliche to claim "I know it's cliche to claim I hear things for the first time...", but DAAAAAMN. It's not so much the stupid-crazy detail extraction of this combo-as much as the ethereal presentation. The holographic imaging (which all of my components are known for), seems absolutely made for this music. After listening with many other headphones, and even speaker systems-I truly am hearing Street Spirit, Lucky, Idioteque, Right Place and more for the first time. In fact, other headphones and speakers I've heard don't begin to reach this combo-to the degree that they just sound wrong (with RH). Like everything I've heard all of these years simply does the band no justice-in fact I wasn't a huge fan until I got the HD 800. It's seriously like sitting in the absolute middle of the psychadelic/electronic orgy of offbeat technical wizadry that Yorke and co. were experiencing all along. And if my TH900s can't capture this combo's magic-I will be re-purchasing the Senn-if only for Radiohead. It's that good. basshead.gif

update: no, the TH900 didn't recapture that magic...

-Daniel

 

[kazsud]

Quote:

An old post of mine regarding the HD800/Radiohead:

  Any Radiohead fans blown away by the HD 800 pairing?? Honestly I don't think I've ever heard a more synergistic combo. Rest of chain is Eximus DP1 and ZDSE. I know it's cliche to claim "I know it's cliche to claim I hear things for the first time...", but DAAAAAMN. It's not so much the stupid-crazy detail extraction of this combo-as much as the ethereal presentation. The holographic imaging (which all of my components are known for), seems absolutely made for this music. After listening with many other headphones, and even speaker systems-I truly am hearing Street Spirit, Lucky, Idioteque, Right Place and more for the first time. In fact, other headphones and speakers I've heard don't begin to reach this combo-to the degree that they just sound wrong (with RH). Like everything I've heard all of these years simply does the band no justice-in fact I wasn't a huge fan until I got the HD 800. It's seriously like sitting in the absolute middle of the psychadelic/electronic orgy of offbeat technical wizadry that Yorke and co. were experiencing all along. And if my TH900s can't capture this combo's magic-I will be re-purchasing the Senn-if only for Radiohead. It's that good. basshead.gif

update: no, the TH900 didn't recapture that magic...

-Daniel

It's KidA and in Rainbows are truly incredible. Grizzly bear does wonders on the hd800 as well.
I would love to hear the ZDSE 

 

[Sophonax]

I started my Head-Fi journey with a K701 and went all the way up to an R10, before settling back down to mid-fi.  I'm currently perfectly content with my 65th Anniversary K702, Asgard 2, and Bifrost -- but unfortunately it took a lot of money to reach that conclusion... 

 
I feel like the really expensive stuff just isn't practical, no matter how good it sounds -- R10, HE90, SR-009, etc.  One accident, some cosmetic damage, and congratulations, you just lost $1000 in value -- ouch!  

 
I think I'll continue to buy and try new headphones as they come out, just because I find it fun and entertaining as a hobby.  But at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure my mid-fi gear will be the only thing I end up keeping.

 

[ZootFitzgerald]

I've recently purchased the HE-500s, and boy are they fantastic. The sound representations is just spot on!

 

[reddragon]

I started my Head-Fi journey with a K701 and went all the way up to an R10, before settling back down to mid-fi.  I'm currently perfectly content with my 65th Anniversary K702, Asgard 2, and Bifrost -- but unfortunately it took a lot of money to reach that conclusion... 

I feel like the really expensive stuff just isn't practical, no matter how good it sounds -- R10, HE90, SR-009, etc.  One accident, some cosmetic damage, and congratulations, you just lost $1000 in value -- ouch!  

I think I'll continue to buy and try new headphones as they come out, just because I find it fun and entertaining as a hobby.  But at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure my mid-fi gear will be the only thing I end up keeping.

Well maybe its practical if its "end game" for you so you don't have to buy anymore audio gears?

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

 
I find it a sad phenomena when music lovers becomes audiophiles and instead of listening to good music mostly listen to bad well recorded music just because of how revealing their gear is. I have seen this happen again and again and I've noticed the same symptoms with me to some degree. The more gear centric people get the less music centric I've seen them become.
When I see someone listen to Diana Krall I know that person have lost all sense of what music is all about... Maybe they just had bad taste in music before but common now. There is music that have both a technical and musical quality.
If someone catch me listening to mediocre sleepy jazz nonsense please do an intervention!

This x1000!  I got Fidelia for Mac hoping to find something on HDtracks that didn't suck.  I like the technical quality of their binaural recordings, but the first one was just hippies banging on drums and chanting.  Not.Impressed.
 
Then they put out some jazz (blech) and a folk singer who is so bland that white bread is asking for her recipe.  
 
I'm so sad about this.

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

The more I invest the more I realize that music and the mastering therein is more key than just about anything else.  As long as the gear is halfway decent the music will shine if it is mastered well.

I'm not at Summit-Fi yet, as I only have an HRT MSii+ and a Schiit Magni feeding the HE-500 - but the more my gear resolves my music, the more I realize the truth of what you say.  Bad recordings have become the bane of my audiophile existence - much more than bit-rates or mp3 vs. FLAC or ALAC or AIFF.  I'm an indie guy and listening to early Pixies or Sonic Youth makes my head bleed from every orifice.  I do thank Siddhartha that Sonic Youth's 'Experimental Jet Set Trash And No Star' was recorded adequately.

 

[reeltime]

Quote:

This x1000!  I got Fidelia for Mac hoping to find something on HDtracks that didn't suck.  I like the technical quality of their binaural recordings, but the first one was just hippies banging on drums and chanting.  Not.Impressed.
 
Then they put out some jazz (blech) and a folk singer who is so bland that white bread is asking for her recipe.  
 
I'm so sad about this.

 
The idea behind the binaural is to accurately recreate how the music sounded in the venue where it was recorded.   It would seem to me that you'd soon lose the point of the recording when amplification and electronics are introduced.  

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

 
The idea behind the binaural is to accurately recreate how the music sounded in the venue where it was recorded.   It would seem to me that you'd soon lose the point of the recording when amplification and electronics are introduced.  

Oh, I don't mean that I dislike that it's acoustic.  I dislike that it's hippies bangin' on drums and that the folk artist is not very inspired or inspiring.  As for jazz, yeah....not my thing either.  It's a major frustration for me with HD Tracks.  They sell almost nothing I like.  I was surprised to see a JK Flesh collaboration there, but as opposed to 'Posthuman', the JK Flesh collaborative album is just a bunch of experimental noise.

 

[Sophonax]

Quote:

Oh, I don't mean that I dislike that it's acoustic.  I dislike that it's hippies bangin' on drums and that the folk artist is not very inspired or inspiring.  As for jazz, yeah....not my thing either.  It's a major frustration for me with HD Tracks.  They sell almost nothing I like.  I was surprised to see a JK Flesh collaboration there, but as opposed to 'Posthuman', the JK Flesh collaborative album is just a bunch of experimental noise.

 
It's always been very frustrating to me that the jazz and classical genres are the only ones that seem to care about making quality recordings.  I can appreciate jazz and classical for their fidelity, but musically speaking they tend to bore me in general.
 
I love when I can find good recordings in other genres, but in my experience they're few and far between.  It would be awesome if artists / engineers in these other genres would take note and step up their game, but given the rise of mp3 and the online retailing model for music, I don't see it happening any time soon.