[Tassie Devil]

OK, I've bitten the bullet and just transferred monies for a M2 Vaughan - the price was too tempting!.  It should arrive next week.
 
So, thanks again everyone for your inputs.  Believe it or not it did help me focus.
 
John

 

[BournePerfect]

8K was too tempting?? Or did you get a deal somewhere?
 
-Daniel

 

[Tassie Devil]

Yes got a good deal - around 30% less

 

[wink]

Got any good deals on a dcs stack?

 

[Tassie Devil]

Quote:

Got any good deals on a dcs stack?

Not really, but if this is a serious question you could check with Wicked Digital.
 
John

 

[rudi0504]

​

Yes got a good deal - around 30% less

Congratulation John For Your right decision to buy M2Tech Vaughan .

You can Connect Your balance HD 800 through pre Out balance outout at The back site panel .

Enjoy your Christmas presents during the Christmas.

You are the 3rd owner from M2Tech Vaughan

 

[Tassie Devil]

Quote:

 
Congratulation John For Your right decision to buy M2Tech Vaughan .
You can Connect Your balance HD 800 through pre Out balance outout at The back site panel .
Enjoy your Christmas presents during the Christmas.
You are the 3rd owner from M2Tech Vaughan

Thank you Rudi.  It should arrive next week.
 
I've just spent the last couple of days constructing a suitable cabinet to house it beside where I sit for headphone listening.  I wrecked an older cabinet that used to support a Sony monitor (weighed a ton) & cut it up into suitable pieces.  The result is not as good as a joiner could manage but a good deal cheaper and it doesn't look too bad.  When the Vaughan arrives I might post up a pic.
 
Happy Xmas etc everyone & thanks again for your interest.
 
John

 

[Jand]

Dumb question -- I've had a lot of these today -- but with a tube amp like the WA22, is it possible to hide the light from the tubes somehow?  I'm interested in using the headphones for movies as well as music, and when listening to both I like the room to be very dark.  Is it too hot to put say a large shoebox over the amp to hide the light?  

 

[Tassie Devil]

Quote:

Dumb question -- I've had a lot of these today -- but with a tube amp like the WA22, is it possible to hide the light from the tubes somehow?  I'm interested in using the headphones for movies as well as music, and when listening to both I like the room to be very dark.  Is it too hot to put say a large shoebox over the amp to hide the light?  

Be careful or you will either blow up the amp or cause a fire.  The simplest answer would be to use a SS amp for movies -= the AQ is not nearly so critical when the senses are divided between audio & video.
 
Otherwise you will need to construct a fair sized box (definitely not too small) and ventilate it using a quiet 120 mm computer fan.  I've used these extensively to cool items that get hot and they are excellent.  But shop around carefully, not all fans are quiet.  You could have the box raised on feet with ventilation holes under the box to prevent any stray light leakage.
 
Yes I use phones for this too, but I'm all SS!
 
John

 

[Jand]

Quote:

Be careful or you will either blow up the amp or cause a fire.  The simplest answer would be to use a SS amp for movies -= the AQ is not nearly so critical when the senses are divided between audio & video.
 
Otherwise you will need to construct a fair sized box (definitely not too small) and ventilate it using a quiet 120 mm computer fan.  I've used these extensively to cool items that get hot and they are excellent.  But shop around carefully, not all fans are quiet.  You could have the box raised on feet with ventilation holes under the box to prevent any stray light leakage.
 
Yes I use phones for this too, but I'm all SS!
 
John

Ah that's what I was afraid of.  I guess SS it is for me too.  8k though is WAY outside my budget though unfortunately.  However, I did come across this thread where a head-fier gave a very favorable review of the Schiit Mjolnir with the HD800s here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/631313/schiit-mjolnir-vs-bryston-bha-1-and-schiit-gungnir-vs-bifrost    I'm thinking going that route might be a good solution given my more limited budget, or the BHA-1.  Anyone else heard the HD800s matched with these amps?  

 

[Tassie Devil]

The Schiit would be fine for TV viewing and possibly overkill.  You could get away with something even less expensive like the Yulong D100 II.
 
I would be surprised if anyone had to pay $8k for a Vaughan.  I paid under $AUD5700 - still expensive and a bit over the top, but paired with a Burson ab160 XLR to correct an impedance mismatch I'll have a pretty good setup for not much more than $6k.  A headamp to match the Vaughan would cost over $2k and would have a redundant volume control (which the Vaughan does have already).  And the volume control in a head amp is very expensive to design so it does not mush up the AQ so is best avoided if possible.
 
John (still learning with help from others)

 

[Jand]

Oh sorry I should've been clearer -- I plan to use these for TV AND music -- primarily classical.  Of course with movies I'm much less discerning, it's the music I'm most picky about 

  I actually will be using them with a Smyth Realiser, and for movie viewing I'll be adding a subwoofer for extra impact, which I do NOT want for music listening as my subwoofer is pretty low quality.  Thanks for the info.  

 

[Tassie Devil]

Quote:

Oh sorry I should've been clearer -- I plan to use these for TV AND music -- primarily classical.  Of course with movies I'm much less discerning, it's the music I'm most picky about 

  I actually will be using them with a Smyth Realiser, and for movie viewing I'll be adding a subwoofer for extra impact, which I do NOT want for music listening as my subwoofer is pretty low quality.  Thanks for the info.  

Mmm, that is a different situation.  Many like the Yulong and others around that dollar mark but serious classical music listening is a more demanding task.  I was quite happy with my NuForce DAC 9 until the Vaughan turned up.  I had intended to use it in a secondary system but the AQ is not so critical there so maybe I'll downgrade to a Yulong myself and sell the NuForce.  A major problem is O/S freight costs of around $100 but PM me if you could be interested in buying my NuForce.  I have far too many toys and should get rid of more.
 
John

 

[jamesleroy]

curious....I've recently received my hd800 and run it through the only tube amp I have a quinpo 6000. how far am I falling short of it's potential?    It actually sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Tassie Devil]

Quote:

curious....I've recently received my hd800 and run it through the only tube amp I have a quinpo 6000. how far am I falling short of it's potential?    It actually sounds pretty good to me.

Theoretically that should be the end of your search.  Been there, felt that quite a few times.  But the curse of this "Hobby" (or should I say obsession) is that it is difficult to avoid satisfying the curiosity to see if you can achieve even better AQ with a different toy.  
 
With the HD800 I was delighted with the results using a highly modded ((better described as rebuilt) Benchmark DAC1 but then the offer of a trial with a NuForce DAC9 (to return it if not satisfied) could not be resisted -> it was better!!!
 
And of course the idiocy continues with the M2Tech Vaughan. Is there something out there even better than this?  Probably but the bank balance, now severely depleted at the start of 2013, dictates I'll never find out.  However, just to prove I'm incurable, I have a Yulong 100 II on the way so I'll do a 3 way comparison before the NuForce finally finds a new home.  Expect another report in a few weeks on differences in DAC/headamps.
 
The bottom line in all this is that the HD800 is a superb transducer and does show up these differences.
 
Happy New Year to you all (2013 here already)
 
John