[MarkyMark]

Hi,
 
I recently purchased a pair of pre-owned T1's in the S/N 13xxx range.
 
Have tried from my HDVA600 and headphone out on my Benchark DAC2HGC. They certainly seem to be smoother on the HDVA600, no doubt due to the higher output impedance on that.
 
I'm sufficiently happy with the performance to keep these as an alternative to my HD800s (running on Cardas XLR) so am wondering about re-terminating from single ended to XLR, since the HDVA600 was designed as a balanced amp.
 
Has anyone re-terminated their T1 to XLR and what kind of improvement do you think was had?
 
Also, if anyone here in the UK has done this - who did you use to do the work (I'm not a DIYer) and which XLR connector did you reterminate to (Neutrik, Cardas etc.)? Or can you think of anyone I can approach to do this work for me?
 
TIA and cheers...

 

[T Bone]

I had Moon Audio re-terminate a silver dragon cable for my Audeze LCD-3 phones with Furutech XLR connections.  The cost was reasonable and the turnaround time was great.  I don't know who could do the work for you in the UK.  
 
As far as audible differences go, i wouldn't call it night and day.  It was an improvement.  The biggest "tangible" gain shows up in the published specifications of my Oppo HA-1 amplifier.  There is a significant difference in the channel separation specs of the single-ended vs XLR connections.   I would recommend you double check the specs for your amp and see how much of a difference it will make in your setup.
 
Good luck!

 

[Currawong]

It'll make a difference if you're using the same amp, and that amp was designed balanced to begin with. If you don't have a balanced amp already, it's rather redundant. 

 

[MarkyMark]

Hi,
 
Thank you both. I will see if I can find someone here in the UK to do the work.
 
As mentioned, the Sennheiser HDVA600 amp has balanced topology internally so am keen to use the XLR outputs on it if possible - I'm already using the HD800 terminated with Cardas XLR cable at present.
 
I have to say I like what the T1 has brought to the mix as a "daily driver", perhaps mine was in one of the better batch of v1's. It is inefficient though and would be prone to brightness without a higher impedance headphone output (the HDVA600  output impedance is approx 40-50 ohm, not as high as the recommended A2 amp which is around 100 ohm).
 
Cheers