[Rawrbington]

ahh good.
whats the gold cleaner?
nvm
 
 
anyways i get home from work and fire up the old pioneer and it works like normal again.
either i was still asleep when i was "experiencing" this
or ????
or magic
 
not sure which but it makes the dirty pot theory seem stronger to me.
 
this one was purchased for the purpose of learning for the most part.  so issues are kind of a good thing,  just not so soon.  need my 950 to show up before the 650 goes breasts up on me.

 

[Skylab]

Yeah of it works fine again now it's almost certainly a question of a dirty switch or pot.  No biggie.  I just cleaned all the switches on my SX-1010 which was having a channel cut out problem.  After cleaning, no problem.

 

[Rawrbington]

when i heard it work normal this afternoon i figured that was a good thing.
 
i know a good surgeon for these types of deals.  vintage amps aren't his area of expertise but he's smart and very experienced with similar electronics ie guitar peddles, amps and compressors or w/e.
 
so i got the 650 thinking i could learn a little and he could learn to, since i've piqued his interest in vintage gear like this.  hes a music guy, and he's a great friend of years and years with lots of equipment and tools.
 
the bad thing is, he's been devoured by a craptastic relationship with a succubus.  and now i barely ever talk to him much less get to kick it and tinker with stuff.  =(
 

 

[moodyrn]

I just left Brent's house who just acquired the dark star. Along with me I brought my Au-517 and marantz 2325. First of all let me say that the ds was very, very impressive. It's without a doubt the best solid state "dedicated" headphone amp I've ever listened to. It's really in another league from the beta 22 which also sounds very good to me.
 
I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but he was very skeptical about how good it could sound and was underwhelmed when Skylab said that it only sounded a little better than his marantz with his he-6 in his dark star review. So I was really anticipating the comparison myself. Well....to make a long story short, with the he-6, we both thought it was excellent. That really was the first thing he said when he took them off. He thought the ds was a little better in a couple of areas, but other than that he thought they pretty much sounded the same. The ds makes the he-6 sound better than anything I've heard, but the marantz is a close 2nd, and I mean a close 2nd. The ds did image a little better, and I thought it actually had more extension in the treble. But the bass on both was stellar. The midrange sounded almost identical to me. But I'm sure with extended listening we both may be able to pick out a few more differences.
 
The thing that was most surprising to me was how good the hd800 sounded out of it. Not as good as his liquid fire, but still better than most headphone amps I've listened to. But I still say the marantz sounds better with some headphones than it do with others, so it's not a do it all amp. I did'nt even bother plugging in his lcd-2 because I knew it would be too warm. But with the right cans, I will say that it's killer
 
 

 

[Rawrbington]

man thats an endorsement for a classic marantz!
 
im still eyeballing a local near mint 2245.  he's lowered his asking to 275$.
if only money grew on trees.
 
think the HP jack on the 2245 could drive something like an HE 500 or LCD2?
 

 

[moodyrn]

I'm not sure. Don't know how much the power is lowered with the 2245, but if I had to guess, I would say yes, but it's just a guess though. My marantz still has it's shortcomings. You really have to have the right type of cans. I actually prefer my fisher for my w3000anv.

 

[Skylab]

That's very good stuff, Moodyrn, thanks for posting that! Glad to know you guys heard things similarly to how I did.

 

[Meewoo]

@Moodyrn,
You just increase the price of the vintage stuff and decrease the demand of $3495 Dark Star.
 
Marantz is famous for roll off treble, it can't compare with others on treble. I hope you still have your KR-9600, and can do a A/B test. How does your Au-517 do in the contest?

 

[moodyrn]

Unfortunately I sold the kr9600. I miss it, but once I got my klipsch fortes, the fisher became my best speaker amp and the kenwood was just too massive to keep just for a headphone amp. I just didn't have anywhere to put it. But I may own it again some day since it's the best vintage receiver I've owned to date. My he-6 does have better synergy with the marantz though. I think the dark star is safe even at it's asking price. It's by far the best modern solid state headphone I've listened to. We both thought the 517 sounded very good, but not in the same league with everything else that was there including the marantz. He did say it sounded better than he was expecting and I still say it sounds as good as an 800.00-1000.00 ss headphone amp. But two of his amps fetch for more than 3000.00(I can only dream), in just in a different league.
 
But in defense of the sansui, I haven't even opened her up yet. The thing sounded good to me out of the box, I don't even know what potential problems she may have. But the only glaring flaw it does have is a little harshness and tizziness in the treble and that may very well be a cap problem. But it doesn't have any scratchiness, hiss, or dropouts from dirty switches or pots so I've been a little slow to open her up while I do the final touches on my marantz which now is only putting one last coat of teak oil on the cabinet and waiting on my alps pot to arrive.

 

[WarriorAnt]

Call me crazy but sometimes I just like to go to the site and marvel at all the stuff they sell make.
 
http://store.caig.com/

 

[Wharfrat]

@moodryn:
 
You mentioned how the Marantz 2325 paired so nicely with the HE-6 and fared so well up against the DS.  I have a Marantz 2275, which I paired with my HE-5s and felt the 2275 did not bring out enough of the instrumental timbre and imaging I got with the SX-1250.  So I gather that the extra 50 amps and other aspects of the 2325's design bring it closer to being as good as some of the best modern amps out there and must thereby differ to a noticeable degree with its siblings of lesser wattage...
 
Does anybody know whether there is a design difference between the 2275/2285 and the next big jump up in the Marantz unit line-up?

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

I just left Brent's house who just acquired the dark star. Along with me I brought my Au-517 and marantz 2325. First of all let me say that the ds was very, very impressive. It's without a doubt the best solid state "dedicated" headphone amp I've ever listened to. It's really in another league from the beta 22 which also sounds very good to me.
 
I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but he was very skeptical about how good it could sound and was underwhelmed when Skylab said that it only sounded a little better than his marantz with his he-6 in his dark star review. So I was really anticipating the comparison myself. Well....to make a long story short, with the he-6, we both thought it was excellent. That really was the first thing he said when he took them off. He thought the ds was a little better in a couple of areas, but other than that he thought they pretty much sounded the same. The ds makes the he-6 sound better than anything I've heard, but the marantz is a close 2nd, and I mean a close 2nd. The ds did image a little better, and I thought it actually had more extension in the treble. But the bass on both was stellar. The midrange sounded almost identical to me. But I'm sure with extended listening we both may be able to pick out a few more differences.
 
The thing that was most surprising to me was how good the hd800 sounded out of it. Not as good as his liquid fire, but still better than most headphone amps I've listened to. But I still say the marantz sounds better with some headphones than it do with others, so it's not a do it all amp. I did'nt even bother plugging in his lcd-2 because I knew it would be too warm. But with the right cans, I will say that it's killer
 
 

michael is correct on all counts. 

 
i have to say - i came away from skylabs dark star review scratching my head, and a bit disappointed.. i guess i took his "plug" of vintage amps in there as sort of dissing the DS.
 
but, after hearing Moodyrn's vintage Marantz 2325, i now see what Skylab was talking about.
 
the Marantz drives the HE-6 better than any amp i've personally heard that's not the Dark Star.

Yes, the DarkStar is better. But how much better? Not a whole lot.
So i see his wisdom in extolling the virtues of something that can be had for under a grand, vs the $3500 DS.
 
The other vintage receivers i've heard were pretty good, yes.  but they were lacking a bit in the technicalities.
i honestly thought it was going to be more of the same with the Marantz:  fuzzy bass, high noise floor, rolled off treble, but overall musical and engaging sound.
 
Well, when i heard the Marantz, it seemed to perform well in the technicalities as well as the musicality department.
The first of the vintage amps that made it quite a battle with the liquid fire and dark star, to be honest.
 
We had a fun shoot-out last night. And we both agreed the Dark Star is awesome.
But i was amazed by the marantz. And also blown away by the new AT W3000anv. wow. what a headphone.
 
Best sound of the night to my ears?  The audio technica driven by the cavalli. 
i personally thought it was the best mids i've ever heard....
 
 

 

[Skylab]

I use the AT W3000ANV with my Sansui 9090DB almost every day - what a great combo that it!  Luscious 

 

[The8thst]

Humans perceive different frequencies that are the same loudness to be different volumes. That didn't come out clearly...

For example, if you play a 4000 Hz tone and a 40 Hz tone both at 80dB, the 4000 Hz tone will be perceived as being louder.

This is why bass sounds better when music is played loud, and the bass seems to disappear when music is quiet. It's also why so many people are damaging their hearing today...

Here is some follow up info in case anyone is interested:
Fletcher-Munson and Robinson-Dadson are the two most popular equal loudness curves to counteract the perceived volume differences of different frequencies at different volumes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%E2%80%93Munson_curves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson-Dadson_curves

EQ compensation for this are implemented into most digital stereos, audio-video receivers, and car stereos under function names such as: Loud, Loudness, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, etc. This is also why most sound engineers mix music at around 85-90dB as that is where the human ear has the most consistent hearing sensitivity across the music spectrum, and it isn't loud enough to cause premature ear fatigue or permanent damage.

 

[Chris J]

 
Quote:

 
 
also, is it a bad idea to hook up the speakers to 2 different receivers?  and then just not play them both at the same time obviously?  that way i can switch back and forth without messing with wires? or is this a bad idea?

I don't think anyone answered this question???
 
The answer is BAD idea, very bad.    I saw a guy try it once,   the speakers sounded terrible.     They sounded much better once he disconnected the second power amp.
I didn't stick around to see if anything was damaged.  I wouldn't be surprised if something was FUBARed.