[Brad Harper]

How long does it take these phones to relax? I have been playing them for about 30 hours and they still sound quite harsh. Is this the nature of the beast or will they eventually break in and relax a bit?

 

[john_jcb]

They definitely have their own sonic signature. Mine had maybe 120-150 hours of burn in/use on them when I bought them from Lou and they were not what I would call harsh. They are extremely detailed with a shift toward the bright side IMO. They also are very revealing and IMO not a good match for all setups. I like to listen to mine with the Fisher X-202-B with my Sony NS500V and Emmeline HR-2/Meridian 507.

 

[Brad Harper]

Well, I've had them playing David Gray's White Ladder CD non-stop during the day powered by a RKV MK2 with Sennheiser HD600s in parallel to bring up the impedence of the 32 ohm CD3000s. They are still more bright than I would care to listen to. My Grado SR225s are warm by comparison.

 

[Cherokee Mist]

It depends on your source, interconnects, hearing sensitivity, music preference etc., etc., etc... In other words, there are too many variables that can and will affect your perception of how these cans sound TO YOU. I would say that you have quite a bit of experimentation to do before you can really judge whether these cans are your cup of tea. What is your current setup? I've had my 3k's for almost two years now and I love them. TO ME, they sound equally excellent through my computer sound card (M-Audio Revolution)/Yamaha amp combo or my CDP (Denon)/Perreaux amp combo. In both cases, the sources are on the warm (less bright) side of the sound spectrum. I burned-in the 3k's for two weeks straight before I even listened to them for extended periods of time. My experience leads me to believe that electronics need upwards of a couple of hundred hours of burn-in to finally realize their full potential.

 

[Hirsch]

Mine had a trace of harshness when I got them that disappeared completely with use. I do find that if I don't use them for long periods of time, the trace of harshness comes back. If I use them periodically, they are completely smooth.

The RKV can drive low impedance headphones, but it can be noisy, and could produce harshness. Hooking up another headphone in parallel will NOT increase impedance. The impedance seen by the amp can never be higher than the lowest impedance of the devices in parallel. To increase the impedance seen by the amp, the two headphones would have to be hooked up in series.

To use the CD3000 with the RKV, the Impedanzer is a must.

 

[Brad Harper]

Maybe so, but the CD3000s sound even more harsh through my Emmeline XP-7. I guess they just need more time.