[briantf27]

Cross posted to electronics section...

I've decided the CD3000 is going to be my headphone of choice, primarily because it is for the office with ambient noise and other offices nearby. I need a closed can.

So, please, anyone with this headphone and the MG Head DT tube amp, tell me how you like the combo. I'm all set to purchase the amp unheard, but want feedback first.

Thanks!!

 

[markl]

Not to discourage you, but the CD3000 doesn't really block sound any better than the open HD600s I used to own. Not at all. I was hoping they would, but they don't.

markl

 

[chych]

Perhaps you should consider some etymotic canalphones, they sound great and isolate, or some Beyer DT831s if you want full sized that isolate well...

The CD3000 is better off with solid state, last I heard.

 

[joelongwood]

Don't do it without auditioning! I just listened to the CD3000s with the MG Head (Ei El84 and Dynaco (Telefunken or Siemens) 12AX7 and the sound, to my ears, was way too bright sounding. I listened to Natalie Merchant "Tigerlily" and her voice was piercing and somewhat shrill. The CDP was a vintage (old) Magnavox 471 and the ICs were Straightwire Chorus.
Then I put the disc in a Radio Shack portable CDP (3904) with Straightwire ICs to a Grado RA-1 amp.......totally different sound. Brightness well under control, fairly warm vocal........yet very detailed. Beautiful sound.
Now I know it's unfair, and probably invalid, to compare the amps by using different CDPs, but it was easier that way. Someday I'll do it right. I think, however, that the basic characteristics of the amp come through.......I could be wrong. Anyway, I hope this helps.
BTW, regarding isolation. My wife is sitting here about 2 feet from me, and Natalie is cranked pretty high......my wife can't hear anything. She always complains about the Grados, though. I thought headphones would cure the old "Turn it down." I guess the Sonys do.

 

[oldnametooshort]

Dont do it without auditioning, as joe said, when I use the stock tubes with the CD3000s, the sound was way too warm. Highs were completely swiped away, what left was over emphasized mids and lows. The result was the same as Vertigo's review of sony R10(He was using the mghead back then), so audition, audition, audition...

 

[briantf27]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl Not to discourage you, but the CD3000 doesn't really block sound any better than the open HD600s I used to own. Not at all. I was hoping they would, but they don't. markl

Hmm. What about sound leaking? I mean, I don't want to bother the people in the cubicles next to me.

The Senn HD600 sounds like a good match for my electronics otherwise. Perhaps that'd be the way to go if they aren't too loud to people around me. I won't mind a layed back sound, so long as it is well layered and detailed. And they'd save me some $$$ too. In fact, that's how my Thiel speakers could be described...

Thanks.

Brian.

 

[joelongwood]

joelongwood wrote:

Quote:

I just listened to the CD3000s with the MG Head (Ei El84 and Dynaco (Telefunken or Siemens) 12AX7 and the sound, to my ears, was way too bright sounding. I listened to Natalie Merchant "Tigerlily" and her voice was piercing and somewhat shrill. The CDP was a vintage (old) Magnavox 471 and the ICs were Straightwire Chorus.

Mission Control, we have a problem here! I just finished listening to Natalie again, on the CD3000s with the same MG Head, same Straightwire ICs, but with a different CDP........ a newer Sony CDP-C715. What a difference. The shrillness is gone completely. They sound so much smoother and balanced.......much less bright, but still very detailed. They sound great. So, I must apologize to all those people who were misinformed by my statements that the MG Head and the CD3000 were not a good match. Now it's on to the Grados. Although as I type this, I'm listening to Eric Clapton/BB King "Riding With The King"......sounds wonderful....punchy, dynamic, detailed. The Grados may have to wait awhile, but I have a suspicion that pairing will show a similar improvement.
I guess my experience does kinda prove the importance of a good source, but I think CDPs have improved quite a bit over the past 15 years since I purchased the Maganavox. I feel like an idiot, but as I said before, this is a learning experience and you have to stumble a bit while learning.....and man, I stumbled pretty hard.