[zzz]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly If you haven't upgraded the cable on your HD600 yet, that's another thing to explore. If you're not morally opposed to expensive cables, the Stefan Audio Art Equinox may be of use to you.

I noticed that that harshness is still quite prominent even with the Equinox cable. In fact the first time I noticed it was when I picked up my (at the time) Equinoxed HD600 after spending a couple of weeks with W2002.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by zzz I noticed that that harshness is still quite prominent even with the Equinox cable. In fact the first time I noticed it was when I picked up my (at the time) Equinoxed HD600 after spending a couple of weeks with W2002.

Which source were you using at the time? Some of the harshness you were hearing could have belonged to the source?

I only noticed it consistently in the uppermost treble which I think the Equinox rolls off just a little.

 

[zzz]

I used Arcam Alpha 9 I had at the time. The only two amps I tried with HD600 at the time were MG Head OTL and HP4. With the EAR the harshness was a little more pronounced.

Later I also used the same player with SR-404 and the Omegas and never noticed any brightness.

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador I'll make sure to spend a little time with them tomorrow and let you know. I'll also ask AC1 to post what he thought of the combo also, so you'll get it from two perspectives.

ServinginEcuador,

Thank you for the great write up on Senns vs. Sony's. Looks like the Senns are OK with the RKV, FMJ23, and your VD nite cables- but no where as good sounding as your Sony's! Nice to be able to compare apples with apples since you do have the same source. You do have better cables, but I'm pretty familiar with my source and cables, so that shouldn't be a problem. I also use an Ultimate outlet connected to the wall with a Lab cable, but use the VD Auditions to go directly into my source and all amps (even though Rick at VD told me not to use any type of power conditioners or filters- I just think it sounds better).

So now having read your review, I'm even more confused! May be time for not only a new amp, but a new set of cans as well! So my $500 budget now needs to be $1500

Anyone have a parlay lock for this coming weekend??? Eagles and under??? Raiders and over??? Daddy needs a new set of cans (and amp)!

 

[ServinginEcuador]

drewski,

Although I liked the Sonys over the Senns, it might not be your best bet. I think that due to your sensitivity to the HF stuff, you might prefer the sound of the Senns teamed up with this amp. If you don;t compare them with the Sony's you'll be quite impressed with their sound and characteristics. If you do decide to try out the Sonys I would HIGHLY reco trying them first. Your hearing may not like the high end strength that these put out, even though it is more extended and smoother than the Senns.

Try the RKV with your Senns before looking to upgrade. Then, if you get the urge, get the Impedancer and try out a couple of different cans: Audio-Technica's A1000 or W1000, Sony CD3K, and some of the Beyer line of cans spoken of so highly here. Again, with your hearing and sensitivity try before you buy is the word to live by. If not, at least buy used so that you can sell them again for little to no loss.

Sadly I think that the Raiders and Eagles will play this year in San Diego. I'm a Redskins fan, so anytime the Eagles are doing well means bad news for us.

 

[sacd lover]

What do you plug your components into? I have found with my gilmore and maxed out home; that they both have a hardness that goes away when I use power conditioning. This hardness is also evident to a degree in my sony sacd players. The best power device I have, the ps audio p300, completely changes my preferances. Example, I like my grado rs-2 best of any of my phones when I have my sony c555es and gilmore amp hooked to the p300. When I use my work system, which only has a monster hts1000, the rs-2 gravitates to the bottom of my preferances used with a sony ce-775 and the maxed out home. With no power conditioning both systems are to bright and the only grado I like is my sr200. Just changing the p300 to the monster hts1000, nothing else, lets a noticeable degree of brightness back into the 555es>mit#2>gilmore>grado rs-2; and suddenly I am reaching for my rs-1 or sr200 or jvc ha-d990. You seem to have good equipment and connections, maybe your wiring /power is a problem?

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by sacd lover What do you plug your components into?

I've tried multiple sources and power configurations- Here's what I can remember trying:


wall>lab cable>ultimate outlet>lab cable>sugden
wall>lab cable>P600 power plant>lab cable>ultimate outlet>sugden
wall>lab cable>sugden
wall>audition power cable>sugden
wall>tranparent powerlink plus>sugden
wall>lab cable>ultimate outlet>audition power cable>

I've also tried Cardas interconnects (neutral and golden ref), a pair of Transparent Musiclink Plus interconnects which are pretty dull, and my VD audition cables.

As for sources, I tried directly from the Arcam FMJ CD and directly from a Marantz DV12, out of the tape loop of a Superphon Revalation Basic preamp (using an Analog source), a McCormack TLC-1 preamp, and N.E.W. p-3 preamp.

One last thing that really points me to the direction of the Sugden being bright- when I tried as a preamp, it was extremely bright and was down-right awful as a preamp (and it wasn't broken either). While I'm 90% happy with the recommendations from the british hi-fi magazine "What Hi-Fi", I'm not sure what they were smoking when they rated this as a 5 star pre-amp. I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to headphones, but I do feel I'm pretty knowledgable when it comes to two channel stereo using speakers. So I guess having said all of that, the Sugden just produced a sound that I didn't like whether it was coming from cans or my speakers.

Now after reading my post, I guess I had a lot of spare time when I was laid off!

 

[sacd lover]

Looks like you have power problems covered. You might like a softer sounding tube amp. I would post asking for some tube amp recommendations, as the rest of your system is first rate. If you dont want tubes, ask about some warm sounding ss amps. The members here have lots of knowledge with tube amps; myself, I am curious about the mapletree ear+.

 

[wo_riley]

Drewski, I have an N.E.W. P-3 preamp as well. What tubes are you running in it?

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by wo_riley Drewski, I have an N.E.W. P-3 preamp as well. What tubes are you running in it?

I currently am running a matched pair of 12au7 mullards for the output and a 12at7 mullard for the input tube as well. I know that others use 12bn7's (which is what the manual suggests) and 12an7's for the input tubes, but I like the sound of the 12at7's so I stick with them.

I also have tried RCA cleartops and the Amperex bugle boys- I've never tried telefunkens on this particular pre-amp. I don't like the RCA's cleartops very much- they just aren't as smooth and warm as the mullards and seem to compress the soundstage. Actually, the cheap Chinese tubes that came with the amp actually are better than the cleartops. The bugle boys are very good, but I still like the mullards better for most of the music that I listen to.

Have fun tuberolling- just beware, the costs of tubes may not be that expensive, but it adds up really fast!

 

[wo_riley]

Drewski,

Thanks for the info on tubes for the P-3. Mine originally came with Philips ECG JAN 5814A in the 12AU7 sockets and a GE JAN-12AT7WC so I guess I was lucky. I used them for many years and finally they got noisy and microphonic. I bought a couple new Electro-Harmonix 12AU7s and a GE 12AT7 to replace the bad ones and they were ok but a bit harsh. I have an old Eico Tuner as well that had "Eico by Mullard" 12AU7s and 12AT7 in it so I pulled those out. No idea how they tested but they seemed to work in the P-3. A bit dull perhaps, certainly compared to the new tubes. I also tried it with the EH 12AU7s in combination with the old Mullard 12AU7 and that was better, a pretty good compromise but maybe could be better in terms of soundstage.

My hope was that some NOS tubes for the 12AU7s would give me the best performance and had been considering the cleartops as they seem to be the current rave. Sounds like they may not be the best for the P-3. What amp are you using? I'm running an old Eico (HF-87?) with Svetlana output tubes.

My manual doesn't say anything about replacement tubes, I think I may have a very early model. The manual is just some photocopied hand-typed sheets with quite a few typos in it. Is yours more professional looking?

 

[drewski]

Quote:

Originally posted by wo_riley Drewski, Thanks for the info on tubes for the P-3. Mine originally came with Philips ECG JAN 5814A in the 12AU7 sockets and a GE JAN-12AT7WC so I guess I was lucky. I used them for many years and finally they got noisy and microphonic. I bought a couple new Electro-Harmonix 12AU7s and a GE 12AT7 to replace the bad ones and they were ok but a bit harsh. I have an old Eico Tuner as well that had "Eico by Mullard" 12AU7s and 12AT7 in it so I pulled those out. No idea how they tested but they seemed to work in the P-3. A bit dull perhaps, certainly compared to the new tubes. I also tried it with the EH 12AU7s in combination with the old Mullard 12AU7 and that was better, a pretty good compromise but maybe could be better in terms of soundstage. My hope was that some NOS tubes for the 12AU7s would give me the best performance and had been considering the cleartops as they seem to be the current rave. Sounds like they may not be the best for the P-3. What amp are you using? I'm running an old Eico (HF-87?) with Svetlana output tubes. My manual doesn't say anything about replacement tubes, I think I may have a very early model. The manual is just some photocopied hand-typed sheets with quite a few typos in it. Is yours more professional looking?

wo_riley,

We're kind of getting off the path of the topic here, so after this post, please feel free to PM me for my e-mail address if you wish to further discuss this preamp.

I was not the original owner of this preamp. I picked it up used, but the person I purchased from said that these were the original tubes. They have no markings on them other than "China", so I have no idea what brand they are. He also didn't have a manual, so I ended up buying a copy of one from someone on Audiogon. I haven't had the time to look at the actual manual, but the person that sold it to me said that it stated that the stock output tube was a 12bh7. Different models of this pre-amp use different tubes for the input tube, and between the two of us, we had heard or found on the internet 4 different input tubes.

As for the amp I currently use, I am using a Bedini 100/100 DE class A amp. I've tried using the N.E.W. a-20, but my Bedini sounds a little better. The N.E.W. a-20 is a fantastic amp for what you can get them for these days- I liked the a-20 so much that I ended up selling my Pass Labs Aleph 5 and my Aleph 30 (I hope that the people I sold them to aren't on this forum!) I'm waiting for someone local to sell a used N.E.W. D-66 battery powered amp so I could try out!

I've always liked the sound of a tube preamp matched with a solid state amp. I think it's a great balance of both detail and warmth. Having said that, if I could afford the Thor monoblocks, then I would definitely go with a tube amp!

I know it's hard to find information on this unit, so if you're interested, I have a review from UHF magazine of canada that I can scan and send to you- just PM me. Also, here's a link to another review of this preamp in case you haven't seen it already-http://thestar.com.my/audio/story.asp?file=/1996/7/25news

 

[wo_riley]

Yes, sorry to all for getting off topic, I thought about PM for the last reply but it's hard to find info on the P-3 and mentioning it ususally brings out comments from someone. I have looked at using the P-3 to drive headphones but let's take that off-line. I'll send you a PM later.