[stevewestern]

My point is that how does one know when to post here or in the 'normal' forums ?
My turntable set-up cost me almost £7000 - that for turntable, arm, cart, phono stage and interconnect (Michel Orbe, SME 1V, Kiatora Rua, Tom Evans Groove and some cable I cannot remember the name of) To me, it is pretty fantastic, but is it high end ?
Who can define it ?
If I want to aim for high-end in my headphone journey, what do I aim for - not the silly money stuff that we would all love to hear, and maybe own, but in the more realistic range - what is realistic - no-one seems to know ?
So, what do I aim for and listen to with the idea of saving towards ?
What would I need to take the HD650's into High End catagory ?

Interesting thread this !

 

[Clarkmc2]

Seven thousand pounds is a high end phono system to me, but there are audiophiles who would sniff at that. Since it is hard to spend more than $5000 US on a headphone amp, as far as I know, you will be spending less on your 650 system in any case.

I think what is high end for a headphone system depends on how important headphones are to you. I have defended headphones as not only the equal of but superior to speakers. When I said that here, a headphone site, most did not agree with me and revealed various degrees of speaker lust. They were using headphones because a good headphone system cost a lot less than a good speaker system. I was astonished at that reaction, by the way. Headphones can't even find the love I think they deserve on a headphone site!

Anyway, I made my decision and spent $3500 for a pair of Stax and matching amp. Not the ultimate rig for many knowledgeable users here, but I like to think sniffing at the high end realm.

I am sure there are many great amps that will get the most out of your Senns and you are in the right place to find out what they are. This is a great place, even factoring in the speaker lust undercurrent. I think the members here will be able to tell from your vinyl rig that you are after the best sound you can get from the 650s.

As for what forum to use, I am new here but "Headphone Amps (full size)" might be more visible than this forum for such a quest. More eyes there to see your questions. Me, I like your post right here in the Sorry About Your Wallet section.

Clark

 

[Happy Camper]

To pair up with your front end, a balanced Beta 22 would sound great. SE a ZD would match well.

 

[stevewestern]

Happy Camper - can you explain what your last sentence means ?
Not being funny, but I don't understand - the Beta 22 is an amp, I know that much, so assume the SE and ZD are too..?

Clark - good reply. I am getting phones as I have some decent speakers but volume limitations in the evenings (kids) mean phones might be a solution, and even some improvement in some ways for certain listening.
However, I am still curious to know just what sort of products are seen as just about entry level into high end...

 

[Clarkmc2]

I am strictly a Stax man, my knowledge of other phones is limited. But I think Happy Camper meant the Beta has a balanced topology, and the ZD is probably class A and certainly Single Ended (SE). Single ended amps can not use balanced inputs to any advantage, so he is suggesting an appropriate amp for whichever approach you take on the input end.

They use a lot of shorthand in audio and it is confusing as hell without a phrasebook.

Clark

 

[stevewestern]

Hey Clark - thanks again, but even that is over my head - please can you or anyone else explain what balanced, single ended etc mean to me.
Sorry if this is something I ought to know, but I am new to this, clearly !
Cheers
Steve - learning fast, but maybe not fast enough !

 

[Happy Camper]

Slip into Wiki and read

Differential signaling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Single-ended signalling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ZD I was referring to is the Eddie Current Zana Deux

 

[Happy Camper]

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[Happy Camper]

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[stevewestern]

One of my first posts here was to ask a question that could have been answered by doing a search, but in that post I also explained that my internet access is very very slow (often only 4-12Kb/sec ). As a result, I do not know much about using the internet, and tend to rely on help from others - here, both Clark and Happy Camper are doing just that - Thanks for the links HC - I'll go take a look and maybe learn some !

 

[Happy Camper]

This hobby is complex and learning takes some time. Good to see you're willing to study and not ask for a cheat sheet.

 

[Stereo_Sanchez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm sure da mods will have plenty of fun with people whining about what is and isn't "high end." Is it the price? The sound? The look? A combination thereof? The mere idea of segregating off a "high-end only" area is playing with fire.

I agree on not segregating. I think high end is ultimately segregated by price.

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stereo_Sanchez /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree on not segregating. I think high end is ultimately segregated by price.

I think exactly the opposite: High End is where price doesn't matter.

 

[Stereo_Sanchez]

Although you can find excellent sound reproduction at all ends of the price spectrum, IMHO "high-end" has a price element in it, meaning expensive. An analogy is "fine wine." There is great wine at all price points, but fine wine infers big ticket.

 

[Stoin]

I'd agree that high-end is generally expensive, but this is a by product of other factors. The engineer should design the circuit in the way that they believe will give the best performance. Maybe with a maximum cost for the circuit, but not a minimum one. Although it sometimes seems the other way round (especially with case designs)

High-end designs often feature overspecified parts so that they are operating well away from their limits. Once one part has been overspec'd then there is a knock on effect. Lets say say the power supply is overspec'd. Then the case becomes more expensive as it needs to be able to accommodate the extra size and weight of the power supply. So now you're paying more for the power supply, more for the case, and more for packing/shipping/handling because the whole unit is bigger and heavier than a standard consumer audio product. The benefit from all this is that they usually sound better and last longer.