[daffa]

I hope this is the right thread for my post here since this is about the combination of headphone and its amp. I have 4K budget and I am pondering to choose between these two combos. Emmeline with R10, which I heard it is a heavenly combo, and Blockhead/HD600 with its "sonic bliss". Both have almost the sampe price. I may consider the Stax system (Omega 2) but at this time I am thinking of those two combos. Any suggestion for picking the better?
I listen to any music depends on my mood.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[shafu]

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...khead+emmeline

Here's a thread where people posted some of their impressions. Granted, this is at a meet, so they aren't the ideal conditions for a review, but you might get some background thoughts on it.

 

[tom hankins]

Check out the opinions of the Blockhead/600 in the members lounge under "Bay area meet:impressions" Hope this helps.

 

[Zanth]

I've never heard the Blockhead and I feel the R10's at the retail cost is ludicrous. However, I would go with the Emmeline/R10 combo.

Why?

The Blockhead/HD600 is SYSTEM. Not unlike the Stax Omega II's but I would say even worse off if you ever have the urge to switch up between headphones and amps. The HD600's are specifically modified to work with the balanced amp and unless you have some other balanced headphones lying around, this will be it for you.

With the Emmeline/R10 combo, if you don't like what you hear, you can keep one or the other or both and try to find the sound that suits your needs by audition different amps and headphones.

 

[tom hankins]

Zanth, Doesn't Headroom give the 30 day trial period with the Blockhead? I think the amp to look into with the R-10's would be the Supra from Singlepower-Audio.(see Hirsch's review) Mikhail is building me a Supra that has a complete upgrade of all internal parts along with inputs and jacks and better tubes, and a stepped attenuator. This amp should take the Supra to an even higher level than it already is. My next phones to go with it will be either R-10's or HP-1 or 2 to go with it.

 

[markl]

What source are you using? You may want to plow some of that budget into a better source (remember "garbage in garbage out").

Personally, I would rather have an R10 with a Total Airhead than an HD600 with a Blockhead. In my experience, there's nothing you can attach the HD600 to that will make it so it approaches the level of performance of the R10. I've owned the HD600 and a lot of very high-quality amps, and it falls far short of the R10s, IMO, FWIW, YMMV, yada yada yada.

The HR-2 makes an absolutely fabulous combo with the R10s and can be had a great price. I say "go for it"!

Mark

 

[Tuberoller]

As much as I love the Emmeline and the Blockhead I just can't recommend the R10s at the asking price.the R10/Emmeline combo is magic.The Blockhead is magic as well and the choice is a difficult one that I don't envy you for having to make.

 

[john_jcb]

The Blockhead requires a balanced source where the HR-2 does not. Just make sure that if you purchase the Blockhead you have the source to drive it in your budget.

Even though my time was brief with the R10/Emmeline/Meridian combination it was superb. Even better was when it was plugged into the turntable and vinyl was spun.

That being said a year ago at the first Chicago meet the following combo was the top vote getter:

Headroom Blockhead - $3,300
Revox E-46 CD player-$5,900 with upsampling and upgraded power supply.
Synergistic Research Designer's Reference Interconnect w/active shielding-$2,000
Custom Grado RS1 Headphones with balanced cables -Price unknown
or HD600 with Cardas balanced cable

If I was buying I think I would opt for the R10/Emmeline combo. You have more versatility.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Hey daffa,

I'm gonna go with a different route:

Stax Omega II + modified KGSS with some nice stuff added and built by zzz here. This will be magical together and will run you a bit under your budget.

Stax Omega II + Weebl built my Mikhail at SinglePower. This will blow your mind completely. This will run you right up to your budget, or maybe just a little over, but should prove your last stop and thought of upgrading.

Either the Weebl or KGSS can run balanced or single ended, so this gives you options with a CD player to run with them. The Blockhead is balanced only on the ins, and balanced only on the outs, requiring a balanced CDP and headphones.

The Stax will not give you a really hard hitting bass that can be felt like a dynamic set of cans. This is their real weakness and if this is something you must have will not be the route to go.

 

[Ebonyks]

Of the two systems mentioned, i would certaintly pick the R-10 emiline, but i don't see the system as justifying the cost, and unless you're using a great source, much of the magic is lost (Did anyone else try the R-10's with the emiline and tuberollers 963sa? it really kinda sucked...) Why not go with a HP-X and a blockhead, and terminate the cable to XLR plugs? It's not hard to do...

 

[Kieran Comito]

As an R 10 and Emmeline owner, I will throw in my two cents. I guess I agree with Tuberoller, thats just to much money to spend on this combo, or should I say for the R 10s. I'm a fool for spending what I did on the R 10s. It is just not worth it. The Emmeline performs great for its price. Having owned the HD 600, I'm not a fan of that either. I think you will get more bang for you buck if you try something else, like maybe Serving In Ecuador suggestion.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Each headphone has its own set of flaws so you might want to consider how you want your music presented to you. Personally I don't like either phone..

Biggie.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Daffa,

Here's another, more balanced route to go that will give you an awesome overall sound:

Amp: Single Power Supra tube amp. Roughly $1000.
Headphones: Senn 600s with Cardas cable, Grado HP-1000s. Grados can be had for about $800-900, Senns you still own. (I think)
IC: used Virtual Dynamics Nite. Should be about $450 on Audiogon.
PC: (2) used Virtual Dynamics Nites, 5' each. Also about $500 each on Audiogon.
Source: whatever you can find used on Audiogon for the $1000 or so you have left over. You can get a highly modded Music Hall CD25 for $950 from underwoodwally. There's also the usual Sony 555 or 333 SACD players that are hard to find, but can be modded to sound incredible.


This gives you virtually unlimited upgrade option paths. The amp will run just about anything you can plug into it. The source and cabling will sound good with whatever you hook-up to them. You will have the dynamic rig that is very well balanced all the way around. An incredible amp and cans is great, but without great cabling and source to go with it you will not have as good a sound as you are obvoiusly looking for.

 

[radrd]

Quote:

IC: used Virtual Dynamics Nite. Should be about $450 on Audiogon.

I wish. I don't think I've seen one for less than $600.

 

[tanfenton]

Do you like the R10, or do you like the HD-600?

Both amps are overpriced, IMO, and I wouldn't want to buy a balanced source in order to use the Blockhead. (Wrap a pillow around your head and scream if you can't get over my thinking that of the two amps.)

Regardless, you should hear each of these pieces together--unless you're into spending massive sums of money blindly as so many here are.

NGF