[TSAVJason]

Music Lovers Audio in Berkeley has a pretty nice array of headphones. I dropped in there last December when I was in town for my brother's b-day party and had a nice long session with Audeze, Grado, Focal, Audioquest and some others. Demo kit was some Sony music streamer into a Luxman DAC and then a Luxman amp. Seemed like a very 'fair' system for evaluating cans. I didn't get the sense that they'd welcome a customer bringing in their own kit though.

Actually Audio Visions in SF has a larger variety of HeadGear products. Jay & Hugh at Music Lovers are friends of mine but for a large audition opportunity I’d suggest Audio Visions in the Bay Area.

 

[tekkster]

Actually Audio Visions in SF has a larger variety of HeadGear products. Jay & Hugh at Music Lovers are friends of mine but for a large audition opportunity I’d suggest Audio Visions in the Bay Area.

Audio visions is the store that is a pain for me to get to, cuz i’m lazy....
Which is weird, cuz when i was living in japan, heading out was a blast.

I may check out music lovers, but my wife may force me to leave the cc at home, bwaaahhaha

 

[musicman59]

[Mod modified]

I demoed a Utopia at a Hifi shop with a McIntosh amp and some DAC and was NOT impressed AT ALL. Slow, muddy, and just no engaging for me. Utopia paired with the right amp/DAC is something very special. I've heard all of the ToTL cans and chose Utopia for a reason.

I respectfully disagree. Maybe it was the DAC? What DAC was it?
I own 4 different amps (PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP, Wells Audio Enigma upgraded, Wells Audio Milo upgraded and the MHA100). I also own the Utopia, HE1000v1, Z1R, Edition 15 and an electrostatic rig (Ray Samuels Audio A-10 Thurderbolt and SR-009) and to me the MHA100 as amplifier only (not using its internal DAC) does not make the Utopia sound as you drescribe them. My DAC is a Bricasti M1 SE and the source is either an Aurender N100H or N10 depending o the system. Which of my amps match better with the Utopia? It really is between the PrimaLuna and the Enigma but the MHA100 is not far behind.

Speaking of the MHA100 internal DAC, well, that is different. I personally don't care for how it sound with the USB input. With the other ones it is just acceptable IMO.

 

[TSAVJason]

Audio visions is the store that is a pain for me to get to, cuz i’m lazy....
Which is weird, cuz when i was living in japan, heading out was a blast.

I may check out music lovers, but my wife may force me to leave the cc at home, bwaaahhaha

Well Music Lovers doesn’t suck. It’s just not what I’d refer to as headphone Heaven in terms of variety

 

[Allanmarcus]

I respectfully disagree. Maybe it was the DAC? What DAC was it?
I own 4 different amps (PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP, Wells Audio Enigma upgraded, Wells Audio Milo upgraded and the MHA100). I also own the Utopia, HE1000v1, Z1R, Edition 15 and an electrostatic rig (Ray Samuels Audio A-10 Thurderbolt and SR-009) and to me the MHA100 as amplifier only (not using its internal DAC) does not make the Utopia sound as you drescribe them. My DAC is a Bricasti M1 SE and the source is either an Aurender N100H or N10 depending o the system. Which of my amps match better with the Utopia? It really is between the PrimaLuna and the Enigma but the MHA100 is not far behind.

Speaking of the MHA100 internal DAC, well, that is different. I personally don't care for how it sound with the USB input. With the other ones it is just acceptable IMO.

Sound like you agree with @cskippy . The utopia with the right gear is special. the utopia with the wrong gear can be "blah" or even "meh".

I will say that I never heard anything sound special through the Mc amp, using the Mc as a DAC too. Usually that's how it's been set up in stores and shows. Of course given that I cannot really tell the difference between the Magni3 and the Black Widow 2, it's possible in a direct A/B test, I would think the Mc amp sound just like them!

Can't wait until I get the RME DAC (tomorrow) so I customize the sound.

 

[musicman59]

Sound like you agree with @cskippy . The utopia with the right gear is special. the utopia with the wrong gear can be "blah" or even "meh".

I will say that I never heard anything sound special through the Mc amp, using the Mc as a DAC too. Usually that's how it's been set up in stores and shows. Of course given that I cannot really tell the difference between the Magni3 and the Black Widow 2, it's possible in a direct A/B test, I would think the Mc amp sound just like them!

Can't wait until I get the RME DAC (tomorrow) so I customize the sound.

I feed my MHA100 through the analog balanced input using the Bricasti M1 SE balanced outputs. I have A/B compared the analog balanced input against the USB and SPDIF inputs.
In both cases not using the internal DAC sounded better to me but it was specially bigger difference against the USB input.

 

[TSAVJason]

I feed my MHA100 through the analog balanced input using the Bricasti M1 SE balanced outputs. I have A/B compared the analog balanced input against the USB and SPDIF inputs.
In both cases not using the internal DAC sounded better to me but it was specially bigger difference against the USB input.

Not to be argumentative but as a McIntosh advocate I just don’t see the 100 or 150 as best of choices in that relative price range.

 

[musicman59]

Not to be argumentative but as a McIntosh advocate I just don’t see the 100 or 150 as best of choices in that relative price range.

Not disagreeing with that but they are very pretty and look very nice next to my C2300 and MC601 monoblocks!!
That's why I also have other options....

 

[TSAVJason]

Not disagreeing with that but they are very pretty and look very nice next to my C2300 and MC601 monoblocks!!
That's why I also have other options....

Time for the new 611’s dude! They are insane better

 

[tekkster]

I'll certainly agree that of the 20+ headphones I own (modest # compared to many on head-fi), the HD800 and Utopia are the two headphones who's sound changes dramatically depending on the chain. The most forgiving pair (least noticeable), are my Meze 99 classics. They seem to change the least when making adjustments to the chain.

 

[musicman59]

Time for the new 611’s dude! They are insane better

I will need to listen to them again. It was a very brief listening at Axpona.

 

[TSAVJason]

I will need to listen to them again. It was a very brief listening at Axpona.

The new amp circuit is crazy good by comparison to the 601

 

[RobinTim]

Happy to have joined the Utopia fanclub. How many hours of burn-in would y'all recommend? Cheers

 

[McMadface]

Happy to have joined the Utopia fanclub. How many hours of burn-in would y'all recommend? Cheers

1000+ hours, but all on your head playing the music you like.

 

[DivaFonda]

I've been following this thread via email again. Ok so rutter rubs people the wrong way. But he wasn't entirely wrong IMO. If I gave my honest 2 cents, I'd be disappointed too that a $4K set didn't wow me. If the demo is indeed using the wrong amp, they need to remedy that situation ASAP. But I've learned to also listen to headphones more than once to realize their benefits so I can't fault him for going back for a second try. Sometimes snap judgements or first impressions aren't the best or most accurate. I've had a few sets wow me right away though and believe it or not, those were not higher end sets. When using higher end, I do become more critical of a listener and start picking apart details. I don't think rutter was wrong to be more critical of a $4K set. If you're spending that kind of money, you'd better like it! If you demo the Utopia again under circumstances that you prefer and still don't like them, so be it. It just wasn't for you.

However, I also agree that hearing is subjective because taste and preferences can change, along with age. It's not BS when you think about it. I hate sibilance but some people seem to prefer it. I used to be a bass head but now if I hear way too much bass, I reduce it. I still love bass, just don't need to feel it reverberating on my ears or equipment. I also don't want it drowning out other frequencies. Thus some sets that I liked now need to go. I also learned that too neutral is a no go for me, but others swear neutral is best. I think you also need to figure out what your sound preference is and what you expected to get out of the Utopia.

Someone said these forums don't exist to guide you to the perfect headphone. Not exactly true IMO. I've received lots of guidance. It's just that "perfect" is also subjective. It's what's perfect for you. You really do need to try out sets for yourself. Sometimes it's trial and error but that's what makes the hobby interesting right?